Oh When The Saints | Believe - Pastor Scott Silcox

Welcome to the Rock Family Sermon of the Week.

For more information about our church, please visit therockfamily.tv.

Now join us for a message from Pastor Scott Silcox.

I don't know if you know this, but but we've been using a lot of analogy, a lot of metaphor around here, cathedrals, gardens.

One metaphor that I used last week that maybe you used at the campuses.

I don't know if you did, but I'll just kind of catch you up, is stained glass windows.

The idea that each of us at all of our locations in every city, under the sound of my voice, doesn't matter where you're at, if you're in the balcony or you're at home right now, watching this online, you have a piece of the puzzle.

And the idea is that Christ wants to shine shine and to push light through your life.

And how many know that's a beautiful image?

But how much better it is when we come together.

Because the truth is, it's really not the goal is for me to shine.

The real goal is for me to partner with other believers and tell the story.

And in order for the story to actually be told, we have to actually come together, we have to join forces.

As we've been talking about this stained glass, so I started just thinking about this.

I don't know about you, but I love stained glass.

Anybody just love a little stained glass?

Okay, great.

Three of you?

Awesome.

I got to know my audience here.

There's three people in Huntsville that like stained glass.

They're just so modern here, you know.

They don't, but but stained glass is awesome.

It tells a story, and so I started putting my head together.

I was like, I'm gonna come up with a stained glass we're gonna install at all of our campuses so we can tell the story.

And I just thought it's so cool.

And I'm gonna share a little rendering of it for you, just give you an idea of kind of where we're going.

Because what are we talking?

What's the year's theme today?

Come on, what's the year's theme?

All in, all flame, all flame.

Let's do it again.

All in, all flame.

All flame.

We need some stained glass to tell that story.

So I came up with one.

We're talking about uh Oh, when the Saints Believe, that's the title today, but this is one I thought.

We're I I don't know.

It's it's a first draft, but I like it.

It's a first draft, but I I like where it's headed.

It feels good, rather on point, maybe a little too direct, but I just felt like it worked.

Um, you got Saint Christopher here.

Uh, the evangelist Chris Mitchell is out there in Madison today.

I just wanted to put you up there today, Pastor Chris.

You're amazing.

Look at Saint Benjamin down here, just beautiful.

And I love the modern touches to it.

Have you noticed?

Because he's a watch guy and a cologne guy.

So we have a couple of colognes at the bottom and a watch.

This modern, this modern version of the saint.

And that is, I know those bottles.

That's Blue Des Chanel, that's Sauvage, and that's that's a Creed, which is a very expensive cologne he likes.

So anyway, love that.

Saint Matthew, look at him.

He he there's a tamarish tree, Fayville.

That's a tamarish tree, which you guys planted last week in your parking lot somewhere, uh, which is amazing.

Uh, prayer, my prayers, the deer didn't get to it yet.

And so keep protecting it.

I heard you guys put a fence around it, but yeah, look, there's Pastor Matt, who looks monkish already.

You know, he already has like a little monk vibe going anyway, and then Pastor Spencer, just the songbird of our of our crew, and uh amazing.

Songs for his glory.

Um don't worry about that.

Um, someone asked here, why is Pastor Matt smoking?

Forget about it.

Uh listen, I I'm not responsible of what of what AI does.

You know what I'm saying?

You know, this is a lesson of why you shouldn't use AI.

So it does things like that.

It makes people think stuff about people it shouldn't.

I got you, Matt.

What are we talking about today?

Title of the series.

You guys ready for the next five weeks?

This is gonna be an amazing series.

We're going through this, right?

And it's really simple.

We're talking about believe today.

And the title is Oh when the saints kind of fill in the blank.

Oh, when the saints.

And each week we're gonna fill in the blank with a new direction we're going.

Today is oh when the saints believe.

Can everybody say believe?

Believe, perfect.

Oh, when the saints believe.

Now, here's a question that I want to tackle right out of the gate, and I've got a couple of them, and we're gonna try to do this because I think it's very important.

Because anytime you make a bold statement like uh this whole year is dedicated to the idea that we're all in all flame, all saints, that word oftentimes has like a different connotation.

In fact, I would even argue that there were people who heard that last week and went home thinking, like, well, I'm never going to match or or meet up to that kind of expectation.

Now, I just want to be very clear here is that when we use the word saints, this is not like some Catholicism which somebody already accused me of that we're taking the church to be, we're not gonna, I'm not converting.

I was like, I wasn't asking you to.

But it's working for me.

I'm just kidding, I'm not Catholic.

I'm not, but I'm just saying at the point, some people will take that and say, like, oh, I see what we're doing here.

It's like, no, no, no.

This is a, this is, this is the way we have been described from the beginning.

And so it's real important for us to get that language back and not distance ourselves from it because it has a totally different definition.

But the truth is, you can go back and look all through scripture, many, many, many times we're re we're referred to as the saints.

When spoken of, we're spoken of already.

Now, why let me just say this too is that in all the times that we're spoken of, like for instance, when Paul writes his letters to the churches, he is always appealing to them as the saints.

So if you're here today and you say, Well, my life, my decision-making, it doesn't qualify to be a saint.

How could I be a saint?

How could you call me a saint?

How could you be a saint?

For those that know me, there ain't no way he's a saint, right?

But how do we do that?

And that is real simple.

Is that Paul, when is he speaking to the church and calling us the saints?

