Sermon
What to do? Do the do - Pastor Kipp Penrod
Publisher transcript
Transcript
-
Thank you for listening to this message from
-
Lifehouse Church. Do one thing, I want you to
-
bow your heads with me. We're gonna pray over
-
the word of God as we get ready for this message.
-
So if you'd bow your heads right now. Father,
-
thank you for this time together. Thank you,
-
Lord, for God, your mercy. God, I thank you for
-
your love. I thank you for your peace. I thank
-
you for your presence. God, I ask that the word
-
of God would settle into our hearts and into
-
our minds. And Lord, it wouldn't just be something
-
we think about. It wouldn't be something, Lord,
-
that we just contemplate. But God, it would be
-
something that changes us today. God, that we
-
might move closer into the kingdom. God, that
-
we might know you deeper. And Lord, that you
-
might move in and among us. And we just give
-
you praise in Jesus' name. And amen. Amen. Well,
-
I want you to picture this. 120 individuals fill
-
an upper room in ancient Jerusalem. The year
-
is somewhere between 30 and 33 AD. And for this
-
group of people, for this 120, they're there
-
for one purpose and one purpose only. They're
-
there to wait for the gift that Jesus said he
-
would send when he left. This gift would not
-
come in a box with a nice... piece of wrapping
-
paper around it and a ribbon tied on the top.
-
This would not be a small amount of money or
-
a large amount of money or a gift card in any
-
kind of way. They would not receive a car, real
-
estate, or actually, because it was back then,
-
a new camel or donkey, right? This gift would
-
be pure divinity. This gift would be a spiritual
-
companion, someone who would guide them and confident
-
to walk with them. And they and millions more,
-
would get to know and receive this gift. Not
-
something, but someone. Someone who would empower
-
them. Someone who would coach them. Someone who
-
would encourage them. Someone who would divinely
-
lead and guide them. God's very presence would
-
enter that room where there were 120 gathered
-
together, and just like a mighty rushing wind,
-
God's Spirit, the Holy Spirit, would fill the
-
house where they're at, and it would not only
-
fill the room, but it would fill them. He would
-
come and fill them, the gift of the Holy Spirit.
-
Why would they need this gift? What was the purpose
-
that God had in all this? It was to empower them
-
to take the gospel of Jesus Christ around the
-
globe. They would need the Holy Spirit to infuse
-
them with boldness and with courage. They would
-
need the Holy Spirit's discernment to stand against
-
the enemy who had schemes and plots just like
-
he does against us. They would need divine direction.
-
to navigate every challenge, they would need
-
Holy Spirit's gifts to be an effective witness
-
for Christ. And once that gift arrives and all
-
of them in the house are baptized in the Holy
-
Spirit, in his presence, in his power, they leave
-
that room and they pour out into the streets
-
of Jerusalem. They go place to place and they
-
don't go out just walking. They don't go out
-
just rejoicing for what God just did for them.
-
They go out and they begin to share and they
-
begin to glorify God. And not in their native
-
language, not in the language that they could
-
speak, but supernaturally speaking the message
-
of God in tongues. There were 15 to 17 distinct
-
languages represented in Jerusalem at that period
-
of time with the people that came in to celebrate
-
the festival. full. Pentecost was taking place.
-
They came into that area. There were 15 to 17
-
different dialects and they go out and supernaturally
-
begin to speak in other languages. In a bold
-
moment, in a bold moment in the streets, the
-
apostle Peter stands up in the middle of all
-
this and he begins to give a message. He begins
-
to tell the people about Jesus Christ. And the
-
word of God says that approximately 3 ,000 people
-
believe the message that Jesus is the prophesied
-
Messiah. Approximately 3 ,000 people believe
-
that he is in fact the son of the living God.
-
Approximately 3 ,000 believe that they are saved
-
from sin, death, hell, and the grave. 3 ,000
-
now know that Jesus redeems and brings us into
-
right relationship with God. Right? Condemnation
-
gone, sin washed away, adopted now as sons and
-
daughters of God. And in one day, the church
-
of Jesus Christ is birthed. 2 ,000 plus years
-
later, the church, big C, you're sitting in it
-
right now, Jesus people, Jesus community, is
-
the largest, I don't know if you know this or
-
not, is the largest organization on the face
-
of the planet. No other organization even comes
-
close. There are 2 .3 to 2 .4 billion, say billion.
