21 Days Of Freedom Part 4 | Freedom From Struggles with Chris Schlotterbeck

He is glorious.

Behold the one who has come to us.

Welcome to Hub City Vineyard.

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Thank you and enjoy the message.

Hey, how's everybody doing today?

Good to hear.

It's a beautiful Sunday.

It may be raining a little, but we're all here

and we're glad that you are here.

If you're joining us from home, thank you for welcoming us

into your space.

So this morning we are concluding our series,

21 Days to Freedom.

And thus far in our series, in week one,

we are challenged to get out of the crowd.

Week two, we learned about the book of Leviticus.

Took a deep dive, in fact.

Many of us learned much that we have never seen or read before.

And we talked about walking away from guilt and shame.

Last week was a cool experience for many of us

as we turned and prayed for one another

and we just tapped into the kingdom on demand.

If you missed any of those talks,

we want to encourage you to go to our YouTube channel,

subscribe.

You can listen in and you can catch up.

And just a quick question to start this morning.

Isn't it true that life is unpredictable?

Would you all agree with that?

And we can always be certain of that statement

because tomorrow we don't know what's going to come our way.

We're not really sure what could happen next.

In fact, sometimes it feels like we're on a roller coaster.

There's twists, there's turns, there's ups, there's downs,

and suddenly it's moving backwards.

And then you find yourself upside down in a loop.

And then of course, there's always that long drop,

that big hill where at the bottom you're

screaming your head off.

It's exhilarating.

And then you think, what in the world

am I doing on this thing?

It gets over.

You're grateful it's done.

You're happy to be alive.

And then suddenly you're thinking,

should I even get back on that?

It was thrilling, but I'm not really sure I liked it.

And if we take that roller coaster

and we apply it to our relationship with Jesus,

quite often when we're in a relationship with Jesus,

we think that it's going to be smooth and joyful.

I mean, after all, Jesus promises

that we're going to live with a life of abundance.

We find ourselves making progress.

We're being empowered by the Spirit.

And then all of a sudden, there's a drop.

There's a twist.

There's a turn.

And it throws us for a loop.

We become confused.

We're frustrated.

We're asking God, God, why did this happen?

God, I thought you wanted what was best for me.

I thought I was going to see change in my life.

Why all of a sudden am I stuck?

And suddenly, we discover that that twist, that turn,

that drop that slowed us down was God just simply getting

our attention to reveal that something in our hearts

was out of alignment with his heart.

Here's the reality.

God cares just as much about our character

as he does our successes.

And if at any point he sees our heart,

he sees our character not in the condition it needs to be,

he has no problem addressing it.

And that's why it's so important for us to find balance

and to stay humble.

Because when we're on this roller coaster,

we experience the thrill of being on top, the highs,

if you will.

And then we have the emotions of hitting the very bottom.

Now, I'm actually wearing a loci bracelet this morning.

And this company was founded by Steven Eisen,

who got the idea from his grandfather who

was struggling with Alzheimer's.

Eisen writes this.

He says, his diagnosis made me think

about the highs and the lows that everyone experiences.

I wanted to make a product for myself and others

as a reminder to stay humble through the highs

and hopeful through the lows.

Now, on this bracelet, he references being on top

and staying humble with a white bead.

And inside this white bead is water from Mount Everest,

of course, the highest point on Earth.

And then there's a black bead on the bracelet

to reference or highlight the lows and the challenge for us

to stay hopeful.

And in the black bead carries mud from the Dead Sea,

the lowest point on our planet.

And the challenge that he has through his bracelets

is stay in the middle.

You know, stay balanced, stay humble,

and be ready to approach life following God's Spirit.

So as I was praying this week about how

to conclude our series, God took me to the book of Joshua

to discover a simple truth that I believe

is going to change many of our lives this morning.

Now, if you look at the book of Joshua,

you will find that Joshua is leading the people of Israel

into the promised land.

Now, this was a land that God had given them,

but they did have to go into the land and claim it.

They had to go into the land, conquer the cities

and the people in order to receive

what God had given them.

But God's given them supernatural favor

as they're doing it.

God's hand is on them.

And as they come to the first city, a city called Jericho,

this city is heavily fortified.

In fact, no one had ever conquered Jericho,

but God tells his people that would be the first city

that you're going to claim as your own in this new land.

And do they ever take it?

After walking around the city walls once a day for six days,

seven times on the seventh with the priests blowing

their horns daily and the people then shouting

on the last day, many of us know that the walls

came tumbling down.

A supernatural display of God's power and graciousness

towards the Israelites taking this city.

Now, it's an amazing victory as the people

are taking bold steps and moving forward in this new land.

Now, because Jericho was the first city,

we know there is a principle that we learn in the Bible

that the first is always to be given back to God.

