Go Deeper | Ps. Keith Pittman

Welcome to the Celebration Church Orlando podcast.

Thank you so much for listening today.

We hope it encourages you and inspires you.

Here's today's message.

Okay, here we go.

Amen.

How's everybody doing?

You guys doing good?

Man, I I've I love the the energy that's that's in the building already, even in spite of of the rain and all that thing.

I I love how our church, um our faith isn't determined on whether or not there's sunshine outside.

Can I get an amen to that?

Um I I do just want to take a moment to extend my my deepest gratitude for um i dignity and and just uh just the cool things that I see God doing through them.

One of the things that's really a big burden for me as it relates to stewarding the call that God has given us as a church and even for me personally, and how we can invest in people and using what God has blessed us with to make a difference in the lives of others, is I love helping in the moment, but I also like helping people move forward.

And what I love about organizations like I Dignity, you're actually helping people move forward, and there's metrics that prove that.

So once again, I know we've already done it, but can we show some love to I Dignity and for Anne for coming?

Thank you so much for what you're doing in the city.

Um, but speaking of helping people move forward, we got our brothers from Fresh Start in the building.

Yes, another one of our local partners, man.

I'm so glad that you guys are here.

I'm so proud of every single one of you.

We get a chance to go and participate and spend time with our brothers from Fresh Start.

We were there with them when they graduate, we're there with them when after they graduate.

Like I love the community uh of Fresh Start, and I'm thankful that they come and worship with us at least once a month.

But many of them are making Celebration Orlando their church home when they come out of it.

So that's an amazing just evidence of the power and presence of God and what he's doing through us.

So let's give our hands up again, once again, for for um for Fresh Start.

Amen.

Okay, I'm I'm excited to get into today's message.

So so if you have your Bibles, I want to invite you to join me in the gospel of Luke, chapter number eight.

This is where we were last week, and this is where we're going to be for the next two weeks because it's um connected to the series that we're in, the series that we have entitled Seeds.

If you weren't here last week, let me let me frame it up for us a little bit.

Um we're in a we're in a season as a church where the theme that we believe that God has given us for the year is that this is a year of harvest, that this is a year of a breakthrough.

This is a year of actually seeing increase and progress.

And so what we've titled this year's theme is rooted and rising.

Because we understand that wherever there's a harvest, there's work that has to take place before that.

And so the series that we're in right now, seeds, is meant to show us the part that we play and participating in what we want to see.

And it starts with a seed, this powerful seed, and in his parable, Jesus shows us the power and the transformation that can take place through the word of God.

Last week we talked a little bit about the opposition that we face because I think sometimes we don't recognize that as we're trying to move forward in the things of God, that there are actual spiritual things that are trying to prevent us from cultivating the life that God wants us to live.

These are not just circumstances or coincidences, but but what we've learned is that there is spiritual opposition that doesn't want to see you rooted and rising.

So if you missed last week's message, I'm gonna encourage you to go back and check it out.

A message that we've entitled, The Devil is a Liar.

Somebody shout, The Devil is a liar.

Go and check that out because I think it does help us to understand not only the warfare that we're in, but ultimately the victory that we find in Christ Jesus.

Continuing into week two, we're we're gonna expound on this parable a little bit more.

Starting here at verse number five, it says this A sower went out to sow his seed.

As he sowed, some seed fell along the path.

It was trampled on, and the birds of the sky devoured it.

Other seed fell on a rock, and when it grew up, it withered away, since it lacked moisture.

Other seed fell among thorns, and when the thorns grew up, it choked it out.

Still other seed fell on good ground, and when it grew up, it produced fruit, a hundred times what was sown.

As he said this, he called out, Let anyone who has ears to hear listen.

Then his disciples asked him, What does this parable mean?

So he said, The secrets of the kingdom of God have been given for you to know, but for the rest it's in parable, so that looking they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.

This is the meaning of the parable.

The seed is the word of God.

The seed is the word of God.

And then it says this the seed along the path are those that have heard, and then the devil comes to take away the word from their heart so that they may not believe and be saved.

And the seed on the rock are those who they hear, they receive the word with joy, but sadly, having no root.

These believe for a while and fall away in a time of testing.

Seed that goes on the rock, people that hear the word of God and they're excited about it.

