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Grace Summit Church | Benjamin Lehew | Radical Life Part 2 – Radical Foundation | September 6, 2026

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  1. Hey, welcome to Grace Summit Church

  2. podcast. We're so glad you're here.

  3. We're all about helping people know

  4. Jesus, grow in their faith, and live out

  5. his love every day. No matter where

  6. you're at in your faith journey, our

  7. prayer is that this message helps you

  8. know Jesus more and live with greater

  9. purpose and conviction. Let's jump in.

  10. Hallelujah.

  11. >> Grace Summit Church, how we feeling

  12. today,

  13. >> man. Let me try it again. Grace Summit

  14. Church, how are we feeling today?

  15. >> Hallelujah.

  16. It's a good day to be alive. Amen.

  17. >> And it's a good day to be a Christian.

  18. >> Amen.

  19. >> Man, we gave our life to Jesus. We could

  20. uh it's holiday weekend. You could be

  21. out on the lake right now going to a you

  22. you could be anywhere,

  23. >> but you decided

  24. >> to sit right here

  25. >> in the presence of our king and worship

  26. and hear the word of God. Can you just

  27. celebrate that for a minute?

  28. >> Well, hey, if you're a guest with us or

  29. new to Grace Summit Church, uh my name

  30. is Ben. Uh I like sunsets and long walks

  31. on the beach.

  32. Oh, wait.

  33. We like to have fun at Grace Summit

  34. Church. Uh, my name is Ben. I have the

  35. opportunity to serve as lead pastor

  36. here. And man, we are going to dive into

  37. the word of God. Would you pray with me?

  38. >> Father, we thank you, Lord, for a

  39. loosening of your spirit in this house.

  40. Father, we didn't come for mediocrity.

  41. Lord, we didn't come to hear a a

  42. positive word, but Lord, we came to hear

  43. the word of God. Father, we came to hear

  44. your words spoken into our spirit.

  45. Father, that we leave this place more

  46. like you than we've ever known possible.

  47. Father, I thank you for the anointing

  48. upon this house, Lord. The anointing to

  49. demolish and break the yoke of bondage.

  50. So, Father, we your children sit at your

  51. feet today with ears wide open, ready to

  52. receive everything you have for us. So,

  53. Father, I thank you for it now in Jesus

  54. name.

  55. >> Amen.

  56. >> Hey, who in here is afraid of bees?

  57. Bumblebees.

  58. those little things. Golly, you got to

  59. watch them, huh? Uh, our shed in our in

  60. our backyard. Um, it's like the beef

  61. fest, man. There's just bees and and all

  62. of my kids are scared of my shed, you

  63. know? I I'll ask Link and I'm like,

  64. "Hey, can you go grab something on the

  65. shed, you know, and he just looks at me

  66. like, I don't want to, Dad." Right? Cuz

  67. there's bees, you know, and I'm trying

  68. to take care of it. It's a whole thing.

  69. But yesterday, we were working on uh

  70. just out in the driveway and had the

  71. power washer out. We're getting ready to

  72. kind of wrap this thing up and Lincoln

  73. has this bee flying around him. He's

  74. freaking out, right? So, I'm trying to

  75. coach him like, "Just chill. You know,

  76. you don't have to flip out every time

  77. there's a bee somewhere around." And so,

  78. I'm just like, "Okay, hold still, right?

  79. No big deal. No big deal." Well, he

  80. doesn't all of a sudden he doesn't see

  81. the bee. He's just like froze, right?

  82. And I'm watching the bee and it's by his

  83. shorts

  84. >> and it's starting to like go up in his

  85. shorts.

  86. >> And so, I said, "Lincoln, run." and he's

  87. like takes off across the driveway,

  88. right? And uh man, bees are are one of

  89. those things like for me personally, if

  90. I know they're there, you know, if I see

  91. them, we're good, you know. Uh but that

  92. one time I was uh doing weed eating and

  93. I had the loud motor going and and all

  94. this stuff. And I'm cleaning off a bank,

  95. weed eating that, you know, the long

  96. stuff. And uh couldn't hear anything,

  97. right? Cuz you got the motor going. And

  98. you guys know those ground bees? Those

  99. things I'm pretty sure are from the

  100. devil,

  101. >> right? We all in agreement. Those things

  102. came from hell. They come out of the

  103. earth. I mean, that's

  104. >> Didn't hear it. Never saw one. I'm just

  105. busy working. And they got up in my

  106. pants. They got in my shirt all I got

  107. stung so many times I lost count. And uh

  108. you know, it's interesting. Uh the

  109. reason I got stung is because I didn't

  110. know they were there.

  111. Today I want to talk about storms.

  112. Spiritual storms of life. I know

  113. spiritual storms are no fun. It's okay.

  114. Nobody ever got destroyed by a storm

  115. that they saw coming.

  116. Amen.

  117. We get destroyed oftentimes by storms

  118. that we don't see coming. So I want to

  119. talk about spiritual storms. Uh want to

  120. talk about continuing the idea of

  121. radical life. um destroy the I'm sorry,

  122. storms are interesting. You know, we

  123. live in a a technology age. And who here

  124. is thankful for the weather app?

  125. You know, we have time to prep. We know

  126. something's coming across the country

  127. and it's going to it's going to hit

  128. whether it's a, you know, big storm,

  129. snowstorm or whatever, and we're we're

  130. able to prepare a little bit. Uh but not

  131. that long ago, most of humanity never

  132. had that type of warning system.

  133. If you've served God for any length of

  134. time, you've been through what sometimes

  135. we would call a spiritual storm.