And God gave the people through Joshua special instructions

that all the valuables that came out of that victory

needed to go back to him.

They needed to be given back to God so that the priesthood

would be established amongst the people of Israel.

This is actually lived out in our lives today

when we fast forward to today.

For example, today is the first day of the week

and we are constantly challenged, hey, let's gather together.

Let's worship together, let's prioritize our relationship

with Jesus today.

For some of you, you have perfect attendance this year.

Give yourself a clap on the back, good job.

You have perfect attendance for 2024.

We give God our first in our mornings.

We go to him in prayer, in quiet time, in Bible reading.

We give God our first in our finances through tithing.

So we actually are still living out the principle

of the first today just like God challenged Joshua

and the people of Israel.

So God's supernatural power conquers Jericho

and the people of Israel confidently walking in

to the promised land.

So they come to the second city, a city called Ai,

and it's a much smaller city.

In fact, it's not very fortified.

And the scouts that go out to check out the city, right,

they thought it was gonna be a quick victory.

In fact, they come back and they tell Joshua,

there's no need to send the whole army.

Just send a couple of troops out there.

We will take them down.

It won't be any problem.

So Joshua listens and he sends only 3,000 men

to conquer this city.

Now it just so happens, the promised victory,

it doesn't happen.

In fact, the men, they were sent away soundly defeated

and they quickly retreated all the way back to the camp.

And in this defeat, there's shock, there's awe,

there's fear that spreads throughout all the people.

And Joshua, he finds himself stressed out

and he turns to God in prayer.

And he says, God, I'm confused.

You called us to take these bold steps.

You promised us a slam.

We saw your favor in Jericho.

And now all of a sudden,

this small enemy has defeated us.

God, where are you?

Why have you stopped us on this journey?

Let's be honest.

When we hit a twist or a turn,

we find ourselves down and depressed and frustrated,

I believe this is a question that we constantly ask God

when we're caught off guard, right?

When there's a twist in life.

God, you gave me this job, now I'm miserable.

God, I'm committed to this marriage.

Why is it falling apart?

God, you opened the door for me to go back to school.

Why is it so hard to achieve the grades needed?

There's not enough money in the budget, God.

When are you gonna come through, right?

Just constantly, God, where are you?

Now here's the reality.

It does no good to claim God's promises

if we have not conquered secret sins.

It does no good to claim the promises of God

if we have these struggles that we can't get past.

Think about it, what good is it

to enter in God's blessing in our life

if we're still so bound up

that we can't even enjoy it?

And this morning, that's what we're gonna be discussing

as we look at the people of Israel in the book of Joshua.

And we conclude our 21 day fast.

Today is the last day of our fast

as we launch into the 2024 New Year.

So let's open in prayer, Holy Spirit, come.

God, we're just so thankful

for all that you're doing in our community of faith.

We're just thankful for the lives changed, God.

The family's restored.

We're thankful for the healings and the miracles

and the signs and the wonders.

And we just pray for more.

And today, God, I just pray that each and every one of us

take a deep inward reflection on our hearts.

And may we all be changed as we gather together today.

In Jesus' name, amen.

So our first thought this morning,

you see God's promises are partnered with God's standards.

God's promises are partnered with God's standards.

Joshua chapter seven, verses 10 through 12.

But the Lord, notice what the Lord says to Joshua.

He says, get up.

Remember Joshua, he's stressed out.

He's talking to guys.

Why are you lying on your face like this?

Israel has sinned and broken my covenant.

They have stolen some of the things that I commanded

must be set apart for me.

They have not only stolen them, but they have lied about it

and hidden the things among their own belongings.

That is why the Israelites are running from their enemies

in defeat.

For now, Israel itself has been set apart for destruction.

I will not remain with you any longer

unless you destroy the things among you

that were set apart for destruction.

So in an essence, God is saying to Joshua,

you and the people are tolerating some things

that I don't tolerate.

And I need you to understand, there will be no progress.

You will not move forward in the promised land

until you address what is in secret.

Now it turns out that there was a man named Achan,

who was an Israelite man of course,

and while he was in Jericho,

he decided to take the items meant for God, just a few,

and keep them for himself.

And we read this in Joshua 7, 1 and 20 to 21,

but Israel violated the instructions

about the things set apart for the Lord.

A man named Achan had stolen some of these dedicated things,

so the Lord was very angry with the Israelites.

Achan replied, it is true.

I have sinned against the Lord, the God of Israel.

Among the plunder, I saw a beautiful robe from Babylon,

200 silver coins, and a bar of gold

weighing more than a pound.

I wanted them so much that I took them.

They are hidden in the ground beneath my tent,

with the silver buried deeper than the rest.

