I Want To Believe // Mustard: The Seed That Can Change Everything (Part 3) // Charles Metcalf

Welcome to Transformation Church Podcast, where we represent God to

the lost and found for transformation in Christ. We're so

glad you're here and wherever you're listening from, we believe

God will transform your life.

Do today's message, all right, let's do it. We are

in a series called Mustard. I'm not about to crip

walk up here, so.

I will, I will, I will, all right, alright, alright.

I chill man.

Shit, No, I can't do that because I will not preach,

and I'll do a whole bit about people trying to

learn how to crip walk and they obviously don't know how.

Anyways.

Okay, Mark chapter nine. Mark chapter nine is where we're

gonna be today. Open up your bibles, Mark chapter nine.

We are continuing this series Mustard.

It's based off a story that Jesus tells where he

is talking to his disciples and he says, hey, listen.

All you need is faith.

The size of a mustard seed. If you don't know,

a mustard seed is super tiny. So that's why it's

super transformative for him to say that We're gonna go

to Mark chapter nine and read a portion of scripture today.

If you got a real Bible, throw your Bible in there?

What are the people with the real Bible? Hey, y'all,

If you don't have a real Bible, it's okay. I

just hope it doesn't die when you need it most

because you forgot to charge it.

Hey man, okay, Mark chapter nine. We're gonna read a

chunk of scripture today.

That way to make up for if you haven't read

your bible on Mother's Day.

We'll make it all up right here. Mark chapter nine.

Starting in verse number sixteen, it says this, what is.

All this arguing about? Jesus asked.

One of the men in the crowd spoke up and said, teacher,

I brought my son so you could heal him. He

is possessed by an evil spirit that won't let him talk,

and whenever the spirit seizes him, it throws him violently

on the ground, and he foams the mouth and grinds

his teeth and becomes rigid. So I ask your disciples

to cast out the evil spirit, but they couldn't do it.

Man and weak disciples.

Brother, he really Jesus said, you faithless people, how long

must I be with you? How long must I put

up with you? Bring me the boy that's tough. You know, disciples,

you're just getting started. You're really trying to do your thing.

Or Jesus like, you dummy, bring the kid to me.

You misrepresent me at got no power. Y'all been argued

about who's gonna be sitting up in heaven and you

wasn't paying attention.

So now you don't know what to do?

All right, Jesus says, how long has this been happening?

Jesus asked the boy's father.

He said, since the boy was little, the spirit often

throws him into the fire or into water, trying to

kill him. Have mercy on us and help us if

you can. What do you mean if I can? Jesus asked,

anything is possible for a person who believes. The father

instantly cried, I do believe, but help me overcome my unbelief.

When Jesus saw the crowd of onlookers was growing, he

rebuked the spirit and said, listen, you spirit that makes

the boy unable to hear.

I command you to come out of this child and.

Never enter him again.

Then the spirit screamed and threw the boy into another

violent convulsion and left him, and the boy appeared dead,

and the murmur ran through the crowd, and the people

said he's dead, but Jesus took him by the hand,

helped him to his feet, and he stood up. The

title of my sermon today, if you're taking notes, write

this down. I want to believe. I want to believe.

I'm gonna pray. Lord Jesus, we thank you for this moment.

I pray through the sermon. God, you would encourage someone

whose head is down. You would give strength to someone

whose faith feels weak. God, We're so grateful for who

you are, and we love you, and Jesus, if you

don't do anything else, helped the thunder win this basketball

game today, okay, And.

She just nad me pray. Amen, there's real prayers up here.

Man Amberly said, I could bring everything.

We gotta win this one. Okay.

So I love being a pastor for a lot of

different reasons, but one of them is you find yourself

in just random, amazing situations.

I really mean it.

And this past Friday was one of the best, most

random things that happened.

I was on a bike ride.

I liked the cycle and I love it. And this

morning I probably flew past one of y'all and down

the middle of the road.

I'll be seeing people like I saw you flying down

the middle of the road.

I was like, yes, there were no cars, calm down,

and I've already gotten hit by car once, so we

got that out the way. Uh. But but uh this

morning I was on a buy This Friday, I was

on a bike ride and I get a text from

my friend. And this is one of my best friends

I cycle with all the time, all the time during

the week. And he texted me and he was like, hey,

you know, we've been talking me and my girl.

We've engaged, but we've been talking about getting married. What

are you doing. I'm like, well, I'm riding my bike brother.

And he's like, okay, okay, we're thinking about getting the

marriage license today so we can get prepped for the

wedding all this stuff.

I was like, okay, awesome.

Bad. Then he texted me again, said, yo, we got

the marriage license.

So I'm on my bike ride.

Flying down riverside and I said him before spemo, hey homie,

if you're trying to get married, I can marry y'all

right now today.

And he didn't text back for a second.

And he said, bat where you want to meet? So

I was on my bike in my light crissuit, and

I pulled up to that burger spot and I walked

in like, yeah, that's right, I said, represent across the front.

So I felt very pastoral in my suit.

I walked in.

They were sitting over corner and I looked at him.

I said, all right, brother, you take this woman for

the rest of your life, forsaken all others.

No foolishness.