  136. You ever been through a spiritual storm?

  137. I'm talking a big one. Never saw it

  138. coming. Uh couldn't prepare for it. You

  139. know, if I could prepare for it, if I

  140. had the spiritual weather app, right, I

  141. I would have called in the prayer

  142. warriors a week in advance. I would have

  143. called my pastor and and got some

  144. counsel and and man, I would have been

  145. fasting and praying myself, preparing

  146. because I know this this devastation,

  147. this thing is coming, right? But I

  148. didn't have that. Out of nowhere, you

  149. get the phone call. Out of nowhere, life

  150. happens. Something that you couldn't see

  151. coming.

  152. So, how do we prepare

  153. for a storm spiritually

  154. that we never saw coming? The title of

  155. the message today is radical foundation.

  156. Radical foundation. Last week we kicked

  157. off the series radical life

  158. and we kind of uh unpacked the idea of

  159. radical excellence. That we're not

  160. bringing our leftovers to the king. I'm

  161. not bringing that good enough mentality.

  162. Right? But I'm sold out. I'm all in,

  163. baby. Right? Uh here's what I didn't

  164. tell you last week. When you get serious

  165. with God and you start living in radical

  166. excellence and spiritual fervor and I

  167. mean you're all in.

  168. What I didn't tell you is that storms

  169. start coming.

  170. The enemy loves to mess with those

  171. >> that are sold out for Jesus.

  172. Today I want to give you three things

  173. that we need

  174. to survive the radical life that we're

  175. stepping into.

  176. Before I get to the foundation,

  177. I want to kind of be your spiritual

  178. weather app for a minute. Uh because I

  179. really believe,

  180. you know, Pastor Dan was talking about

  181. rooted.

  182. Uh there's other things. I really

  183. believe that God is taking us somewhere

  184. as a people. Amen. I just sense a

  185. different shift in the atmosphere

  186. spiritually speaking. I sense a shift in

  187. the worship. I sense a shift in the

  188. relationships. God is in this house.

  189. Amen.

  190. >> And if we're not prepared for the

  191. unexpected, the enemy would love to mess

  192. us up.

  193. >> So, I want us to be prepared

  194. for the radical storms. Number one in

  195. your notes is radical storms. Matthew

    Matthew 7 chapter mention

  196. chapter 7, we're going to be kind of

  197. hanging out in Matthew 7 a little bit

  198. today. It's a favorite portion of

  199. scripture of mine. In verse 13, Jesus

  200. says, "Enter through the narrow gate.

  201. For wide is the gate and broad is the

  202. road that leads to destruction.

  203. Many enter through it, but small is the

  204. gate and narrow the road that leads to

  205. life and only a few find it."

  206. He says, "Enter through the narrow

  207. gate."

  208. Uh, it's not popular. It's not crowded.

  209. He says, "Only a few find it." And let

  210. me tell you this, it's definitely not

  211. easy to enter through the narrow gate.

  212. It's much easier in life to go with the

  213. flow, to go with the crowd. Amen. To

  214. follow the culture, to follow the

  215. trends.

  216. It's much more challenging when you

  217. surrender your life to Jesus Christ and

  218. now I'm no longer in culture. I'm no

  219. longer uh relatable. I'm no longer

  220. following the trend. Everyone else, my

  221. family, friends, everyone else is going

  222. to do that. But I have a conviction. I

  223. don't think that's wise for a believer

  224. uh to do that. I'm not in Amen.

  225. It's the narrow gate.

  226. The narrow gate. I was thinking about

  227. it. Why is the gate narrow?

  228. I believe this. Because you can't bring

  229. your baggage through it.

  230. Oh my goodness. That'll preach right

  231. there. Come on.

  232. >> Yeah.

  233. >> You can't bring your pride.

  234. You can't bring your leftovers mentality

  235. or good enough mentality.

  236. You can't bring all of your sin and

  237. selfishness.

  238. You can't bring all that stuff. It's a

  239. narrow gate. If you want to get through

  240. the narrow gate, you got to you got to

  241. drop some things at the gate to get

  242. through. Amen.

  243. I was just on a Zoom call Thursday uh

  244. with the group that I'm going to Israel

  245. with. Man, I'm excited for Israel.

  246. Hallelujah. Uh and I'm working with uh

  247. some other pastors that I've been

  248. friends with and invited on the trip.

  249. And so, some of them have never traveled

  250. internationally. They're kind of it's

  251. kind of new for them. And so we're

  252. making sure and like covering all the

  253. bases that hey your uh carry-on, your

  254. check bag needs to be certain weight,

  255. certain size. You guys know all this. Uh

  256. when I travel, I almost look homeless,

  257. right? Like I just rolled out of cuz I

  258. got comfortable pants on. I make sure

  259. and wear the hoses so I can slip them

  260. off at the gate, you know? And I don't

  261. wear a belt cuz I don't want to be the

  262. weird guy having to figure out the belt.

  263. The thing, you know what I mean? Like

  264. you just kind you got to strip it all

  265. back a little bit. And so you can get

  266. through the gate

  267. with ease.

  268. Jesus says, "Enter through the narrow

  269. gate." There's some things that you're

  270. going to have to leave behind if you're

  271. interested in living the radical life.

  272. Amen.

  273. >> Uh there might be a few things today

  274. that you're thinking of right now.

  275. You're going, "Man, I can't take that in

  276. with me. I can't take that in with me."

  277. uh Hebrews chapter 12

    Hebrews 12 chapter mention

  278. verse one. I'll read the second part of

  279. the scripture.

  280. He says, "Let us also lay aside every

  281. weight and sin which clings so closely

  282. and let us run with endurance the race

  283. that is set before us."

  284. You're not getting through the gate

  285. unless you drop the weight.

  286. >> You're just not getting through. Amen.