So essentially, Achan was hoping to turn a profit

at a later time.

And Achan's secret struggle stopped the flow of God's favor

and stalled the entire nation's mission.

At least just pause there for a second, let's be honest.

I was reading through these scriptures this week,

and as I was reading it, I'm like,

God, a robe, some coins, a bar of gold, really?

Is it necessary that the entire nation of Israel

is stalled, is stopped, and can't move forward

because of those simple things?

Like the entire mission for one man's sin.

It's not really that big of a deal, is it, God?

It's a robe, a couple coins, a little bit of gold.

And think about it, people have died in battle,

the whole nation is now stopped, can't move forward.

Is it that big of a deal?

Is it any time we think God is overreacting,

chances are we're underestimating how important something is.

One of the things that we all underestimate

as we pursue a relationship with Jesus

and his purpose for our lives, right,

is the secret struggles that we have within our lives.

You know, God is not interested in us having his blessing

without having his character.

His character is what matters.

And this is a reality check for the people of Israel.

To God, sin is intolerable.

I mean, think about that, it's intolerable.

And if you look at the church,

we constantly are talking about God being relational,

he wants to be in relationship with us,

he's full of grace, which he is, but he is also holy.

Which means God knows no sin.

God is set apart, he is holy.

Psalm 5, 4 says, oh God, you take no pleasure in wickedness.

You cannot tolerate the sins of the wicked.

Isaiah 59, 2 says, it's your sins

that have cut you off from God.

Because of your sins, he is turned away

and will not listen anymore.

A single bar of gold matters

because God does not tolerate sin, right?

A couple coins of silver matters

because God does not celebrate even a little bit of sin.

A robe, as insignificant as a piece of clothing is,

matters because God is not 95% holy,

he is 100% holy.

And I know we look at this at times and think,

well, God is just unreasonable.

But that's because we're sinful people.

And remember, we chose to turn away from God.

But let's look at it a different way.

Say, for example, you have a surgery coming up.

You go into the hospital,

you're being prepped for surgery,

you're gonna need a blood transfusion,

and the nurse comes up to your bedside

and asks you to sign a piece of paper.

You, of course, don't just sign it.

You ask, well, why do I need to sign this piece of paper?

To which time the nurse reveals to you

that before you take the blood transfusion,

you're about to receive new blood

that has a 1% chance of a rare blood disease in it.

Now, how many of you would sign that piece of paper

and say, yeah, put that blood in me.

I'll take that rare blood disease.

Any hands?

A few.

I guess you wanna roll the dice.

That's fine with me.

But many of us, right, we're like, no!

I am not signing that, I want clean blood

going into my body

because that blood has the capacity to kill me.

And that's what God is trying to say in this moment.

I know it simply looks like a piece of clothing,

a robe, a couple coins of silver, a bar of gold.

Sin has the capacity to kill.

It kills marriages, it destroys families,

it ends careers, it stops our influence.

God does not tolerate sin,

which leads us to our next stop.

To see humanity view sin as tolerable.

Again, Joshua 7, 20 to 21, Achan replied, it is true.

I have sinned against the Lord, the God of Israel.

He admits it after he's what?

Caught, right?

I stole a robe, 200 silver coins, a bar of gold.

Now notice what he says.

I wanted them so much

that I took them.

They are hidden in the ground beneath my tent

with the silver buried deeper than rest.

And see, Achan traveled the path that we all travel.

See, there's this process to walking away

from God's standards.

It just doesn't happen overnight.

It first starts with a secular mindset.

And you say, well, what do you mean by that, Chris?

Well, secular mindset simply means without God.

Right, when sin came into the world,

humanity chose to remove God from our consciousness.

Right, we thought our way was the better way.

And in a relationship with Jesus,

we can quickly move to a secular mindset

if we remove him from different parts of our life.

We kind of set him aside and choose not to follow his path.

And that's how sin begins.

Then from a secular mindset,

we begin to live for our selfish motives.

And this is where we decide, God, I don't just doubt you,

I'm gonna replace you.

And you saw it at Achan.

Achan saw the three items,

and he wanted them, right?

And he just pushed himself in and took them.

You know, God, I'm not sure you have my best interest.

Or, you know, your standards aren't necessarily

the standards I need to keep.

You know why?

Because society says it's okay.

And if society says it's okay,

then I can just blend in with society.

I don't need to be different.

And see, God will take your blessing, right?

And when it comes to standards,

I will choose the one that decides what I'm gonna live by.

And it's these little steps,

these little mindsets that we tweak and change.

And suddenly, right, we go secular, we go selfish,

and then it becomes a secret.

What Achan do, he buried it.

He didn't want anybody to know about it.

He buried it and slept on top of it.

