Taste of Heaven | John Challinor

Morning, church. Good morning to those of you

online. Julaine in Michigan and Elizabeth in

Wisconsin are there today. And you guys are close

enough. That probably makes it a micro location.

We'll just call it that. But no, welcome. Glad

you guys are with us. Pauldin, Baghdad. Super,

super glad that you guys are on the journey with

us and to hear what God is doing. Got a little

feedback of what God's up to. Exciting things

are happening in both of those places. Even like

ministry merging, so locations merging across,

which is really cool, and relationships being

built. And so just super grateful for that and

glad you guys are there today. And welcome to

the room. If you're here, welcome to you. Glad

you are in the room. Okay, we got to get something

out of the way real quick because we got to understand

who's in the room and who's online with us today

on the online fam. Okay, if I do this, if I go

like this, how many of you are like, yeah, I

remember those days? Okay. All right. All right.

Just make sure. Maybe throw some radio chats

in the emoji. Radio emoji chat. Whatever. In

the chat. There you go. I thought I'd bring out

the big guns, by the way, just so you know. Some

of you got stories. I know it. Some of you got

stories of carrying your box and how you breakdanced

after. I know it. I know some of you got those

tales. And then they went to iPods and everything

just kind of fell apart, you know? But yeah,

super, super, super glad you are here. And maybe

just kind of walking into going, right, this,

this, this, not the specific like layout and

structure and all of that and the room and the

lights and whatever. But what God intended when

he came, died on a cross, rose again, is that

a community of people would be born. And you

get right. Like some of you are like, wait, we

laughed in church. Yes, we laughed in church.

You realize this is supposed to be fun. You get

that right. Like like God is the inventor of

laughing and he gifted you with the ability to

laugh. you should be able to laugh, right? Like

it's honoring to him just as much as when you

do other stuff. And sometimes I think like when

it comes down to community and church, we miss

it. If you're not having fun, you're doing this

wrong. Okay, four of you believe that. That's

good. Good. That means I got about 96 % of you

that I still got to work on. But seriously, if

this isn't fun, we're doing it wrong. This is

supposed to be something that when we gather

together, what happens is that hopefully we're

here because we like it. We're here because you

get to hear somebody next to you sing. And you're

like, I can't sing. I'm glad they're singing.

I'm just going to tuck in underneath them and

I'm going to sound good because they sound good.

You know what I mean? But it's supposed to be

something where you come and you're encouraged

and you're around people that have joy. You know

you were given by God this immense joy to carry

everywhere you go? That means you shouldn't be

a lemon face. You shouldn't walk around looking

like you've been sucking on lemons. But how often

do you run into believers, to Christians, to

people who say they trust Jesus and they're the

most miserable people on the planet? You're doing

it wrong. You're doing it wrong. This was meant

to be something that's in, like when somebody

sees you and they see us and especially in a

gathering like this, they're like, I gotta be

a part of that. Because what they see here is

different. What they see here is this thing that

they can't get anywhere else. That's what this

is supposed to be. It's incredible the gift that

we have been given by God. And yet so often,

what do we do? Oh, I got to go to church. I just

got to survive the next, I don't know, 33 minutes

roughly. 38, thank you. Thank you for clarifying.

Somebody's being very kind because I'm speaking,

it's probably more like 45. Let's be honest.

How many of us, how many of us have the absolute

joy sucked out of this life? You said yes to

Jesus, and now all you do is feel a weight, this

immense pressure of you've got to show up, you've

got to perform, you've got to do. That God somehow

is unhappy with you, and he is not towards you,

and so you're constantly trying to earn the favor

of God and bring him towards you. And just, if

I could just get God to give me an attaboy today.