But because it's on a rock, there is no depth there, because there's no moisture there, that when a time of testing comes, they fall away and they stop believing.

Today I want to talk to us about our depth when it comes to the things of God.

And I've entitled today's message to go deeper.

Somebody say go deeper.

Let's pray and let's see what it is that God wants to speak to us.

Lord, we thank you so much for your word.

The transformational power that is found in your word.

We thank you for this gathering and that you have graced us to be able to come together and to touch and agree and to experience your power and your presence.

Lord, I pray over the next few moments that I decrease and that you increase.

Father, I pray that this is an atmosphere that has been set, that you are the guest of honor.

And Holy Spirit, we invite you to have your way.

I pray that you move through every one of our minds and hearts and even in our hands, God.

We minimize distractions.

And we ask this of you that you challenge us, that you inspire us, that you encourage us.

So I ask that you give us open eyes that we can see you, open ears to hear your truth, and open hearts to receive everything that you have for us.

It's in Jesus' name that we pray.

Amen.

Amen.

You know, um one of the things that I miss uh about living um in the Northeast.

I'm originally from the Northeast, you guys know that.

Um my family and I were diehard Philadelphia Eagles fans, and so we we've um um security, like I mean, we're just not we're not doing that here.

We're just not gonna do that.

Like, we're not gonna be heckled in the house of faith.

Um I've I've shared this multiple times.

There's a lot of different NFL teams, and and and I recognize that they all have played their place, but scripturally speaking, the Bible does say that he has come with healing in his wings.

We shall mount up wings like eagles.

I'm just saying that of all the different icons and all the different things in scripture, God chose an eagle to be a representation of him bringing salvation and grace.

So if you are not on that side, ask yourself, who do you believe in?

That's all.

It's a moment of self-reflection.

I'm gonna just leave that there for you.

You can meditate on that and you can get back to me a little bit later.

We're gonna have an altar call later.

There will be an opportunity for you to surrender your life to Christ.

Anyway, as I was saying before I was rudely interrupted, um one of the things that I miss about living in the Northeast is of course, I do miss, oddly enough, I do miss uh the winter a little bit because this sweater is brought to you by living in the Northeast.

You show me 60 degrees in Florida, I might be doing a wardrobe change.

I got a lot of stuff that I still need to work into my rotation.

I I miss that.

But I think the ultimate thing that I miss is I miss um having a basement.

When my house in DC, we had this amazing, amazing, amazing basement.

And I and I really had aspirations of setting up a man cave.

Somebody shout, man cave.

Some of the fellows know what I'm talking about.

Just that space where it could just be for me and when the guys come over, we would host small groups over there.

So our space in DC, we had a really nice basement, and that was my man cave, but no man cave is complete without having a big screen TV that is on the wall.

We know that that's like that's the only way, that's like the price of admission.

If you have a space that doesn't have a TV on the wall, that's not a man cave.

Call it something else.

That's just a room.

But if you have the appropriate TV and the other equipment that'll go with it, video games and stuff like that, that's a man cave.

So I remember as we lived in DC, I'd saved up all my little coins and I was finally ready to make that plunge into saying, like, I'm officially about to have this inaugural moment where I'm going to set up this TV.

It was an amazing moment.

I remember taking my son Caleb with me.

He was probably about 14 at the time.

This was like a moment that I was like, man, this is a this is a father-son moment.

This is going to be a memory for him of us going to the store, picking out the TV, us envisioning it.

We went ahead and bought the bracket to mount the TV.

I was looking at YouTube videos because I wanted him to see that his father is a manly man.

I wanted him to see that I'm a handyman.

So I'm looking at YouTube videos on the slide because I'm thinking it can't be that hard to mount a television.

So I'm looking at YouTube videos, I'm looking at all these things, and I'm ready to go.

And so when we get down into the basement, we bring the TV in, I got the mount ready, and then there was something that I had not considered.

What I didn't consider in all the YouTube videos that I had engaged in, I didn't consider that our basement, we didn't have drywall and studs, it was actually concrete walls.

And so for me, I had no clue that you had to have a different approach to how you mount a television on concrete versus when you mount it on drywall and you find studs.

So in my mind, I'm thinking that this is a moment that I'm not gonna allow the enemy to steal from me and my son.

So I believe that I'm gonna persevere and I'm just gonna go ahead and mount the TV the way that I saw it done on YouTube.