And you say, oh, that's interesting.

Think about today.

Today, we hide it in our phones.

We delete text messages.

We erase search browsers.

We go on business trips, right?

Or we say things like, well, I'm gonna tell you this,

but if you say it was from me, I'm gonna deny it, right?

Then from hiding, you settle into it.

Notice the Bible doesn't say

that all of this happened in one day.

It says that Achan was sleeping on top of what he hid.

And if you think about it, day after day after day,

he shows up, acts like it's no big deal,

it doesn't matter, and it has now become something

that he just simply lives with.

We do the same thing.

We rationalize and say, well,

everyone has character issues, Chris.

Everyone has hangups, everyone makes mistakes.

Nobody's perfect, nobody will ever be Jesus.

And I agree, but that's the comparison trap.

The second we say everyone does it,

we're comparing ourselves to others.

In 2 Corinthians 10, 12 tells us,

but they are only comparing themselves to each other,

using themselves as the standard of measurement.

How ignorant.

Let's not be ignorant.

Church, let's be different.

Because if we're not different, if we're not set apart,

before long, we find ourselves living

with something that brought us into bondage.

And one of the reasons we do this

is because we don't hold God's view of sin.

It becomes comfortable for us.

Just becomes a natural part of life.

But Galatians 1, 10 tells us, obviously,

I'm not trying to win the approval of people, but of God.

If pleasing people are my goal,

I would not be Christ's servants.

See, there are so many Jesus followers today

living within our society that are saved,

but they're far from free.

They will not be different.

They will not be set apart.

Forgiven, yes, but held captive by the bondage of sin.

It could be an attitude, could be an addiction,

it could be an unhealthy desire for more stuff.

Jesus followers settling for partial freedom,

and I wanna challenge you, Church, God wants more for us.

Why?

Because Jesus gave his whole life.

Jesus gave everything.

And God has no problem confronting our sin,

halting our progress, and making us uncomfortable

so that we will change.

Listen, sin is powerful, so powerful

that it robbed Achan of the experience

that he lived for his entire life.

Remember Achan, right, he's not standing in the wilderness.

He's not in the wilderness choosing to sin.

He's walking in the promised land.

Something that he and the Israelites

had waited generations to be in.

His whole life has been oriented to inherit this promise.

He's walking in it, he's standing in it,

and because of his sin, he can't even enjoy it.

And some of you gathered here in this place,

you're in a marriage that God gave you,

but you can't enjoy it because you're bound in pornography.

You're working in a job or leading a business

that God gave you,

but you can't enjoy it because of your bitterness

towards your coworkers.

You're in a great church, but you can't enjoy it

because you're so full of shame and guilt

that it's robbing you of the experience.

And see, sin doesn't just rob us, it ruins us.

Achan lost his family, his family lost their lives

because of his sin, which leads us to our final thought.

See, sin is powerful, but Jesus is greater, right?

It's like all this bad news, I got some good for you, relax.

It's coming.

Sin is powerful, but Jesus is greater.

See, sin robs and ruins,

but Jesus, he restores and he renews.

And many of us sitting in his chairs,

many of you watching online,

you have testimonies of God's faithfulness,

how he's restored you, how he's renewed you,

how he's changed your entire life.

I mean, Jesus has made me the person that I am today.

For example, look at his jacket.

I mean, isn't it sweet?

Now listen, I would have never worn this coat before Jesus.

And I get some of you thinking

you shouldn't be wearing it now.

All right, just take it off.

You know, before Jesus, I was full of insecurities,

self-doubt, I followed the crowd.

I would never be the leader, right?

I would never be the person that's just setting the course

and saying, let's go.

But Jesus made me new.

He challenged me, he changed me, he set me free.

And listen, I wanna encourage you,

it doesn't matter what you're struggling with.

Doesn't matter the issue.

It doesn't matter your thought patterns.

It doesn't matter how big the addiction.

That strength is not greater than Jesus.

And until we have received and experienced full freedom,

we have not inherited all that God has for us.

Until our bodies are free from sinful actions,

there is more freedom to be experienced.

Until our minds are free from thoughts

that shouldn't be there,

there is more freedom to be experienced.

Until our emotions are free from sinful addictions,

there's more freedom to be experienced.

God desires that we walk in freedom

and not continue to be a slave to sin.

And I wanna encourage you this morning, friends,

God has more.

Don't settle, right?

Don't blame your family.

Don't make excuses.

Well, society does it, Chris.

I don't care.

Society does a lot of things, right?

And I don't wanna pattern my life after them.

Jesus didn't go to the cross for us to settle.

Jesus didn't die for us to make excuses.

You can be free.

Sin is powerful, but Jesus is greater.

And that is what we learn in this passage.