Do you notice that he doesn't make you qualify for the title?

Now, now, okay, let's take it a step further.

When Paul's writing to the churches and he says, I'm talking to the saints, why is he writing?

What's the purpose of the letter?

Many of the letters are because it's an absolute fall apart.

Right?

I mean, think about it.

You've got, you've got, uh, uh, uh, they're sleeping around with each other, they're gossiping about one another, they have religious spirits and they're lording over each other.

I mean, they're just pushing each other in the bushes.

Just angry, frustrated.

But Paul makes it very clear: I am appealing to who you are in Christ, not in who you are presently.

So you notice that they didn't get disqualified by who they're not.

So I just want to say to the room, you stop disqualifying yourself.

When we talk about saints, we're talking about you.

We're talking about all of those who have said, Lord, you are the Lord of my life.

I believe in you, I have made you my Lord.

And can I tell you, from that day that you made him king of your life, and listen to me, I'm talking to those who haven't made him the Lord of their life.

Listen to me, today's your day.

Don't let another hour go by that you don't give your heart to Christ, the one who loved you, paid an ultimate price for you, gives himself sacrificially to you.

Right?

Amazing.

And so, all those that have made that decision, have you noticed something that when you said yes to the Lord, some of you a year ago, two years ago, some of you two centuries ago?

Have you noticed that life wasn't like perfect?

Have you noticed that you might not have been the model student along the way?

Did anyone notice that that when you laid your life down, your humanity down, how many know that some of it went home with you?

You're like, no, I thought I left that at the altar until you got into an altercation.

And then you found out, it's like, yeah, I got some of it still.

You know what I'm saying?

Right?

So there's that thing.

Well, here's here's what's happening.

There is a process that all of us as believers are going through.

It's called sanctification.

Sanctification.

We are constantly growing into the likeness of Christ.

It is the revelation of salvation that says there's something to aim towards.

It's his revelation, it's the perfectness, the holiness.

We sang about it today.

You are holy, you are holy, you are righteous, you are worthy.

All of that attributes that that belong to him give us something to aim towards.

And it is our life with him through sanctification over time, we become like Christ.

But how many know that we're already in him?

And he is in us.

And sometimes that can get difficult.

And so I hear this all-saint worry.

People are like, oh no, we're gonna be all.

I can't be all saint all.

I mean, that's too much pressure, too much high pressures.

The stakes are high.

It's like, relax, relax.

We all know who you are, right?

Seth, we all know who you're not, right?

At the same time, painfully I'm aware of this, right?

But I don't let that become the identity that pushes me.

I now have identity in Christ.

That's what we're talking about today.

So, who is a saint and who qualified them?

So here's the scripture.

I want to read 1 Corinthians 1, 2, and 3.

And it says this to the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours.

Grace to you and peace from God our Father, the Lord Jesus Christ.

This is the letter of Paul to Corinth here, and he's leading with this idea.

This is what you're called to.

I'm identifying you now before you get in the way and disqualify yourself.

I'm writing you a letter because your church is in shambles, but I'm also writing you with the whole uh um attribution or at least the title of I believe something about you you don't yet live out.

Oh, come on, touch your neighbor.

Say he's talking to you.

He's talking to you.

I'm trying to say, I see something in you, I know who you are, not because you're not meeting up, but because you are his.

You're his.

You're his.

Oftentimes we derail our faith because we're constantly obsessed with who we are.

My position, my role, my posture, my thing, my disappointment, my failure, my success.

It's not just the the what you don't do, it's all the things that we do do.

Because the religious spirit gets strength by celebrating his and her accomplishments.

The religious spirit gets gassed up there, right?

I have done.

How many know you did nothing to earn the salvation that Christ gave to you?

We deserve death, and in turn, he took it upon himself and gave me life.

This is the salvation message.

Come on, do you believe?

Come on, do you believe?

Alright, so here's the thought.

Saint is an identity received, not a what?

Achievement earned.

It's not achievement earned, it's not something you can do, it's not your good works.

You're not a saint today because you're good.

You're a saint today because you received an identity.

There's an exchange.

Are you tracking with me, Fayable?

There's an exchange, it's a different identity, right?

You were this, but now you're in him.

That's a totally different lifestyle change.

See, we're we're we're I'm I'm convinced we we're not living in the full power of an understanding of that because we don't actually live that out daily.

We're constantly living in some kind of inferior position.

But the truth is, Christ said, I've called you out of the darkness into the light.

I'm not just called you into it, I'm putting the light in you so that wherever you set your foot, you can illuminate the presence of the Lord.

Come on, somebody, this is what the church's job was supposed to be.

It was not about programs, it was never about our outreaches, none of that.

Because if it becomes about those things, we then pick up the religious spirit and say, see, we're we're we're earning our way with the Lord.

And that's what happens when some momentary favor comes or some opportunity comes, or you know, someone gives some extra dollar amount in the offering, and we're all just like, oh, we have to keep doing the things we're doing because that's the thing that got that.

If you believe that, you'll be a slave to what people do and think and say for the rest of your life, and the church is guilty of being in chains on people's opinions and thoughts.

When when you're when he's in you and you are in him, you know this, there's nothing I can do, not even my good things will qualify me.

Come on, I'm not trying to upset all of you perfect attenders out there, but I can see some of you like, I've been at church for 49 years and I hadn't missed a Sunday.