God, you see me in church today, right? Nobody

wants to be a part of that. Including me. That

sounds miserable. And how many of us, how many

of us, if we were really honest, believe that

God is this egotistical being that is just waiting

for you to screw up so he can show you how much

you screwed up. He's just this being that's just

waiting. He's waiting. He's got a big old baseball

bat. Right? I don't know how many of us are just

like on the edge of, man, I'm going to do something

that's going to set him off, and he's going to

remove all the blessings. And so I'm just here

managing blessings, right? I'm just keeping this

being out there, like keep him happy. Can I tell

you something? You never got one blessing because

of anything you did. That's not the gospel. That's

not good news. Good news is that I couldn't do

anything to earn a blessing and God showed up

and goes, hey, you're the most blessed person

on the planet. That's what we have in the person

of Jesus. And that's why we should walk around

going, have you seen those people? Have you seen

how free they are? It is for what? Wow. Three

of you. Thanks for being here last week. Cause

you're really encouraging me by remembering that

whole thing from last week. It is for freedom

that you have been what? Set free. Okay. We got

about 10 of you. We're getting better. It is

for freedom, freedom, freedom that you have been

set free. Okay, so last week we talked about

this idea, right? And just so you know, because

some people were like, I don't know what you

were pointing to last week. You were doing a

lot of this, right? There's a phrase no longer

on one side and there's a phrase not yet on the

other. Hopefully you can see that. The no longer

side is before that, before that, when you were

born on this planet, you were born into slavery.

What was slavery? You were born into, into, if

you were going to get anything, you had to earn

it. You had to work for it. You had to figure

out your way. You were a slave to your own indulgences.

All of that, right? You were a slave. Then you

met Jesus. And Paul says, because you met Jesus,

you are free. It is for freedom that you're set

free. So what happens now is right now, here

and now, even with the struggles of this life,

I'm free. And we'll talk about that more in a

minute. However, however, I know we're not there

yet. You know how I know? I sat down, second

row, right where you guys are, sat down there

this morning, crossed my leg. I looked to David,

who was sitting next to me. I go, you know you're

getting old when you cross your leg and go, ooh,

that hip is tight. Right? We know we're not there

yet. We got pain. We got pain. We know that there's

more to come. We know the inheritance to come,

the new heavens, new earth. We're not there yet.

And so we live in this in between. And what you

have in Galatians chapter five is the roadmap

that if you like, it's the cheat code from God,

how to live this life as a Christian, how to

live on this planet with all this stuff, all

the stuff, all the messaging, all the things

that the media wants to throw at you, everything,

right? Like with all of that stuff, this is how

you live. This is how you live the in -between

life. where I'm no longer a slave, I'm no longer

controlled by everything, but now I'm in this

in -between. And so then he starts in chapter

5, verse 13. And he says, you, you, my brothers

and sisters, so speaking to church people, speaking

to the church, those that have put their trust

in Jesus, right? They cross that finish line

of faith. We're called, we're called to be free.

You're called to be free. That's who you are

as a follower of Jesus. Now, we got to be really

clear what we mean by free. Free means what?

Free. You're free to do whatever you want. Some

of you as parents are going, please don't tell

my kids that. But it's the truth of the good

news. You're free to do whatever you want. How

do I know? You, my brothers and sisters, were

called to be free. But do not use your freedom

to indulge the flesh. Rather, serve one another

humbly in love. What does he say? You're called

to be free. Who are you? You are no longer a

slave. You are free. In this in -between life.

Who you are is you are free. Now, what does free

mean? It's that you have been granted freedom.

Why is that such a big deal? Because freedom

means that you have the power of choice. If you

were here last week, you heard us talk about

when you're a slave, you don't have options.

So he frees you from slavery. So remember, I

don't have an option. Don't get mad at people

that don't know Jesus, that live like they don't

know Jesus. Don't get mad at them. They're just

doing what they can only do. Right? Let's stop

judging them. Let's stop putting them to a higher

standard. And let's look at ourselves and go,

wait a minute. For me, for me, as a follower

of Jesus, I have met the living Jesus. That has

transformed me. And now I am free. And the gift

that I have been given is freedom. It's freedom.

You have the choice. You know, you know, okay,

okay. You leave here. And you go out and do the

very thing that God don't want you to do. God,

more happy with you, more sad with you. He hasn't

moved. Why? Because he made you free. He gave

you a choice. And what you did with the choice

is you exercise what you have, but it does not

change who you are and it does not change what

he has done. It's called grace. You can't change

your standing with God because you didn't do

anything to get it in the first place. We've

talked over and over all these last few weeks.