Come on, you gotta put that in there. And some

of y'all didn't commit to the no foolishness. You stay faithful,

but you're a dumby so.

And he's like I do. And I looked at her.

I said, you take this man and his mustache for

the rest of your life.

She said I do. I said up. I said, bam,

you married. Give me the marriage license. And I married my.

Friends in the middle of that burger spot on Friday.

Shout out to y'all. Somebody are like, yo, you married me, Well,

just hold on chill.

And I was thinking about that story of marriage. I

was thinking about all the different people that I've married

as I've been a pastor and as I was talking

to them about marriage and them being so excited to.

Be husband and wife. Now.

I was thinking about this. One of the first couples

I ever married. I became a pastor. I was very young,

and so there was a couple and they were like, yo,

we want to do some pre marital stuff. And I

was like, I've been married a year. I can offer

you everything.

I don't know. So I sat down and.

You know, I asked him the first question. I was like, so,

what makes you feel like you guys are ready to

get married? And they started listening to a bunch of

stuff like, well, he loves me and he's kind and

we just really feel like we're ready. And then the

guy spoke up and he said, oh, I know why

we ready. He said, we don't ever argue. I said

this side. I said, oh, you don't ever argue. He's like, no,

never had an argument ever. So it makes me feel

like we're ready to go now. I had a couple

thoughts at that moment. Well, one of them was, you

know a common saying and culture that is in the

wrong context. I think it's bad, but some people say

they just be wilding out and they.

Say, you know, you shouldn't buy the car before you

test drive it. And usually they talk about something wild,

But I do agree with that.

When it comes to arguing, don't marry somebody if you

ain't argued with them first is you need to know

how this is going to go.

And what I realized in that moment.

Is he had an incomplete definition of marriage.

He thought it meant.

If I say I love you and I'm committed to you,

that must mean we will never argue.

But if you have an incomplete.

Definition of something, it sets you up for disappointment. And

there are a lot of people when it comes to

the word faith, they have a lot of different definitions.

But if you don't have a complete definition, you will

set yourself up for disappointment.

There are many believers today that.

Are not suffering because they didn't have faith. They're not

suffering because they didn't know what it was. They're suffering

and they're struggling because they just had an incomplete definition

of faith. Many people, when you talk about faith, you

think about what it should look like and what it

should feel like.

In faith the size of a muscle and sees.

Many people when they think faith, they think faith means certainty.

If I have enough faith, that means I know. You're

talking to those people come up. You've got people in

your life They're like.

Oh, yeah, I know for sure.

God spoke to me in a dream and an angel

came to.

Me in a top hat. That's a real story. I

have a friend on the front road.

My wife is actually the friend that says she saw

an angel with a top hat. Abe Lincoln came to her.

It was like, anyways, exposed, I have the mic. Okay,

I could say anything up here.

But you know, those people like, oh I know for sure,

for sure, for sure, And I love that for people.

I just don't always feel that way. I be feeling like, yeah,

I know, but.

In a much more real sense, I don't know it all.

And what I've realized with faith, you're taking notes, write

this down. Faith can produce certainty, and it always requires surrender.

So faith can produce certainty. Let me not get it twisted.

God can speak to you in a way through his word,

through a friend, in a moment of worship, and it

can produce certainty in your life where you are walking

with an authority and a confidence and.

You are moving.

And what our pastor would say is crazy faith where

you're not checking for the approval of man and you

are certain because you know God is on your side.

Faith can produce certainty, but it always requires surrender. And

here's what I'm trying to submit to you this morning

is if you are looking for faith and the goal

of your faith and the highest achievement of your faith

to be certainty, all I'm submitting to you is you

may have an incomplete definition and you might be setting

yourself up for some moments that are a little disappointing,

because no one me a long time to figure out

that you can have faith and doubt at.

The same time. And it's very easy sometimes in church to.

Say, if you have enough faith, your doubt will go away. Oh,

you just need to have more faith, and then you

wouldn't be so unsure, and then you wouldn't feel so shaky,

and then you would know for a fact that's the

person to marry, and then you would know for a

fact that's the job to take. And then you would

know for a fact that's the school to go to.

And then you would know and maybe sometimes yes. And

Mark nine is a beautiful picture, an indication of an

honest man who says I believe, but at the same time,

right there standing next to my belief right there, standing

next to my crazy faith right there, standing next to

you can do it right there, standing next to I've

seen you heal people right there, standing next so I

know you're a keeper right there, standing next to I

know you're a king right there, standing next so I

know you're faithful. It is also a very real feeling

that if you don't ignore, it does not go If

you keep ignoring, it doesn't mean it goes away. Faith

can produce certainty, but it always requires surrender. Mark Chapter

nine is a beautiful portion of scripture. A little context

of what's happening before this is right before this moment

happens in the Bible.

There is this moment referred to as the transfiguration. Some

of you know this, some of you are like, what

in the world does that mean?

Jesus is with his three favorite disciples, Peter, James, and John,

which I always think is a funny thing. Like they

had the twelve, and then there was like Jesus's obvious

three favorites, and then like the none goons who just

didn't get selected. It's like multiple times in the scripture

where it's like you, no, you come with me. Another

one sitting there like who then, anyways, that's just a

biblical precedent and you ain't got to have everybody be

best friend anyways. But some of y'all salty for no reason.