That's amazing.

That's amazing.

My prayer is that your motivation to be here every Sunday is to be with him and not check the box that you earned something from him.

That if you do that, then no bad thing will happen.

Or if I do that, then all the good things will come to me.

Come on, somebody, that's a genie in the bottle.

That's you walking around rubbing your Bible and and and and declaring things.

Mmm, come on, blessing.

I am highly favored, right?

It's like, uh, yeah, like you are, but not because not because he gives you things for the most, because it is who he is.

And if if it is him and he is in you, then you through sanctification can get there.

And when you fall short in the process of sanctification, I've got even better news.

He fills the gap.

I mean, can is there a better deal anywhere on the planet?

Nowhere.

That even in my best effort, I fall short, and he fills it up.

He's like, see, look how good you did.

Now you know I didn't do that.

Well, I all I saw is you do it.

I love it.

I love it.

I love it.

I I feel like I'm gonna.

How much time do we have?

Ooh.

I'm gonna move.

I'm not gonna finish that story, but I want to.

I want to.

I have a great story on that.

Okay, let's read this passage right here, Colossians 1, 9 through 14.

And so from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray.

That's what's Paul, Paul's saying.

It's like we got reports back, right?

That you're doing such great work in Colossus, that we have we're compelled to write and open this letter, just saying, like, God, we are surprised, we're excited for you and what the church is doing.

That's what he's doing.

And but I want you to read this piece right here.

It says, We have not ceased to pray, first and foremost.

Like, like if you're a leader in this room and and and you are working with people, well, I I will just compel you, where is your prayer life towards the people you serve with?

If your prayer life is spent more on you and what your next is versus what God is using you to open up doors to the people around you, I'm gonna say you're out of balance on it.

Okay, I'm gonna say it like this because I I just feel like there's some of this in the room.

There's many people waiting for your next.

You're just praying, you're wrestling.

What does God have for me?

What's my next thing?

Where do I need to go?

And you come up with some elaborate ideas of what that is, and you sit around and you muse over it to the point where it it is actually going to start crippling you from doing anything because you just get in your head.

And can I just tell you something?

When you're in a place where you don't feel like God has given you a clear direction for what the next is or what's supposed to happen in your life, can I just encourage you to do something?

Start serving people.

Sounds crazy, but if you just follow the life of Christ, it's kind of a funny thing, we just follow some of his ways.

Remember all those guys, like, where are we gonna go?

What are we gonna do?

How do we even do ministry?

I don't even know what I'm doing.

I did a miracle, but I don't know how I did it.

Come on, disciples were out of control, man.

Young guys who got who got really arrogant and smart at times, and then like cowardly at the end just an hour later, right?

Just like, we're gonna we'll call down fire on them.

Let us do it, Lord.

He's like, just relax.

It's like there's enough fire for the distance.

Come on, somebody, like just relax.

And then in the same breath, they're just like, we're just so ashamed, we can't even just support you.

Can't even be an emotional support to you, Jesus.

We're sleeping all the time.

You know, it's like I I just can't.

The emotions are strong with the 12, right?

They're just strong with the 12, right?

But they don't know, they don't know what that they know they've given up a lot, but they don't know what they've given up for yet.

Now, doesn't that sound familiar for some of us who are waiting for the next?

And here's what Jesus is constantly modeling with them, for them, and specifically with them is to, hey, stop looking at you and look at what, look at the harvest around you.

Stop looking internally and start serving.

How about you just pick up these little fish and loaves and start feeding somebody?

It wasn't like he prayed and there was 150 baskets of food, like, all right, everybody, there's all the new baskets.

The way it was is that that he would they would have to obediently take what they got and it would continue to increase.

Serving others.

Can I just I'm helping somebody in the room, I don't know who it is, but Holy Spirit just got on me today about this.

And I just want to tell you like when you're frustrated because you can't hear, I don't know what next is, I don't know where my purpose is.

Stop looking at your purpose.

I would bet that you've spent too much time there and less on what's happening around you, and how God wants to actually use your story to be a blessing to someone today, and stop waiting for the opportune time.

There is no opportune time other than now loving, caring, seeing other people.

And here's the beauty when you do that, you find out that in the middle of caring for those people, all of a sudden destiny, purpose, and vision starts to come into play.

Now that's the kingdom.

It's not normal.

No, that's not normal.

Normal is for you to sit at home and create a business plan on how you're gonna be the greatest.

But in the kingdom, you figure out how to bless the people around you, and all of a sudden other things start to trigger off.

Does that make sense?

All right.

That was a lot to say on the not cease to pray.

Um, you ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will.

What is he praying?

I want you to be filled with the idea that he has a plan.

See, we want to be filled with knowledge, but the real knowledge that is trying to be impressed upon us really is that God's got it under control.

It's good to know where we came from, but if you don't know that he's already, it's his will, that's the purpose here.

In all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to what?

Walk in the manner worthy of the Lord.

Now, what does that say to us?

It says, we've been praying, I'll just summarize this.

We've been praying that you would understand his will for your life so that you can walk worthy.

That's our prayer for the church.

You know, this is the same prayer for the church.

This letter can be written to the Church of Madison, Alabama, to the Church of Smith Lake.

This is our prayer for you that you would know he has a will, praying that you have a knowledge of his will, praying that you would be filled with that.

And why?

So that you could walk worthy.

Do you anyone seen something here?