Hear me out.

Achan had to give his life for his sin.

Joshua 7, 24, then Joshua and all the Israelites took Achan,

the silver, the robe, the bar of gold,

his sons, daughters, cattle, donkeys, sheep, goats,

10, and everything he had.

And they brought them to the valley of Acre.

Like we no longer have to live in that old covenant.

We all know what happened next.

It was all destroyed.

But we read in Galatians 1, 4,

Jesus gave his life for our sins.

Just as God, our Father, planned in order to rescue us

from the evil world in which we live.

Romans 5 tells us, we were utterly helpless

and Christ came just at the right time

and died for us sinners.

Now most people would not be willing to die

for an upright person, though some,

one might perhaps be willing to die for a person

who's especially good, but God showed his great love for us

by sending Christ to die for us while we're still sinners.

Friends, here's the reality.

All of us gathered, watching online,

have something we need to be freed from.

Just being honest, for some of you it's an attitude,

for some of you it's an addiction,

for some of you it's unforgiveness,

you're just caught up and bound in unforgiveness,

you won't let people go.

For some of you it's simply an unhealthy appetite

that God wants to change.

All of us need these truths

because God is challenging his church to change,

to be set apart, to be different.

Look at Titus 2, for the grace of God has been revealed,

bringing salvation to all people,

and we are instructed to turn from godless living

and sinful pleasures.

We should live in this evil world with wisdom,

righteousness, and devotion to God,

which leads us to our action steps.

Three simple steps to experiencing freedom,

because I wanna challenge you,

if we're not moving forward, we're moving away.

Jesus is inviting us to continue getting more

and more like him, which leads us to our first step.

You gotta reveal you need help.

Achan's bondage began the second he thought

he had it under his control.

The central lie of all bondage is,

you're not in bondage.

And it comes in subtle ways,

like thinking, well, I'm the only one that knows.

No one else knows.

I can handle this.

And think about how foolish that reality is.

Well, I'm the only one that knows.

But then we read Hebrews 4.13,

nothing in all creation is hidden from God.

Everything is naked and exposed before his eyes,

and he is the one to whom we are accountable.

Think about this.

God could see in Achan's tent.

He could see below his tent.

He knew what Achan had.

God sees in our phones.

God sees in our homes.

God sees on our computers.

God sees our hearts.

We're not the only one who can see it.

And then the other lie that we believe is,

well, I can handle it.

No one else can see it, and I can handle it.

I can manage it.

Oh, Chris, I can quit any time I want.

I can clean this up.

And the crazy thing is, we truly believe those words.

We believe we can handle it.

But let's be honest.

If that's true, why haven't you handled it?

Why are you still stuck?

And the truth is, we have lived with our bondage long enough

to recognize that we have tried everything,

yet it remains.

And that's a signal to the fact that we're not in control

and we don't have it handled,

and we need someone to help us clean it up.

And coming clean happens two ways, not just one.

First, we need to come clean to God,

and then we need to come clean to trustless friends

in the community of faith.

And first, coming clean to God, saying,

hey, God, this is not the standard you want for my life.

I need you to forgive me.

And the amazing thing about God is not only does he forgive

but he forgets as well.

Look at Jeremiah 31.

But this is the new covenant which we are living in.

I will make with the people of Israel

after those days, says the Lord.

I will put my instructions deep within them

and I'll write them on their hearts.

I will be their God and they will be my people.

Remember, we are now filled with the Holy Spirit.

For everyone from the least to the greatest

will know me already, says the Lord.

And notice this part.

I will forgive their wickedness

and I will never again remember their sins.

So God says, I'm going to forgive and forget.

And why does forgetfulness need to be paired

with forgiveness?

Well, first of all, because your enemy

will never let you forget.

Your enemy is gonna come at you and remind you constantly.

Remember when you stole that money?

Remember when you cheated on the taxes?

Remember when you lied to your boss?

You weren't really sick.

Remember when you cheated on your wife?

Remember when you gossiped about him or her?

He's never gonna let you forget.

And the reason God says, I forgive you,

is to handle the sin.

The reason he says, I forget, is to handle the shame.

See, it's a both and.

Many of us believe that we have been forgiven

and are now in a relationship with Jesus.

But it's impaired and it's not moving forward

because we live in shame.

So let me tell you how this works.

We come to God, we say, God, hey, I wanna be clean.

Forgive me, I wanna be free.

Forgive me of my choices.

He says, Chris, you're forgiven.

And then what many of us do is,

after we're forgiven, right,

we try to explain to God why we did it.

Well, God, you know, I really needed that money.

Well, God, she looked good.

Well, God, I was just on my computer and I didn't mean it.

And you know what the crazy thing is?

