Sermon

What to do? Do the do - Pastor Kipp Penrod

Life House Church

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  1. Thank you for listening to this message from

  2. Lifehouse Church. Do one thing, I want you to

  3. bow your heads with me. We're gonna pray over

  4. the word of God as we get ready for this message.

  5. So if you'd bow your heads right now. Father,

  6. thank you for this time together. Thank you,

  7. Lord, for God, your mercy. God, I thank you for

  8. your love. I thank you for your peace. I thank

  9. you for your presence. God, I ask that the word

  10. of God would settle into our hearts and into

  11. our minds. And Lord, it wouldn't just be something

  12. we think about. It wouldn't be something, Lord,

  13. that we just contemplate. But God, it would be

  14. something that changes us today. God, that we

  15. might move closer into the kingdom. God, that

  16. we might know you deeper. And Lord, that you

  17. might move in and among us. And we just give

  18. you praise in Jesus' name. And amen. Amen. Well,

  19. I want you to picture this. 120 individuals fill

  20. an upper room in ancient Jerusalem. The year

  21. is somewhere between 30 and 33 AD. And for this

  22. group of people, for this 120, they're there

  23. for one purpose and one purpose only. They're

  24. there to wait for the gift that Jesus said he

  25. would send when he left. This gift would not

  26. come in a box with a nice... piece of wrapping

  27. paper around it and a ribbon tied on the top.

  28. This would not be a small amount of money or

  29. a large amount of money or a gift card in any

  30. kind of way. They would not receive a car, real

  31. estate, or actually, because it was back then,

  32. a new camel or donkey, right? This gift would

  33. be pure divinity. This gift would be a spiritual

  34. companion, someone who would guide them and confident

  35. to walk with them. And they and millions more,

  36. would get to know and receive this gift. Not

  37. something, but someone. Someone who would empower

  38. them. Someone who would coach them. Someone who

  39. would encourage them. Someone who would divinely

  40. lead and guide them. God's very presence would

  41. enter that room where there were 120 gathered

  42. together, and just like a mighty rushing wind,

  43. God's Spirit, the Holy Spirit, would fill the

  44. house where they're at, and it would not only

  45. fill the room, but it would fill them. He would

  46. come and fill them, the gift of the Holy Spirit.

  47. Why would they need this gift? What was the purpose

  48. that God had in all this? It was to empower them

  49. to take the gospel of Jesus Christ around the

  50. globe. They would need the Holy Spirit to infuse

  51. them with boldness and with courage. They would

  52. need the Holy Spirit's discernment to stand against

  53. the enemy who had schemes and plots just like

  54. he does against us. They would need divine direction.

  55. to navigate every challenge, they would need

  56. Holy Spirit's gifts to be an effective witness

  57. for Christ. And once that gift arrives and all

  58. of them in the house are baptized in the Holy

  59. Spirit, in his presence, in his power, they leave

  60. that room and they pour out into the streets

  61. of Jerusalem. They go place to place and they

  62. don't go out just walking. They don't go out

  63. just rejoicing for what God just did for them.

  64. They go out and they begin to share and they

  65. begin to glorify God. And not in their native

  66. language, not in the language that they could

  67. speak, but supernaturally speaking the message

  68. of God in tongues. There were 15 to 17 distinct

  69. languages represented in Jerusalem at that period

  70. of time with the people that came in to celebrate

  71. the festival. full. Pentecost was taking place.

  72. They came into that area. There were 15 to 17

  73. different dialects and they go out and supernaturally

  74. begin to speak in other languages. In a bold

  75. moment, in a bold moment in the streets, the

  76. apostle Peter stands up in the middle of all

  77. this and he begins to give a message. He begins

  78. to tell the people about Jesus Christ. And the

  79. word of God says that approximately 3 ,000 people

  80. believe the message that Jesus is the prophesied

  81. Messiah. Approximately 3 ,000 people believe

  82. that he is in fact the son of the living God.

  83. Approximately 3 ,000 believe that they are saved

  84. from sin, death, hell, and the grave. 3 ,000

  85. now know that Jesus redeems and brings us into

  86. right relationship with God. Right? Condemnation

  87. gone, sin washed away, adopted now as sons and

  88. daughters of God. And in one day, the church

  89. of Jesus Christ is birthed. 2 ,000 plus years

  90. later, the church, big C, you're sitting in it

  91. right now, Jesus people, Jesus community, is

  92. the largest, I don't know if you know this or

  93. not, is the largest organization on the face

  94. of the planet. No other organization even comes

  95. close. There are 2 .3 to 2 .4 billion, say billion.