It's actionable.

There's things on the backside, there's things he's planted for us.

We're going to get to that.

So, so what is verse 10 uh uh right here?

Fully pleasing to him.

Verse 10, the last part.

Uh, fully pleasing to him, bearing what fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power.

Let me just stop.

I was gonna skip by it, but I can't.

The fruit, like the whole purpose of this.

We're praying so that you can be filled, so that you can know, so you can have purpose, so you can be holy, so you can be set apart.

Why?

Because the people I'm bringing you to are gonna be inspecting your fruit.

Because the advancement of the kingdom depends on you tending the garden well.

Well, I I don't I don't like it.

I don't like it when people look at look at what I'm doing and judge it.

Well, you know what?

Tough.

Like I'm just saying, we don't like that when we're when we're on the receiving end, but you sure love giving judgment on fruit.

You you've you've deemed yourself chief fruit inspector.

Huh?

You done got you a job, made you a little name tag and all.

Chief fruit inspector.

I've come to chew your life up and tell you that you can get better.

Come on, somebody.

But the truth is, this is part of it.

How do they know?

How will people know how we love one another?

It's part of the fruit.

Okay, all right.

Here's here's the number 12.

Oh, verse 12 right here.

Follow me right here, Smith Like.

Giving thanks to the Father who has what?

Qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints and light.

Now, why is this even interesting?

Because Paul is writing this letter to a a crazy church.

This church is nuts.

This church is devouring each other, but he's saying you are already pre-qualified.

Isn't it nice when you go to get something and and you're pre-qualified?

Doesn't that feel good?

Come on, when you get a car and they're like, Well, you're you're pre-qualified.

I am.

Well, I mean, you know, it's not just a little thing, you know.

I've been faithful.

I've been faithful.

You know, I've been doing the right things.

Come on, you just feel there's a sense of like pride that you get when you're pre now.

I don't understand why we abandon that when when we're talking about the kingdom.

When he sees you, you're pre-qualified.

And you're like, yeah, I know, for like hell.

No, he's saying, for life with me.

He's like, I already know, I already know what you think, but let me tell you what I see.

What do I see?

And this is what he sees an inheritance of the saints.

Here's the thought you don't become a saint by finally getting it all right, you become one because Christ claimed you as his own.

Right?

I don't know about you, man.

That's that just does my heart well.

He claimed me.

He claimed me.

Oh my gosh, my life was in shambles, but he claimed me.

You know, this is why I love the people who do restoration projects.

I love those guys.

People that will take an old thing and make it a new thing.

Now then there's those other people that are like the DIYs that shouldn't be DIYs.

You know, they make a thing that doesn't function as anything anymore.

And then usually when it doesn't work, they just call it art.

It's like it had a function, now it doesn't.

Look at it, it's a beautiful art, it's an expression of restoration.

I don't know, like, it just can't get funny that way.

But those people who know how to restore something is special.

There's a divine quality in restoration.

Uh, one of the things that we talked about here at our church, and you probably know this at all of our campuses, you've probably noticed that we didn't just build brand new campuses everywhere.

It's and there's a reason for that.

I mean, some people would be like, well, why not?

Well, we we believe in the spirit of restoration.

We believe as God has restored us, there are creative ways in which we can take space in any given community and take that same salvation light and actually apply it into broke-down areas of our community and bring it back to restoration.

It's a testimony, it's a visual testimony to our community that God is here.

They don't get that, Reese.

That may just be us, Lol.

Artsy fartsys, you know, like that's that's us.

But I'm trying to tell you, this is what we're doing.

Every campus, when we come in and we beautify it, every time we do another project, it's not so that we just can have nicer things.

We want our life, our story to be told in every area.

We're not just, it's it's a we called it excellence, but we're taking pride in our salvation.

I mean, you guys, okay, when I say it about the church, everybody gets quiet because you think I'm gonna take up an offering or something.

They're like, oh gosh, here we go.

We're building something again.

My father-in-law went to a car show that Huntsville had just recently, just a couple of weekends ago.

Uh, this is a great car show, they took some pictures.

There was this, was it like a 1961 or two Corvette that you took a picture of?

Bro, I I just sat there in awe.

Now, this car didn't look this good when it was brand new.

You know what I mean?

Brand new, it looked okay.

But what this person had done had taken the time and the effort, the pride in making it better than it was for people like us to come along and just, oh wow.

You know what else it does?

Now, listen, this is the beauty.

Now, track with me.

Since we're not talking about the church, talking about cars.

Now, listen, what does it do?

You immediately start to imagine yourself in it.

Oh, oh yeah.

I would look so good in that.

Or you say, hey, babe, wouldn't you look, oh, you you would look stunning in that.

Oh, driving around town.

I could just imagine driving around town.

Everybody would be like, oh, just get then have to slow down and just look.

Like, oh my gosh, your car.

You're like, what, Miss Olson?

Come on, somebody.

This is the narrative that goes into all of our heads when we think about a restoration gone well.

Here, here's the beauty is that if we're not careful, we present to the world a restoration that's gone wrong.

The church no longer tells the story of a restoration that's been successful, but one that they tried but it didn't work very well.

Right?

Or we can be a body who turns around and represents something that the world wants to come, came and say, like, how do I partner with you?

It's excellent, it's great.

I don't know what that is.

Y'all got.

I love that when people say that about our church.

They visit over at Madison, they're like, There's something about you guys.