You will never be more forgiven than you are

right now. And at some point, we've got to get

that through our heads, right? The idea of, man,

I have a good day and I have a bad day. Okay,

that's human. But that doesn't change who God

is and it doesn't change who I am to God. You're

completely, completely, this is the good news

of the gospel. You are completely. Free to choose.

Why choose? Go all the way back to the garden.

Remember in the garden, they had a choice, right?

They got to choose. Why? Because they were free.

And out of that choice, they chose something.

They chose what? To display what they loved.

And they chose that they loved themselves. What

do you have? You have the freedom to choose.

What are you doing with your freedom to choose?

You get to put it towards what you're saying

is valuable. And what he says here is don't use

your freedom. Don't use your freedom. This life

you've been given, these options you have to

do whatever you want, whenever you want. And

by whatever you want, I mean whatever you want.

You can do it because you're free. But he says,

don't use it to indulge your selfish indulgences.

Don't use it to indulge your sin nature, what

I inherited from Adam. Don't use it. Don't use

your freedom. And so the original language at

this point, it talks about, or it says to indulge

the flesh. That is actually, it's hard to translate

into English. But what it means is don't set

up a base of operations to get from here to there.

So what he's saying is don't take your freedom

in this in -between life. Don't take the freedom

you've been given and now use it like a launch

pad to set off towards what your sinful desires

want. He goes, you can because you're free. But

don't do it. Because why? I'm no longer a slave.

I'm no longer a slave to the sin and the self

-indulgence and the self -centeredness and the

selfishness that I had before. I'm now free to

what? To use my freedom. And what does he say

to use it towards? Rather serve one another humbly

in love. You see what's amazing with freedom?

Is freedom means I don't have to act like that

no more. Which makes me free to act like this.

So it means that, let's make it real practical.

In my marriage, I don't have to take this thing

that is beautiful, that's God designed, and make

it all about me and my wants and my selfish indulgences.

I don't have to. Why? Because I've been given

freedom. And that freedom is best served, best

used, what? When I humbly serve my wife in love.

I mean, if we just pause there for a second.

If every marriage relationship under the sound

of this microphone went, you know what? I'm going

to take my freedom and I'm going to serve my

spouse humbly in love. What would happen to our

families? They'd be stronger than any you've

ever seen. Why? Because that's what freedom does.

It gives me the freedom. I'm not bound to go

serve myself. I don't have to go back to this

old life and try and rally around this. I am

free. I am free to serve you. I don't have to.

I'm not stuck just making myself happy anymore.

Jesus set me free. And he's saying, use this

launch pad. Use this launch pad to what? To see

others. Don't go back and see yourself. What

does the enemy want to do? Remember the enemy

has a battle plan from last week? What does the

enemy want to do? He can't touch your new identity.

He can't steal your future, but he can steal

your life. So what is the enemy's game plan?

He wants to convince you that what? You're still

the same old person you always were. You're still

a slave to those desires. You still can't control

them. He wants to tell you that you're never

going to have victory over the thing that you're

struggling with. He wants to tell you that there

is no chance that you will ever overcome the

struggle that's in your life. That same old vice

you go back to over and over. That same old thought

pattern you go over and over. That same old mouth,

right? When you open your mouth. All you got

is gossip for everybody else, right? Like you're

going, you're going, I can't. The enemy is telling

you, you can't. God is telling you, you can't.

The enemy is telling you, you will always be

the same. Sorry, you're not the same person.

You were transformed by the person of Jesus Christ.