  96. Yeah, with a B, right? Christians worldwide on

  97. the planet today, 29 to 32 % of the global population.

  98. The church, a community who follows Jesus as

  99. king and as a leader and as God. And this community

  100. is like no other because it's not just a kingdom

  101. or an organization that has membership. You might

  102. have a membership to some other organization

  103. than the church this morning. Some of you might

  104. belong to Planet Fitness, right? You give them

  105. $10, $20 a month, and you go once every three

  106. months to the gym. Amen. Raise your hand if you

  107. know what I'm talking about, right? Some of you

  108. might belong to Platinum Gym here locally, right?

  109. You might belong to the YMCA. You could be part

  110. of the Carlisle swim team. You might be part

  111. of Quilters of America, all right? Quilting might

  112. be your thing. You might even be a member of

  113. Lifehouse Church here this morning. As you listen

  114. here in the house, yeah, come on. Yeah, who did

  115. that? Do it again. Come on. Yeah, right? Yeah,

  116. you might be a member. You might hold a membership

  117. card. You might even have a passport that says

  118. you're a citizen of the United States. But in

  119. Jesus' community, you receive a whole different

  120. status. There's a whole different set of papers

  121. that go along with it. Because in Jesus' community,

  122. you're adopted into the kingdom, all right? You

  123. have adoption papers. Your name is written in

  124. a book, the Lamb's Book of Life, and it is lodged

  125. up in heaven. And you are one of the sons or

  126. daughters of God this morning. You should give

  127. the Lord a hand for that if you're saved, amen?

  128. Sons and daughters of the king. adopted into

  129. the kingdom of God, which blows my mind every

  130. time I think about it, every time I begin to

  131. contemplate it. But one of the most challenging

  132. parts of this divine adoption that we experience

  133. through salvation and faith in Jesus Christ is

  134. what and who I am. What am I supposed to be doing

  135. as a daughter or a son of the Most High? One

  136. of the greatest struggles of those who come into

  137. God's kingdom, right, while they're here on earth,

  138. is the realization that they come into a new

  139. family, and they wonder, what in the world am

  140. I supposed to be doing? Sometimes we struggle

  141. with that. Even if you're not new into the kingdom

  142. of God, what am I supposed to be doing? Because

  143. here's the deal. You weren't born sons and daughters

  144. of God. You become sons and daughters of God.

  145. As a matter of fact, depending on when you got

  146. saved, it depends how long, right? Really depends,

  147. really kind of lays out how long you've actually

  148. been separated from God. We're born separated

  149. from God. We come close to God through salvation.

  150. We begin to understand who he is. We begin to

  151. really realize that we're sons and daughters.

  152. And if you've been living for 50 years and all

  153. of a sudden you get saved, right? In a moment

  154. in time, you're wondering, wait a minute, what

  155. just happened? Who am I now? What am I supposed

  156. to be doing? It's a little like if you were living

  157. in America for the last 50 years, all of a sudden

  158. in one day, you got plucked up, they stuck you

  159. in Russia somewhere and just left you and said,

  160. now you're a Russian. How many know that'd be

  161. a little bit foreign? That'd be a little weird,

  162. right? How many know you'd probably just sit

  163. down somewhere and think, what in the world am

  164. I supposed to do? Right? Who am I supposed to

  165. be? What in the world is happening right now?

  166. It's like if you lived in our household and you

  167. became a Penrod, that's my last name, right?

  168. And you've been a Penrod for the last 10, 20,

  169. 30, 40, 50 years, and then all of a sudden somebody

  170. pulls you up and says, well, you're not a Penrod

  171. anymore. You're a Carmichael. I made that up

  172. because I don't know any Carmichaels. All right?

  173. You're a Carmichael. And you're like, wait a

  174. minute. What am I supposed to be doing? Maybe

  175. you didn't come to Jesus when you were five or

  176. 10. Maybe you live like a hellion for 10, 20,

  177. 30, 40, 50 years in sin. Far from God. Dead in

  178. sin, right? And bam, you get saved. And all of

  179. a sudden, you're in a whole different community.