Y'all like all nice to each other, and that's not normal church.

Isn't that sad that people have normalized church to being mean?

Instead, we're the most loving, caring people that you can be around.

Why?

Because we've received so much love and care.

How else am I to treat you?

Come on, touch your neighbor, say you're a saint.

Come on.

Touch the other neighbor.

Tell them you're a saint.

You're a saint.

That's the nicest thing some of you husbands have said to your wife in a week.

And I can just see, I saw one wife being like, Yes, I am.

And you have no idea.

You have no idea how saintly I am.

You know?

Wives do that.

They will weaponize all kinds of things like that.

There's they're good.

They're good like that.

Okay, here's a question.

What does it mean to believe?

And what is the evidence of that belief?

Right?

What does it mean to believe?

What's the evidence of that belief?

All right, so Hebrews 1, 1, I mean 11, 1 through 6, or 1 and 6, excuse me.

Now, faith is what?

The assurance of things, right?

And the conviction of things not seen, hoped for.

There's an internal hope and desire.

There's there's something that we can't see, but we believe.

Or that we can see but like barely, and we have all the language for it, because he gives us tons of language for it, and then skip down to verse 6 and says, and without faith, it is impossible to please him.

Now, now let's stop right there.

Without faith, it's impossible to please God.

So I just want to put this out there.

He's implying that God is going to be pleased by something we're doing or not doing.

So when you tell me that we live in the era of grace, that I can just do whatever I want, and it doesn't matter to him because he's enough, I would argue not true.

There's a way of life.

There is a way to do this relationship with him.

And when we do it well, what do we get?

It pleases him.

And why would it please him that we would have this faith?

Why would it displease him not to have faith?

First of all, he gave everyone a measure of faith.

So first it came from him, which means there's a stewardship problem if you're not bringing it to the table.

Just the side note.

But if he's gonna give every single body, every person here, there's not a person at any campus or anywhere that has not got a measure of faith, he says, you gotta bring that to the table because without it it's impossible to please God.

Why is that?

Because God knows no matter what you bring to the table, it won't be enough.

And that's the way he designed it.

Right?

Adam and Eve, what was their biggest fall apart?

It was not the disobedient thing, it wasn't them doing the action.

The action came after the real seed of sin was in their heart, and that was that they would be their own gods.

I would take care of myself.

The temptation was that I would know all that God knows.

And so I'd already received the idea that I didn't have enough, and so the seed of sin was planted long before the action.

So, how many of us are still operating in the seed thought of many things that should be uprooted before they turn into action?

There's a window.

You know, Adam and Eve had a window.

It wasn't the temptation that made them fall, it was the fact that they believed the temptation.

Belief is powerful.

Belief is powerful.

What is he saying?

You've got to have faith.

Why?

Because in order for us to do what I'm doing in the kingdom, in order for the impossible to happen, I'm gonna need you to bring your faith to the table.

Bring what you have, join it with what I'm doing, and let's see the kingdom advance.

And instead, when we don't think it's significant enough, we sit on it.

Or we don't have the full belief that it'll actually work.

At every campus, you probably notice something a little out of place today.

Anyone else notice a little something what doesn't belong in this picture?

Anybody?

The chair.

Probably at all of our campuses you've seen the chair.

This is an amazing chair.

I don't know about you, but I think it's a pretty good chair.

It's heavy.

It's a very heavy chair.

It's got four legs, that's good.

Nice little platform to sit down.

Clearly, clearly can function.

It's gonna carry all that it needs to carry.

I believe in the chair.

Don't you, Barry?

Do you believe in the chair?

I hope so.

I believe in it.

Looks good, looks the part.

I like even walking around it.

Look at that.

It's even giving me, I mean, doesn't look at that.

Did you notice that at your campus?

It's just so good.

It's very good.

Anybody just anybody to just think about the chair sometimes?

And just think about, gosh, what did we do?

I mean, everybody just sat on the ground everywhere.

You ever sat on the ground for a long period of time?

Come on, raise your hand.

You know what I'm talking about.

You've been on the ground.

Do you know what I'm talking about?

Like, I am I I, for one, was not blessed with the tools and the equipment to sit on the ground for long periods of time.

I don't have a butt.

I don't just just two rattly bones back there.

Just you know, you sit on the floor too long for me, it's just like uh I just start thinking rigomortis sets in for me.

I just start to get to lock up.

Don't think about that right now.

It feels weird, y'all looking at me thinking like of me like that.

Don't do that.

It's weird.

You know what I'm saying?

Like sitting down on the ground.

So I there are days where I'm like thankful for a cushy chair.

Any uh anybody ever visited your newly married kids or you know, or even a college student that's away.

Have you ever noticed how they live?

They ain't got nothing.

There ain't no furniture.

Whatever furniture a newly married person has is something your parents give you out of guilt.

So you don't, they're like, we can't have them sleeping on the ground.

And so they give you some taco mattress they had in the other room.

Do you guys know what I mean by taco mattress?

The one you've moved a hundred times and you've folded it in half to get through all the doors, and now it just sits like you get in it, you roll off to the sides.

There's no real that was the first one that was gifted to me.

It was amazing, you know?

And I didn't care.

I was holding on to the side of a mountain every night, you know, like you're laughing because you know what I'm talking about.

I mean, you don't know.

Do you ever go to somebody's house who who invites you over, but there's no place to sit down?