  287. And and the scriptures echo this is one

  288. of many. But we have to lay aside every

  289. weight the sin that so easily entangles

  290. us. Man, if we're ready to do and he

  291. says to run the race that is set before

  292. you. I was thinking about Job and uh I

  293. think God's funny sometimes. Uh he he

  294. tells Job uh to gird up your loins like

  295. a man. Isn't that fun? Come on. Where

  296. are my old KJV people here? Gird up your

  297. loins. G up your loins like a man. This

  298. should be a bumper sticker. Uh,

  299. gird up your loins like a man. Uh, I

  300. think it's hilarious, but girding up

  301. your loins is some terminology that we

  302. see a few different places in scripture.

  303. Uh, but in in first century and even Old

  304. Testament, uh, the common uh, outfit for

  305. men was a robe.

  306. I'm glad that trend got left in the

  307. first century because uh, I'm not

  308. comfortable in a dress. I'm just not.

  309. And they wore robes. They had the cool

  310. hippie leather sandals. Those are cool,

  311. right? Maybe we can do that.

  312. >> Except for the older I get, the less I

  313. like the look of my feet, right? That

  314. happens.

  315. Robes and sandals. That's what they did.

  316. And uh man, if they had to take off

  317. running, there's this idea that they

  318. call it girding up your loins. And

  319. sometimes they would wear a belt and

  320. sometimes they wouldn't, but they would

  321. to g up your loins would be to to get

  322. the skirt, get the old thing up, and

  323. sometimes they would tie it up, right?

  324. So their legs were free. Sometimes they

  325. would tuck it in their belt so they

  326. could take off running.

  327. Many times when they were getting ready

  328. for war, they would gutter up their

  329. loins,

  330. right? Cuz ladies, you know, you ain't

  331. running very good in a dress.

  332. >> Yeah. I might even take off my sandals,

  333. man. I'm going to g up my I'm getting it

  334. in, baby. Come on. Right. So, it had the

  335. idea of we're going to war. Had the idea

  336. of we're going to work.

  337. There's a lot of things, guys, that uh

  338. you would be uncomfortable working on

  339. and address.

  340. Any of you guys get any weird ideas? I

  341. don't need no phone calls from wives

  342. later.

  343. He borrowed my dress. He's working on

  344. the car.

  345. Says, "Gird up your loins." First Kings

    1 Kings 18:46

  346. 18:46. And the hand of the Lord, catch

  347. this, was on Elijah.

  348. and he girded up his loins and ran

  349. before Ahab.

  350. We saw this hand of the Lord upon

  351. Elijah. This sense of urgency, spirit

  352. drops on him and what does he do? He

  353. girds up his loins and runs to Ahab.

  354. So if we need to move fast,

  355. if we need to fight, if we need to work,

  356. we get up our gard up our loins. 1 Peter

    1 Peter 1 chapter mention

  357. chapter 1 and verse 13.

  358. The Bible says this, "Therefore, gird up

  359. the loins of your mind."

  360. My goodness, can we talk about spiritual

  361. warfare for a minute?

  362. Gird up the loins of your mind. Be

  363. sober. Rest your hope fully on the grace

  364. that is to be brought to you at the

  365. revelation of Jesus Christ.

  366. So we drop the weight, the sin that so

  367. easily ens snares us so we can run the

  368. race set before us. We g up the loins of

  369. our mind. That means I'm not thinking

  370. about everything and anything. That

  371. means that I'm laser focused. The Bible

  372. says to fix our eyes upon Jesus, the

  373. author and the finisher of our faith.

  374. Listen, not looking to the left nor to

  375. the right,

  376. but fixing my eyes upon him. And that's

  377. all I'm thinking about. I'm not

  378. interested in thinking about this or

  379. that or that.

  380. Gird up the loins of your mind.

  381. Get ready to run. Get ready for war.

  382. Here's what I want you to hear about

  383. the radical life.

  384. It requires you to g up your loins

  385. spiritually, emotionally,

  386. and mentally. You'll never make it

  387. through the narrow gate with extra

  388. baggage.

  389. Last week we said this, radical honor

  390. leads to radical favor.

  391. One thing I didn't say that I should

  392. clarify is that favor doesn't mean no

  393. friction. Amen.

  394. The enemy messes with our mind.

  395. Sometimes we think that I have the favor

  396. of the Lord. That means nothing. Uh I'll

  397. have no opposition. I'll have no

  398. struggle. I'll have no things that I

  399. have to go through. Radical favor does

  400. not mean no friction. A lot of times

  401. radical favor means there'll be some

  402. friction. Uh read through the Bible,

  403. do a character study of all of the

  404. greats and see if any of them had smooth

  405. sailing.

  406. God's hand was upon them. God had

  407. anointed them. God had called them. God

  408. had sent them. And what do they have?

  409. They have struggle after opposition,

  410. after war, after all these different

  411. things that they go through.

  412. If you're called and you get serious

  413. about this thing, which I think you are,

  414. there's going to be some fight, some

  415. wars that you're going to have to fight.

  416. Amen.

  417. >> There's going to be some opposition that

  418. you're going to have to go through. And

  419. we have to learn to stand.

  420. Sometimes,

  421. often times, if you're doing it right,

  422. if you're radical, if you're going all

  423. in, the storms get bigger.

  424. And I want to warn you a little bit

  425. about the jealousy piece.

  426. The enemy can mess with you from many

  427. different angles, but sometimes when you

  428. get serious for God and you're getting

  429. radical, you're going all in, uh, other

  430. people don't like that.

  431. Amen. It's almost like bringing a mirror

  432. to their leftover good enough mentality.