  180. All of a sudden, you're a son or daughter of

  181. God. And you're wondering, what in the world

  182. am I supposed to be doing? I got good news for

  183. you. No matter how long ago when you got saved,

  184. Jesus sent us the Holy Spirit and the Word of

  185. God to help us work this whole thing out, to

  186. empower us and to teach us what we should do

  187. as children of God. So today we're going to do

  188. the do. Say, do the do. Turn to somebody right

  189. now, tell them, do the do. Do the do right now,

  190. all right? In Acts chapter 2, verse 41, as soon

    Acts 2:41

  191. as those 3 ,000 individuals in Jerusalem come

  192. to follow Jesus, and the Holy Spirit begins to

  193. lead their lives, they begin to do something

  194. very different. Acts 2 .41 says this, then those

  195. who gladly received his word were baptized, and

  196. that day about 3 ,000 souls were added to them,

  197. and they continued steadfastly in the apostle's

  198. doctrine. This was something different they began

  199. to do, and in fellowship, And in the breaking

  200. of bread and in prayers, then fear came upon

  201. every soul and many wonders and signs were done

  202. through the apostles. Now all who believed together

  203. had all things in common and sold their possessions

  204. and goods and divided them among all, anyone

  205. who had need. A community of Jesus followers,

  206. 3 ,000 probably plus people come to know Christ

  207. in a day and they begin to do something very

  208. different. One, they begin to fellowship with

  209. one another. Fellowship is spending time with

  210. someone. If you spend time with somebody, you're

  211. giving somebody a gift. I don't know if you realize

  212. it, but time is one of the greatest. Maybe most

  213. valuable gifts you can ever give anybody. Because

  214. guess what? None of us get any more of it, right?

  215. Every single one of you get the same 24 hours

  216. in a day. You've got the same amount of minutes

  217. every single day. We all do. And when you give

  218. time and you fellowship with someone, you get

  219. in their presence. It's a gift. That's what the

  220. early believers began to do. Something changed.

  221. They started giving away their time. The Word

  222. of God says they began to break bread. One of

  223. my favorite spiritual things to do is eat. Come

  224. on, it's in the word of God. It is, it's right

  225. here, right? I love to eat. It's a Jesus community

  226. sport around here, all right? We get together

  227. and eat. I recently got the opportunity to go

  228. to Tangier Island and we support that mission

  229. work here. And Tangier is located 12 miles out

  230. in the middle of the Chesapeake Bay outside of

  231. the coast of Virginia. And here at Lifehouse,

  232. Charlie and Laura, I don't know where you're

  233. at, somewhere in the house here, but they lead

  234. the mission strip that takes place that goes

  235. down to Tangier Island. And they go down at other

  236. periods of time to really scope things out, to

  237. check things out, to do follow -up and all those

  238. kinds of things. And I tagged along on one of

  239. those trips. So it was just the three of us.

  240. And we went down. And one of the things that

  241. took place, is that I got invited to Jackie and

  242. Marlene McCready's house. Sweetest couple I think

  243. I've ever met in my life. They didn't know me

  244. from Adam. They just knew I was a pastor. They

  245. knew I was a fellow believer. I got hugged when

  246. I got to the house. They made me oysters because

  247. Tangier is a crabbing and an oyster industry

  248. is what took place there. They made me the best

  249. oysters I've ever had in my stinking life. They

  250. were awesome. I wanted to move in, all right?

  251. It was awesome. And there was something different,

  252. right? When you get with believers and fellow

  253. believers, there's something different that takes

  254. place. This doesn't happen out in the world.

  255. There's this instant connection because of the

  256. cause of Christ and who we serve. And this is

  257. what the early church, things look different.

  258. They begin to do things different. They pray

  259. together. They believe together. They were so

  260. engrossed in authentic Christian community that

  261. if anybody had need in the church, They sold

  262. their possessions. They sold their extra stuff,

  263. man. They had a yard sale. They had a real estate

  264. sale, and they gave the proceeds to people that

  265. were in need. They loved one another that much.

  266. Jesus said it in John 13, 34, a new commandment

  267. I give to you, that you love one another as I

  268. loved you, that you also love one another. They

  269. did the do. They began to do things differently.

  270. Christian community demands that I do. Say I

  271. do. It's like getting married, man. I do Jesus

  272. stuff. If I follow Jesus, if he saved me, he

  273. redeemed me, he baptized me, right, and I'm a

  274. follower of Jesus, I do Jesus stuff. I do what

  275. Jesus did. I do what Jesus says. John 14, 15

  276. says, if you love me, this is Jesus speaking.