Do you know how awkward that is?

It's like, oh, we're so excited to be here.

They're like, yeah, just put your stuff down over there in the corner.

You know, like sweet.

You know, there comes a point where you just don't even know what to do with yourself.

Like, this is fun.

I like what you're doing.

This real like minimalistic look in here is amazing.

Why do you do that?

Well, I for exercise, I'm sure, just so you stay fit.

Right?

But you know what I'm saying?

They're like, I get thankful for chairs.

Excited about the chair.

Chair's good, though.

It's good design, ergonomic.

Anybody ever sat in a chair that doesn't sit well?

My wife has got little tiny legs.

I should.

I don't know.

Smith, like that was a little weird, I know.

She's small.

And when we're looking for some place to sit down or you to chair, there's certain things we're looking for.

And for all the small people out there, you know what that is.

That is, can I put my feet on the ground?

Because most chairs that my wife sits in, her feet just pop straight up.

Because the break is like in her calf muscle.

It's like, and it, I'm not gonna lie to you.

I can't buy a chair like that because I can't walk in and see her sitting like a baby doll in this, like, and it just messes with my head.

Her just like just try trying to be comfortable, but it just all you see is feet just doing that, and it just it's weird, it's bizarre.

So, how many know it's like important to get the right type of chair?

Am I right?

Like, it feels good, it looks good, it's comfortable.

It's a good invention, the chair.

I'm I'm a big huge fan of this.

And I could go on and on about it, but I just want to look at it.

You guys just take it in for a second while we take this thought in.

The saints don't just believe something, they give themselves to someone.

In order for you to be a saint, it it's not, it's not, it's not just this, this like, I believe in something.

It's I believe in someone.

What anchors us in our faith is got nothing to do with an idea.

It has everything to do with a person.

You go back and look at look look at all the saints through the Bible.

I mean, everybody that that ever called on the name of Jesus, ever made them him Lord, that idea is that they they gave themselves not to ministry, they gave themselves to the one who's responsible for ministry.

This is a this is a person.

When when when when I'm talking to the people in this room and I'm looking in these these these upper deck areas and people that are in the furthest part, I'm talking to you.

You're a saint, you're a believer, and and you're not a believer because you believe an idea.

And this is very important because in our society they want you to believe in a lot of ideas.

But here's the problem: most of those ideas are failed attempts at being their own gods and getting their own ways, and and if we're not careful, the church can fall victim to that influence, and even worse, bring that influence into the church and call it the Bible, call it kingdom because it looks like love or it looks like this, and it looks, and if it just looks like what what the Bible talks about, then it must be.

But how many know that we're talking about a person here?

That what I represent and what you represent today, when you walk out of here and in your home and in your work and your workplace, the everyday saint is the guy who just gets up and loves his wife and loves his family and prays over his home and cares for his neighbor and shows up faithfully to work and gets paid, not because he's worth the dollars, he's worth more than that, but because he's a faithful worker, because everything that he does is to exemplify the person.

The person.

See, my motivation is not my marriage, my motivation is the one who saved me, compels me to do life differently.

Because he redeemed me, I live something in my home, in my work, in my life, and what I put my hands to.

It's not so that people can see me, but they can see a savior.

This is the everyday saint.

You are the everyday saint.

Yeah, but I'm just waiting for my opportunity to preach.

Who cares about your opportunity to preach?

You want one of those?

Just let me know.

I'll throw you out on something to preach at.

Go.

That's great.

Because that if that is your drive, I'm just saying, most people aren't living in what God actually has for them because your motives are wrong.

Yeah, but I want more and I want this and I want favor here, and I want to go here, and I want to do this, I want to do amazing things in business.

Well, humble yourself and let the Lord shine through your life.

Stop isolating yourself from the community of the believers.

See, that that term, the community of believers, is meant for us to gather.

We're stronger, connected, our story is clearer.

And then you say, I don't need it.

I don't need it.

I'm a good believer in my house.

No, you're you're a little demigod in your house.

And that that feels like feels like the Bible.

No, gather yourself with the believer because when you come together, there's synergy, there's love, there's care, there's support to one another, and that is the image that the world will see and say, I want that.

I want that.

Fayeval, this is what they're looking for in Fayeval.

They're not looking for another country cooking kitchen to hang out for the old men just to sit there all day, nibble on chicken, and talk about the farm land there.

No, that's not what they need.

There's a hundred.

To those there.

What are they looking for?

You to show up in any area of that way and to constantly be the light into the community that he's called you to be.

That tamaris tree that you planted that most of y'all think is silly, that thing's gonna grow, and people are gonna be like, What the?

Who did this?

And we're all gonna be like, I was there that day.

Thirty years ago, 70 years ago when this tree was planted.

See, putting something in the ground like that is because we recognize something here at our church, is that we're not living for today's approval.

People will question, but a lot of people question Noah too, until it started sprinkling.

Huh?

Noah's nuts until the first raindrop hits.

And I'll be like, my boy, Noah, what's up?

My boy, Jonah, Noah.

I mean, no, what you're the man, dude.

You know, I've been telling people a lot about you.

I knew you had this right from the beginning.

Come on, you get a lot of believers when the last second comes.

And I'm here to warn us today.

We can't just be around.

We just can't be around the faith and call it faith.

You have to believe.

Anyone else believe?

How do you know?

He's like, Yes, oh, I don't know.