Hey man, chill out.

So I'm I'm I I get I look at the screws that are there and I begin to drill into the wall, and so I hang up the one side, I hang up the other side, I hang up the bottom part, and I'm looking at it, and I'm like, yeah, this is gonna be good.

I I I'm not an expert at this stuff.

Like, I didn't even level it, like it was kind of slanted, but I'm like, this is gonna be a moment for for me and my son, it's gonna be powerful.

But but here's the interesting thing we mount the TV up on, we mount it up on the wall, and and my son looks at it, and he's like, Dad, I don't, I don't think this is right.

And I'm like, no, son, this is amazing.

Like, you just sometimes you just want to have faith.

You just like I'm a man of faith.

Man, the devil is a liar, man.

That's gonna be perfect.

Like, so I'm beginning to tell him, like, man, it's gonna be amazing, and I begin to back away from the TV, working my way back to our couch, so I can now begin to take in all of my manly glory and pat myself on the back.

This was the moment that I have been waiting for.

But Caleb, he has some inner discernment that allowed him to say, I'm just gonna stand here for a moment.

He didn't say that initially, but I was like, man, you need to move out the way.

He's like, Dad, it doesn't it doesn't seem right.

I'm like, man, it's fine.

I've already moved on.

So as I'm beginning to sit down, I begin to hear this creaking noise coming from where the TV is.

And as I hear it, I begin to notice that the TV is beginning to now move off of the wall.

And as I'm looking at this, it's almost like in slow motion because Caleb looks back and he's like, Dad! The TV's beginning to fall.

I jump up and I'm trying to run over there.

I kind of look like Ricky from um Boys in the Hood.

Um I'm running, trying to get to the TV in enough time, and as the TV begins to fall off of the wall, I am met with an existential crisis.

The crisis that I'm now faced with is whether I catch this TV and prevent it from falling onto the ground, or I catch my son who is now falling back, and the weight of the TV is about to fall on him.

So I save the TV and my son fell.

I'm like, man, we can pay the copay, we'll take it to the hospital.

You'll be fine.

You'll be fine.

I I catch the TV and my son falls onto the ground, and I catch it just in the nick of time.

I I I end up just mounting it and putting it on a little table.

I never actually hang it up on the wall.

Here's why I tell you this ridiculous story.

Because in my mind, I had this vision of sitting back with my feet up.

In my mind, I thought that it was gonna be this picturesque moment that was gonna be powerful, and I was very dedicated to it.

But the problem is the equipment that I had wasn't deep enough to catch on to what was inside of the wall.

It couldn't anchor itself because there was no depth there.

I didn't have the proper equipment.

So because I didn't have the proper equipment, watch this.

When the weight was placed on it, it couldn't sustain it.

Let me translate this a little bit to some of us if we haven't caught on just yet.

I believe that all of us have a vision for our lives.

I believe all of us have an idea, that picturesque moment of what we believe our lives can and should look like.

We we've we've got the we got the visuals, we got all the ingredients that we feel are necessary in order for me to live a happy life.

But the problem is when the weight of the world begins to fall upon our shoulders, when the weight of our marriage begins to fall upon our shoulders, when the weight of our family dynamics, the weight of our insecurities, the weight of these things begin to weigh on us, we recognize that everything we built our life on, it becomes unstable because it lacks the depth that's needed to carry the weight that is now currently what we're faced with.

This is what Jesus is ultimately talking about in this parable.

He's talking about this idea of us having an incredible vision of living a godly life, of living a life of impact, of living a life of purpose and influence, and all of us can certainly see the value in that.

But what he says in the parable is that sadly, that when people come, they see this, they get to a place where they recognize that God is good.

They recognize that that the that the truth of God's word can bring transformation.

They go to church services, they say amen, they they hear a message that is meaningful to them, that that gives them a glimpse of a life that he has intended them to live, and it's amen and and and hallelujah, and it's lifting hands, and it's it's going to worship, it's even having an altar call moment where the chills hit us, and we have this little stirring in our hearts, and we're like, this is amazing.

But then when we leave the place and we have this excitement, we go to a couple of small groups, we have a couple of conversations, but when the weight of the world begins to fall upon us, that when a time of testing finds us, it says that they fall away because they lack depth.