You were made free. And so those old patterns,

they do not have a hold on you anymore. So use

your freedom. And so he continues on. He goes,

for the entire law is fulfilled in keeping one

command. Love your neighbor as yourself. Love

your neighbor as yourself. If you've been around

church, you've heard this before, right? But

what he's getting at is you go back to the law,

and we'll just take the Ten Commandments for

right now. But you go back to the Ten Commandments,

and if we just pick a couple. Don't covet your

neighbor's stuff, or specifically your neighbor's

wife. If I'm going to love you as I love myself,

I'm not going to covet your wife. Why? Because

I don't want you coveting my wife. Right? She's

not yours. She's mine. Think of another one,

right? I'm not going to steal from you. Why wouldn't

I steal from you? Because I don't want you stealing

from me. Right? You're now free to what? To love

your neighbor the way you want to be loved. Because

my eyes aren't on me and I'm not trying to get

it. So he goes, listen, you fulfill the entire

law. By just loving your neighbor as yourself.

Because that'll put your eyes off of you and

onto what? Onto other people, which is what your

freedom was designed for. But notice he pulls

it now to a specific problem in the church in

Galatia. If you bite and devour each other, watch

out or you will be destroyed by each other. Like

another translation says backbiting. If you go

about backbiting, like that's a phrase we should

bring back. Right? Like it's so graphic. Like,

just think about it for a second. You run around

backbiting each other. It's like, oh man, a bunch

of wild animals up in here. That's the imagery

that he wants them to get. You see, somewhere

along the way in the church in Galatia, they

were using their freedom as a launch pad to what?

Tear each other apart with their words. They

were fighting with each other. And the imagery

here is, if you were hearing it for the first

time in this original cultural context, within

Greek culture, the same phrase is used for wild

animals that continue to go at each other until

they tear each other apart, and more than likely,

both of them are left dead. What he is telling

them here is very real in the early church, that

if they carry on the way they are using their

freedom to go at each other, because you're free.

You're free to yell. You're free to gossip. You're

free to, you can do all that, right? Because

you've been made free in what? In Christ. And

you won't be, you won't be what? Punished for

it. Why? Because Jesus already received all your

punishment. And so you can go about that way,

church. Is what he's saying. But what he's getting

at is if you, and it's to the point where he

goes, if you carry on, there's a chance that

the church in the Galatia area, you're going

to destroy each other. There'll be nothing left.

So it's a practical example of what it looks

like to use your launch pad for yourself. I don't

know. It's worth saying. If you make this all

about you, you're going to destroy it. Right?

You make this about you and what you like. My

latte wasn't hot enough. Right? Nobody said hi

to me. Well, did you say hi to anybody? Did you

choose to become a door greeter so that you could

say hi to fix the problem? I can't get in a life

group. There's no life groups, man. I tried.

There's a wait list. Okay, so did you go, hey,

how do I become a leader? Can you train me to

become a leader? What does that look like? Would

you disciple me to be a leader so I can help

fix the problem that's there? Isn't it interesting?

Like when we take our freedom and make it about

us, we can make this about us. And you just need

to know what Paul's saying. When you make this

about us, when you make it about you, you're

going to destroy it because it's not about you.

That's how churches come and go. It's not long.

I've lived in Prescott long enough. I've seen

the crowd move from church to church to church

to church. Me and God got an ongoing conversation.

How long is it till heights? We do something,

say something. All of a sudden it's like, boom,

we're going to pick a church. That's not what

this is meant to be. You know that, right? This

is so much greater than we give it pictures for.

And what he's getting at here is if you choose

to use your launch pad for your own selfish indulgences

that used to be who you were, instead of living

in the freedom in this life, he's going, now

let me teach you how to live. And look what he

says next. So I say, walk by the spirit and you

will not gratify the desires. of the flesh. Walk

by the Spirit. Okay, people in the room that

you're like, man, I just love me some promises

of God. You know who you are. You got them on

your wall. You got them in your car, right? And

you've been naming and claiming all kinds of

stuff. You've been pulling it from everywhere

you can find it, right? So half the time I sit

with people and they're like, yeah, I got this

promise from God. And they read it. I'm like,

that's not even written to you. That was written

to somebody else. That ain't your promise. If

you're looking for a new tattoo, this is your

tattoo. So I say, walk by the Spirit. Okay, so

let's just all get on the same page there. When

you said yes to Jesus, when you crossed the finish

line of faith, you were given the greatest gift.

that God himself would now indwell you in his

spirit. He would make his home in you. You became

the temple of the living God. Generations would

have longed for what we have. And you became

the temple of the living God. The Holy Spirit's

presence is with you wherever you go. So there

is no reason you can't do what this says when

it says walk. By the Spirit. Walk in the Spirit.