-
Yeah, with a B, right? Christians worldwide on
-
the planet today, 29 to 32 % of the global population.
-
The church, a community who follows Jesus as
-
king and as a leader and as God. And this community
-
is like no other because it's not just a kingdom
-
or an organization that has membership. You might
-
have a membership to some other organization
-
than the church this morning. Some of you might
-
belong to Planet Fitness, right? You give them
-
$10, $20 a month, and you go once every three
-
months to the gym. Amen. Raise your hand if you
-
know what I'm talking about, right? Some of you
-
might belong to Platinum Gym here locally, right?
-
You might belong to the YMCA. You could be part
-
of the Carlisle swim team. You might be part
-
of Quilters of America, all right? Quilting might
-
be your thing. You might even be a member of
-
Lifehouse Church here this morning. As you listen
-
here in the house, yeah, come on. Yeah, who did
-
that? Do it again. Come on. Yeah, right? Yeah,
-
you might be a member. You might hold a membership
-
card. You might even have a passport that says
-
you're a citizen of the United States. But in
-
Jesus' community, you receive a whole different
-
status. There's a whole different set of papers
-
that go along with it. Because in Jesus' community,
-
you're adopted into the kingdom, all right? You
-
have adoption papers. Your name is written in
-
a book, the Lamb's Book of Life, and it is lodged
-
up in heaven. And you are one of the sons or
-
daughters of God this morning. You should give
-
the Lord a hand for that if you're saved, amen?
-
Sons and daughters of the king. adopted into
-
the kingdom of God, which blows my mind every
-
time I think about it, every time I begin to
-
contemplate it. But one of the most challenging
-
parts of this divine adoption that we experience
-
through salvation and faith in Jesus Christ is
-
what and who I am. What am I supposed to be doing
-
as a daughter or a son of the Most High? One
-
of the greatest struggles of those who come into
-
God's kingdom, right, while they're here on earth,
-
is the realization that they come into a new
-
family, and they wonder, what in the world am
-
I supposed to be doing? Sometimes we struggle
-
with that. Even if you're not new into the kingdom
-
of God, what am I supposed to be doing? Because
-
here's the deal. You weren't born sons and daughters
-
of God. You become sons and daughters of God.
-
As a matter of fact, depending on when you got
-
saved, it depends how long, right? Really depends,
-
really kind of lays out how long you've actually
-
been separated from God. We're born separated
-
from God. We come close to God through salvation.
-
We begin to understand who he is. We begin to
-
really realize that we're sons and daughters.
-
And if you've been living for 50 years and all
-
of a sudden you get saved, right? In a moment
-
in time, you're wondering, wait a minute, what
-
just happened? Who am I now? What am I supposed
-
to be doing? It's a little like if you were living
-
in America for the last 50 years, all of a sudden
-
in one day, you got plucked up, they stuck you
-
in Russia somewhere and just left you and said,
-
now you're a Russian. How many know that'd be
-
a little bit foreign? That'd be a little weird,
-
right? How many know you'd probably just sit
-
down somewhere and think, what in the world am
-
I supposed to do? Right? Who am I supposed to
-
be? What in the world is happening right now?
-
It's like if you lived in our household and you
-
became a Penrod, that's my last name, right?
-
And you've been a Penrod for the last 10, 20,
-
30, 40, 50 years, and then all of a sudden somebody
-
pulls you up and says, well, you're not a Penrod
-
anymore. You're a Carmichael. I made that up
-
because I don't know any Carmichaels. All right?
-
You're a Carmichael. And you're like, wait a
-
minute. What am I supposed to be doing? Maybe
-
you didn't come to Jesus when you were five or
-
10. Maybe you live like a hellion for 10, 20,
-
30, 40, 50 years in sin. Far from God. Dead in
-
sin, right? And bam, you get saved. And all of
-
a sudden, you're in a whole different community.