And interestingly enough, he tells us exactly the areas where the depth is lacking in.

He he he first communicates about this idea of the rock.

And so for us, I can give you three points on how to be successful.

I can give you three thoughts on on how to thrive, but I really want to take us on a journey of self-reflection.

So the first question that I want us to write down, because I don't think that you'll be able to answer it right now, but I think as we take it into the presence of God, some things may come to the surface.

So the first question I want to ask you is what are your rocks?

What are your rocks?

The seed that is falling on those hard places in our lives that that are unsurrendered to God.

What are the rocks that you're navigating through?

And in the terrain where Jesus was performing miracles and doing his ministry, the Bible tells us about how when a sower would go out, that there would be the illusion that this was good ground.

You would actually see dirt, you would actually see what appeared to be a pathway so that they could plant the seed, believing that it's going to produce fruit.

But what the text tells us is that they will plant and that even with the appropriate amount of moisture and with the appropriate amount of atmosphere, that it will sprout something.

It will produce a little bit of fruit, but it doesn't have any depth because just beneath the surface, there's a rock there that's preventing it from going as deep as it needs to go.

That rock, that burden, that thing that's just beneath the surface, that when we look at it, that we don't even know that it's there.

That when we that when we look in the mirror, it seems like we can dress it up.

But underneath of it, there can be some things that are preventing the power of God from being activated in our lives.

So my question is, what is what is your rock?

Notice I didn't say do you have a rock?

I'm past that.

The fact of the matter is we all have something that's beneath the surface that is unsubmitted to God that we struggle with.

So we're past the point.

I'm not asking you, do you have a rock?

I'm asking you, what is your rock?

Some of some of our rocks can be insecurities, some things that are inside of us that can sometimes just be just beneath the surface as a result of trauma and experiences, and it and it wells up some insecurity.

So then when we're in environments where it needs to allow us to lay it down so that we can truly be rooted in the things of God, our insecurity rises up and it prevents the truth of God's word from getting deep enough into our hearts.

Other areas where we may be experiencing these rocks can be in the areas of unforgiveness.

Because the fact of the matter is, if we have enough life, we're gonna have moments where we experience offense and things that can be challenging for us to move forward from.

So as a result of that trauma, we begin to create systems and things in our lives that put a wall up around our hearts in the way that we engage people, and that becomes a barrier that's keeping us from living in unity because I'm living in a space of unforgiveness.

Maybe it's fear.

This fear of failure, this fear of the future, this fear of the unknown, but that thing that is just beneath the surface, that on the surface it looks like you're so confident, it looks like you're so smooth, it looks like you have it all together, but but that thing that's just beneath the surface that's preventing you from really stepping out.

Maybe it's our pride.

We got it all figured out.

I don't need God.

I can incorporate God where it's appropriate, but but I really don't need that.

And our pride is preventing the power of God from being activated in our lives.

We have areas of doubt, we have sin and sinful habits and behaviors and things that are going on.

I could go on and on for hours about these things that are just beneath the surface, those rocks that are preventing us from going deeper in the things of God.

You know, when I think about this, I think about how rocks are in hindrance to the power of God moving forward in our lives.

That these are not just barriers, but they're a hindrance to what it is that God wants to do in our lives.

Let me give you a beautiful personification of this.

Nate had alluded to it earlier in the Gospel of John, chapter 11.

John 11 · chapter mention

One of my favorite narratives in all of scripture is a story of Lazarus.

I've preached it, I've studied, I've immersed myself in it.

And there's different ways we can approach it, but there's something that is so beautiful about this man losing his life and Jesus showing up, about to demonstrate his power.

Maybe you're familiar with the story, but there's this moment where Jesus goes to the graveyard and he says, Lazarus, come out.

Or if you read it in the King James like I did my entire life, Lazarus, come forth.

I think come forth just has a different weight to it.

Come forth.

He's calling Lazarus out of this place of death, and it's a it's a beautiful thing.

And I think that we all can say hallelujah and praise God for that.

But there's something that he does before he calls him out.

As he's standing on the outside, he says to the people around him, he says, Remove the stone.

I'm about to speak a word.

I'm about to do something that you've never seen before.

I'm I'm about to bring radical transformation, but but before I do that, remove the stone.