Why? Because the Holy Spirit is with you everywhere

you go. That word walk is to conduct your life,

everything that you do, in the Spirit. But here's

the beautiful part. You ready? Those of you that

maybe, maybe we're in church, so maybe we'll

be honest. Y 'all got that stuff that you just

always struggle with? You just can't seem to

be. It just always seems to have a control on

you. Remember, you were what? You were made free,

so something's wrong. What's wrong is we're not

living the promise that we've been given. See

this language, this language right here? This

language is promised language. In fact, if you

go back to the original language, Because sometimes

in translation, we lose stuff. Go back to the

original language. There are markers on here

to say it is a guarantee. It's a promise. It's

an assurance that what it is saying will happen.

So now let me read it to you. So I say, walk

by the spirit and you will not gratify the desires

of the flesh. Walk. by the Spirit. Walk in the

Spirit and you will not. That's the promise.

You will not. It is not possible for you to live

out my selfish, self -centered indulgences that

I once was. It is not possible in the new life

in Christ, in my freedom. It is not possible

in the in -between life for me to live for myself

and walk in the Spirit at the same time. It's

not possible. And so what it's getting at is

that if you want victory in this life, it's not

about, hey, I just become more self -disciplined,

like I'm going to Tom Brady this thing. I'm going

to stop eating anything. Right? That's not what

this is talking about. It's not talking about

you just get a few more rules, which, by the

way, church people, we love to throw those. Right?

Oh, you met Jesus? Oh, you need to start doing

this. No, you don't. You need to just enjoy Jesus.

We get all these self -disciplines. If I just

get enough of these, I won't do that anymore.

That's not how the Christian life works. That's

slavery, not freedom. Freedom is what I commit

to. I'm going to walk by the Spirit of God, and

if I walk by the Spirit of God, I will not, will

not live like I once was. What does the enemy

want to convince you? You can never, that struggle

you have, you're going to have it until you die.

Oh, that thing that's got control. That's who

you, it's not who you are. Stop believing lies.

You have been set free by the very Spirit of

God. You have been empowered by the Spirit of

God. And the Spirit of God tells you that if

you will walk in the Spirit, you will not gratify

the sinful nature. It's a promise. It's a promise.

So, big question. How? How do I walk in the spirit?

That sounds pretty mystical, right? Is it like

the force? Well, maybe the radio can help us.

Not just because it's cute. So the radio has

an antenna, right? What the antenna does is the

antenna helps put you into proximity. Into presence.

Here's what's interesting with the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit is present in you right now.

Are you present with the Holy Spirit? I don't

say that judgingly. I have days just like you.

You ever go through a day and you're like, I

did not even think about the Holy Spirit today.

All day. I got busy and I was just doing stuff

and then got to the end of the day and I'm like,

oh, we miss that. But see what the antenna does.

I have to intentionally put the antenna up to

help get inside of the radio frequencies. And

so for you with the presence of God, you with

the presence of the Holy Spirit, what it means

to walk in the Holy Spirit, and we have a list

we can put up. But you have to intentionally,

you have to intentionally recognize that the

presence of God is here right now in the form

of the Holy Spirit. And he will be there tomorrow

morning. And he will be there tonight when the

walls start coming in. And he will be there next

week. And he will be there when you guys go back

to school. He is there. And so we have to make

an effort to put ourselves in proximity. The

next thing is that the Holy Spirit's got a voice.

You know that, right? And so we have to begin

to go, well, what does the Holy Spirit's voice

sound like? And if we're really honest, can you

guys hear that? I can't tell. It's all static.

