I Know cause I Know that I Know What I Know | Viny Costa

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.

Good morning.

How is everybody doing this morning?

Everybody good?

Everybody good?

Are you happy with Jesus?

Okay, is Jesus happy with you?

Okay.

That's good.

Alright.

Hey, can we put our hands together for the Pietman family, guys?

Yes.

We love you.

We appreciate you.

We are a better church because of you.

It is such a privilege and an honor for me to be here this morning sharing with you all what I believe God has for our hearts.

My name is Vini.

I am 34 years old, and this past Thursday I celebrated 17 years serving God in a full-time ministry.

It's been a journey, guys.

Best life ever.

And in about 20 days, we will celebrate six years since we moved from Brazil to the land of the free and the home of the brave.

And God, God has been so good to us.

Do you see the goodness of God upon your life?

Do you see it?

Do you see the goodness of God upon your family?

Yes.

Awesome.

Today it is extra special for me because my family is in town.

Woo!

How amazing! My dad, my mom, my uncle, my aunt, they all came from Brazil.

And it is extra special.

I love you.

My prayer this morning is that you receive something fresh and anointed from God.

I pray that God speaks to you in a very, very personal way.

And I pray that He reveals to you everything that needs to be revealed.

This is week four of our Greater Than series.

That should be there right there.

Week four of our greater than series.

We've been talking about the superiority of Jesus.

And we've been reading and studying together the book of Hebrews.

It's one of my favorite books in the Bible.

If you never had a chance to read it, I definitely recommend you to do so.

It's amazing.

It was probably written about 65 years after Christ.

It's 13 chapters, so you can read like this.

And the book, uh, it is all about very deep theological concepts, such as faith, um, sacrifices, priesthood.

But again, it's one of my favorites.

On week one, Pastor Keith was up here and he unpacked this idea that Jesus is greater than culture, Jesus is greater than tradition, and Jesus is greater than religion.

On week two, Pastor Nate was up here and he taught us about the superiority of Jesus' priesthood, and because of Jesus, we have free access to God.

Thank Jesus on week three.

Last week, Pastor Keith was back here and he shared with us about the superiority of Jesus' sacrifice and the amazing and powerful and precious blood of our Savior.

And today we're gonna spend our time together talking about one of the most important subjects in a Christian life.

It is a foundation of every every Christian.

Today we will be talking about faith.

Um, and I I promise you this, I will be very honest with you, very open, very vulnerable.

So bear with me.

Amen.

I would love to invite you to open your Bibles in Hebrews chapter 3.

Hebrews 3 · chapter mention

Hebrews chapter 3.

Hebrews 3 · chapter mention

We're gonna start on verse 12.

Later on, uh, we're gonna read Hebrews 11 as well, but right now, Hebrews chapter 3, verse 12 and 13 it says Hebrews 3, 12 and 13.

Hebrews 3:12

Take care, brothers and sisters, take care, brothers and sisters, that there not be in any one of you a wicked unbelieving heart.

Take care, brothers and sisters, that there not be in any one of you a wicked unbelieving heart, a wicked unbelieving heart which refuses to trust and rely on the Lord, a heart that turns away from the living God, but continually encourage one another every day as long as it is called today, that there not be in any one of you an unbelieving heart, but continually encourage one another every day as long as it is called today.

If you are taking notes this morning, and hopefully you are, I have titled this message, I know because I know that I know what I know.

I know because I know that I know what I know.

Let's pray together.

God, we're so thankful for this morning.

We're so thankful for this church, we're so thankful for the opportunity we have to be here this morning.

We're thankful because we know you are better than culture, you are greater than religion, greater than tradition.

We're thankful because we know because of Jesus we have free access to God.

We are grateful because we know through his blood, through through Jesus' blood, we are clean.

And we're so ready for today.

We are so ready to hear your voice one more time.

So we open up our hearts, we open up our ears to receive whatever you have for us.