And I believe that there's some significance in the understanding why God chose to say remove the stone before he spoke a word to call him out.

I believe the reality of it is that if God would have said, Lazarus come out, it's possible that the stone could have been an obstruction that muffled out the voice of God.

So maybe Lazarus wouldn't have heard it quite clearly.

So God said, I'm gonna speak a word, but first we have to remove the stone.

I believe that there's some things that God wants to call us out of.

I believe there's some areas of our lives that God is recognizing that you've been dead in that situation for way too long, and I'm about to call you out.

I want to do a new thing in your life, but before I can do it, you're gonna have to remove some stones.

You're gonna have to remove some barriers, you're gonna have to remove those seeds of doubt, you're gonna have to remove your fears, you're gonna have to remove your insecurities, you're gonna have to remove those addictive habits, you're gonna have to remove those things because I want to do something in you, but there's some barriers and some stones that are in the way.

You need to remove the stones out of your life.

But I think what is possibly the most beautiful thing that is Lazarus inside of the tomb, waiting for an opportunity to come forth, he was not responsible of removing the stones on his own.

That that Jesus is literally speaking out loud to the community of people around him.

Lazarus wasn't responsible for removing his own stones.

I think for some of us, we don't realize that we're only as healthy as our secrets.

So when we find ourselves dealing with stone, we don't tell anyone about it.

We don't mention it to anyone.

And that silence is allowing us to function at half the ability of what God wants us to do because we're not inviting other people that come into our lives that can identify those shortcomings, that can identify our anger issues, that can identify our unrealistic expectations, that can help us to identify the hurtful sins that we're creating and our lives that are creating perpetual patterns, that when we begin to be people that have transparency and accountability and allow other folks to come and say, let me help you to remove this stone so that the power of God can be activated in your life.

I firmly believe that there's not a single person in this room that God doesn't want to see you completely delivered.

There's not a single person in this room that God doesn't want to see you completely healed, but he wants you to be part of a community of people that you're willing to invite in, that can challenge you in some areas, that can identify some shortcomings in your life, that can remove the stones, so that as he begins to call you out into healing and call you out into freedom, you can receive the truth of what God's word is speaking over your life, but you gotta be willing to remove the stone.

So, so what is that stone?

Jesus begins to go on, and as he talks about the stone, he then begins to speak about how the seed is planted, but it lacks depth.

It doesn't it doesn't go deep enough.

So here's my second question How deep are your roots?

How deep are your roots?

Again, this is a question of self reflection.

And for some of us, we may be thinking about depth in the things of God.

I read the entire Bible in two days.

I'm deep.

I'm I'm I'm I'm I'm really I'm really brilliant.

I understand Hebrew, Greek, Aramaic.

Like I'm I'm really deep.

But that is not what Jesus is referring to when he talks about deep roots.

I like to say it this way that fruit is a reflection of roots.

That whatever we are producing fruit in, that's evidence that there is depth in there.

That's what we are rooted in.

Whatever we're rooted in is what we're going to be rising in.

So we're talking about maturity.

We're not talking about aging, we're talking about maturity.

But sadly, in our current context, we have associated knowledge with maturity.

We've associated what we know and have lost sight of what it is that we do.

So the question that I ask is how deep you are your roots.

Jesus, when he's having this conversation with his disciples, he says to them, hey, if you're ever wondering who's connected to this fellowship that we have going on, this is how you'll know.

By their fruit, you will know that they're connected into this.

Not by what they say, not by what they post, not by how often they go to church.

None of that stuff is a reflection of whether or not they're really rooted in me.

You're going to know them by the fruit that they produce.

There's a lot of different ways that we can examine and evaluate fruit, but I believe that Paul gives us an incredible outline of what fruit can look like in the life of a believer.

He's saying that, hey, if I'm rooted in Christ, then the fruit of that is going to be that I'm a person of love.

I'm a person of joy.

I'm a person who has peace.

I'm a person who has patience.

I'm a person who's kind.

I'm a person who's just overall good.

I'm faithful.

I'm gentle, and I have self-control.

While this list is not meant to be exhaustive, it is meant to bring us into the reality of that when people have these things in their life, that's an indication that they're growing mature in the things of God.

But sadly, many of us are Pharisees and we don't even know it.

And we have a lot of knowledge, but we don't recognize that we don't have any fruit.