  277. Keep my commandments. Commandment is something

  278. you do. It's not something you just think about,

  279. right? You keep my commandments. And I will pray

  280. the Father, and he will give you a helper that

  281. he may abide with you forever. The spirit of

  282. truth, whom the world cannot receive because

  283. it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know

  284. him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.

  285. I will not leave you orphans. I will come to

  286. you. Jesus says, do the do. And then I'm going

  287. to send the Holy Spirit to help you do the do.

  288. Amen? That's a lot of do's, I know. Jesus said,

  289. if you love me, you'll do the do. I'll not leave

  290. you helpless. I'll not leave you alone. I'll

  291. not leave you an orphan. Matter of fact, I'm

  292. going to send you a helper so that you can do.

  293. How many know you don't need a helper if you're

  294. not doing anything? Amen? You don't need a helper

  295. if you're not doing anything. If you're not carrying

  296. anything, if you're not working on anything,

  297. if you're not cleaning up anything, you don't

  298. need a helper. How many of you do not need help

  299. to loaf? Amen. How many of you can loaf all on

  300. your own? Praise God. You can, right? My grandchildren,

  301. they were all up here in the front. That was

  302. that noisy crew right here. And they were all

  303. up front here, love them all to death. But sometimes

  304. they want me to do stuff for them. They'll say,

  305. hey, Poppy, get me a drink. Now, some of them

  306. are like. 10, eight, you know, six years old

  307. now, and I'm like, hey, what are those two long

  308. things hooked at the bottom of your body? They're

  309. like, legs. And I'm like, are they broke? They're

  310. like, no. Can you get yourself a drink? Yeah,

  311. right? How many know they don't need any help?

  312. They're just seeing what they can get out of

  313. Poppy, right? They can see Poppy will go do it.

  314. You don't need help if you're not doing anything.

  315. Jesus sent the Holy Spirit because you need help.

  316. Now, my grandchildren are carrying three gallons

  317. of water. I'm going to go help them if they need

  318. help. We need help when we're engaged in doing

  319. the do. To be a Christian means that I do things.

  320. I do Jesus stuff. Jesus sends me. I got to go

  321. do it because he commanded me, and then I got

  322. the helper, the Holy Spirit, doing it. Amen?

  323. It's true. And if I'm not doing it, I got to

  324. start questioning my Christianity. If I'm not

  325. doing anything for God, I got to start to question

  326. what I'm doing, right? It's kind of like calling

  327. myself a cowboy and never getting near a cow,

  328. amen? All right, calling myself an outdoorsman,

  329. but I never go outdoors. To be Christian is to

  330. do. To be Christian is to do what Jesus did and

  331. what he says to do. And I got to ask myself,

  332. and I want you to ask yourself, am I doing the

  333. do? Am I doing the do? Whatever that is, whatever

  334. God speaks to you, whatever he teaches in his

  335. commands, are you doing the do? Over and over

  336. again, Jesus teaches us in Scripture what we

  337. should do. Jesus is preaching one day. He's on

  338. a hillside. on the northwestern shore of the

  339. Sea of Galilee in the northern part of Israel,

  340. right? Roughly 500 feet above sea level. Hundreds

  341. or possibly thousands of people congregate on

  342. this hillside. And it just so happens that this

  343. hillside really kind of naturally creates an

  344. amphitheater. And Jesus begins to preach, and

  345. he begins to tell them thing after thing that

  346. they should do. as they follow Christ. I'm just

  347. going to read you one. It's in Matthew 6, 24.

  348. It says this. No one can serve two masters, for

  349. either he will hate the one and love the other,

  350. or else he will be loyal to the one and despise

  351. the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. Mammon

  352. is wealth, by the way, money. Therefore, I say

  353. to you, Do not worry about your life, what you

  354. will eat or what you will drink, nor about your

  355. body, what you will put on. Is not life more

  356. than food and the body more than clothing? Look

  357. at the birds of the air, for they neither sow

  358. nor reap nor gather into barns, yet your heavenly

  359. Father feeds them. Are you not of more value

  360. than they? Which of you, by worrying, can add

  361. one cubit to their statute? So why do you worry?

  362. Come on, turn to somebody, tell them, don't worry.

  363. Stop worrying, tell them, stop worrying right

  364. now, all right? So why do you worry about clothing?

  365. Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow.