-
All of a sudden, you're a son or daughter of
-
God. And you're wondering, what in the world
-
am I supposed to be doing? I got good news for
-
you. No matter how long ago when you got saved,
-
Jesus sent us the Holy Spirit and the Word of
-
God to help us work this whole thing out, to
-
empower us and to teach us what we should do
-
as children of God. So today we're going to do
-
the do. Say, do the do. Turn to somebody right
-
now, tell them, do the do. Do the do right now,
-
all right? In Acts chapter 2, verse 41, as soon
-
as those 3 ,000 individuals in Jerusalem come
-
to follow Jesus, and the Holy Spirit begins to
-
lead their lives, they begin to do something
-
very different. Acts 2 .41 says this, then those
-
who gladly received his word were baptized, and
-
that day about 3 ,000 souls were added to them,
-
and they continued steadfastly in the apostle's
-
doctrine. This was something different they began
-
to do, and in fellowship, And in the breaking
-
of bread and in prayers, then fear came upon
-
every soul and many wonders and signs were done
-
through the apostles. Now all who believed together
-
had all things in common and sold their possessions
-
and goods and divided them among all, anyone
-
who had need. A community of Jesus followers,
-
3 ,000 probably plus people come to know Christ
-
in a day and they begin to do something very
-
different. One, they begin to fellowship with
-
one another. Fellowship is spending time with
-
someone. If you spend time with somebody, you're
-
giving somebody a gift. I don't know if you realize
-
it, but time is one of the greatest. Maybe most
-
valuable gifts you can ever give anybody. Because
-
guess what? None of us get any more of it, right?
-
Every single one of you get the same 24 hours
-
in a day. You've got the same amount of minutes
-
every single day. We all do. And when you give
-
time and you fellowship with someone, you get
-
in their presence. It's a gift. That's what the
-
early believers began to do. Something changed.
-
They started giving away their time. The Word
-
of God says they began to break bread. One of
-
my favorite spiritual things to do is eat. Come
-
on, it's in the word of God. It is, it's right
-
here, right? I love to eat. It's a Jesus community
-
sport around here, all right? We get together
-
and eat. I recently got the opportunity to go
-
to Tangier Island and we support that mission
-
work here. And Tangier is located 12 miles out
-
in the middle of the Chesapeake Bay outside of
-
the coast of Virginia. And here at Lifehouse,
-
Charlie and Laura, I don't know where you're
-
at, somewhere in the house here, but they lead
-
the mission strip that takes place that goes
-
down to Tangier Island. And they go down at other
-
periods of time to really scope things out, to
-
check things out, to do follow -up and all those
-
kinds of things. And I tagged along on one of
-
those trips. So it was just the three of us.
-
And we went down. And one of the things that
-
took place, is that I got invited to Jackie and
-
Marlene McCready's house. Sweetest couple I think
-
I've ever met in my life. They didn't know me
-
from Adam. They just knew I was a pastor. They
-
knew I was a fellow believer. I got hugged when
-
I got to the house. They made me oysters because
-
Tangier is a crabbing and an oyster industry
-
is what took place there. They made me the best
-
oysters I've ever had in my stinking life. They
-
were awesome. I wanted to move in, all right?
-
It was awesome. And there was something different,
-
right? When you get with believers and fellow
-
believers, there's something different that takes
-
place. This doesn't happen out in the world.
-
There's this instant connection because of the
-
cause of Christ and who we serve. And this is
-
what the early church, things look different.
-
They begin to do things different. They pray
-
together. They believe together. They were so
-
engrossed in authentic Christian community that
-
if anybody had need in the church, They sold
-
their possessions. They sold their extra stuff,
-
man. They had a yard sale. They had a real estate
-
sale, and they gave the proceeds to people that
-
were in need. They loved one another that much.
-
Jesus said it in John 13, 34, a new commandment
-
I give to you, that you love one another as I
-
loved you, that you also love one another. They
-
did the do. They began to do things differently.
-
Christian community demands that I do. Say I
-
do. It's like getting married, man. I do Jesus
-
stuff. If I follow Jesus, if he saved me, he
-
redeemed me, he baptized me, right, and I'm a
-
follower of Jesus, I do Jesus stuff. I do what
-
Jesus did. I do what Jesus says. John 14, 15
-
says, if you love me, this is Jesus speaking.