When we're doing that, he's looking bad

because like, what are you talking about?

He already forgot it.

He forgives and he forgets.

We don't have to justify why we sin

because he has forgotten it.

So that means God made an intentional decision

to forget what you did.

I don't know about you,

but I'm pretty sure God's not stupid.

He simply knows that as long as we think

he's remembered it,

it will impair our relationship with him.

And he's willing to remove our sin and our shame

so that we can what?

Come closer to him.

And see, many Jesus followers believe

they have been forgiven,

but they don't live as though they've been forgiven.

Here's why.

We received a forgiveness through Jesus,

but our forgiveness is often made real

through our community of faith.

That's why we read this in 1 John 1, 9 through 10.

If we confess our sins,

he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins

and cleanse us from all wickedness.

If we claim we have not sinned,

we are calling God a liar

and showing that his word has no place in our hearts.

It just stays in our minds

until someone in the community of faith affirms

that it's taken place.

See, we don't receive forgiveness from one another,

but we affirm and encourage what God has done.

And when we open up to one another,

you know what happens to pride?

The pride that's in our hearts goes away.

And there's an opening in our hearts

for the Holy Spirit to work through another person.

But let's be honest, friends.

We have a sin problem in the church.

Not that we sin for some reason, right?

We can't talk about it.

We walk in here, we roll in Sunday after Sunday

after Sunday, people, hey, how are you doing this week?

I'm good.

How's everything going?

Is there anything I can pray for?

No, man, I'm good.

Everything's perfect.

And we never open up and share with others

about our problems and our struggles

that have been going on for months and years.

I'm good, Chris.

Oh, I'm good, Steve.

No, I don't need no prayer, but I'll pray for you.

God created the church so people can have issues

and openly discuss them.

That's why he calls us a family.

This should be the one place on the planet

that we can walk into and say, hey, I messed up, right?

I have been here the longest.

I made a bad choice.

That's why God established a church.

We need one another to realize our forgiveness.

But then we act like there's no issues.

I mean, think about it.

Aiken lived in a tribe, had a family,

had leaders that cared about him,

but he died because he was unwilling to be honest

and open up with them.

And that's the picture of too many churches today.

People are a conversation away.

People are a prayer away from real freedom,

but they won't have it, and then it kills them.

And this should be the easiest place in the world

to have these conversations.

You know why?

Because by walking through these doors,

you can send it, I need help.

No one comes to church because they got it all together.

We come to church because we need help.

And when you walk through these doors

and you high five somebody, you're saying,

yo, I'm messed up.

Including me.

I mean, look what I'm wearing.

I'm messed up.

And listen, I've been pastoring long enough

to tell you this.

Anyone can get free.

Anyone can experience freedom.

But the only people who cannot be free

are the people who won't admit that they're not free.

We can never escape from a prison

we won't admit we're called in.

It starts simply by saying, this is where I am,

and being honest with God and with others.

Which leads us to our next step.

You need to restore God's thinking.

Behind every bondage is a lie believed.

And unfortunately in the church,

we tend to look at sin on the surface.

We're very surfacey when it comes to the church.

We don't like to look down below

and really dive into why people struggle with sin.

We like to point fingers.

Oh, don't do that, don't do that.

And we like to judge people.

But for example, if your bondage is marijuana,

I don't know about you,

it's not because you like to fill your lungs with smoke.

Okay, it's unhealthy.

You could eventually die.

It's because you believe the lie that you can't relax

or be joyful without it.

You're believing a lie.

If your bondage is sex outside of marriage,

it's because you believe the lie

that sex proves you're lovable.

If your issue is dishonesty,

and you can't be honest with people

and you gotta paint this picture that you're perfect,

then you are believing the lie

that if people really know you, they would reject you.

See, lies sustain bondage.

The truth of scripture frees us.

So there is no freedom until we take on what?

God's thinking.

Until we take on God's character.

And we have to simply recognize God's word is true

and we have to adopt it for ourselves.

Now, unfortunately, most people look at the Bible

as a moral code, a fable.

It's wisdom to live by, Chris.

Listen, we will never receive freedom

if we're looking at the Bible that way.

Because we receive what we give authority to.

We receive what we give authority to.

You are here today because you have given me authority

to be your pastor, therefore you receive from me.

If we don't see the Bible as the absolute word of God,

that is truth, we will not receive the power that it has.

Which is why Joshua said in Joshua 24, 15, look at this,

but if you refuse to serve the Lord,

then choose today whom you'll serve.

But as for me and my family, we will serve the Lord.

See, what is a Lord?

The Lord is a ruler.

And what do lords do?

They lord, and Joshua is saying,

whatever God says, we're gonna do it.

Whatever God says, we're gonna live by it.