Jesus was like, yeah, you you, you, you stay. So

they go up on this mountain and they're sitting there

and they just watching, and all of a sudden, Baye,

Moses and Elijah's standing there and they're like, hey.

Yo, what's going on. Peter's like, hey, what are we doing?

Who is that is that Moses? Oh my gosh? She

tolder in person. I ain't never the pictures had him short. Jesus, Jesus.

He come up to Jesus.

He's like, hey, we need we need to set up

like a tent right here. Let's run the operation from

the top of this mountain. We got Moses, Elijah, you

we are good. And Jesus is like, no, that's not

what we're going to do. It says, his face is

shining so bright like the sun. They come off of

this mountain Jesus his three homies and they're like, dang,

we have really made it. And they step down into

an argument at the bottom of this mountain, and the

argument is there is a dad who has brought his

son to the people who say it ain't no God,

to the people who's supposed to have the answers to

the people who said, I can help you with this situation.

And the scripture says I came so that you could

heal him, but first I brought him to the disciples.

Many people.

This isn't part of my sermon, but that's your experience.

You came to church for Jesus, but then you ran

into some people who you thought could help you, and

the fact that they couldn't help you stop you.

From still going to Jesus.

And I'm not mad at you, and those people aren't

bad people, but you need to know there does reach

a point where you have to get past some people

and say, I didn't come.

Here to church for you in the first place.

I love Pastor Row, but I didn't come here for him.

I love Pastor Michael, but I didn't come here for him.

I love Pastor Charles, but I didn't come here for you.

I came to talk to Jesus.

It says, they tell Jesus, hey, listen, I came, but

it didn't work out, and they couldn't do it. And

he says the sentence that is so powerful, and Jesus says,

he says, help me if you can.

And Jesus kind of like, if you can, what do

you mean?

Anything is possible for those who believe?

And this is where I want to pause for a moment,

because it's so important that you register whose voice you

hear when you read the scripture, because depending on the tone, pace,

and energy of how you say that sentence tells me

what you believe about God.

Some of you read that sentence like, if I can,

what you mean? And who you hear is your daddy

or your uncle or that teacher you have? If I

can what you mean?

If I can, anything is possible for those who believe.

Does that sound like a good father to you?

Does that sound like a God who, in his loving kindness,

the scripture says, draws us to repentance. No, it sounds

like some earthly people you've met. And all I'm submitting

to you is if you hear a God who is

talking down to you when you come to him at

your weakest moment, that may not be his tone. Also

could be true to say that when he says, help us,

if you can, he's like if I can.

Oh, you don't know. I can do anything if you

just have a little bit of faith.

Nobody must have told you that anything is possible with me.

You may not have heard that I can do more

than you could ever.

Ask, think, or imagine, he.

Says, but all you gotta do is believe in the

man standing there. And he says, I believe, but also

help me with my unbelief. And if you read about

this portion of scripture, there are some writers and when

you first read it, read it it kind of seems

like he's saying the same thing twice.

And some people read that scripture and think he's being

kind of hypocritical, like.

How you're gonna say you believe and you don't believe,

And that's kind of confusing, and what does that mean.

He's not being hypocritical, he's being honest. And there's a difference.

It would actually be hypocritical for him not to acknowledge

his doubt. And there are many of us that find

ourselves for whatever reason it is, that we think God

cannot handle you saying you don't believe all the way,

and it helps his superpower if you tell him no, no, no,

I trust you for sure.

He know you, don't. He know you scared. He's seen

you make the plan be he know you're like, yeah,

I trust you, I'm gonna get this job.

He knows you on LinkedIn sending that job application that's

two lines long to every person on that website.

He knows it'd be better for you, it'd be more

resourceful for you to just be honest.

And when you read and study this scripture.

Sometimes we can read the Bible because we know what

happens and we just kind of read through it like

a story. You just read through the story and you think, Okay,

I believe, but also helped me with my unbelief. But

if you read the original language, which I can't speak Greek,

but there's websites where they tell you what they would

have said, so don't be impressed by that.

But if you.

Read the original portion, there's some tone and some cultural

context that you will miss. And I want to bring

to you today because it's so important in your understanding

of the story. When you read the original language, it

says he would have been stuttering over his words and

struggling to breathe, and he would have been balling, crying.

As he's talking to Jesus.

This was not a casual request for him. This was

not Hey, I believe, but also I kind of don't believe.

No this father, because any parent knows when your baby

is hurting, when something's going on. It is not a game.

You don't come lightly before God, he would have been

running to Jesus saying, I believe, I do, I promise,

but also I don't.

And there's some of you in this room.

That that's the honest depiction of how you feel. On

one hand, I do believe. I trust that he can

heal me. I trust that he can help with this marriage.

I trust we can have a baby. On one hand,

I really do believe. But on the other hand, I don't.

I don't know. Don't I don't, I don't.

And it's so insightful because he actually he doesn't say

I believe, but I don't believe.

He actually uses two different words and the original language.

This is what he says. He comes to Jesus.

Jesus, anything is possible for those who believe, and this

is the honest translation. He says, I do believe, but

I just don't know if I trust you. I got

the faith I know I've seen you heal other people.