Nothing has been more eye-opening to me over the past week than this one thing.

Something so sinister that took place on Super Bowl Sunday.

I'm not talking about the fact that the Kansas City Chiefs have not been called for holding in the fourth quarter for almost 11 games.

I'm not talking about that.

I'm not saying it's a fixed, but I'm certainly saying that it's something odd.

It's worth exploring.

I'm not saying that that's the thing that I'm talking about at all.

What I'm actually talking about was an ad called He Gets Us.

Maybe you're familiar with it.

And maybe you have a response to it.

And I completely understand we all have a right to have an opinion to a multitude of things.

But let me let me give you a little bit of my perspective on all of this.

When I was watching the Super Bowl and I saw this he gets his ad come on, we have a we have a men's text thread that all the men that are connected to our group are a part of.

And I just saw a bunch of guys texting in, like, go Jesus, man, talking about Jesus on Super Bowl Sunday, man.

Imagine the amount of people that are seeing it, man, praise God, and we're all kind of responding to it.

But when I went on social media, the mindfield of things that I didn't even know was there was staggering to me.

And watch this.

I'm not talking about people who are anti-God.

I'm expecting a person who doesn't love Jesus and who is offended at Jesus to be offended at an ad about Jesus.

I expect that.

That's the price of admission.

I was confounded at the response of the Christians.

And here's why.

Because many of the Christians were walking in very phariseical but not seeing it, talking about everything that was wrong with the ad.

Jesus didn't wash everybody's feet, he only washed the disciples' feet.

Why did they spend all this money on this ad when they could have used it to be helping the poor?

As if that's not exactly the same words that Judas used.

How do we not recognize the correlation of our behavior when even Judas said, like, hey, why did they why did they waste all this?

They could have did something different with that.

But when you're phariseeal, you don't even see how parallel you are to doing things that are anti-God.

But but wait, there's more.

The amount of arguments and vitriols and people shooting videos about everything that's wrong with it, and again, you can have your own convictions.

But where I begin to recognize a lack of maturity is in the overreaction.

Because when you actually look at the ad and you see what the ad is leading people to, ultimately it's a strategy of helping people who have been habitually marginalized, often felt offended and felt like they didn't fit into a church context.

It was simply starting a conversation and saying, hey, Jesus understands exactly where you are.

Quoting from Hebrews where it says we don't have a high priest who doesn't understand our struggles.

That was the entry point.

When you actually go to the website, you then see that they connect you to another organization that literally walks you through deep theology that doesn't compromise the gospel at all, but it's simply meant to start a conversation that leads you into a next step, which will ultimately lead you to a next step, which could lead you to a place where you surrender your life to Christ.

But because you didn't present it the way that I feel like you should have presented it, let me spend all of my energy rebuking everything about it without realizing that that's exactly what the Pharisees did.

Why do I say that in the context of death?

Because of this.

I recognize that the immaturity in my life is often found in the areas that I overreact in.

Because watch this.

Where there's maturity, there's love.

Where there's maturity, there's peace.

Where there's maturity, there's self-control, there's patience, there's goodness, there's kindness.

And I've seen all of these knowledgeable Christians who are experts at breaking down the Bible, but oddly enough, I don't see any kindness.

Oddly enough, I don't see any joy, I don't see any love, I don't see any peace.

What I see is a lot of overreaction to things without putting it in context and recognizing that God loves them just as much as he loves us.

I've heard it said this way and I can't unhear it.

You know that you have made God in your image when he hates the same people that you do.

Let that settle a little bit.

If you have a theology that allows you to distance people, to marginalize people, to not work towards bringing equality and wholeness to people, if you've created a God that hates the same people as you, which then I would tell you that you've made God into your image and you're no longer reflecting his.

Back to the message.

What are the areas where you lack depth?

What are the areas that you're reacting to that the fruit of the Spirit is not evidence in your life?

Because I think so often that we think that we have so much knowledge, we have so much understanding, but why are we overreacting to everything?

Where there's maturity, but there's not an overreaction.

You know, Paul says this when I was a child, I thought as a child, I behaved as a child, but when I became a man, I put away childish things.

You understand?

Watch this.

I had my I had my grandson that was with me last weekend.

And there's certain behaviors that I would expect to see from a young boy who's about to turn two.