In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.

Amen.

All right, listen, December 2014, my wife and I we came to visit America for the second time.

We were so excited, we flew from Sao Paulo to Knoxville, Tennessee.

Don't ask me why.

But we decided to took a to take a road trip from Knoxville to Orlando.

So we drove from Knoxville to Nashville, and on that day I got traumatized because when we got there, when we got in Nashville, it was so cold, friends.

And I know everybody loves Nashville, but every time I think about it, the very first thing that comes to my mind is 30 degrees, 30 degrees, I can't handle this.

From Nashville, we drove to Atlanta, and from Atlanta to Orlando.

It was our first time here in Orlando, first time visiting Disney.

We had a blast, it was amazing, and 10 days later, it was time to fly back to Brazil.

Well, I will be very honest with you guys.

Our seats on the plane, they were bad.

Okay?

We were seated on the last roll on a plane, but we were fine.

We were like, okay, we had a blast, we're going back to Brazil, and we were very excited to go back to celebrate Christmas because that day was December 24th, 2014.

So we were ready to go.

The flight was amazing, no turbulence at all.

We were chilling, and then I decided to watch a movie.

Would you please allow me to pastor you for a second?

Just for a second, and this is maybe point one of our message.

When you are on a plane and you want to watch a movie, ask God for reason before you choose the movie, because that can change your flight.

A movie about this girl called Hazel Grace.

So I clicked on the title of the movie, The Fault in Our Stars.

Oh no.

Listen, I have a very emotional and melancholic type of personality.

So 15 minutes into the movie, I remember thinking to myself, oh boy, you're gonna cry like a baby.

And that's exactly what happened.

As I told you guys before, when I cry, I lose my dignity, okay?

It is very, very, very embarrassing.

I was like, oh my gosh, what's happening?

And I remember trying to control myself, but Hazel Grace is very sick.

I was very into the thing, to a point that at some at some point in the movie I had to cover my mouth with both of my hands to keep from making weird noises.

I'm not kidding with you.

It was bad, bad, bad decision.

So I need you to picture this scene.

I'm watching the move my wife doing her best or living her best wet wife life, sleeping right next to me.

I'm crying my eyes out here, and then the flight attended.

She realized something was off.

She was like, Okay, something is wrong with this guy.

So she decided to ask questions.

So she said, sir, are you okay?

Is everything okay with you, sir?

And then I was like, Yeah, yeah, I'm fine, just a little bit emotional.

I was not expecting this, but uh, I'm sorry about the weird noises.

I'll be fine.

I'll be fine in a second.

I promise I'm okay.

And then she goes, Do you need anything, sir?

We can help you.

Uh that's my British accent and personal.

I don't need I don't know why I'm doing this, but do you need something, sir?

And then I'll I was like, and then I was like, No, no, no, I'm fine.

Listen, I don't need anything.

Actually, I'm going to wake up my wife in a second so she can help me calm down.

Uh I'll be fine, I don't need anything.

And then and then she goes, pay attention, she goes, Would you like to change your seat?

Uh, we have two seats available at the front of the plane in a better section.

Uh, there's better food there.

You you can recline your seat.

And she was offering us a free upgrade to the business class.

But I was very into the movie.

So I said, no, no, listen, no, I'm I'm okay.

I just want to finish this and and and I'll be fine.

And then she said, Sir, uh we don't do this very often.

I think you should accept the offer.

And I said, No, I'm okay, I will be fine.

And she was like, Okay.

But but she was like, I can't believe he's doing this, right?

Well, I watched the entire movie, I cried everything I had in me, and I and I, as I was quiet processing everything, I realized what happened, and then I had that moment we all know very well, the oh no type of moment, but it was too late.

Listen, she was trying to take me to a better place, she was trying to offer me an upgrade, but I refused.

I refused because I wasn't paying attention, I refused because I was too comfortable in my seat.