That's the only reason I'm here. I heard your stories.

I saw what happened, and the disciples I know who

they used to be. I believe you, But God, I

don't know if I.

Can trust you.

I don't know if I want to really lean on you.

I don't know because why Because belief is about what

you know and your knowledge. But trust is about your experience.

And some of us we believe God because we've read

the Bible, and we believe God because we know the

Bible says we should. But some of us we've had

some experiences that have broken our trust, and because we

don't have trust, and because we don't have.

Belief, it's very hard to have faith.

Because your faith is the combination of your belief and

your trust. And many people, the two most common reasons

you struggle with faith is because you do not know

what you believe about God and you do not know

if you can trust him. I want to bring to

you today that these two words are so important for

every person under the sound of my voice to do

an honest evaluation your belief and your trust. What do

you believe about God? Some people, it's hard for you

to have faith because.

You don't know what you believe.

You don't know if you believe God actually still heals people.

You read about it.

You know that's what you're supposed to say, but you

don't know if you actually believe. No, he can really

enter and it's a supernatural miracle. We just saw that

story of that little boy who God did a miracle

on and the doctors were trying to be frustrated with it.

Why because they don't know if they believe because of

the facts.

Because when this happens, and this happens, it always equals

this and yes in some times, but in other cases,

there is a God who is outside of a doctor's report,

and he says, I can speak one word and change everything.

What do you believe about God? Do you believe that

He works all things together for the good of those

who love him and are called according to your purpose

and His purpose? Do you believe that?

Come on, that little four year old is like, I

believe Mama said no to the slushie.

But I believe because it's easy to shout yes in

a call and response moment.

Yeah, yeah, I believe He works everything together.

Except for that one area that you're holding behind.

Your back and haven't told nobody because there's no way

he could use that. What do you believe about God

being sovereign? Sovereign means that he's in control of all overall.

There's nothing that happens outside his jurisdiction, and he has

the power to do.

Whatever he wants, whenever he wants.

Now, this can take you down a theological rabbit hole

that can have you in cycles, in spinning and on

YouTube channels listening to people with four teeth talking.

About I don't know what I believe.

It's true, it's happened to me, happen to some of

my friends. They be in rabbit holes listening to people

with a podcast Mike talking about.

This means this and blah blah blah, and what do

you believe about him being sovereign?

Because what you believe about that affects how you navigate situations.

You believe there's nothing in my life that is happening

that He is.

Not working in, working on or working through.

That means I can have peace in the middle of

the storm because my God is over everything. If you

don't know what you believe about Him being sovereign, it

makes sense to have an anxious response.

It's very logical.

What I'm saying is what you believe does not eliminate

your emotion, your feelings, or your experience, but it provides

you an anchor that can you can say, I trust

more in that than I do my anxious response, I

trust more in that than I do.

The situation, what do you believe?

And once you navigate what you believe, depending on your

experience with church or with God, there are a group

of people who have gotten caught and stuck on what

they believe.

But there are other people who are like, oh, I

know what I believe.

But when it comes to trust, trust this is this

is this is a word we throw around very lightly,

but trust is are you willing to lean on it?

I believe if I did a trust all with my

wife that she would really want to catch her. I

believe she would staying back there, she'd be like, all right,

she'd gives squat a little bit, you know, But do I.

Trust you know. I'm not saying she couldn't do it.

But where my belief becomes real is when I put

my weight and I lean all the way in.

And I trust.

Some of you you believe God.

Can do it, but the idea of giving him everything.

Some people we did a serious talk. We can be

talking about tithing and giving. Some of you you believe

the Bible, but you just don't trust certain people.

So the idea of trusting God with your money is

a big deal. It's a trust issue. It's not a

belief issue.

Today, I want to ask everyone in here, if you

find yourself looking for more faith, find yourself trying to

grow in your faith, find yourself struggling with faith, whether

you're on a mountaintop or a value valley, do an

honest evaluation of your belief.

And your trust. Do you trust him?

Because what I've realized is many times my earthly experience

with people has affected my ability to trust God. And

because people told me they would always be there and

they weren't. When we sing songs like You're never gonna

let me down, or You're always on time, or you're

not gonna leave me alone, or you never fail, it's

I believe the words in theory, but to actually trust.

Them, it's difficult.

It's difficult to trust friends because you had experiences and

you hear people talk about, yeah, you need to get

in community, and yeah you need to join the group,

and yeah, you need to be in a tribe, and

yeah you need to always say but for you, you've

had friends who turned you and talked about you and

tore you down, and so now it's not an issue

that you don't want to be in community.

You actually know you need people.

It's just you have been hurt so bad that the

honest truth is is you don't know if you can

get back up if you fall one more time.

So in order to protect yourself.

It's not that you don't want friends, it's not that

you don't need somebody. It's not that you're not actually weak.

It's just that you don't know if you can take

that hit again.

So what do you do?

You isolate and you recluse and you disconnect. Not because

I don't believe it's important.

I just don't want to. I don't want to deal

with that again. I can't. I can't.

Some of you you had a marriage and it didn't

work out, and it's not right now that you want

to be alone forever. You just don't know if you

can trust again.

What am I saying?