Just kidding. It's supposed to be static. But

you realize that if we're really honest, this

is for a lot of us, this is what the Holy Spirit

sounds like, right? We just don't know what his

voice sounds like. And so we try and listen and

what we get is static. You know that just like

with somebody in your life, to hear their voice,

right, to recognize their voice, it takes time.

It takes intentionality. And so I recognize the

presence and then I begin to tune. And this is

why nobody listens to the radio commercials.

Oh, we got a head bob. Okay, we'll take a head

bob. Yeah. I think he was high when he read this,

just saying. Isn't it? Isn't it interesting that

if I was to ask you, just off that short clip,

if I was to ask you, we tuned to a voice, what

would you say the purpose of that radio station

is? What kind of music? Easy listening, pop of

old, right? Verses. This is so dangerous, by

the way. Anything could come on. What is that?

Lyrics just aren't the same nowadays, huh? Just

not the same. Just going to put that out there.

What about this one? Not helpful. So much stuff

I could say about Christian radio right now that

I won't. What's the purpose of the one you just

heard? Positive, uplifting, right? Like they

want to bring something positive to your world.

It's going to have a Christian vibe to it, right?

But here's the thing. You had to listen. You

had to listen to gain the purpose. And if we're

really honest with God and we're really honest

with the Holy Spirit, too often we are too busy

talking at God and telling God what we want that

we don't just shut up and listen to the Holy

Spirit. But there is a part that if you are going

to tune into his voice and you want to know his

purpose and direction and discern it, that you

have to listen to what he's saying. Right. So

this is a tuning of my ear to the Holy Spirit.

And as the Holy Spirit then begins to show me

stuff. See if we can do one more. Country fans,

come. And here's what would happen, because I

know country fans enough, that if we listen to

country long enough, it wouldn't be long until

you're kind of scooting. It wouldn't be long

until some of you are like, we've got to get

rid of these chairs and we've got to line dance

in this room. Why? Because what happens is there's

a beat that's being played. There's a beat that's

being played and you begin to follow the beat.

But what it requires is that you are willing

to follow and not lead. You know what's amazing

about the radio? You don't get to choose what

the programming is. Somebody chose it for you

ahead of you. When you walk in the spirit, you

don't get to pick the program. The program's

already picked in front of you. You know that

the Holy Spirit is never going to lead you to

do something the opposite of God. He never will,

which is why the guarantee is you won't gratify

your sinful nature because he won't lead you

there. And so what happens then is the last part

is it requires action. That if I'm going to follow,

it requires that I move. A different picture,

a different scenario is I was following my wife

recently through an airport. And if you know

my wife, she's literally five foot nothing. I

measured her in Walmart one day to make sure

she was five foot nothing. True story. And for

a five foot nothing lady, she walks so fast.

Right? And so we're walking through this airport.

If I'm going to follow her, because I didn't

know what we were doing. She knew what we were

doing. If I'm going to follow her, I have to

be what? In her presence. I got to be able to

see her. And then because I don't know where

I'm going, over time, I have attuned my voice

to what? To know who my wife is. So with all

the noise of an airport, I could pick out her

voice over other people. Why? Because there's

taken time to get to know. And she can tell me

the purpose of what we're doing, where we're

going. But it requires that what? I listen. The

information does me no good if I don't listen.

But there's a point then in following her where

I have to what? Physically let her lead and stop

leading. And some of you need to stop trying

to tell God where you're going and start following.

And then then I have to move, because if I stand

still in an airport and she walking, she's gone.

Right. I've got to move. I've got to move to

follow her. And here's what's amazing about this,

this passage. Verse 17, for the flesh desires

what is contrary to the spirit and the spirit

what is contrary to the flesh. They're in conflict

with each other so that you are not to do whatever

you want. What that just said is in your chest

as a follower of Jesus, in your soul, inside

of you right now, there is a battle, a cosmic

battle being fought. You are at war right now.

