Freedom Then, Freedom Now - Pastor Kipp Penrod

Thank you for listening to this message from

Lifehouse Church. Storm hit last evening and

a bunch of you are without power and you came

in looking good anyway. So it's good to have

you at Lifehouse and it's good to be here to

celebrate 250 years as a free nation. Come on,

can we give God a hand? Yeah, truly. And it really,

it's my hope that you took some time this weekend

and, you know, really kind of thought about,

contemplated, celebrated in some way. Maybe it

was while you were watching fireworks, you realized

the freedom that you have in this nation. Maybe

it was at a picnic, maybe at a family gathering,

maybe you went to see a movie, whatever it was,

whatever you did to celebrate, I hope you took

some moments to think about 250 years of a nation

in freedom. 250 years of freedom of religion.

250 years of having the ability to assemble in

a building like this on a Sunday morning, come

in and worship our creator, worship our Lord,

worship our God without any fear of repercussion.

I don't worry about somebody storming in and

coming in and telling us we can't worship on

a Sunday morning. 250 years to preach, teach,

and share the gospel of Jesus Christ. That's

amazing to me. It is freedom then and it is freedom

now. That's the title of my message this morning.

And can we do something? Can we just stand to

our feet one last time? I promise. Right? Just

like church aerobics. Come on. Stand up. I want

you just, if you would, give God the greatest

applause ever for the freedom that's in your

life. Come on. We thank you, Lord. We give you

glory. We give you honor today. Thank you. Thank

you. We live in this nation. Amen. That was awesome.

All right, you can sit down. Go ahead. All right,

well, the United States of America declared freedom

from British rule July 4th, of course, 1776.

The Second Continental Congress formally adopted

what we know as the Declaration of Independence,

which was drafted and signed in the great state

of Pennsylvania, right, in the city of Philadelphia.

And this declaration was signed by 55 brave leaders

who began a two -phase process. that would lead

to freedom from British rule, to form a sovereign

nation, the United States of America. Phase one

was what we've heard about this morning already.

It was the signing of that declaration, the Declaration

of Independence on July 4th, 1776. But phase

two was gaining worldwide legal recognition.

And that didn't happen until seven years later

in 1783. The transformation, right, from British

colonies to independent state in this nation

was driven by the universal principles of equality

and a desire for self -governance. The Declaration

initially was drafted by Thomas Jefferson and

was perfected by others, men like Benjamin Franklin.

And I want to read you the first paragraph of

that document this morning. In Congress, July

4, 1776. The unanimous declaration of the 13

United States of America. When in the course

of human events it becomes necessary for one

people to dissolve the political bands which

have connected them with another and to assume

among the powers of the earth the separate and

equal station to which the laws of nature and

of nature's God entitle them. A decent respect

to the opinions of mankind requires that they

should declare the causes which impel them to

the separation. We hold these truths to be self

-evident, that all men are created equal, that

they are endowed by their creator with certain

unalienable rights, and that among these are

life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

Yeah, thank you. Freedom in this country is held

under the banner of self -evident items that

are bestowed to us from our creator. First and

foremost, that all men are created equal, that

all of humanity carries the same value in God's

eyes, and it should carry the same value in our

eyes for one another, right? You're as valuable

as I am, and I am as valuable as you are, regardless

of where you come from, regardless of the color

of your skin, regardless of your background.

No matter what it is, we are equal in the sight

of God. pursued was life, liberty, and happiness.

Liberty, freedom, freedom from external control,

freedom from physical restraint, freedom from

arbitrary interference, freedom then, and freedom

now. And if we're free, nothing binds us, without

or within. No physical restraints, Hold us down.

Nothing holds us back. Zero keeping me from moving

forward. But how many know that the story can

change, right, if we're bound and we don't experience

that freedom? I remember years ago, Dixie and

I, we've been married 36 years now, and she's

away this weekend. She's actually on a girl's

trip. My daughters, the nieces, her sisters,

they all get together to go to Myrtle Beach and

spend the weekend together, and there's a whole

bunch of women there, and I'm glad I'm here.

I don't go along on those things, right? But

I remember years ago when we were first newly

married, and we were just a year or two into

marriage, and we were in the house, and we were

sitting on the couch, and we were doing what

you're doing. young couples do. I don't know

if you do this or not, but when you were young,

but when we were young and energetic, now we

just sit down and kind of watch TV or whatever

and rest. But when you're young and energetic,

we started goofing around. We started horsing

around, and we would start picking on one another

a little bit, and we kind of started wrestling

around. Now, I know what you're thinking, G -rated

wrestling, okay? We were G -rated wrestling around.