-
Keep my commandments. Commandment is something
-
you do. It's not something you just think about,
-
right? You keep my commandments. And I will pray
-
the Father, and he will give you a helper that
-
he may abide with you forever. The spirit of
-
truth, whom the world cannot receive because
-
it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know
-
him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.
-
I will not leave you orphans. I will come to
-
you. Jesus says, do the do. And then I'm going
-
to send the Holy Spirit to help you do the do.
-
Amen? That's a lot of do's, I know. Jesus said,
-
if you love me, you'll do the do. I'll not leave
-
you helpless. I'll not leave you alone. I'll
-
not leave you an orphan. Matter of fact, I'm
-
going to send you a helper so that you can do.
-
How many know you don't need a helper if you're
-
not doing anything? Amen? You don't need a helper
-
if you're not doing anything. If you're not carrying
-
anything, if you're not working on anything,
-
if you're not cleaning up anything, you don't
-
need a helper. How many of you do not need help
-
to loaf? Amen. How many of you can loaf all on
-
your own? Praise God. You can, right? My grandchildren,
-
they were all up here in the front. That was
-
that noisy crew right here. And they were all
-
up front here, love them all to death. But sometimes
-
they want me to do stuff for them. They'll say,
-
hey, Poppy, get me a drink. Now, some of them
-
are like. 10, eight, you know, six years old
-
now, and I'm like, hey, what are those two long
-
things hooked at the bottom of your body? They're
-
like, legs. And I'm like, are they broke? They're
-
like, no. Can you get yourself a drink? Yeah,
-
right? How many know they don't need any help?
-
They're just seeing what they can get out of
-
Poppy, right? They can see Poppy will go do it.
-
You don't need help if you're not doing anything.
-
Jesus sent the Holy Spirit because you need help.
-
Now, my grandchildren are carrying three gallons
-
of water. I'm going to go help them if they need
-
help. We need help when we're engaged in doing
-
the do. To be a Christian means that I do things.
-
I do Jesus stuff. Jesus sends me. I got to go
-
do it because he commanded me, and then I got
-
the helper, the Holy Spirit, doing it. Amen?
-
It's true. And if I'm not doing it, I got to
-
start questioning my Christianity. If I'm not
-
doing anything for God, I got to start to question
-
what I'm doing, right? It's kind of like calling
-
myself a cowboy and never getting near a cow,
-
amen? All right, calling myself an outdoorsman,
-
but I never go outdoors. To be Christian is to
-
do. To be Christian is to do what Jesus did and
-
what he says to do. And I got to ask myself,
-
and I want you to ask yourself, am I doing the
-
do? Am I doing the do? Whatever that is, whatever
-
God speaks to you, whatever he teaches in his
-
commands, are you doing the do? Over and over
-
again, Jesus teaches us in Scripture what we
-
should do. Jesus is preaching one day. He's on
-
a hillside. on the northwestern shore of the
-
Sea of Galilee in the northern part of Israel,
-
right? Roughly 500 feet above sea level. Hundreds
-
or possibly thousands of people congregate on
-
this hillside. And it just so happens that this
-
hillside really kind of naturally creates an
-
amphitheater. And Jesus begins to preach, and
-
he begins to tell them thing after thing that
-
they should do. as they follow Christ. I'm just
-
going to read you one. It's in Matthew 6, 24.
-
It says this. No one can serve two masters, for
-
either he will hate the one and love the other,
-
or else he will be loyal to the one and despise
-
the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. Mammon
-
is wealth, by the way, money. Therefore, I say
-
to you, Do not worry about your life, what you
-
will eat or what you will drink, nor about your
-
body, what you will put on. Is not life more
-
than food and the body more than clothing? Look
-
at the birds of the air, for they neither sow
-
nor reap nor gather into barns, yet your heavenly
-
Father feeds them. Are you not of more value
-
than they? Which of you, by worrying, can add
-
one cubit to their statute? So why do you worry?
-
Come on, turn to somebody, tell them, don't worry.
-
Stop worrying, tell them, stop worrying right
-
now, all right? So why do you worry about clothing?
-
Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow.