But naturally, as he begins to mature, I would suspect that he wouldn't react the same way with me taking a fork from him as he would when he's 13.

Maturity changes the way that you react to things.

So here's my question What is the fruit in your life?

Because if you're still reacting to everything, it's an opportunity for us to say, God, I need to go deeper in this area.

Because when I expose, when I'm exposed to things, I don't have joy.

When I'm exposed to things, I don't have peace.

I don't have kindness.

I don't have any of those things in my life.

And that means that there's something that's off there, so it's an opportunity for us to go deeper.

Here's the third and final thing.

I'm gonna invite you a worship team, but we're gonna we're gonna wrap up right here.

But but but as Jesus was sharing this parable, in the intro, he says, hey, the seed that goes out on the rock, having no moisture, that when the testing comes, it withers and dies.

Moisture.

It goes on a rock, that's a barrier.

There's no root.

That means that there's areas where it's overreaction and it's not allowing itself to get rooted into things that are deeper.

But then the third thing he said that there's a lack of moisture.

Historically in scripture, moisture, water, has been associated with the Holy Spirit.

So what so what ultimately Jesus is doing is he's unpacking the life of a believer, a person that has claimed Christ, but but there's some areas that they haven't let Christ go into, that's the rock.

There's some areas where they're still overreacting to, and there's no fruit in their life because there hasn't been enough depth that allow them to be challenged and conflicted, but allowing God to work with them and understanding that that our theology has space for all of these things.

But then he ultimately says there's a lack of water, the lack of the Holy Spirit.

You know, there's um in Chile, it's the home of the driest desert in the world.

The driest desert in the world.

Nothing grows there, incredibly arid environment.

Something interesting happened back in, I believe, 2017.

This area never receives any water.

It never has any moisture.

But on this particular window of time, it rained there non-stop for 12 days straight.

Just rained non-stop for 12 days straight.

And the interesting thing is not only was it an anomaly that it rained there, but it was what happened after it rained there.

What happened is that after it dried a little bit, that over 200 different types of flowers have begun to bloom.

It was literally a miracle.

People ran and and and traveled there to go and explore it and study it because they're like, this is an environment where it never rains, this is an environment where where it never produces anything.

It's always dry here.

But in one window of time it rained, and it turns out there were seeds and things that were underneath the surface that all it needed was a little bit of water for it to produce what was already on the inside of it.

I believe that some of us are going through a spiritual drought right now, that we're living lives, and we're wondering how come I just don't feel the power and presence of God.

I just feel like I'm going through the motions.

I I go to church and I say amen.

I I take some notes, but I'm not feeling the transformation that I think is possible.

Could it be that the reason that we're not experiencing the breakthrough is because we have not invited the Holy Spirit to saturate our souls in such a way that it activates things on the inside of us that we didn't know that was laying dormant the entire time?

I believe that inside of this room, and even those who are joining us online, that there are gifts on the inside of us that we are wondering what our purpose is, we're wondering what our value is, we're trying to understand what our calling is, we're talking to everyone.

But if we began to invite the Holy Spirit to begin to move into every area of our lives, we're saying, Holy Spirit, saturate me in your presence so you can activate gifts and anointing and authority on the inside of my life.

Many of us are living lives without any moisture, and a life without moisture is a life without power.

But the moment that I begin to be a person that invites the power and presence of God into my life, that is where transformation takes place.

That is where calling takes place, that's where radical things begin to take place because I recognize that I am empowered by the presence and the spirit of the living God.

Jesus says this in John chapter number seven.

He said, Those who believe in me, out of their bellies shall flow rivers of living water.

The Holy Spirit is not something to be afraid of, the Holy Spirit is not something to avoid.

But Paul said, we need to be filled with the spirit continuously, that every day we're engaging the power and presence of God so I could be spirit-filled, and I could be spirit-led.

Spirit-filled, meaning the moment that I said yes to Jesus, the Holy Spirit begins to take inventory of my life and bring me to a place of healing.

But then when I'm spirit-led, it's when God begins to activate gifts and calling, where he's able to work all things together for the good, and I can keep my head held high and I can move forward knowing that God has given me dominion because I don't have to do it in my own strength, because I have moisture in my life.

He's challenging us to invite the Holy Spirit in.

And so, how do we do that?

We do that in worship.