All of these little breakdowns of your trust will have

an effect on your faith and if you find yourself

today in a place where you feel like you're struggling

to believe, struggle to trust you, just the best thing

you could do is first just be honest about it.

Be honest that you still have some questions, be honest

that it doesn't all.

Make sense to you. We do something on Wednesday.

Nights called the Dig and we have the classes that

happen all over this building on Wednesday nights, and one

of them is Bible study. And I love getting to

do Bible study. And during Bible Study, pretty much at

the end we'll have time for Q and A.

And I stop calling it Q and A called Q.

And R question and response because I don't know if

I'm gonna have an answer, So don't put that on me.

I'll give you a response, and if it's a scripture,

you can take that and build your life on it.

But don't be coming to me, said Trump has like

y'all said that I was supposed to move to Antarctica

to start a mission for polar bears. Maybe if that's

what you heard, do that, but don't put that on me.

I'll be feeling that way sometimes because some of y'all

come to the Alter being like, I'm about to make

the biggest decision of my life.

I need you to confirm it.

And I'm like, uh, okay, God help them.

I don't know if I could do that.

But every time we do a Bible study, people have questions.

And I love answering people's questions and hearing people's questions.

But at some point in any of those times, it

gets to this point where it just doesn't make sense.

And here's what I'm trying to say.

Is, at the bottom of every question you have about God,

about the Bible, about who wrote the Bible, about can

we believe the Bible?

About is it true? About how do I trust?

At the bottom of all of that is some point

where it don't make no sense. And some of you,

it would save you a lot of time, effort, and

energy to reconcile what you're gonna do with that part

of the Bible, because until you figure that part out,

you ain't got no business asking all these other questions.

I'm just saying, if you don't get to the point

where what do I do when the Bible doesn't make sense,

that's a great question to ask, And depending on your

answer to that question, it'll solve a lot of.

Your other questions.

Well, how do we know if it was just man

or God? We don't know, you want to answer, We don't.

How do I know Jesus was a real person. We

do know that we got more proof of Jesus than

Abraham Lincoln, so we do know that. But shout out

to that angel you saw, babe, Okay, that Abe Lincoln angel.

He was bringing deliverance, wasn't it.

He was coming to set you free in the name

of Jesus.

Okay, that's what it was. I just got an interpretation

for that dream. God was coming to set you free, baby,

and the Abe lincol I can join force gone.

Okay, Sorry, I gotta bring it back.

I gotta bring it back. How much time I gotta live? Okay, Melissa?

Oh we chilling? I'm good, Okay.

I never forgot my whole thing because I went on

that bit.

Okay. We just gonna jump into the key takeaway points.

All right, So.

Three points today to help you.

You're struggling with your belief.

Or your trust.

You're struggling with belief or trust, Point number one, write

this down. The first thing you gotta do is you

gotta admit you gotta admit it. This father is beautifully

honest in this moment because he comes to Jesus with

an expectation. He comes to the believers with an expectation.

He comes to them saying, hey, listen, I need some

help and I don't know what to do.

And my son is hurting and he's broken, and we've

had this thing.

Happen over and over and over since he was a

boy and since he was young, and some of you

that's why it's hard to trust.

It's not that it just happened once.

It's that you've been stuck in the cycle for years

and years, and you've never seen anybody in your family graduate,

and you've never seen anybody in your family do that.

So you come to Jesus. But the first thing you

got to do is what this man does. He admits

his faith and his doubt. He admits, God here, I'm

bringing you everything. On one hand, I believe that I

can do something my family's never done, and I can

go to this school. I know you can work it

out because you've done things that I thought were impossible.

I believe you and not. But we've talked about this

and both can be true. At the same time, some

people struggle with this. It's I trust you God, but no, no.

And you trust you love God, you believe him.

And there's a part of you that doesn't know if

you're good enough, even if you got into the school.

So there's a part of you that wants to hedge.

And this is why some of you won't apply for school,

won't apply for jobs, because it's easier to say you

never tried than to say you tried and failed. This

is why some people don't start businesses. It's why you

won't write the book. It's why you don't do music.

It's why you don't ever sing, because it's easier to

act like, oh no, I don't do that. The truth

is you do do that. You're just worried that if

you try and it's not good enough, you will be disappointed,

and now you be discouraged, and you will be depressed

and you will find yourself this deconstructing your faith, all because.

You weren't honest. So let's be honest.

You haven't started the business, not because it's just timing.

God told you twenty years ago. It's not a timing thing.

Let's be un let's you just be honest. That is

that why I'm just waiting on the Lord. No, you're not.

You're not waiting on the Lord.

You you are.

Waiting on you. Let's just say that the truth is,

I really want to talk to business.

I think I have a great idea, but I'm also

terrified that it's not gonna work at all.

Let's admit that.

The truth is, I'm at church today because it's Mother's

Day and my Mama says, you wouln't gonn make no

pie if I didn't come today.

So I'm here.

And also I don't know if I ever want to

come back, because I know if I'm in this place

too long, the stuff about me that I kind of

like but know it's bad for me, I'm gonna have

to face it. And so if I stay in this

room till That's why some people won't come to church.

I know because my friends, because they know there's a

version of themselves that would require discipline and not the

lowest version of yourself, and you'd have to get rid

of all those friends, and you'd have to stop doing

some stuff that you really like doing. So you don't

stay around certain people because you know they require you

to be a better version of you.