-
They neither toil nor spin, and yet I say to
-
you that even Solomon in all his glory was not
-
arrayed like one of these. Now if God so clothes
-
the grass of the field, which is today, and tomorrow
-
is thrown into the oven, will he not much more
-
clothe you, O ye of little faith? Therefore do
-
not worry, saying, What shall we eat, or what
-
shall we drink, or what shall we wear? But after
-
these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly
-
Father knows that you have need of these things.
-
But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness,
-
and all these things will be added to you. Therefore,
-
do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will
-
worry about its own things. Sufficient for the
-
day is its own trouble. Jesus tells everybody
-
on that hillside what to do and what not to do.
-
He really does. And he starts with what not to
-
do. He says, do not worry about your physical
-
needs. Don't worry about your provision. Don't
-
worry about your possessions in life, your food,
-
your clothing. Don't fret about what house you're
-
going to live in. Don't wring your hands, right?
-
Don't get worked up. Don't stay scared at night.
-
Don't get anxious about the provision that you
-
have or don't have. Jesus says, don't worry about
-
it. Turn to somebody and tell them, don't worry
-
about it. Say it with a little attitude. Don't
-
worry about it. And listen, Jesus is not just
-
giving a glib, insincere or short -sighted answer
-
for what can be a very real issue in our heads
-
and heart. He's not saying this smugly, don't
-
just worry about it, right? He's not saying that.
-
Have you ever had somebody come up and tell you,
-
just don't worry about it? You ever get super
-
concerned about something and something just
-
weighing on your head and heart and you're all
-
stressed out, you're all freaked out about it.
-
You spent nights and nights awake running over
-
different scenarios in your mind, right? It could
-
be an opportunity at a job. It could be paying,
-
you got a bill that you need to pay. You need
-
provision of some kind, whatever it is. And you
-
find somebody that you need to tell about this.
-
And you take 30 to 60 minutes and you unfold
-
in immense detail. Right? Exactly what the issue
-
is, what the problem is, you know, and how much
-
stress this is causing your life, and they're
-
just like, well, just don't worry about it. What
-
do you want to do? Come on. What do you want?
-
I'm going to be kind. Yeah, some of you are like,
-
punch him, man. But I was going to say, like,
-
flick him in the forehead. Right? I'm trying
-
to keep this nice, right? But you just want to
-
flick somebody between the eyes, just pow, right
-
between the eyes. Don't you understand? I just
-
unfolded how stressful all this is. Jesus wasn't
-
making light of worrisome things. He really wasn't.
-
But he was trying to give him instruction. He's
-
saying, seek first the kingdom of God and his
-
righteousness, and then all the stuff's going
-
to get added in. Just seek him first. Go after
-
him first. But how many know that can be such
-
a hard thing to do? It's not the natural thing,
-
right? especially if you just got saved, if you've
-
not been following God very long. It doesn't
-
feel natural. We got to retrain our brains to
-
do this, to seek God first and his righteousness
-
first, because our default is to do something
-
completely different from that. Our default is
-
if I need provision of some kind, if I need possessions,
-
I start thinking of different things, right?
-
I know there's some students in here, a bunch
-
of them, and we start thinking, man, I need a
-
good education. Yes, good idea, you do, but it's
-
not the first priority. You might be thinking,
-
well, I'm not making enough money, man, and I
-
need a better job. Good idea. But it's not the
-
first priority. God, I need to go look for some
-
things that I'm really in need of. Awesome. But
-
it's not the first priority. God, I need this
-
and I'm going to go steal it. Bad idea. Never
-
a priority. If you're thinking that, I need to
-
talk to you after gathering. Right over there.
-
All right? But Jesus said, Christians don't do
-
that first when seeking provision or possessions
-
or really anything that we need. He said, seek
-
first the kingdom and his righteousness. He adds
-
that on. Why? Why do we seek first the kingdom?
-
Because our king has an endless supply of provision
-
that you need. Amen? He has an endless supply.
-
He has an endless supply of resources, an endless
-
supply of connections, an endless network. He
-
has endless resources that you can attain or
-
he can attain. He has endless everything. So
-
why would we go to any other source, including
-
ourselves? We go to him first. And he says, seek
-
first the kingdom. And then he adds this on.