  366. They neither toil nor spin, and yet I say to

  367. you that even Solomon in all his glory was not

  368. arrayed like one of these. Now if God so clothes

  369. the grass of the field, which is today, and tomorrow

  370. is thrown into the oven, will he not much more

  371. clothe you, O ye of little faith? Therefore do

  372. not worry, saying, What shall we eat, or what

  373. shall we drink, or what shall we wear? But after

  374. these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly

  375. Father knows that you have need of these things.

  376. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness,

  377. and all these things will be added to you. Therefore,

  378. do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will

  379. worry about its own things. Sufficient for the

  380. day is its own trouble. Jesus tells everybody

  381. on that hillside what to do and what not to do.

  382. He really does. And he starts with what not to

  383. do. He says, do not worry about your physical

  384. needs. Don't worry about your provision. Don't

  385. worry about your possessions in life, your food,

  386. your clothing. Don't fret about what house you're

  387. going to live in. Don't wring your hands, right?

  388. Don't get worked up. Don't stay scared at night.

  389. Don't get anxious about the provision that you

  390. have or don't have. Jesus says, don't worry about

  391. it. Turn to somebody and tell them, don't worry

  392. about it. Say it with a little attitude. Don't

  393. worry about it. And listen, Jesus is not just

  394. giving a glib, insincere or short -sighted answer

  395. for what can be a very real issue in our heads

  396. and heart. He's not saying this smugly, don't

  397. just worry about it, right? He's not saying that.

  398. Have you ever had somebody come up and tell you,

  399. just don't worry about it? You ever get super

  400. concerned about something and something just

  401. weighing on your head and heart and you're all

  402. stressed out, you're all freaked out about it.

  403. You spent nights and nights awake running over

  404. different scenarios in your mind, right? It could

  405. be an opportunity at a job. It could be paying,

  406. you got a bill that you need to pay. You need

  407. provision of some kind, whatever it is. And you

  408. find somebody that you need to tell about this.

  409. And you take 30 to 60 minutes and you unfold

  410. in immense detail. Right? Exactly what the issue

  411. is, what the problem is, you know, and how much

  412. stress this is causing your life, and they're

  413. just like, well, just don't worry about it. What

  414. do you want to do? Come on. What do you want?

  415. I'm going to be kind. Yeah, some of you are like,

  416. punch him, man. But I was going to say, like,

  417. flick him in the forehead. Right? I'm trying

  418. to keep this nice, right? But you just want to

  419. flick somebody between the eyes, just pow, right

  420. between the eyes. Don't you understand? I just

  421. unfolded how stressful all this is. Jesus wasn't

  422. making light of worrisome things. He really wasn't.

  423. But he was trying to give him instruction. He's

  424. saying, seek first the kingdom of God and his

  425. righteousness, and then all the stuff's going

  426. to get added in. Just seek him first. Go after

  427. him first. But how many know that can be such

  428. a hard thing to do? It's not the natural thing,

  429. right? especially if you just got saved, if you've

  430. not been following God very long. It doesn't

  431. feel natural. We got to retrain our brains to

  432. do this, to seek God first and his righteousness

  433. first, because our default is to do something

  434. completely different from that. Our default is

  435. if I need provision of some kind, if I need possessions,

  436. I start thinking of different things, right?

  437. I know there's some students in here, a bunch

  438. of them, and we start thinking, man, I need a

  439. good education. Yes, good idea, you do, but it's

  440. not the first priority. You might be thinking,

  441. well, I'm not making enough money, man, and I

  442. need a better job. Good idea. But it's not the

  443. first priority. God, I need to go look for some

  444. things that I'm really in need of. Awesome. But

  445. it's not the first priority. God, I need this

  446. and I'm going to go steal it. Bad idea. Never

  447. a priority. If you're thinking that, I need to

  448. talk to you after gathering. Right over there.

  449. All right? But Jesus said, Christians don't do

  450. that first when seeking provision or possessions

  451. or really anything that we need. He said, seek

  452. first the kingdom and his righteousness. He adds

  453. that on. Why? Why do we seek first the kingdom?

  454. Because our king has an endless supply of provision

  455. that you need. Amen? He has an endless supply.

  456. He has an endless supply of resources, an endless

  457. supply of connections, an endless network. He

  458. has endless resources that you can attain or

  459. he can attain. He has endless everything. So

  460. why would we go to any other source, including

  461. ourselves? We go to him first. And he says, seek

  462. first the kingdom. And then he adds this on.