I know this is true. I got friends who I

love that I know.

They text me every six months because they know, not

because I'm gonna be mean to.

Them, but they just know.

And I sometimes when I get around, it makes me

be honest, and I don't like that.

Be honest, you got to admit where are you? What

do you believe about God? Admit I don't know what

I believe. I don't know if I trust this book.

I know it's got a lot of great things in it.

I don't know.

But do I believe this book is in the inspired

word of God?

Can I admit? I think it's powerful? And also in the.

Old Testament there's some weird stuff going on. I'm saying

this lighthearted because this is the thing that has people

walk away from their faith for twenty years. Then you

have kids and realize you have no idea what you're doing,

so you bring them to church because you do want

them to have some sort of sense of moral compass,

So you bring them to church. You're sitting in church,

and now you're having to face what do you believe?

Be honest about that. I'm in church right now for

my kids.

I don't know if I believe God, but I know

I want them to have good friends because it's getting

crazy out there.

And you know, you know I'm free, but I ain't

that free. Hello, somebody, so just come up in here,

learn about Moses or something. It's true. I got friends

like this.

They go to church because they know you're gonna learn

something that I can't give.

You be honest about that.

If you want to grow in your belief and trust,

you got to admit.

The second thing you gotta do is ask.

You gotta admit you don't know, and then you gotta

ask for help.

And this is the part where it gets somebody said,

oh my goodness.

This is the part where it honestly exposes.

How much we care about what people think about us.

Because it's one thing to say I got some questions.

It's another thing to go to that friend and say, hey,

can you help me?

You see how quiet I got.

This is why we got thirty three people in the

ducks in a row class. Shout out to the thirty

three people in the ducks in a row class.

She raised her hand, she said, me does me? But

here's the truth. It's one thing to admit I ain't

got no idea what I'm doing with money.

It's another thing to find yourself sitting around a table

and they say, all right, write down.

You're monthly spending, and you're like fifty two dollars sixty

eight coins.

You know it's because there's something about your pride that

What if they.

Find out I don't know what I'm doing.

What if I don't look as prestigious as they think

I am. What if I'm honest that I'm fifty years old?

I never figured it out. What if I admit that

I act like I don't need help, but I have

no idea what happens. There's a beautiful thing that happens

when you will admit I need help. There's a beautiful

thing that happens. Let me talk of the men for

a second. I saw, okay, this is actually very funny.

I saw this meme and it said, what you mean,

go check? You heard a noise? I'm scared too. I

never related to something so much in my life. It'd

be like boom. I'd be like, what was that, and

I'm like, I don't know, go check.

I'd be like, and I'd be walking out my bedroom

like hey, yo, hey, anybody out here.

I don't know what I'm gonna do. If I actually

see somebody. My tactic is just gonna act crazy.

I'm gonna start just screaming, bite my glasses like I'll

just act.

Like a like oh God, they gonna think.

I'm possessed and be like, you know what, you can

keep your stuff?

I don't. That's all I got.

I don't watch Creed, but I know I can't fight.

I'll be honest with you, cause I.

Had meant some men, you need to admit, even the

financial things. Some of y'all you are running your finances

and have no idea what you're doing, and you won't

admit I don't know how to manage money. But there's

a part of you that wants to be problems like, no,

I got this all right. I don't tell nobody our business.

Some of you won't admit where your marriage is. No,

we fine, we cool, were chilling, it's good. No, it's

all cool. We good, We good, were good Because there's

a part of you that doesn't want people to think what.

I don't know what it is for you.

I don't want people thinking, what is that.

My friend will do this to me? All the time

we'll talk.

He'll pretty much ask me questions till I get to

the end of the questions and I'm like, well I

think this.

He's like, okay, what if that happens?

Well, then it'll okay, what if that happens. Well, this

is actually how the sermon God.

Chose me happened. He was like, you got to tell

you gotta preach one thing. What are you gonna tell him?

I was like, I don't know, I'll tell it. He's like, okay,

what about what else?

I don't know?

What else would you tell him? I don't know? And

then literally is exactly he said. What else was? I said,

God told me, man, I don't know. And that was

how decernent happened.

You gotta be honest, You gotta admit, you gotta admit,

you gotta ask.

The last thing you gotta do is act anyways.

At some point you can be honest and say you

don't know. You can ask for help, but at some point,

let me save you some time, effort, energy, a disappointment.

At some point, if you want to see what God

wants to do with your life, if you want to

see what he can do with someone who submitted if

you want to see him do something that nothing has

never happened in your family, You're gonna have to reach a.

Point where you say, you know what.

I've admitted and I've been honest about it. I've asked

for help, and at some point I have to do

something about it. Because your belief is about what you know.

Your trust is about your experience. But your faith is

the combination of your belief and your trust. Get this

in action. This is where it becomes faith. Faith is

not just sitting there. Faith is not just oh, I

know he can do it. Oh, I know he's good.

At some point, show me you know by what you do.

So I've addressed what I believe. I've addressed that he's

a king. I've addressed he's a healer, and I say, God,

I trust you, and i know it's been difficult, but

I'm gonna trust you.