-
He said, then seek my righteousness. Because
-
we need his righteousness when we're managing
-
provisions, right? when we're managing wealth,
-
when we're managing anything that he lays in
-
our hands, how many know money can mess you up
-
if you don't have godly direction in it? It can
-
mess you up. Money and possessions can become
-
a priority. They can become an obsession. They
-
can become a desire in your life, right? It's
-
not uncommon for people to believe that if just
-
a little more money, just a little more possession,
-
a little more status, a little more of this,
-
a little more of that, and somehow, I'm going
-
to hit the threshold of happy, right? It's right
-
there in front of me. That's not it. That's messed
-
up. It's messed up. That's why you need the righteousness
-
part. You want to do this thing. How many know,
-
how many know we've all seen the news articles
-
where somebody takes somebody's life for a pair
-
of sneakers, right, in the street? Or they kill
-
someone for a wallet that has $12 in it. Right?
-
We need his righteousness. Seek first the kingdom
-
of God. This is the do. This is the do. Seek
-
his kingdom. Seek his righteousness. And the
-
word of God says he'll add all the other provision,
-
the possessions, the direction. I know for some
-
students, man, they're always looking like, man,
-
I don't know what to do. First thing we do is
-
run to the career office. They're like, what
-
do I do? I want to make X amount of dollars per
-
year, and I need to do this and I do that. Hey,
-
how about seeking God first, right? Go get some
-
good counsel. You need to do that afterwards.
-
But the first thing you do is seek God. Lord,
-
where do you got me going in life? What do you
-
want me to do? Even if you're 50, 60, how many
-
of you are past, way past, how many of you remember
-
high school at all? It's so far back there, you
-
can't even remember that thing, right? But you're
-
still making decisions, man. You're still walking
-
forward in life, and you got to seek Him first.
-
Society is full of people who are stressed out,
-
anxiety -ridden. I looked this up. 88 % of Americans
-
are stressed out and in anxiety. over money and
-
stuff. That's hard to believe. We live in the
-
richest nation in the world, and 88 % of us are
-
stressed out. Jesus said, I got a better way.
-
Worship team, if you'd come, I got something
-
better for you to do. Seek me first. The early
-
church did things differently. The church of
-
Jesus Christ now, we should do things differently.
-
Over the next multiple weeks, I'm going to spend
-
time unfolding in God's word what we're supposed
-
to do. I get asked that so much as a pastor.
-
It's one of the questions, leading questions
-
I get. If I had to, I can't put a percentage
-
to it, but I'm telling you, a good percentage
-
of the questions that come to me is when people
-
come up and say, Pastor, I've been in the middle
-
of something here and I need to know what to
-
do. I understand. I get it. I've been there.
-
And I want you to know what to do. I want you
-
to know what to do when you're high. I want you
-
to know what to do when you're low. I want you
-
to know what to do when you're in the middle
-
somewhere. And it's not my advice, not my opinion.
-
You can go get a billion of those online anytime
-
you want. I want to know what God has to say
-
about this. So I'm going to ask you to stand
-
this morning. And here's what I'm going to ask
-
you to do. As you stand, I want you to bow your
-
heads because that keeps you focused. I want
-
you to bow your heads, close your eyes. I want
-
you to begin to ask yourself, do I put him first?
-
And let's go right to the money and possessions
-
or the provision and provision, you know, possessions
-
and the money and the wealth and all those things
-
that we chase after in the United States of America.
-
Do I go to him first? Do I seek his righteousness?
-
Is the first question or the first thing I ask,
-
Jesus, what am I supposed to do here? What's
-
this looking like for me? Lord, what's your plan
-
in all this? And maybe for you, it's not money
-
and possessions. Maybe it's something else. Maybe
-
it's direction for life. Maybe it's a career.
-
Maybe it's going to school. Maybe it's decisions
-
in dating. Maybe it's a decision. Man, one of
-
the biggest decisions you'll ever make, young
-
people hear me in this, is choosing a mate for
-
life. Man, that has repercussions that last forever.