  433. Let me say this, man. When you go all in

  434. and you lay down at lay aside every

  435. weight and you're just you're all in,

  436. you're fasting, you're praying, you're

  437. seeking, you're serving, you've got the

  438. joy of the Lord as your strength,

  439. and you're around somebody, they might

  440. claim to be a Christian, but they don't

  441. have the joy of the Lord as their

  442. strength. And they want to sit and

  443. complain, "Life's so hard.

  444. I'll never get I'll never get ahead of

  445. whatever it is, right? And you have this

  446. joy of the Lord. You're radical.

  447. Sometimes people get upset about that.

  448. Isn't that strange? Sometimes people are

  449. drawn to it going, "Man, I don't have

  450. that. I want what you have. There

  451. there's something authentic." But a lot

  452. of times people will turn against it and

  453. they'll go, "Oh, you're just holier than

  454. now. Your Christianity, you're too

  455. radical. Oh, you go to that church, they

  456. lift hands during worship. That's weird.

  457. man, get weird with me. Amen. Let's

  458. worship the King.

  459. >> Let's just Let's just get crazy. Let's

  460. just get radical before him. Let's just

  461. go all in. Let's Let's give this thing a

  462. shot. Amen.

  463. >> Your radical excellence exposes

  464. their mediocrity.

  465. He says, "Wide is the gate and broad is

  466. the road that leads to destruction."

  467. You're going to find more than not a lot

  468. of people that are going the wrong

  469. direction. And we have to know what the

  470. end of the road looks like

  471. so we don't get caught up. Wide is the

  472. gate, broad is the road that leads

  473. somewhere to destruction,

  474. but small is the gate, and narrow the

  475. road that leads to life. We're talking

  476. about radical life.

  477. Jesus is telling you though, how do you

  478. get into this thing? How do you get to

  479. this radical life? Narrow is the road

  480. that leads to life.

  481. Just gave you the road map.

  482. And only a few find it.

  483. Say, I'm the few.

  484. >> I found it.

  485. Not a lot of people are on that path,

  486. but I found it.

  487. and I'm going to stay on the road.

  488. Sometimes we ask ourselves the question,

  489. what storms am I facing right now that

  490. are proof

  491. that I'm allin with God?

  492. Amen.

  493. The enemy will tell you those storms

  494. you're going through, that's a curse.

  495. That's a You shouldn't have to go

  496. through that. You're saved. You don't

  497. have to. No, no, no, no, no. The more

  498. radical you get sometimes, the greater

  499. the storm.

  500. What storms are you going through right

  501. now that are proof that you're on that

  502. narrow way that you're all in?

  503. After

  504. explaining the narrow gate, Jesus says

  505. in verse 15,

  506. he says, "Beware." Say, "Beware."

  507. >> Beware.

  508. >> Says, "Man, a narrow gate leads to life,

  509. but I want you to beware of something."

  510. He says, "Beware of false prophets

  511. who come to you in sheep's clothing, but

  512. inwardly

  513. are ravenous wolves."

  514. Uh, wolves bite.

  515. Sheep are dorky,

  516. right?

  517. But wolves bite.

  518. Yeah.

  519. Says, "Watch out for these people that

  520. claim to be a Christian." Can I tell you

  521. that it's more radical today than it

  522. ever has been of people that are

  523. claiming they're a Christian that do not

  524. know the same God that I know.

  525. >> It's insane the stuff that is being

  526. preached in some pulpits, the things

  527. that are being practic practiced in some

  528. churches. It shouldn't be.

  529. Amen.

  530. >> Watch out. They'll claim they're

  531. Christian, but inside they're wolves,

  532. and they'll attack. Verse 16, he says,

  533. "You'll recognize them by their fruit.

  534. Are grapes gathered from thorn bushes,

  535. figs from thistles?"

  536. So, every healthy tree bears good fruit,

  537. but the diseased tree bears bad fruit.

  538. Listen to verse 18. He says, "A healthy

  539. tree cannot bear bad fruit."

  540. A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit,

  541. nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit.

  542. Every tree that does not bear good fruit

  543. is cut down and thrown into the fire.

  544. Thus

  545. you will recognize them by their fruits.

  546. That love, that joy, that peace,

  547. patience, gentleness, goodness,

  548. kindness,

  549. self-control.

  550. A lot of people claim to be a Christian.

  551. But hang around them long enough to

  552. evaluate the fruit.

  553. Are they overtaken with addictions? They

  554. don't have self-control

  555. when storms come in their life. Are they

  556. devastated and over? Are they angry and

  557. upset? And do they speak negative?

  558. Evaluate the maybe they have no

  559. patience.

  560. I know we're all on a journey. We're all

  561. growing in our spiritual fruit.

  562. But there's evidence of an authentic

  563. believer and follower of Jesus Christ.

  564. You'll recognize them by their spiritual

  565. fruit, not by their spiritual claims.

  566. Amen.

  567. >> Too many call themselves Christians and

  568. don't have fruit. Jesus said in verse

  569. 21,

  570. he says, "Not everyone who says to me,

  571. Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of

  572. heaven."

  573. That means that they've been calling

  574. Jesus Lord of their life. Amen.

  575. Not everyone who says to me, "Lord,

  576. Lord," will enter the kingdom of heaven,

  577. but the one who does the will of my

  578. father who is in heaven. On that day,

  579. many will say to me, Lord, Lord, did we

  580. not prophesy in your name and cast out

  581. demons in your name and do mighty works

  582. in your name? And I will declare to

  583. them, I never knew you. Depart from me,

  584. you workers of lawlessness.

  585. Was early on serving in full-time

  586. ministry and before I was saved, I had

  587. workaholic tendencies.