When God tells us to do something, we're gonna follow.

And whatever he says about us, we're gonna believe it.

He is the Lord and we're giving him authority.

So if the Bible caused something sin,

friends, we can't redefine it.

We can't say, oh, but we live in 2024.

If the Bible caused something sin, you can't negotiate it.

Well, come on, God, it's gotta be that way.

Can't rationalize it.

If the Bible caused something sin,

we have to agree with it because we recognize the Bible

is the only thing that has the capacity to frisk.

We have to replace the lie with God's truth

that is written in the Bible.

And see, the Bible is different than anything else

we have ever encountered for the measure

it directly assaults the lies that are hidden.

Listen, there's nothing wrong with therapy.

Hear me out.

There's nothing wrong with positive thinking.

There's nothing wrong with exercise.

But they don't get down to the lies

that are hidden in our life.

Look what the Bible does in Hebrews 412.

The word of God is alive and powerful.

It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword

cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow.

It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires.

See, the Bible is a discerner.

It separates lies from truth.

And where does it do this?

In the thoughts of our heart and our minds.

And that's where lies begin and that's where lies hide.

In the Bible, what did it say?

It's a two-edged sword.

Let me explain that.

Many of you don't even understand that it's two edges.

Psalm 107 20 says,

he sent out his word and healed them

and delivered them from their destruction.

So it's a two-edged sword because one side is the scaffold

that goes into your heart and heals you

and the other side is the sword that defeats the enemy.

It's both end.

It's the scalpel that comes into our hearts

to the most painful places, heals them, sets them free.

If you wanna know where there are lies in your life

or a lie that you're believing today,

it's wherever there's pain in your heart.

If there's pain in your heart regarding a relationship,

regarding a family issue, regarding a choice you've made,

regarding something that's happening at work,

then there's a lie in your heart.

Pain is where we hide our lies.

But God's truth, what's it do?

It comes in and heals the pain.

And if we allow the pain to remain,

then the enemy, that's when the enemy come in

and what's it begin to do?

He lies to you.

Oh, you'll never be good enough.

You'll never be free.

It doesn't matter what you do.

You'll never measure up.

The Bible defends truth and separates lies.

And that's the tragedy of Achan's story.

Think about this.

Achan settled for a robe,

a few coins of silver, and a gold bar.

But do you know what God had given him?

As an Israelite in the promised land,

he would have been given a large plot of land

in the most fertile part of the earth

that would have sustained him and his family

for generations.

He was given a legacy by God

and he settled for trinkets from the enemy.

Lies look like truth when we don't know what truth is.

If we could grasp how much God loves us,

we will never be insecure another day in our life

because he loves you that much.

If we knew the truth of all that God has for us,

we'll never fear another day in this life.

I mean, that's why Jesus says in John 8.32,

and you will know the truth

and the truth will set you free.

Now, a lot of people misquote

and don't even understand this verse.

Truth don't set you free.

Knowing truth sets you free.

And there's a big difference.

Do you know the truth?

Which leads us to our final step.

If we know the truth, then we repent regularly.

Now repentance, don't get me wrong,

it's one of those words that no one likes

because they don't fully understand what it means.

First, repentance is not feeling bad.

Your self-loathing cannot save you.

Feeling bad is not a spiritual experience.

How many of you like to feel bad about yourself?

That's what I thought.

Really, you like to feel bad about yourself?

Man, I'm sorry, can someone get over here and pray?

Let's go.

We don't like to feel bad.

We wanna be happy and full of joy.

Repentance is not saying you're sorry

and then continue on doing it anyway.

God, I'm sorry for lying and then you turn around

10 minutes later and lie to your parents.

Right, it doesn't work that way.

Repentance, this is a big one, church,

is not a one-time event.

Well, Chris, I repented when I turned to Jesus, I'm good.

Wrong.

Repentance is an exercise that God has given us

that any time we feel our mind, our will,

our emotions going into sin, we repent,

and then it pulls us back into the truth of who God is

and what he says about us.

Clear, scriptural definition of repentance, you ready?

Pursuing sin and then changing direction to pursue Jesus.

Pursuing sin, repent, pursue Jesus.

Go in the direction of life.

It's not pursuing sin, it's not feeling bad about it,

it's not turning around one time,

it's stopping and saying, oh, this is the wrong direction,

this is death, this is lies, I need life.

I want abundance and it's going towards truth, Romans 6.

Don't let sin control the way you live.

Do not give in to sinful desires,

do not let any part of your body

become an instrument of evil to serve sin.

And let me just pause there a second, see,

I wanna correct some misunderstandings.

Keep the Sky Bible up, okay?

Now, Paul continues on on how we defeat sin,

but if we were to write the next portion of scripture,

you know what it would say?