We do that by engaging his presence, we do that by by reading his word, we do that by lifting up our hands.

But when we do these things, it's an invitation for the Holy Spirit to begin to move and saturate us in such a way that we can have a worship service all by ourselves.

I love coming in and worshiping with Vinny.

I love coming in when we can be together as a staff.

But can I tell you that my most intimate times in worship has been when I'm taking a walk around my neighborhood with my headphones in and I'm just declaring the goodness of God all by myself?

When you're led and filled by the Spirit, you can have a whole revival just by yourself because the Spirit of the living God is moving and stirring and beginning to reveal some things to you.

I believe that some of us lack vision because we haven't invited the Holy Spirit.

I believe some of us are missing power because we haven't invited the Holy Spirit.

I believe some of us are missing authority because we haven't invited the Holy Spirit, but we're changing that today.

Holy Spirit, I want you to move and do some things in our church, in our lives.

We believe in the power and the presence of the Spirit of the living God because we have to go deeper.

I remember when Megan and I decided that we're gonna go back to school, part of me was like, I don't want to go back.

I already got student loans that I'm not paying right now, so why would I add more?

But God began to speak to me and he said these words to me said, Hey, if you're if you're actually going to be a person that that's going to do what I called you to do, you're gonna have to go deeper.

If you really want to care for people the way that I want you to care for them, you're gonna have to go deeper.

You you can't be at a surface level for the thing that I'm ultimately calling you to do.

Listen to me, friends.

Jesus says that when a time of testing came, that they couldn't have enough depth in them to be sustained.

But I believe that there's some things that if we just go deeper, that we can absolutely produce fruit.

You know, if you really want to be a person that when you pray, that it begins to have answers from heaven and it shakes hell, we're gonna have to go deeper.

That if we want to understand the power and authority that is found in God's word, we just can't read one scripture a day and think that's good enough, but we're gonna have to go deeper.

That if you want to be a person that is seeking the power and presence of God, that you're gonna have to worship and go a little bit deeper.

That if you have strongholds in your life, these rocks, you're gonna have to be willing to fast and go a little bit deeper.

That if you want to know what it looks like to look at people with equality and love them, you're gonna have to serve them beyond just smiling and waving.

You're gonna have to go deeper.

That if you're struggling in your finances, but God is trying to break the curse of stinginess off of you, then generosity is the remedy.

So you're gonna have to go deeper.

That if you wanna be connected to a community of people that can bring you to a place of transformation, you're gonna have to get to connect it to true fellowship, people that know you, people that love you, but people that will challenge you.

You can't have surface-level friends, you're gonna have to go deeper, you're gonna have to go deeper.

God is saying, I got some things in your life, but you're gonna have to go deeper.

We're gonna have to remove some rocks, you're gonna have to grow up a little bit more and invite my spirit in, and it's gonna bring about a transformation that eyes haven't seen and ears haven't heard, and neither has entered into the hearts of men all that I have stored and planned for you.

Listen to me, friends.

God is not done with you yet, but you're gonna have to go deeper.

We're gonna have to go deeper.

So let's put this into practice for just a moment.

We're gonna go into a time of worship.

I want us all to stand on our feet.

And as we go and stand on our feet, I want us to think about what are those rocks.

I want us to think about the areas where we lack the depth that we know that God is ultimately calling us to have.

I want us to begin to meditate on the areas of our lives where we don't feel the saturating presence of the Spirit.

In this moment, over the next just couple of minutes, as we're worshiping, let's invite the Holy Spirit to take inventory, to move, and do something that's so substantial, so earth-shaking, that by the time we leave out of this room, that we're gonna walk out completely new beings.

Heavenly Father, we thank you for your presence.

We thank you for your grace, and we thank you for the gentle ways in which you walk with us and reveal to us that we have rocks, the way that you gently remind us that we don't have enough depth in the areas where we have not invited the Holy Spirit in.

It's a little bit scary because we don't know what you're going to say.

But Holy Spirit, we know that your way is better, and we invite you in, and we're gonna make room for you, believing that as we make room, that it's gonna go deep, that we're gonna remove rocks and we're gonna walk in victory.

So as we lift our hands in worship and as we lift up our voices and have it our praise and transform our lives in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Come on, friends, let's worship together one more time.

Thanks again for listening.

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