  588. carried a lot of that into serving in

  589. the in the ministry. And uh the type of

  590. ministry that I served in uh was uh very

  591. demanding. There was a lot. And anyone

  592. that's been in ministry knows that the

  593. ministry never sleeps. There's always

  594. more. There's always more lost people.

  595. There's always more hurting. There's

  596. always more to do.

  597. And while I had had a relationship with

  598. God,

  599. I found myself

  600. a few years into serving

  601. and I read this scripture

  602. and I go, "Man, God just spoke to me." I

  603. go, "I think I might be missing it."

  604. He said, "Man, we've been prophesying in

  605. your name, driving out demons in your

  606. name, all these things." And Jesus

  607. says,"Depart from me, you evildoer.

  608. I don't know you. And I was so focused

  609. on serving God that I missed being with

  610. God. Amen.

  611. To know English translators, most

  612. translations say, "I never knew you."

  613. And you look at the original language in

  614. the Greek, it's present tense.

  615. I don't know you or I haven't known you.

  616. Amen.

  617. And it's a parallel word that we would

  618. see in other portions of scripture. Uh

  619. like Adam knew his wife Eve in the

  620. biblical sense. We're all grown here and

  621. we know what that means. But there's a

  622. type of intimacy,

  623. relational peace that comes with that.

  624. Jesus says, "Depart from me.

  625. I never knew you."

  626. It's relational.

  627. It's connection. It's the two becoming

  628. one. He and me, I in him.

  629. One

  630. walking together.

  631. These people that Jesus is addressing

  632. had radical activity, but they didn't

  633. have radical presence. Amen.

  634. Number two in your notes is radical

  635. presence.

  636. Radical presence.

  637. You have to know him, the everlasting

  638. God.

  639. In 2 Chronicles chapter 29,

    2 Chronicles 29 chapter mention

  640. this is a portion of scripture where

  641. Hezekiah has just newly been made king.

  642. And he walks into the temple. He was

  643. following King Ahaz. And Ahaz was not a

  644. good king. Ahaz had turned uh from the

  645. one true god to uh worship other gods

  646. and and just did a lot of really bad

  647. things. But Hezekiah steps in and he's

  648. the new king and he walks into the

  649. temple and the temple is a train wreck,

  650. right? The incense is no longer burning.

  651. The candles are out. It looks like a

  652. storage unit. It's just been an absolute

  653. mess.

  654. 2 Chronicles chap 29 and 11

  655. he says this to the people. He says my

  656. sons do not now be negligent. Say

  657. negligent negligent

  658. >> for the Lord has chosen you to stand in

  659. his presence. Isn't that beautiful

  660. >> to minister to him

  661. and to be his ministers

  662. and make offerings to him.

  663. Number one he addresses them as sons. He

  664. has influence and relationship with

  665. them.

  666. But he says, "Now is the time to not be

  667. negligent." I love the word negligent

  668. there. It's not rebellious. It's not

  669. blasphemous.

  670. It's negligent.

  671. It means we didn't set out to destroy

  672. the temple. We didn't intentionally come

  673. in here and say, "Man, we're going to

  674. mess everything up and we don't want

  675. anything to do with this God." It it

  676. means that we got so sidetracked serving

  677. other gods that we haven't been giving

  678. proper attention to the house of God.

  679. Amen. And you are the temple of the Holy

  680. Spirit. You are the one, the presence of

  681. God dwells on the inside of you if

  682. you've given your life to Jesus. And

  683. sometimes we get so busy serving other

  684. gods

  685. that we forget to tend to the house of

  686. God. Amen.

  687. He says, "The Lord has chosen you to

  688. stand in his presence." That's number

  689. one. Then to minister to him, that's

  690. number two. Then to be his ministers.

  691. That means serving in the church,

  692. reaching other people. That's number

  693. three. And then to make offerings to

  694. him. Did you catch that order?

  695. God chose you

  696. to stand in his presence.

  697. Then you can minister.

  698. Before God asks you to accomplish

  699. something for him, he calls you to stand

  700. with him.

  701. You can be busy. You can be productive.

  702. You can have results.

  703. When you pass from this life into the

  704. next, you can say, "Lord, didn't we

  705. prophesy in your name? Didn't we drive

  706. out demons? Didn't we serve at the

  707. church potluck? Didn't we didn't we help

  708. at the food homeless shelter? Didn't we

  709. do this? Didn't we do that?"

  710. And completely miss it.

  711. You have to know him, the everlasting

  712. God.

  713. Sometimes we have radical activity

  714. and lacking in radical presence.

  715. Presence is the prerequisite for

  716. ministry, not the reward for it.

  717. >> Amen.

  718. >> You can't serve God

  719. to get the presence.

  720. >> You have to be in relationship with God.

  721. Seek Listen, I know some of you in here

  722. are going, "Man, I just I just started

  723. coming to church. I don't even know what

  724. we're talking about anymore. When you're

  725. talking about the presence of God, like

  726. I don't think I've felt that before. I

  727. get it. I've been there. Amen. Can I

  728. tell you that our God is not so distant

  729. and mystical and far off that if you

  730. chase after him, you won't sense his

  731. presence. Amen. I'll say this. I think

  732. that's his one desire for you is to be

  733. in relationship with him in such a way

  734. that you can sense him. The Bible says

  735. this, "They that are led by the spirit

  736. of God are the children of God." Amen.

  737. You are the temple of the Holy Spirit.

  738. That that God's just in us and I'm

  739. sensing him and I'm moving with him and

  740. he's ministering to him. I just stand in

  741. his presence. Now I'm ready for

  742. ministry. Now I'm ready to go serve

  743. somewhere. Right?

  744. Steps of a good man

  745. or ordered of the Lord. That means God

  746. told me to step there. I'm surefooted.