And we're just kind of wrestling around on the

couch. And I'm like, you know, and she's like,

we're just kind of doing that kind of thing.

And we're doing this. And me, of course, being

bigger and stronger, I pinned her down. I was

like, you know, and I thought it was cool. And

I pinned her down and I held her there for just

a little bit. You know how you do when you pin,

anybody ever pin somebody down, just wrestle

around, goof around? What do you do when you

do that? You hold them there for just a little

bit so they acknowledge that you pinned them,

right? How many of you have ever just said, like,

go ahead, say uncle. Go ahead, I'm not lighting

you up until you say uncle. You know, whatever

it is. You do that kind of thing, right? So I

did this with my wife, which she was not humored

about. It was a bad idea, you know. And then

the next bad idea I had is I left go. And on

just sheer reaction, she punched me square in

the face. She hit me square in the face. And

I was stunned, and then she was stunned, and

she's like. Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry. Like she

just, she didn't even know what took her over.

And I'm like, it's okay. And I'm like, we're

just, and she, you know, she profusely apologized.

And I was, I was just stunned. And she's pretty,

pretty good hook, honestly. All right. And she

just, and that's what happens though, when you're

bound, right? If you're bound up, if you're tied

up, you want nothing but freedom and you will

punch your way. You will claw your way. You will

do whatever you need to do to get free. We celebrate

and defend the rights and the freedoms afforded

us in this country then and now. Don't take for

granted that all of humanity is created equal

in the sight of God and should be with one another,

right? Don't take for granted those rights that

are ours to pursue life and liberty and happiness.

Those rights are held near and dear in this nation.

Rights that should never be surrendered, transferred,

or taken away, right? There were men and women,

there were families who put their lives on the

line to defend these freedoms, to keep us from

bondage, to keep us from being pinned down so

that we are free. As I thought about freedom,

I think about those 55 brave individuals who

signed the Declaration of Independence. They

risked their lives personally. They jeopardized

all of their family's safety. Against Britain,

they could have been looked at as traitors. They

could have been hung for what they did. Men like

Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin and John

Hancock, and then other less known like Josiah

Bartlett, a physician, or George Clymer, who

was a merchant. Leaders and representatives of

the 13 colonies who stood in the gap and declared

freedom. from the oppression of Great Britain.

They opposed taxation without representation.

They opposed the stripping away of self -government,

right? They opposed military occupation on citizens.

They opposed the loss of judicial independence.

And they stood. These men, along with other colony

citizens, stood against the acts of bondage and

declared freedom in this country. In a sense.

They told Great Britain to let us be free or

you just might get punched in the face, right?

Kind of in a way. But here's what I know about

freedom then and now. Freedom from any oppression

always begins with a person who's willing to

stand in the gap. A person who will stiffen their

spine and say no more to those who oppose. not

on my watch, not while I'm here, not while I'm

in the room, not while I'm in the state, not

while I'm in the country. One who is willing

to put it all on the line, one who's willing

to fight for freedom, and one who's willing to

pay the price for what that takes. Over 2 ,000

years ago, there was one who was willing, and

only one who was willing, and qualified to stand

in the gap for you and I in all of time, and

his name is Jesus Christ. Amen? Yeah, come on,

give him a hand. One, one who would leave the

majesty of heaven, step down from his position

as king, as God's son, ruler of heaven and earth,

and he would take on the form of humanity to

become like one of us and stand in the gap for

your salvation and for mine. the only one qualified.

And through Jesus' suffering and resurrection,

life, liberty, and the pursuit of your happiness

will be available for all who call on his name.