It's like, yes, read.

Let me think about it.

How do you know you believe?

Here.

Purpose, fruit, witness, love, these are all things you should go back and read.

Read the whole entire book of Ephesians.

I told you that a couple weeks ago.

Read it, congest it.

It's great.

It's gonna be big, steady for us.

Galatians 5, uh, big one.

Read the whole chapter.

Matthew 5, 1 Corinthians 13.

These are all great passages that you know, scriptures that you are recognized inside there, but you need to read the whole thing.

Get a really good idea of what is being said in these passages.

But what it's doing is teaching us what does it mean to be a saint, how to live, right?

With purpose.

We're created in Christ for what?

Good works.

Well, this ain't about works, this ain't about what I'm talking about.

He's saying that it's both.

There is work that needs to be done so long as the work that he gives.

The works are still present.

How many know that we're doing good work feeding our community?

We're doing good work when we're doing outreaches into our Smith Lake area, which you guys got a big one coming up with a big, huge jamboree, tons of schools coming together.

It's gonna be an amazing time.

Everybody should sign up for that because that's good work.

It's good work to celebrate those community efforts.

It's good work to gather the church and lift them up.

This is good work.

Why?

Because we're not doing it because we need a pep rally, we're doing it because the community wants to come together around something they can get behind and the church is gonna facilitate it.

It's just that simple.

It's not hard.

That's good work.

It's just the church not being so stuffy, saying, like, well, y'all shouldn't do pep rallies.

You should just go to church before you play the football game.

Well, come just relax.

Relax.

There's more prayer happening in a football field than probably happens any Sunday in Smith Lake.

Come on, can I get a gay man from Smith Lake?

You know how many people get to turn into saints when it's in the fourth quarter, Alabama fans?

Yes.

Yes.

We have more prophets on the weekend than we can even get on Sunday, but on Saturday we got prophets.

They start on Monday, they go for five days prophesying.

Thus saith the Lord, thus saith Nick Saban.

Okay.

That hit a little too close to home.

I can feel it.

I can feel it.

Listen, that's worse in my world, right?

We just paid for a coach and teams and players.

I think we bought a new mascot while we were out there.

I'm an LSU fan.

We just purchased everything.

Souls, we just bought them all.

Just the heathenist, Hellenistic people in the world.

But we're gonna win.

We're gonna win priorities, folks.

See what I'm saying?

The world.

The world.

But the world is begging for true light.

Right?

It's calling the saints to do it.

All in, all flame, all saints.

Why is it important?

Because this.

Look at this.

I mean, there's not a lot of things you can just do this with.

Just lean on it.

There's all kinds of stuff you can do.

I can carry it.

This is awesome.

It's heavy.

It's heavy.

This is a metal chair.

This is metal.

This thing's heavy.

This is substantial.

I love that.

Good chair in the hand is good.

Your mobile?

You know, I can take it wherever I want to go.

I can sit in the lobby, I can sit up on the stage and go to my car.

This is awesome.

You see your chair?

Isn't it amazing?

No, I know nobody's walking around with yours, but look at it.

Here's the thing about it.

I believe in the chair.

I 100% believe in this chair.

It's holding me right now.

I believe in this.

Anyone else just believe in the power of the chair?

Come on, can they get a good amen on the power of the chair?

Isn't it amazing?

Now, this is fascinating to me.

I didn't get one hand in this room.

Now, you're all sitting down.

I'm going to just give you a little test.

What is it that you're actually sitting in?

They're like, I don't know if I believe or not.

I don't know.

It feels like a trick question.

Okay, guys.

Like, seriously, can't make this up.

Not one hand went up like, I believe.

It was like, mm-mm.

He's tricking us.

Man.

This is what happens when you pop the dog with paper.

You know, you just rustle the paper, they get nervous.

It's a chair.

It's a chair.

And we believe, do we not?

But here's the difference.

Here's the difference.

Real belief in the chair is not me walking around the chair and telling me and you what is good about the chair.

What is right about the chair.

What is strong about the chair.

I wish it were white.

It wouldn't match our decor better.

This is literally my chair in my house.

That I loaned the church.

My wife said it cannot come back to my house.

She tricked me by loaning this chair to the church so that I can buy chairs that match our house better.

And I bought this chair for a really good deal.

And I'm really proud of the deal I got on this chair.

But let me tell you something.

It might be the last time I sit in this particular chair.

But it doesn't matter my preference about the chair.

None of that matters.

Because the belief in the chair is not the thing.

Unless I do what?

The action of belief, the work, is me not saying I trust the chair.

It's me sitting in the chair to prove it.

Here's what's happening in our churches.

We believe in the church.

We believe in what she offers.

We believe in all the good things that God has for us.

We've heard all the messages.

I believe that Christ died for me, but he's not carrying any weight from you.

See, the proof that I actually believe it is that I trust it with the weight of my life.

And you can tell people all day long you believe in Jesus.

You can tell them to your blue in the face.

You probably know enough scriptures from BBS or your mother or your grandparent.

You know enough scripture to justify what you don't do, which is put weight on the presence of the Lord in your life.

I love the church.

It's amazing.

It's such a gift, but you won't serve it.

I love the worship here.

It's amazing, but you won't come in for it.

Oh, I love the messages.

They're amazing.

I just don't want to go to the church to hear it.

When are we going to put weight on what we say?