  747. My feet are established.

  748. It's presence first serving.

  749. Here's a danger for every one of us.

  750. Whether you're a pastor or a parent or a

  751. business owner, a student, you can build

  752. you can build an entire life of service

  753. and quietly lose your spiritual sense of

  754. presence.

  755. In Exodus 33,

  756. portion of scripture, man, everything

  757. falls apart with this golden calf

  758. situation. And that's a sermon for

  759. another day. You can read about it. But

  760. God offers Moses an angel uh to lead the

  761. people forward. And Moses refuses the

  762. upgrade.

  763. Exodus 33 and:e1 15. And I'll I'll just

  764. paraphrase this one. He says, "If your

  765. presence doesn't go with us, don't bring

  766. us out of here." Amen.

  767. He says, "Man," and then then the

  768. promise is that the destination is the

  769. promised land.

  770. >> And Moses knows that the promise is the

  771. presence, not the land.

  772. >> God, I'm glad you're taking us

  773. somewhere. I'm glad you're delivering us

  774. out of the hand of Pharaoh and out of

  775. slavery and all. I'm really excited

  776. about all of this, but I don't want to

  777. go to the promised land, Lord, if you're

  778. not there. There's a relationship there.

  779. There's a hunger there. There's a desire

  780. there for the presence of God.

  781. And we get to be so radical in our

  782. service to him, in our relationship with

  783. him. God, if you're not going, I'm not

  784. going.

  785. You guys have friends like this, family

  786. in your life. My wife and I, we've been

  787. together a long time.

  788. Well, what year is it? 25 years we've

  789. been together.

  790. I think we like each other.

  791. But there's a lot of things I get all

  792. excited. I'm the I'm the uh extroverted

  793. one and I get all excited. Well, let's

  794. go do this. And then she's on board.

  795. Ladies, you know, you change your mind

  796. sometimes.

  797. All of a sudden, she she doesn't want to

  798. go. Well, guess what? I lost my desire

  799. to go, right? Because, hun, if you don't

  800. want to go, then I don't want to go. I'm

  801. not going to go by myself. That's weird,

  802. you know? But you guys know that

  803. feeling, that relational piece of like I

  804. I only want to go because you want to

  805. go. There's stuff that we do in

  806. relationships that I would never do by

  807. myself, but because my wife loves it and

  808. I want to be with her, I'll go, men, you

  809. know what I'm talking about.

  810. >> I don't care if I ever step foot into

  811. another mall the rest of my life.

  812. >> You know what I'm talking about. But she

  813. wants to Yeah. You know what it did?

  814. Yesterday,

  815. uh, we went to Fresh Time Market and to

  816. Costco on a Saturday.

  817. >> What on earth? Never in my right mind

  818. would I choose to do that on a Saturday.

  819. Um,

  820. >> all the red lights and the people and

  821. this guy cut me off. It's this whole

  822. thing. And in the parking lots, I mean,

  823. that's insane. You just sit there and

  824. watch the hundred carts go by people and

  825. then there's people that just stop and

  826. it's like, there's so many humans here.

  827. Then we go into the stores. But my wife

  828. wanted to go. You know what? We had a

  829. phenomenal time.

  830. >> We had a great time. Mosy through. I got

  831. lost a little while in Costco. I had to

  832. find my wife.

  833. >> But I'd rather do that than sit home and

  834. do nothing

  835. >> because I wanted to be with her.

  836. Our relationship with God is so much

  837. more.

  838. I don't want to go do these other

  839. things. I'm not interested.

  840. appreciate the heart of Moses. God, if

  841. you're not going, I'm not going.

  842. That single attribute will lead you to

  843. serve the radical life, to experience

  844. the radical life, to experience radical

  845. presence.

  846. Negligence is rarely loud rebellion.

  847. Sometimes

  848. it's working for God while losing the

  849. awareness of God himself.

  850. There's a pastor, maybe some of you are

  851. familiar with it, Francis Chan. He

  852. planted a church out west and built a

  853. church, uh, phenomenal, very high impact

  854. church and mega church and just had lots

  855. of influence. All of a sudden, he's all

  856. over the internet. He's speaking at

  857. conferences. Francis Ch is just a great,

  858. great guy. And he ended up resigning and

  859. leaving the church that he planted. When

  860. asked why,

  861. he said, "I think we've learned how to

  862. do church so well that we don't need God

  863. anymore."

  864. They knew how to have the smoke machine

  865. come just that right moment. Oh, and

  866. that piano player is classically. Oh,

  867. it's just so beautiful. And he knew how

  868. to make the people emotional with the

  869. music. He says, "Even in my preaching, I

  870. knew how to how to preach in such a way

  871. that would make people emotional and get

  872. them to maybe make a decision." He goes,

  873. "I was doing all this and it was really

  874. good and it was a lot of things looked

  875. really great, but he goes, I got to the

  876. end of it, I go, I think we've learned

  877. how to do church so well that we don't

  878. know God real well.

  879. Uh

  880. yeah, let's just serve God.

  881. I just want to be led by the spirit of

  882. God.

  883. Hezekiah says, "Don't now be negligent."

  884. But first things first,

  885. we don't serve to earn his presence.

  886. We serve because we've stood in his

  887. presence.

  888. Number three in your notes is radical

  889. foundation.

  890. Radical foundation. Jesus continues in

  891. Matthew Matthew chapter 7

    Matthew 7 chapter mention

  892. in verse 24. He says, "Everyone

  893. say everyone."

  894. >> Everyone.

  895. >> Everyone then who hears these words of

  896. mine, catch this, and does them. That's

  897. where the big disconnect happens.