It would say, fight against the flesh.

Try real hard, battle sin, get a kush jar.

You're like, Chris, what's a kush jar?

Well, I learned that a kush jar

from someone in here that's doing it is every time.

I won't mention names.

A kush jar is every time you swear,

you put money in the jar, right?

Fight against the sin, but let me read,

let me read what Paul writes to us, look.

Paul doesn't say fight against sin,

he says, give yourselves completely to God.

For you were dead, but now you have new life.

So use your whole body as an instrument

to do what is right for you, to all the glory of God.

See, most people lose the battle of sin

because they fight in their own strength.

When Paul says, give yourself completely to God.

Now, question, mathematicians.

If you give yourself completely to God,

how much left do you give to sin?

All right, let me ask the question again.

Some of you are like,

okay, this is like elementary level math.

Okay, here we go.

If you give yourself completely to God, 100% to God,

how much do you have left to give to sin?

Nothing.

Thank you, that's much better, nothing.

Now, this is how we're gonna close, it's really cool.

I read an article this week

that told the story of a pastor

that was invited to come and lead a Bible study

at a men's fraternity.

So he shows up on campus, college guys, new into faith,

they're sold out for Jesus,

and they wanted this pastor to teach on sexual temptation.

The study started, and during the teaching,

the pastor made the comment,

we have the ability to control ourselves sexually.

Like a light switch, you can turn on and off

your sexual desires.

Now, he made the comment, and he noticed in the group

that a hush went over them.

They were confused.

And one of the guys in the front row says,

sir, I disagree with that statement.

I don't believe that statement is true,

because there's a point of no turning back.

The pastor says, is that what you believe?

And the whole group said, yeah.

So the pastor says,

let's say you're in one of those moments.

You're with a girlfriend, hormones are racing,

emotions are peaking, you're doing and crossing lines

you shouldn't have crossed,

and you've entered a place of no turning back.

Now I want you to imagine that her father,

who is a Navy SEAL, gets home from a tour

in the Middle East, right while this encounter is happening.

Do you think that you have the capacity

to control yourself?

The pastor said the room got real silent,

and one guy says, you know, he makes a good point.

The pastor says, did your sexual desire evaporate?

Did you suddenly find her unattractive?

No, your strong sexual desire,

but a stronger desire to stay alive.

Church, listen, our problem is not that we are weak.

Our problem is our view of God is weak.

Sin is not so strong in your life.

It's your view of God, and it's weak,

and if we pursue Him,

we will have no problem dealing with our sin.

Because listen, if you tasted God's grace,

you don't want to abuse it.

If you enter into His presence,

like we do every single Sunday when we worship together,

you don't want to leave it.

If you heard His voice, you want to continue to hear it.

There is so little satisfaction in sin,

and the solution for sin is going all in for Jesus.

Joshua and the children of Israel

addressed the issue of sin,

and immediately they start moving again.

So the Lord was no longer angry

than the Lord said to Joshua,

do not be afraid or discouraged.

Church, do not be afraid or discouraged.

I have given you the land.

Will you claim it?

Will you stand with me?

Listen, I want you to grab your brown bags.

All of you were given a brown bag.

If you weren't given a brown bag,

make sure you get one on your way out.

So we did 21 Days to Freedom,

and this coming Friday, we're going to have a freedom night.

And we're going to gather here on Friday night at 6.30,

and we're going to start worshiping at seven,

and I want you to bring this brown bag back.

And I want you all to come.

You say, well, Chris,

did you say this to the first gathering?

Yes.

I want them all here.

And I even want you watching online.

I want this room so full

that I got to turn the air conditioner on 60

just to cool it down because there's so much body heat.

Standing room only.

We're going to take four rows in the front row out,

just so you can stand up,

because I believe in what God wants to do in your life.

So you take this bag.

There's instructions on it.

What is it that you're struggling with?

And I want you to write it down.

I want you to put it into a bag.

And if it doesn't fit in this bag,

get a trash bag and drag it in here,

because we're going to put trash cans all along this front,

and we're going to invite people to come up as we worship

and to throw away their garbage,

because we believe our actions of stepping forward in faith

will release freedom in this place,

and we will become a people that are set apart and different.

Amen?

And then all of you will want to wear a tie-dye jean jacket

so you can share the good news with others.

Amen?

So what is it that God desires for you to walk in freedom?

Pray about it.

Allow Him to speak to you, allow the Holy Spirit

to move in your life.

Show back up here on Friday.

We will pack this place out.

We will have standing room only.

We'll worship like we've never worshiped before,

and the Holy Spirit will fall in this place

and bring freedom like we've never seen.

Are you willing to step out and be free?

The King of Glory is here, come and behold,