When are we going to decide that we're going to put action to what we've said we believe?

I believe in miracles.

Madison, don't you believe in miracles?

I believe in miracles.

And I can say that Tom Blue in the face.

Or I can lay hands on somebody when they're sick.

And I give God the opportunity, right?

I put the weight of responsibility.

My faith is in your outcome, Lord.

I trust you.

I don't just say I trust you, I trust you.

I want to be generous.

Then be generous.

And stop praying your way out of generosity.

Be generous.

I'm not talking about be generous to me.

I'm talking about be generous to the people around you.

Generous doesn't always look like money.

You know, the great, the generous, generous to me, a big part of generosity is time.

When someone takes the time to prepare for you.

The Lord has prepared a place for us.

He's prepared a place.

What happens?

Okay.

What time is it?

Oh yeah, we're done.

Yeah, yeah, we're done.

We're done.

Yeah, everybody at every campus just stand up.

Yeah, just gonna have to end it.

Yeah, I mean, I'm sorry.

Sorry, it's a cliffhanger.

We're just gonna hold it.

We're gonna lock in.

The next five weeks, we're gonna get better at this, you know, like doing it faster.

Ugh.

Man, there's so many things I want to say.

I'm really not gonna move on because I just feel like I'm gonna stop.

Feel like that's the right thing to do.

Feel like that's the right thing to do.

Okay.

Hey, was anyone tracking with me this morning?

Yeah?

Alright, listen.

I want to pray for all of us.

I want to pray for all of our campuses.

And then I'm gonna release the campuses to the campus pastors.

Um, I'm gonna ask you to take uh this altar time and uh I just let the Holy Spirit lead you.

Let the Holy Spirit lead you.

I just trust the Lord in you and the gift on your life, and I trust that he is present in the room with you.

And uh, can we just can we just ask Holy Spirit right here in this room and in every campus, hey, what are you saying to me, Lord?

What because you don't hear messages like this and be like, man, that was good for Randy.

Man, if you if if if you're if you're thinking about who's not in the room, can I tell you, the people that are in the room to hear what I'm saying today, the people that are listening to me online today, are the exact people God intended to be in this space.

And he does not intend for not one single person, not one, to walk out of here and be like, yeah, that was that was fine.

No, no, no.

It's a confrontation, and it's not one that he is angry with you, it's one to say, I love you too much, I've given too much, and I'm calling you into something better.

I've offered you a seat, and instead you've just chosen to admire.

Oh man, it looks man, that's awesome.

No, he's saying, Trust me and put your weight on it.

Lean back.

Allow me to do something in your life.

If you're here today or you're at any one of our campuses and you don't know Jesus today, this is what I'm talking about.

It's the confrontation of who I am and who I'm not, and it being confronted with a king who's so good, who's so pure, so righteous, and that loves me unconditionally and says, I want to be the Lord of your life, and I want to take all of that chaos, and I want to right all of that wrong, and I want to help you and restore you into the image of who I am, and it's gonna be a process, and you don't have to be afraid of making that journey because look around you at every campus, we are all on the same journey.

There's a person here, there may be a few saints on the front row over here.

There may be a few at any one of our campuses, or so you think, but can I tell you they'd be the first to tell you I'm still growing, I'm still learning, I'm still submitted, he's still working on me to make me what I ought to be.

Right?

Do you remember that?

He's doing all of those things still for everybody that makes themselves available.

The invitation today is for you, if you don't know Christ, make him your Lord, make him your savior, and you will not regret this.

Not because it's easy, but because he can carry the weight.

Amen.

It's really that simple.

Heavenly Father, we love you today, we lift you up, we magnify you, we give you glory today.

Every word, every song, every moment, every time of worship, every pause, every thought, everything that we're doing on this property and in all of our campuses, it is about you, it is for you, it is not for us.

It is we are not in a growth strategy, God, we are in a kingdom advancement strategy.

How can we, the body of Christ, mirror, reflect, express such brilliant light through our personal lives and collectively as a unit, God, tell the story that can only be told through the blood that has been shed on the cross for every single soul in this room and on the earth?

God, we we collectively come together in this room and we say, God, we are yours.

We belong to you.

You are our God, you are our Lord, you are our Savior.

We did not save ourselves, we did not bring ourselves to this place, but you and you alone get the glory for the life that is what it is today, and for the life that it will become, because I refuse to let go.

Right now at every campus, Holy Spirit, we welcome you into the room, into the hearts of men and women who are hungry and desperate for transformation today.

I pray that you would arrest their hearts, bring them to the place of conviction and repentance and salvation today, and it is the joy and the love that you have for us that compels us to you.

In fact, it is not what we preach, it is not what we sing, but your word clearly states it's the Holy Spirit that draws men unto them, unto you.

God, you are drawing them, not these words.

You see them, you know them, you desire a relationship with them, and you are making it available to every person in this room, for every person who's been admiring the faith but not really leaning into it.

For those who have been just wanting a little bit of what the faith can offer, but never wanting to shift the weight into your God.

I'm praying for conviction in that place.

For those who feel like they've been living a saved life, but God, they see it today.

It's not enough to look like I'm living a safe life.

It's time to shift my life, my weight, my responsibility into capable hands, your hands.

And we trust you in this moment that you will minister to every single person in this room in Jesus' name.

Everyone said, Amen.

We hope and pray.

This message was encouraging and impact.

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Have a Jesus full of five.