  898. Sometimes

  899. we in America sometimes we're so

  900. overchurched. We know the right thing to

  901. do. We just haven't done it yet.

  902. Everyone then who hears these words of

  903. mine and does them will be like a wise

  904. man who built his house on the rock.

  905. The rain fell, the floods came, the

  906. winds blew and beat on that house, but

  907. it did not fall because it had been

  908. founded on the rock.

  909. And everyone who hears these words of

  910. mine and does not do them will be like a

  911. foolish man who built his house on the

  912. sand.

  913. The rain fell, the floods came, the

  914. winds blew and beat against that house

  915. and it fell and great was the fall of

  916. it.

  917. Both houses

  918. had the same storm. If you're saved and

  919. you're built on the foundation, the rock

  920. Jesus Christ, you're not exempt from

  921. storms. The winds blew, the rains came,

  922. the floods came, all of the things

  923. happened to both houses. One was built

  924. on the foundation, Jesus Christ. That

  925. means relationship with Jesus. The other

  926. was built on sand. That's anything other

  927. than Jesus.

  928. One stood,

  929. the other fell.

  930. Some of you are old enough to remember

  931. this.

  932. 1992. Who's old enough to remember

  933. anything from 1992? Where are my old

  934. folks at? Hallelujah.

  935. Just Just getting the temperature of the

  936. crowd, seeing who I'm talking to.

  937. Yep.

  938. 1992.

  939. You guys remember Hurricane Andrew?

  940. South Florida. It destroyed entire

  941. neighborhoods. I mean, it just wiped

  942. houses off the map. Absolute

  943. devastation. Looked like a war zone.

  944. There was rips were ripped off and walls

  945. that had collapsed. And uh in the middle

  946. of all of that destruction,

  947. there was one house that stood

  948. and uh the news of course was all over

  949. it. And uh lady on the newscast uh finds

  950. this one man and they're standing by the

  951. house and they're doing the interview

  952. and she asks the question. She says,

  953. "Hey, all these houses are falling down.

  954. How come yours is the one that stood?" I

  955. want you to hear his response.

  956. I love this. He says, "I built this

  957. house myself.

  958. Build it according to the Florida State

  959. Building Code." He was a good old boy,

  960. by the way. He says, "When the code

  961. called for 2x6 trusses, I used 2x6

  962. trusses.

  963. I was told that a house built according

  964. to code could withstand a hurricane.

  965. And it did.

  966. Isn't that interesting?

  967. This old guy, he says, "I don't know why

  968. everybody else's house fell." He goes,

  969. "I I just followed the rule. I don't

  970. know why mine's still standing. I just

  971. followed the building code. I built it

  972. the way that I was supposed to. And my

  973. neighbor's house fell and their house

  974. fell and the entire neighborhood fell.

  975. For some reason, my house is still

  976. standing because I followed the rules.

  977. Yes.

  978. >> Can I tell you that this is the rule

  979. book?

  980. >> You'll enter through the narrow gate.

  981. You'll build upon the foundation, Jesus

  982. Christ. You'll be a wise builder. Amen.

  983. And when everything else falls apart,

  984. when the end of it all comes, you're

  985. going to be a house that's still

  986. standing.

  987. I'm preaching better than you're amening

  988. today.

  989. Here's the problem. Humanity loves

  990. shortcuts.

  991. We don't like to put in the hard work.

  992. It's uncomfortable to crucify my flesh.

  993. And it's it's not Pastor Dan was talking

  994. about daily devotions earlier every day.

  995. I have to read my Bible every day. Yeah,

  996. you don't have to.

  997. You don't have to.

  998. No, you can do anything you want to do.

  999. But if we want to build

  1000. upon the foundation and we want to do it

  1001. like a Can I say this? It matters how

  1002. you build. If you want to be like a wise

  1003. builder, we have to know the building

  1004. code.

  1005. Preaching to somebody today.

  1006. We choose convenience over commitment,

  1007. comfort over sacrifice.

  1008. We do just what we have to do, but not

  1009. everything we're supposed to do.

  1010. Building our lives out of wood, hay, and

  1011. straw.

  1012. Uh, men,

  1013. you guys ever built some of this IKEA

  1014. furniture?

  1015. Yeah, I have a wife and four kids. I've

  1016. built a lot of IKEA furniture. Uh, I

  1017. tend to build it with no directions.

  1018. I don't like the piece of paper that

  1019. goes aside. I don't even know. It's lost

  1020. in the box somewhere. And I'm just

  1021. figuring it out. I'm like, I can figure

  1022. out this Swedish stuff. I don't know.

  1023. You know, now I'm putting it all

  1024. together. You ever have extra parts left

  1025. over and you're like, I'm not sure where

  1026. that was supposed to go.

  1027. Yeah. And then you do it and it wobbles

  1028. or you sit on it and you're like, I'm

  1029. afraid I'm going to you know,

  1030. fall down and you go back to the drawing

  1031. board. I'm sometimes we'll go find the

  1032. directions. I'm like, I missed it

  1033. somewhere. I don't know. Yeah,

  1034. you have to build according to the

  1035. directions if you want it to be sturdy.

  1036. We want to build with cheap materials

  1037. and not follow the directions

  1038. and then we're confused when life falls

  1039. apart.

  1040. I said then we're confused when life

  1041. falls apart.

  1042. It's interesting

  1043. when you build with the right materials

  1044. and you build on the right right

  1045. foundation.

  1046. Life can happen. The storms can come. I

  1047. know many I'm looking around and a lot

  1048. of storms are represented here.

  1049. Major storms of life and somehow you're

  1050. still standing. Do you know why?