  463. He said, then seek my righteousness. Because

  464. we need his righteousness when we're managing

  465. provisions, right? when we're managing wealth,

  466. when we're managing anything that he lays in

  467. our hands, how many know money can mess you up

  468. if you don't have godly direction in it? It can

  469. mess you up. Money and possessions can become

  470. a priority. They can become an obsession. They

  471. can become a desire in your life, right? It's

  472. not uncommon for people to believe that if just

  473. a little more money, just a little more possession,

  474. a little more status, a little more of this,

  475. a little more of that, and somehow, I'm going

  476. to hit the threshold of happy, right? It's right

  477. there in front of me. That's not it. That's messed

  478. up. It's messed up. That's why you need the righteousness

  479. part. You want to do this thing. How many know,

  480. how many know we've all seen the news articles

  481. where somebody takes somebody's life for a pair

  482. of sneakers, right, in the street? Or they kill

  483. someone for a wallet that has $12 in it. Right?

  484. We need his righteousness. Seek first the kingdom

  485. of God. This is the do. This is the do. Seek

  486. his kingdom. Seek his righteousness. And the

  487. word of God says he'll add all the other provision,

  488. the possessions, the direction. I know for some

  489. students, man, they're always looking like, man,

  490. I don't know what to do. First thing we do is

  491. run to the career office. They're like, what

  492. do I do? I want to make X amount of dollars per

  493. year, and I need to do this and I do that. Hey,

  494. how about seeking God first, right? Go get some

  495. good counsel. You need to do that afterwards.

  496. But the first thing you do is seek God. Lord,

  497. where do you got me going in life? What do you

  498. want me to do? Even if you're 50, 60, how many

  499. of you are past, way past, how many of you remember

  500. high school at all? It's so far back there, you

  501. can't even remember that thing, right? But you're

  502. still making decisions, man. You're still walking

  503. forward in life, and you got to seek Him first.

  504. Society is full of people who are stressed out,

  505. anxiety -ridden. I looked this up. 88 % of Americans

  506. are stressed out and in anxiety. over money and

  507. stuff. That's hard to believe. We live in the

  508. richest nation in the world, and 88 % of us are

  509. stressed out. Jesus said, I got a better way.

  510. Worship team, if you'd come, I got something

  511. better for you to do. Seek me first. The early

  512. church did things differently. The church of

  513. Jesus Christ now, we should do things differently.

  514. Over the next multiple weeks, I'm going to spend

  515. time unfolding in God's word what we're supposed

  516. to do. I get asked that so much as a pastor.

  517. It's one of the questions, leading questions

  518. I get. If I had to, I can't put a percentage

  519. to it, but I'm telling you, a good percentage

  520. of the questions that come to me is when people

  521. come up and say, Pastor, I've been in the middle

  522. of something here and I need to know what to

  523. do. I understand. I get it. I've been there.

  524. And I want you to know what to do. I want you

  525. to know what to do when you're high. I want you

  526. to know what to do when you're low. I want you

  527. to know what to do when you're in the middle

  528. somewhere. And it's not my advice, not my opinion.

  529. You can go get a billion of those online anytime

  530. you want. I want to know what God has to say

  531. about this. So I'm going to ask you to stand

  532. this morning. And here's what I'm going to ask

  533. you to do. As you stand, I want you to bow your

  534. heads because that keeps you focused. I want

  535. you to bow your heads, close your eyes. I want

  536. you to begin to ask yourself, do I put him first?

  537. And let's go right to the money and possessions

  538. or the provision and provision, you know, possessions

  539. and the money and the wealth and all those things

  540. that we chase after in the United States of America.

  541. Do I go to him first? Do I seek his righteousness?

  542. Is the first question or the first thing I ask,

  543. Jesus, what am I supposed to do here? What's

  544. this looking like for me? Lord, what's your plan

  545. in all this? And maybe for you, it's not money

  546. and possessions. Maybe it's something else. Maybe

  547. it's direction for life. Maybe it's a career.

  548. Maybe it's going to school. Maybe it's decisions

  549. in dating. Maybe it's a decision. Man, one of

  550. the biggest decisions you'll ever make, young

  551. people hear me in this, is choosing a mate for

  552. life. Man, that has repercussions that last forever.