Galatians 5 .1 says this, Stand fast, therefore,

in the liberty, which is freedom, by which Christ

has made us free. And do not be entangled again

with the yoke of bondage. Indeed, I, Paul, say

to you that if you become circumcised, Christ

will profit you nothing. And I testify again

to every man who becomes circumcised that he

is a debtor to keep the whole law. You have become

estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be

justified by the law or acts, right? You have

fallen from grace. For we through the Spirit

eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness by

faith. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision

nor uncircumcision avails anything but faith

working through love. Paul's letting the Galatians

know that their freedom, their liberty could

not be attained by some act on their part. Back

then it was circumcision for the men or uncircumcision

was taking place, and this did not bring any

kind of spiritual freedom, even though it was

required by the ancient Mosaic law. Daily spiritual

rituals will not bring you freedom. Disciplines

like prayer, fasting, Bible reading, meditation,

which I all... highly recommend, cannot give

you liberty. Incredibly important, but they are

not the agents of freedom themselves. The only

way to be truly free in this life is through

faith in Jesus Christ. It begins and it ends

with faith. All the disciplines we do, all that

girds up and holds up our faith, but it is faith

in Jesus Christ. We cannot earn our way there

through good deeds. We cannot educate ourselves

into this. We cannot have superior biblical knowledge

and somehow think that is going to set us free.

We cannot fight, claw, or drive our way through.

The only way to stand fast in freedom is through

faith in Jesus Christ. Faith in Jesus equals

freedom. A little bit of math today. It's as

good as it's going to get for the math, though,

right? Faith in Jesus equals freedom. It's probably

the most important thing I'll say for the day.

If you're looking for complete freedom, freedom

then, freedom now, from any other source, you're

going to come up woefully empty or short. The

only way to stay, to remain in freedom is through

Jesus Christ. Freedom from any of all the forces

of bondage, freedom from any in opposition, freedom

from any power or principality, freedom from

any bondage, from within or without, right? All

begins with faith in Jesus Christ. And you might

be thinking, well, is faith in Jesus really that

powerful? Is it? I'm going to tell you it is.

Yes. Look what Jesus says in John 8, 31. Then

Jesus said to those Jews who believed him, who

had faith, right? If you abide in my word, you

are my disciples indeed. You shall know the truth,

and the truth will make you free. Say free. This

freedom in Christ is not a restricted or a narrow

scope in this passage and the others. This passage

does not apply to spiritual circles only. Spiritual

things that exclude the external or the internal

other things that could be going on in our lives.

Somehow we get this in our heads. I don't know

how this happens. As Christians, sometimes we're

like, well, yes, I know I'm free in Jesus. Heaven

is my home someday, right? He's given me hidden

peace, hidden hope, right? In my heart, I'm son

or daughter of the Most High. It's all kind of

inside spiritual fuzzies that we grab a hold

of. But do we really believe that Jesus will

set us free in all areas of our life? Not just

some hidden spiritual compartment that we pull

out on Sunday, right? I'm here to declare to

you this morning that you can be free in Christ

in virtually all areas of your life. It is an

all -inclusive experience in freedom. It really

is. Freeing Jesus is eternal, it is external,

and it is in every layer in between in your being.

Freedom from the top of your head. They used

to say this when I went to church when I was

a kid. From the top of my head to the sole of

what? Yeah, my feet, right? It is freedom in

all of it. It is all. inclusive freedom. Do you

know what all -inclusive means? Yeah, everything.

Thank you. That means all, right? Tell somebody

sitting beside you, it's included. Go ahead,

tell them. It's included. It's included. It's

in everything. I remember years ago when I went

on my first cruise. I've been on a couple cruises,

and I experienced an all -inclusive food and

meal plan on a cruise. I remember the day I sat

down in a restaurant, and they handed me a menu,

and I looked at the menu, and it had everything

listed that they served, but there were no prices.

Now, how many know if that happens in a restaurant

that's not on a cruise, you're in big trouble,

right? Because if there's no prices, that means

get your wallet out because you aren't going

to have anything left when you leave. That's

what it usually means if there's no prices. But

on an all -inclusive cruise, right? All the food

was included. And I remember sitting down and

thinking, wait a minute, there's lobster on here.

And I think I even asked the waiter, you mean

I can order lobster twice, three times? And he's

like, yep, you can order as much as you want,

right? And I was thinking, I think this is what

heaven's like, right? Come on, who's with me,

right? I'm like, I can just keep eating everything

that's on the menu. You can eat till you explode.

You can just keep bringing it. If you want more

bread, they'll bring the loaf and give you all

the butter that you need. That's how it works

when it's all -inclusive. Freedom in Jesus is

all -inclusive. There's as much as available

to you as you're willing to believe for. Can

I say that again? There's as much freedom to

be had as you're willing to believe for. It's

tied with faith. John 8, 36 says, therefore,

the son who the son makes free is free indeed.