You're at war. And inside of you, There's a battle

taking place for how you will choose to launch

or use your freedom, whether it's a launch to

where you're following the Spirit and doing what

God is doing, or it's going to be to my selfish

indulgence, right? There's this battle that's

taking place. And I'll tell you guys, I've taught

this passage, I don't know how many times, and

every single time, I've never seen what I saw

this week. And what I saw this week is this,

that if you go to battle alone, you lose. You

know, in this passage, the pronouns are all plural.

It's about all of us. So yes, you can teach it

individually. You need to walk in the Holy Spirit.

You need to walk in the Holy Spirit. You need

to walk in the Holy Spirit. But you know where

we're supposed to do that is in community. We

go to war together. Why? Because inside of you,

there is a war taking place. And inside of me,

there's a war taking place. And it is a cosmic

war that we need each other to fight for one

another. That I fight for you, right? Because

there's going to be a day when I come in this

room and I can't sing because of what's happening

in my life. And I need to hear your voice. There's

going to be a day when I come alongside. I hope

that when you leave the church, when you leave

this hour together, you're uplifted and encouraged.

You're empowered for life. That's what this is

supposed to be. Why? Because we recognize it's

a war and we need to rally. This is a rally to

not only one another, to what God tells us. And

you realize, church, we need each other. We need

each other. I need a space, as James says, where

I can sit and confess my sins so that those sins

don't have a hold. I need a space where I can

walk in and go, you know what? The enemy's been

telling me this and I've been believing it lately

and here's how it's being lived out. This is

the sin that's overtaking my life. These are

the thoughts. This is the way my mouth's been

going. It's not good. These are the actions.

But you guys, we have to be a community where

we recognize we are at war together and we need

each other to fight this battle. If you try to

fight the battle of your flesh, you will lose

on your own. You're not strong enough. And if

you try to go, okay, I can walk in the spirit.

That's my own personal. Yes, it's personal. It's

also public. If you only keep it personal, you

will fail. But don't miss, don't miss what God

has and what he's given you, right? The next

verse is explain what the sinful nature is. And

Pastor Todd was like, I don't think we need to

cover those. Like everybody, the minute you mentioned

sin and sinful nature and desires, instantly

everybody's got their own, right? Like we know.

But then in verse 22, it says this. So when I

take my freedom, right, I take my freedom and

I use it to launch into walking, walking in the

spirit. Listen, listen to what happens from you.

But the fruit of the spirit, what is flowing

out of your life is love and joy and peace. And

by the way. Flowing out, you can't control it.

It's not like, oh, I'm going to make an apple.

Right? It doesn't work that way. You can't control

it. It flows out of you. Why? It's a byproduct

of what? Attuning to the Spirit, to walking in

the Spirit. The byproduct is that you love, that

you have joy, that there's peace. forbearance

or patience right there's kindness goodness faithfulness

gentleness and self -control against such things

there is no law these things flow out of you

you need to understand something that when you

walk when you take your freedom in this life

in this in -between life i take my freedom i

attune to the holy spirit right i listen to his

voice i know his voice i listen to his purpose

what happens is when i follow and i take my actions

what starts to flow out of you What is coming

to everyone else around you is a taste of heaven.

The soundtrack of heaven is played through you.

And it sounds like love. And it sounds like joy.

And it feels like you're at peace. And you've

got patience and kindness. And gentleness. And

control of the self. That's what the soundtrack

of heaven sounds like. And God has gifted you

to be that today. You are a taste of heaven for

someone else today. Can you imagine? I don't

know how many people are in this room. I don't

know how many people are in the sound of the

mic or through a screen. I don't know. But what

I do know is this. Can you imagine a group of

people who go, I'm going to walk in the spirit.

And when I walk in the spirit, the soundtrack

that comes out is this taste of heaven. That'll

change everything. Your community, your school,

your homes, your marriage, your friendships.

It'll change all of it. And so I feel like we

got some things to thank the Lord for. So if

you would stand. You realize you, you are free

today. I can thank the Lord. You realize that

there's no account. There's no count. If God's

scrolling your highlights of sin, it's blank

because the blood of Jesus has covered it. You

today, today, church, you today, you today have

a reason to thank the God. Thank God, but only

you can do it. Let's sing.