Then at some point you have to say, you know what.

Okay, Now I'm gonna do something about it. I believe

that God gave me the idea. I trust that if

I fall, he will help me back up. So at

this point, I'm going to apply for the loan and

write the business plan because I'm doing something about it.

At some point it reaches a place where you you

just gotta make a decision. And there are so many

believers who will spin themselves into the ground trying to

discern what is the perfect exact will of God?

Do I trust him? And what do I know?

And have I read enough Bible? And do I don't?

At some point, No, you don't. Let's just go to

the bottom of that. You're not qualified. You are kind

of inconsistent. We don't know what is going to happen.

But at the same time, God has proven himself to

you over and over again. And if you look throughout scripture,

God is not looking for perfect people. He's looking for

people who will say yes, at some point, you got

to do something. And sometimes we admire people who are

doing things you could do. The only difference between them

is you is they just acted. They weren't perfect, they

didn't have the answers, they didn't do it. At some point,

they just kept saying yes.

And I want to encourage you.

What if the gap between where you are and where

you believe you are supposed to be is not some

magic trick.

It's you just doing something. It's you just doing something.

I know you ain't got a ton of money right now.

I'm not saying you.

To just start saying stuff that don't make no sense,

but I am.

Saying you could do something. Well.

I ain't got no money, Okay, you got words. You

can be a blessing with your words.

As a matter of fact, back up on that.

You got clothes you don't wear, talk about it.

I'm I'm gonna be an influence. I'm gonna give money.

I'm gonna be a philanthropist. Can't even spell the word, but.

You gonna given millions of dollars away. You won't give

nobody a piece of gum. Quit playing start where you are.

You gotta act, you gotta do something. You gotta admit.

And this is what we see in Jesus all throughout

his ministry.

There's one man that.

Is blinded and he comes to Jesus, and Jesus is

always kind of messing with people.

He comes up to Jesus, he's blind, and Jesus gonna say,

what do you want?

It's like, bruh, come on, man, you know why I'm here.

But many times Jesus will do this, not for him,

but for you. This happens all the time, I'll be

praying with people at the alter. And one thing I've

realized I learned this in youth ministry is what I'll

say something.

This isn't all the time, but sometimes I'll.

Say to people, hey, general prayers sometimes get general answers.

And what I mean by that is not basically you

gonna move what God's doing. What I'm saying is sometimes

it's good for you to say to somebody, what's really

going on?

People come to the alter and just pray for me. Okay,

what's going on? Just some stuff? Okay, what kind of stuff?

Just relational stuff? Okay, what type of relational stuff? Just

some some things.

I gotta you know, So you cheated on your girlfriends?

What you're trying to tell me, and now you're praying

to God she don't break up with you because you've

done this six times? Is that what your question is? Yes,

that is actually my question.

I made that up.

That's not somebody's situation. So I'm not just saying no.

I mean, if it is, you know, come to the

front at the end. But you just gotta let's just

be honest.

What are you really praying about? What do you really

need from God? That man, he's blind, he asked. He says, okay,

I'm aware.

Jesus puts mud on his eyes, and then he says, now,

go wash, go wash, and you will be healed.

What is that? That's the act.

And this is the point where you cannot calculate your

faith because I don't know he got healed immediately when.

God put the stuff on his eyes. I don't know

if it was while he was walking. I don't know

if it was while he was washing.

But at some point you got to act and trust

whatever he is doing. I don't know, because his ways

are higher than my ways, his thoughts are higher than

my thoughts, and I I'm gonna trust him my hope.

Today everybody's standing all over this room.

We're gonna get out of here.

The uh I think it's chapter three in my book.

The title is called The Unstoppable Movement. It's based off

of a scripture and acts.

Chapter five, there's a group of.

Followers of Jesus that have been brought in front of

this committee and they're trying to decide whether or not

they're going.

To kill them.

And a man stands up in the middle of the

community and they're kind of wrestling, like, hey, how do

we lock them up? But the people are gonna be mad,

and what do we do? And we've already killed Jesus

and now they're claiming he's alive and what's gonna happen?

And they're standing there in this moment.

This man stands up and he says, hey, listen, here's

what we're gonna do. He's the most respected amongst the teachers.

He's the most respected amongst all of them.

And he says, here's what we're gonna do.

If this movement is human origin, it'll happen just like

every other movement.

And then he starts listing people.

He's like, you don't remember that other guy a couple

of years ago he started an insurrection and they said about

three hundred people followed him, and then when he died,

they all scattered.

And then you remember that other guy. Remember he started an.

Insurrection too, y'all remember that if this is just of

human origin, it'll fizzle out like everything else.

But this is how you could tell he had wisdom.

He said, But guys, if this message is of God,

if this is really him, if what they're claiming really happened,

he says, these words, you will not be able to

stop these men, and you might find yourself fighting against

God himself.

And here was the power of the early Church.

The early Church knew and they believed in such a

way because they had addressed some things that they realized

they had an unstoppable spirit on the inside of them.

What am I saying to you, hope is that you

would address your belief.

My hope is that you would address your trust, and

that way it will allow you.

To move in faith.