-
A lifetime, really. A lifetime. Seek first the
-
kingdom of God and His righteousness. Can I tell
-
you that Jesus Christ wants the very best for
-
you? He wants the best for you. He doesn't want
-
you in second place. The Word of God says you're
-
not going to be the tail, you're going to be
-
the head. Amen? So we're going to pray for those
-
first. I'm going to give you two action steps
-
this morning. This is the first one. I want you
-
to be serious. You lay this before him. I want
-
you to start thinking about, well, you're not
-
putting him first. It's been all you, all somebody
-
else in you, but it's not been him. Money and
-
possessions, maybe another area of your life.
-
Father, we come to you in the matchless name
-
of Jesus Christ. Lord, you called us. You told
-
us. You stood on a hillside in Jerusalem and
-
you preached to hundreds, possibly thousands.
-
And you said, seek first the kingdom. Seek first
-
the king. Seek your way. Know your way. And seek
-
your righteousness. The right way of doing it.
-
Your way of doing it. And the word of God says
-
that you're going to add everything else in when
-
we walk in your path, when we walk in your way.
-
So, Father, I pray right now, Lord, to repent
-
in life is to change our mind. It is to change
-
our direction. I'm praying for repentance in
-
the house. I'm praying for repentance as people
-
listen online this morning. If you're in the
-
house this morning and you know you haven't put
-
God first in an area, you know that, you could
-
name it. I want you to name it in your spirit,
-
in your heart. I want you to tell God. God, forgive
-
me. Forgive me that I put myself first. Forgive
-
me that I put somebody else's word first here.
-
Lord, I hand this over to you right now. I give
-
this to you. I place it in your hand. In Jesus'
-
name. In Jesus' name. Thank you. Thank you, Lord.
-
I want your direction. I want to walk in your
-
righteousness in every area of my life because
-
I know there is freedom, there is deliverance,
-
and Lord, it is anxiety -free. In your hand.
-
Lord, I ask this in Jesus' name. And amen. And
-
amen. I'm going to give you the second part of
-
this in just a moment. But young people, I feel
-
this strong in my spirit. And if you think you're
-
young, good enough. All right. Seek him. Seek
-
him. I know so many young people get derailed.
-
They get derailed. Man, they hit that 16, 17,
-
18, 19, 20. I used to be a youth pastor. They
-
hit that season, and they're so busy with life,
-
and they're so busy listening to all the voices
-
around them that they never hear God first. Listen
-
to the council around you. Listen to your parents.
-
But I'm telling you, hear God. Hear God. Amen?
-
Second step I'm going to give you. Second step.
-
very practical one. If you're not putting God
-
first in your possessions, right, in your provision,
-
we want to help you with that. One of the things
-
we've been on a journey on here at LifeHouse
-
is really to help people step beyond an area
-
of difficulty or maybe something they don't know
-
or where they're challenged. So you can be spiritually
-
strong. You can come in and get saved, and we've
-
got like 14 different markers we want to see
-
you hit if you're saved and you're following
-
Jesus Christ. But you can get off in an area
-
of life somewhere, and it will derail you in
-
so many other areas because they're all connected,
-
right? So if you're here and you're wondering,
-
what does God's Word say about provision? What
-
does it say about possessions? What does it say
-
about wealth? Well, we got something just for
-
you. And I'm going to let you in on the ground
-
floor, okay? This is early sign up. Jeremy Eastman
-
is going to be at the Connection Station. We
-
run Financial Peace University here. And regardless
-
of your opinion, if you know about Financial
-
Peace University, I'm telling you, check it out.
-
Because I was a skeptic. I was that person who
-
did not. I was a skeptic forever, looked at it.
-
Now I'm a promoter of what it is. You want to
-
find out what God has for you and your possessions?
-
Right? You want to find out what God wants you
-
to do? You want to know where freedom lies in
-
this and anxiety goes away? I'm going to give
-
you a chance to sign up early today. It doesn't
-
start until September, but you can start up today.
-
So if you want to know about it, if you want
-
to know about that program, you want to know
-
how you can sign up, just make your way out as
-
soon as we say the final amen to the connection
-
station, and they'll get you fixed up with that.
-
Amen? Doesn't do any good to preach messages,
-
and we've got some steps to take. Right? Seek
-
Him first. Seek Him for it. dot com.