  1051. Because you're built on the foundation

  1052. Jesus Christ.

  1053. >> If you're in here and you're going,

  1054. "Man, I've been through a lot of storms,

  1055. but I've fell down every single time

  1056. and it's a heavy weight on me." Can I

  1057. challenge you and encourage you to start

  1058. to build in a new way?

  1059. To start to build on a new foundation,

  1060. man, get crazy for Christ. Get radical.

  1061. Get serious about this thing.

  1062. 1 Corinthians chapter 3

    1 Corinthians 3 chapter mention

  1063. and verse 10 says this, "By the grace

  1064. God has given me." Paul says,"I laid a

  1065. foundation as a wise builder, and

  1066. someone else is building on it, but each

  1067. one should build with care,

  1068. for no one can lay any foundation other

  1069. than the one already laid, which is

  1070. Jesus Christ."

  1071. Listen to verse 12. He says, "If anyone

  1072. builds on this foundation using gold,

  1073. silver, costly stones, wood, hair, or

  1074. straw,

  1075. their work will be shown for what it

  1076. is." Because the day will bring it to

  1077. light.

  1078. It will be revealed with fire.

  1079. And the fire will test the quality of

  1080. each person's work.

  1081. If what has been built survives,

  1082. the builder will receive a reward.

  1083. If it's burned up, the builder will

  1084. suffer loss, but yet will be saved,

  1085. even though only as one escaping

  1086. through the flames.

  1087. Stand to our feet all over this house. I

  1088. want to ask the worship team to join me

  1089. up here.

  1090. He says the fire will test the quality

  1091. of each person's work.

  1092. The fire will test the quality of the

  1093. work.

  1094. God is more concerned with what you're

  1095. building,

  1096. what you're building with, and where

  1097. you're building it more than how fast

  1098. you're building it. Amen.

  1099. >> Amen.

  1100. >> You can build a hut pretty quick with

  1101. straw.

  1102. But I wouldn't want to be in it through

  1103. a hurricane

  1104. or a fire.

  1105. To build with

  1106. stone,

  1107. it's heavy,

  1108. laborsome.

  1109. To build with precious metals like gold,

  1110. precious stones

  1111. takes time and intricacy,

  1112. intentionality, skill.

  1113. Jesus said,

  1114. "On this rock I will build my church,

  1115. and the gates of hell shall not prevail

  1116. against it." I believe this church, if

  1117. we are established and set and built

  1118. upon the foundation of Jesus Christ,

  1119. hell can throw any fire they want at us.

  1120. >> Listen, the gates of hell shall not

  1121. prevail against it. But I'll tell you

  1122. this, it matters how you build.

  1123. Storms are coming. The fire's coming.

  1124. Will we stand?

  1125. Praise you, Jesus. Father, I thank you,

  1126. Lord.

  1127. >> I thank you, Father, that you've allowed

  1128. us, Lord, to be in right relationship

  1129. with you.

  1130. >> God, you've called us to serve you in

  1131. such a way that is simply relationship

  1132. with you.

  1133. Father, I pray for those in this room

  1134. that have yet to clearly

  1135. and really sense your presence. Father,

  1136. I take pray today would be a different

  1137. day. Lord, that you would meet them

  1138. right where they stand right now.

  1139. Father, that they would sense you and

  1140. see you and know that you are everywhere

  1141. all the time. That you're available.

  1142. Father, I pray that we would be

  1143. presenceled,

  1144. spiritled.

  1145. Father, I pray for those that have

  1146. built

  1147. and been destroyed

  1148. >> and built and been destroyed. Father, I

  1149. pray

  1150. that today, Lord, you give them the

  1151. spiritual blueprints for a wise builder

  1152. to build upon the rock.

  1153. >> Father, I'm thankful that you've made a

  1154. way for us to escape

  1155. >> the clutches of hell. God,

  1156. >> you've delivered us. You've set our feet

  1157. upon a rock.

  1158. And father, I'll shout it from the

  1159. rooftops. The goodness of God.

  1160. >> Praise you, Jesus. Hallelujah. Saints,

  1161. could we begin to praise him together?

  1162. Thank you, Lord. Father, you are a good

  1163. God. Praise you, Jesus. Hallelujah. We

  1164. love you today, God. You're worthy of

  1165. our praise today, God. Thank you, Jesus.

  1166. Father, we're just going to get radical

  1167. for you, Lord. Father, we're going to go

  1168. allin with you, Lord. We refuse to hold

  1169. back any longer. But God, you've been a

  1170. good God to us and we we came to worship

  1171. you, Father. We came to lift up the name

  1172. above every name. Father, we're going

  1173. all in today. Praise you, Jesus.

  1174. Hallelujah.

  1175. Thank you, Lord.

  1176. Thank you, Jesus. Father, I pray for

  1177. every soul in this room. I pray for

  1178. every person watching online, Father,

  1179. that you meet them right in their living

  1180. room.

  1181. Praise you, Jesus.

  1182. Thank you Lord.

  1183. Father, we thank you God for speaking to

  1184. our hearts, to our souls today. I pray

  1185. that you continue with us now in Jesus

  1186. name.

  1187. >> Amen. We're going to open the altars now

  1188. and end our service with a time of

  1189. worship. I want to challenge you today

  1190. to go allin and get radical for Jesus.

  1191. Thank you for listening to today's

  1192. message from Grace Summit Church. We

  1193. hope it encourages you to walk out your

  1194. faith this week. If you're in the Fort

  1195. Wayne area, we'd love to meet you in

  1196. person. Join us for a Sunday service at

  1197. 9:15 or 11:00 a.m. on East Duvant Road

  1198. or connect with us online anytime at

  1199. graceummiturch.com.

  1200. Have a blessed week and we'll see you

  1201. next time.