Charlie, you spoke it this morning. Jesus has

no restrictions, no limitations. He's never saying,

sorry, I just ran out of freedom today. I don't

got enough for you. Distributed some with some

others, and it's just not going to work today.

There's as much freedom as you could ever want

just on the other side of your belief in Jesus

Christ. The problem is when we run into this

unlimited freedom in Christ, Jesus isn't the

problem, it's us, right? It's a little bit like

having a ticket to get on board of a plane, but

never redeeming the ticket, never checking in,

never getting on the flight. And even worse,

it's like someone paying for the ticket and you

still never get on the plane. You never get in,

get on and fly. I'm convinced that we stay bound

and not set free because we believe the lie that

has bound us is more powerful than faith in Christ

can provide. We believe the lie. Our faith in

fear is greater than our faith in Christ. Our

faith in the addiction is greater than our faith

in Christ. Our faith in our feeling is more powerful

than the fact of faith in Jesus. Our faith in

our past to rule our life is greater than the

faith and what Jesus says about our future. You

name it, it can become bondage in our life. And

if we believe that it is more powerful than the

faith that comes in Christ and what can be available

in faith in Christ, it will rule our lives. It

will keep us. in bondage instead of freedom.

It starts with faith in Jesus. That's where freedom

begins. And I got good news for you today. It

only takes a mustard seed, say mustard seed,

size faith in Jesus to begin the process. Luke

17, six says this. So the Lord said, if you have

faith as a mustard seed, you can say to this

mulberry tree, be pulled up by the roots and

be planted in the seed. in the sea and it will

obey you. How many know how big a mustard seed

is? Hold it up right now. Dude, just give me

a little, come on, give me a little. Yep, it's

about that big, right? It's just a little tiny

thing, right? Jesus did not say you need a mountain

of faith and then you can move the mustard seed.

He said you need a mustard seed size of faith

and you can move the tree. You can move the mountain

in another spot in Scripture, right? Just a spurt

or a sputter of pure faith in Jesus begins to

move us from bondage to freedom. Just start believing,

and it begins the process of breaking you free

in virtually any area of your life. Salvation

itself, if you've gotten saved, you've come to

faith in Jesus Christ, it starts with mustard

seed -sized faith. It really does. If you've

been serving God for a long time, and I have,

I'm 60. I started serving Jesus when I was 12.

I've been serving God for a long time. And I

can tell you that today, my faith is stronger

than my faith was when I was 12 years old. Some

of you that have been serving God a long time,

you'll say the same thing. Some of you have been

serving God for a year, and you'll say, my faith

is stronger now than it was when I was whenever,

right? When I got saved a year ago, 12 months

ago, two years ago, four years ago. And really,

it's salvation. You just need that mustard -sized

seed of faith. I heard a preacher preach. He

said that faith in Christ would save my life,

that if I would confess my sins before God, I

could come into relationship with God, and I

had just enough faith to believe him. And I prayed,

and I meant it. And I prayed, and I asked God

to come into my life. And that day, I was changed.

That day, I was saved. And I had about this much

faith in Jesus. But it was enough. It was pure.

Right? He didn't say you have to have faith for

everything at all times and all moments. How

many of you out there have faith for everything

at all times and all moments? Me either. Right?

Mustard side. This is how it works. And we've

got to just get that mustard -sized seed faith

engaged, and you're going to begin to walk into

freedom. Amen? It's true. You might be thinking,

well, that sounds good, but it doesn't seem to

work that way in my life. Sometimes I feel like

I can't even find the mustard seed -sized faith.

Well, maybe it'll help. If I explain just a little

bit why you may feel that way sometimes. Let

me explain why sometimes you feel like you can't

even get mustard -sized seed faith going in your

life. And we need to get a picture of the reality

of where we are, where we began. Because sometimes

where we're at in our faith, it's a little bit

like a little baby elephant. I know that sounds

a little strange, right? But here's the thing

with the baby elephant. If you take a baby elephant

and you put a chain on its leg and you tie it

to a post when it's small and you just leave

whatever length of chain there, the baby elephant

will begin to pull against that stake and it's

not strong enough yet. to pull that stake out

of the ground and be free. So it will pull and

it will pull and it will pull and pull. It's

kind of like a dog on a chain. It'll keep pulling.

But at some point, that elephant decides and

realizes, I can't pull that stake out. I am in

bondage. And it just sits down. And it will never

pull on that chain again. And even when that

elephant is full grown, we got a picture of that.