But can I tell you something that God can empower

you to do. He can empower you to stand and say,

you know what, I'm not sure what I believe, and

I don't know if I trust because I've never seen

it before. But also I know and I serve a

God and I'm gonna follow him no matter where he

will take me. It reminds me of three Hebrew boys

who said, we believe our God can deliver us, but

even if he doesn't.

We will not bow.

What am I saying to you, I want to pray

for you this morning that if you find yourself struggling

with belief and trust, I want you to know you

serve a God who is good enough to speak to

you in a moment, and he can bring certainty and

surety and a peace in your heart. I'm also gonna

pray that he will produce in you a boldness that

does not need all the details to do what he's

asked you to do. That you can trust him. I

can move in faith and still address I got some doubt.

My friend said this to me.

We were texting about the sermon, and he said, you know,

the truth is when you got faith and doubt, all

you're choosing is just to believe more in your faith

than you believe in your doubt.

It's still there.

I'm just picking this one bout every eye close in

this room. If you're in this room and you've been

struggling with faith in any way, specifically, if it's been

something around what you believe, maybe you've been wrestling if

you believe there is a God, if you believe he

loves you, if.

You believe he has a plan for you.

Or there's an area of broken trust a family member

has broke your trust, a.

Friend, the spouse, the loved one.

If you fall into any one of those two categories

from the counter three, I want you to lift your hand,

and this is The first step this is admitting I

have some questions.

One, two, three, lift your hand all over this room.

Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful, beautiful God.

You see us with our hands raised saying there are

some things we don't know. There are questions we have,

and we are still wrestling with them.

God. We say today we want to believe God.

There's some things that we want to believe that You're

gonna do, Lord Jesus. And so right now we're being honest,

and we're praying you would meet us at the place

of honesty.

God.

I pray for courage right now in the name of Jesus,

people who their lack of belief or trust has robbed

them of courage and boldness to be who God's called

them to be.

I pray right now.

You would speak to them, give them peace in the

name of Jesus. Every head down, every hand down, eyes

still closed. Belief in trust. The first thing you got

to do if you want to walk in faith is

you got to answer the question, do I believe in Jesus?

And here's the beautiful thing about him.

He believed in you way before you believed in him.

If you're in this room and you've never made Jesus

your Lord and save here. If you are in this

room or watching online, you've never surrendered your life to Jesus.

You've never said I give up control, I don't know

what I'm doing and I need help.

If you are in here today, you're watching online.

You don't have to be perfect, you don't have to

get your life together first.

You can admit in a moment, I am hurting, I

am broken.

I've tried everything, I've done everything, and it is not working.

If you want to be honest today and receive the

greatest opportunity of your life, and that is to get

the helper and the power of Jesus Christ, on account

of three, I'm going to ask you to raise your hand.

This is not about anybody else. Don't worry about the

person next to you. This is between you and God.

If you want to accept Jesus as your Lord and

savior today for the first time, or you want to

recommit your life back to him on the account of three,

you are gonna raise your hand boldly because you are saying,

I'm gonna be honest and I'm not ashamed to admit

I need a savior, I need a hero, I need

Jesus one, he loves you.

Two. Today is a day of salvation. Three.

Lift your hand all over this room boldly. I see you, sis,

I see you up there, so proud of you. Oh,

come on, y'all, can we celebrate. Keep your hand up,

keep your hand up. I see you over here, so

proud of you. I see you right there. I got you,

I got you. Proud of you.

I see you, says, so proud of you. I got you.

I see you, my man.

Everybody out loud, repeat this prayer with me.

Everybody say, Dear God, I admit I've made mistakes, Save me,

change me, and make me new.

And Jesus name I pray. Amen.

Can we celebrate everybody who just gave their life to Jesus.

Hey, listen, we're so proud of you.

That is the best decision you could ever make. Hey, listen,

tell somebody, Tell somebody you know what I'm gonna say, specifically, tell.

Yo, mama. I bet you she been praying for you.

The best mothers that you gift you could give her

is letting her know. Tell somebody in this room, and

as a matter of fact, we would love.

To know about it.

If you text welcome saved to A two eight two

A two saved to that number.

Our team would love to connect with you, encourage you.

We are so so proud of you. Hey, listen, thank

you so much for coming.

To church today. We love you, We're grateful for you.

Hey, across the hall in our south ballroom, we do

something called meet the pastors. If you go into the

church here for a while, but you haven't got connected,

we haven't got.

A chance to meet. We would love to meet you.

It'll start in about ten minutes across the hall.

But we love you so much.

I'm gonna pray for you as you leave today. If

you need prayer for anything, some of our team is

gonna be standing up here at.

The front and at the back.

You can come and receive prayer for anything at all.

Lord God, we love you so much. I pray for

every person in this room that this will be the

best week they have had and they would find encouragement

to believe you and trust you.

It's in the name of Jesus we pray, and everybody said,

we love you so much.

Go out and live a transformed life.

Thank you for joining us today. If you said that

prayer and accept it. Jesus into your heart. It's the

best decision you could ever make. We want to celebrate

with you, and we have some tools to help you

on your journey. Tech saved to A two eight two

eight two and to find out more about TC text

connect to A two A two A two. Be sure

to subscribe and share this podcast with your friends. Thanks

for listening. Now go out and live a transform life.