  553. A lifetime, really. A lifetime. Seek first the

  554. kingdom of God and His righteousness. Can I tell

  555. you that Jesus Christ wants the very best for

  556. you? He wants the best for you. He doesn't want

  557. you in second place. The Word of God says you're

  558. not going to be the tail, you're going to be

  559. the head. Amen? So we're going to pray for those

  560. first. I'm going to give you two action steps

  561. this morning. This is the first one. I want you

  562. to be serious. You lay this before him. I want

  563. you to start thinking about, well, you're not

  564. putting him first. It's been all you, all somebody

  565. else in you, but it's not been him. Money and

  566. possessions, maybe another area of your life.

  567. Father, we come to you in the matchless name

  568. of Jesus Christ. Lord, you called us. You told

  569. us. You stood on a hillside in Jerusalem and

  570. you preached to hundreds, possibly thousands.

  571. And you said, seek first the kingdom. Seek first

  572. the king. Seek your way. Know your way. And seek

  573. your righteousness. The right way of doing it.

  574. Your way of doing it. And the word of God says

  575. that you're going to add everything else in when

  576. we walk in your path, when we walk in your way.

  577. So, Father, I pray right now, Lord, to repent

  578. in life is to change our mind. It is to change

  579. our direction. I'm praying for repentance in

  580. the house. I'm praying for repentance as people

  581. listen online this morning. If you're in the

  582. house this morning and you know you haven't put

  583. God first in an area, you know that, you could

  584. name it. I want you to name it in your spirit,

  585. in your heart. I want you to tell God. God, forgive

  586. me. Forgive me that I put myself first. Forgive

  587. me that I put somebody else's word first here.

  588. Lord, I hand this over to you right now. I give

  589. this to you. I place it in your hand. In Jesus'

  590. name. In Jesus' name. Thank you. Thank you, Lord.

  591. I want your direction. I want to walk in your

  592. righteousness in every area of my life because

  593. I know there is freedom, there is deliverance,

  594. and Lord, it is anxiety -free. In your hand.

  595. Lord, I ask this in Jesus' name. And amen. And

  596. amen. I'm going to give you the second part of

  597. this in just a moment. But young people, I feel

  598. this strong in my spirit. And if you think you're

  599. young, good enough. All right. Seek him. Seek

  600. him. I know so many young people get derailed.

  601. They get derailed. Man, they hit that 16, 17,

  602. 18, 19, 20. I used to be a youth pastor. They

  603. hit that season, and they're so busy with life,

  604. and they're so busy listening to all the voices

  605. around them that they never hear God first. Listen

  606. to the council around you. Listen to your parents.

  607. But I'm telling you, hear God. Hear God. Amen?

  608. Second step I'm going to give you. Second step.

  609. very practical one. If you're not putting God

  610. first in your possessions, right, in your provision,

  611. we want to help you with that. One of the things

  612. we've been on a journey on here at LifeHouse

  613. is really to help people step beyond an area

  614. of difficulty or maybe something they don't know

  615. or where they're challenged. So you can be spiritually

  616. strong. You can come in and get saved, and we've

  617. got like 14 different markers we want to see

  618. you hit if you're saved and you're following

  619. Jesus Christ. But you can get off in an area

  620. of life somewhere, and it will derail you in

  621. so many other areas because they're all connected,

  622. right? So if you're here and you're wondering,

  623. what does God's Word say about provision? What

  624. does it say about possessions? What does it say

  625. about wealth? Well, we got something just for

  626. you. And I'm going to let you in on the ground

  627. floor, okay? This is early sign up. Jeremy Eastman

  628. is going to be at the Connection Station. We

  629. run Financial Peace University here. And regardless

  630. of your opinion, if you know about Financial

  631. Peace University, I'm telling you, check it out.

  632. Because I was a skeptic. I was that person who

  633. did not. I was a skeptic forever, looked at it.

  634. Now I'm a promoter of what it is. You want to

  635. find out what God has for you and your possessions?

  636. Right? You want to find out what God wants you

  637. to do? You want to know where freedom lies in

  638. this and anxiety goes away? I'm going to give

  639. you a chance to sign up early today. It doesn't

  640. start until September, but you can start up today.

  641. So if you want to know about it, if you want

  642. to know about that program, you want to know

  643. how you can sign up, just make your way out as

  644. soon as we say the final amen to the connection

  645. station, and they'll get you fixed up with that.

  646. Amen? Doesn't do any good to preach messages,

  647. and we've got some steps to take. Right? Seek

  648. Him first. Seek Him for it. dot com.