If you can pull that up, I think we got a pic

of that somewhere. Even when an elephant is full

grown, You can have a stake and a string attached

to an elephant that was brought up in that way,

and it will stay right where the string is. It

will not pull on the stake. It will not pull

it out of the ground. It has learned to be helpless.

It has learned, right, bondage. It has learned

to stay inside the circle of bondage. And this

is what happens to us. We were born into sin.

We understand bondage. from birth. We live in

it, we breathe it, we accept it, we walk in it

day after day, and then all of a sudden we get

saved and we're free, and we've got the strength

of the elephant in Jesus, but we're still tied

to the stake and the string. Satan comes along,

and every time we feel like we're going to jerk

free, he just waves the stake of fear, right,

and the string of anxiety and ties it to our

leg. And we sit down. Faith in Christ begins

to break that bondage. It begins to break who

we are. It's not a secret formula. It is simple

physics, folk. To break anything that binds me,

right, I simply have to have something more powerful

than what is binding me. And anything that is

binding me, Christ is more powerful. Steel fetters

cannot withstand a file or a saw. A glass ceiling

cannot withstand a sledgehammer. A wooden box

cannot withstand a pry bar. No power in hell

can bind the power of God in our lives. No power

in hell. The Word of God tells us that. It's

true. It's true. Luke 8, 10, 18 says this, and

he, and this is Jesus speaking, said to them,

I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.

Behold, I give you authority to trample on serpents

and on scorpions and over all power of the enemy

and nothing shall by any means hurt you. Nevertheless,

do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are

subject to you, but rather rejoice because your

names are written in heaven. The word of God

tells us be humble, but know, but know that Christ

has the power over all things in our life. He

really does. And it takes just that seed. And

listen, I get it. I was bound by the same things

you were and are at times. But it is when you

start to exercise that seed that you begin to

walk into liberty. It doesn't happen instantly.

I'm not going to stand up here and tell you in

a flash, in a heartbeat, in a second, you're

going to be free from everything. That's not

always how it works. It does sometimes in Christ.

But other times, it's going to be just a little

taste of liberty. I know what it was to be bound

in fear. I was there. I remember that. I remember

the anxiety that went along with that. And just

for a moment in time, I began to believe God's

word. And I began to believe the power of Christ.

And for a few moments, I would be free. And then

I would slide back again, right? And fear would

grip my life again. And anxiety would take over

in the same situation. And then I would just

one more time, I'd start preaching and teaching

myself the word of God and praying the word of

God. But I'd start believing it. I start believing

in my heart and I get free just a little bit

longer. I'm up here today because he broke me

free of fear. That's why I'm here. He'll do it.

I'm not special. I'm not any more special than

anybody else sitting here. He'll do it. Freedom

then, freedom now. Freedom then, freedom now.

Walk in the faith and the freedom that comes

in Christ. The first scripture that we read said,

stand fast. Hold your ground in liberty we have

by faith in Jesus Christ. I'll say it this way.

Defend your faith and freedom in Jesus. Defend

it. Say it. Defend my faith and my freedom in

Jesus. Quote it to yourself, right? Worship team,

you can begin to come. Understand something.

peaceful agreement between the 13 colonies and

Great Britain. As a matter of fact, it led to

a war, the Revolutionary War. It was not an easy

war. It was a long war. Battles took place in

North America, in the Caribbean, in the Atlantic

Ocean, and the war's outcome actually seemed

uncertain for most of the war. But Washington

and the Continental Army's decisive victory in

the siege of Yorktown in 1781 led King George

III and the Kingdom of Great Britain to negotiate

an end to the war. But not before 25 ,000 people,

soldiers, were killed. What am I saying? In the

moment you declare freedom in Jesus Christ in

any area of your life, get ready for a fight.

Get ready for war. Get ready to wage a defense

against the oppression, the oppressor, and the

one who will come to take you down. Be ready.

Satan will go to war to keep your head, to keep

your heart, to keep your body, to keep your mind,

to keep your flesh in bondage. And he's willing

to go to war, so you've got to be willing to

go to war and defend the freedom that comes in

Jesus Christ. I'm amazed how many Christians...

really kind of make our Christian walk about

this nice stroll with Jesus through life, right?

We just make it like, oh, you know, we sing in

a couple songs, and it's going to be all good.

Man, you got to wage war. You got to wage war.

The enemy is going to come. He's going to come

and try to take the freedom that you have in

Christ. It is dangerous to know that there's

a fight in front of you. It's dangerous. Ignorance

is not bliss in this. It really isn't. Freedom

means you may go to war, and you've got to defend,

right? Freedom means that you're going to fight.

Freedom means that you'll never know when the

war might be coming to you, and you've got to

be ready, ready to fight for freedom in Christ

Jesus, faith in Christ. Be ready. Listen, church,

we're free. in this nation. Matter of fact, we're

free to travel anywhere we want, right? We can

travel from state to state. Some of you hop on

in your cars and go on vacations all the time.

Some of you have RVs, and you cross state lines

all the time. How many of you ever think about

crossing state lines for one second? None of

us do, right? Because we're free in this place.

But what if, just pretend in your mind, okay,

this is my brain working. Just go with me for

a little bit. You can decide to turn around and

go the other direction if you want a little bit.

But, you know, what if we hopped on Route 81?

I hopped on Route 81 south, and I decided I'm

going to head out of Carlisle. towards the Maryland

border, and I'm going to go down to Maryland,

actually to Hagerstown, Maryland, to Foster's

on the Point, and I want to get me a burger,

all right? They got the best burgers around,

apparently. gourmet burgers. And let's pretend

I'm traveling down to 81 South and I'm heading

to get a burger and I get to the Maryland border

and all of a sudden there's blockades up all

over the place. And it's not the military, it's

not the police, it's not any government authorities

in our state, but it's this group of individuals

who decide to block Route 81. They got their

shotguns out, their guns, and they formed their

own militia and they're just blocking the road.

And I stop and I explain my plight like, gentlemen,

I'm trying to get to Hagerstown, Maryland because

because I need a gourmet burger from this restaurant.

I need to have this burger. And they say, well,

you're not going through. And I say, well, I

really want to go through. And they say, no,

you're not going through. And they turn me back

around. How many know I've got two choices at

that point, right? I've got two decisions to

make. I can turn around and I can head back to

Carlisle, and I can come back and lick my wounds

and say, you know what? You know, I want to exercise

my right of freedom here, but I'm not going to

go down there. I really want that burger. I can

taste that burger as I'm sitting right here in

my living room right now. I need that burger,

right? And I can moan and groan about it, and

I can just sit in my house, right, in bondage,

or I can get ready to fight for my freedom, for

my burger. That's what Satan will do to you.

He'll try to take your freedom. He'll pull one

of his weapons, stand on the road that you're

traveling down with fear, shame, guilt, intimidation,

inadequacies, your past. He'll pull up any of

it, and he'll try to send you right back where

you came from, right back to the bondage that

you were currently in, previously in. But what

if I were to turn around and I come back home,

And I have a tank parked in my driveway. Yes,

from the military surplus store. I bought myself

a tank, all right? And I decided, you know what?

I really want a burger. So I hop in my tank and

I head back to the border. How many think I'm

gonna get through to get my burger? Amen, thank

you. About half of you believe me, all right?

I know, that's how my brain works. Just work

with me. Church, we have a tank. Jesus is the

tank. The Holy Spirit is the tank. Satan always

brings a knife to a gunfight. He always does.

He brings the string and the stake and tries

to get you to hold fast. Don't buy it. We have

the tank. All God wants you to do, you don't

even have to be the tank. You just got to crawl

into the tank, the tank of faith. And God's going

to move you to a place of liberty. Galatians

5 .1, right? I'm going to read it again. Stand

fast, therefore, in the liberty by which Christ

has made us free. Defend, fight. Many died and

bled for the freedom that we have in this country.

Jesus bled and died to empower us to be free

in this life. We have the tank at our disposal.

We really do, if you'd stand. So if you're a

follower of Jesus, I'm gonna ask you to listen

to me for just a moment. And I want you to bow

your head so you're not looking around, you're

just focused. Close your eyes. Don't be the elephant

held bound with a stick and a string. Just a

mustard seed of faith will begin to move you

forward into freedom and liberty. You might not

cross the freedom line today, but it will begin

the journey. Climb into the tank and go to war

with the devil. Go to war with the mindset. Go

to war with your history. Go against the paralyzing

emotion that takes you over. He's the tank. Just

crawl in. Just declare your faith in Jesus Christ.

Name that thing that has been holding you back,

that has had you bound. Name it. You can't fix

what you won't name. You've got to name it. And

then by faith, turn it over to him. We're going

to pray that way first. And then we're going

to do a second prayer for those who don't know

Jesus. Father, I come to you right now. God,

you know who's in the house on this 4th of July

weekend. God, 250 years celebrating freedom in

this nation. And God, I'm calling for freedom

in this house. God, some here are bound. Lord,

there's areas of their life. God, they may be

free in so many other areas, but there's areas

where they're bound. Things have them. God, they've

pushed them down. They felt like they've been

pulled back. They feel a lot like that elephant

that's been chained to a post, and they just

can't get free. And I'm here to tell them today

that they can begin to move forward in Christ.

That you are the tank. And Lord, we don't have

to have the power within us. All we have to do

is have faith in you. And God, you will drive

us forward. God, you'll get us across the border.

You'll get us beyond the reach of the enemy.

God, you'll push us through those lines. So Lord,

I'm praying right now. God, as they pray. And

God, as they name that thing. Lord, that freedom

begins right now in the house of God. Freedom

begins right now in their heart. Because they're

coming with faith. Faith. In Christ. You'll set

them free. Let them begin the journey today.

God, there may be one here that you just completely

deliver them. The light bulb may have come on.

God, deliverance is in their life. God, I pray

that you touch them in this moment. But, Lord,

for many, they'll be like me. They're starting

the journey. God, they're going to walk, and

they're going to have to fight. They're going

to have to stand. And every time the enemy comes,

they're going to have to crawl back into the

tank of faith. Every time the enemy comes, they're

going to have to lean on your word. Every time

the enemy comes, they're going to have to believe

what you said and not what's going on in their

life. their head or out of somebody else's mouth.

In Jesus' name, I pray this. And as your heads

are bowed and your eyes are closed, there might

be somebody in the house today or listening online,

you don't know Jesus. You're not a follower of

Jesus. You've never even considered it until

today. And you want to come into the kingdom.

You want to get in the tank. You want to be free.

You want to be in relationship with a God who

loves you more than anyone will ever love you.

You want to know him. I'm here to tell you, he

died on a cross. He rose from a grave so you

could be free. He rose from a grave so you could

be washed clean of sin. And so no past, no anxiety,

no fear, no troubling thing can have a grip on

you for all of your life. Lord, God, I pray for

that person right now who wants to surrender

their life. And they're willing. They're saying

right now in their heart, I will follow you.

I will follow you, Jesus. I will do what you

say. I will follow you. And I will come into

relationship with you. Forgive me of my sin.

Forgive me, Lord, of what has separated me from

you. And they'll come into my life right now.

In Jesus' name. God, I pray for freedom in their

life. God, it's their wash clean in their spirit.

God, it'll begin. What's on the inside will begin

to flow on the outside. In Jesus' name. Jesus'

name. And amen. Now here's what we're going to

do. The Word of God tells us that we overcome

by the blood of the Lamb and the Word of our

testimony. Jesus provided the blood. He provided

the power. He provided the tank. Now you've got

to testify of what He's going to do in your life.

You might not see evidence of it yet. Faith is

not what you see. It's what you hear and know.

Right? Faith is evidence. Come on, it's true.

So if you pray to be free of something this morning,

and you believe the journey in faith in Christ

is going to begin today to freedom, you need

to declare that to someone. Now, I know this

is uncomfortable. Don't do it unless you're comfortable

with somebody or the person that you're standing

beside or somebody that you know. But you need

to name that thing and you need to testify. We

overcome by the blood of the Lamb and the word

of our testimony. As soon as you declare it,

as soon as you speak it, as soon as you testify

of it, you're releasing God's power in your life

and into the air. The enemy will hear it. He

will know. Got to get ready to fight. But you're

going to be free. Amen? So here's what I'm going

to do. I mean, they're going to play a song.

And while they're playing and while they're praising

and while they're singing, here's what I want

you to do. I want you to declare it to somebody

beside you. Name it. And say, I'm going to start

today. I'm going to become free. I got faith

in Jesus. Not faith in me. I got faith in Jesus.

I'm beginning the journey of freedom today in

my life. You ready to declare it? Amen? It's

true. If you got saved, you need to declare it.

If this was the first day you prayed and you

asked Christ to come into your life, declare

it to somebody beside you. Declare it to me.

I'd love to talk with you. Please come see me.

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