I refused because the good seat prevented me from experiencing the excellent seat.

I refused because I was afraid of the new.

I refused because all my life I have traveled in economic seats.

I refused because in that moment the word razor grace was more important to me than the word upgrade.

The flight attended was flabbergasted.

Me denying that offer was the craziest thing for her.

She was like, sir, I had something available that is better.

The seats are better, the food is better, and if you allow yourself to experience this, you will no longer want to travel in the back in the back of the plane.

Are you guys here with me?

So listen, I believe that the author of Hebrews is the flight attended of our illustration.

Because the author, he's writing this letter to Jews who were going through a lot of persecution and hard times.

He the the the Jews who had already accepted Jesus as their as their Lord, but because of difficulties of life or because of pressure of society, they were being tempted to go back to the old practices of Judaism.

So, what the author is saying here is don't do this.

Don't go back to the back of the plane.

Don't do this.

Hey, you have already accepted the upgrade.

Jesus is better than culture, Jesus is better than the tradition, this Jesus is better than religion, Jesus is better than the Judaism, Jesus is greater than Moses, than David, Jesus is greater than the law.

Don't go back to the back of the sea, the back of the plane.

So the author, he writes 13 chapters, and what he's doing is he's comparing Jesus with everything that it's very important to do to clearly prove his point that Jesus is greater.

Jesus is greater.

So think with me, friends.

If life with Jesus is better, if the upgrade is available, why go back to your old life?

Why go back to your old practices?

Why go back to religion?

Why go back to tradition?

Listen, if life with Jesus is better, why go back to your way of doing things?

So, what the author is saying is, I have a proposal.

I have an idea.

I don't want you guys to be seated on the back of the plane.

I have a better idea, let's live by faith.

Let's not go back to our own lives.

I have something better, I have an idea, I have a proposal, let's live by faith.

Hebrews chapter 3, verse 12, the verse we read we we read.

Hebrews 3:12

I would love to read it again with you guys.

This is what the Bible says take care, brothers and sisters, that there not be in any one of you a wicked, unbelieving heart.

What he's saying is, my proposal for now on is no unbelieving hearts.

Don't lose your faith in Jesus, don't lose your faith in Jesus, don't lose your faith in Jesus, don't go back to the back of the plane because there is a better life to live.

A life full of faith.

Listen, persecution will come, but we will keep our faith in Jesus.

Bad news will come knocking at your door, but we're gonna keep our faith in Jesus.

A pandemic may happen, we're gonna keep our faith in Jesus.

We will be tempted to go back, but listen, we're gonna stop this because we're gonna keep our faith in Jesus.

Rainy days will for sure happen, but we're gonna keep our faith in Jesus.

Things we don't understand will pop up, but we're gonna keep our faith in Jesus.

Maybe the bank account is in the red, but we're gonna keep our faith in Jesus.

It's a new lifestyle.

What what he's sharing, his idea, it's a new lifestyle.

Instead of going back to the back of the plane, he's saying, Hey, what if we try this?

No unbelieving hearts.

Let's leave by faith.

Let's try this out.

We're done.

We're done with old practices, we're done with our own way of doing things.

Let's try something new.

No unbelieving hearts.

Let's leave by faith.

And then you would ask, you would ask me, Vinny, what's that?

What is faith?

I'll tell you.

I've been trying to figure out.

But faith, it's so important, so important theme, that the author of Hebrews, he wrote a whole chapter about it.

It is one of the most important chapters in the Bible, Hebrews chapter 11.

Hebrews 11 · chapter mention

It is the only chapter in the Bible that talks about living by faith.

So I would love to read that with you.

Hebrews chapter 11, verse 1.

Hebrews 11:1

This is what the Bible says.

Now, faith is the assurance.

Can you repeat it, repeat after me?

Assurance.

Faith is the assurance of things hoped for and the conviction of thing of things not seen.

Faith is assurance, faith is conviction.

Hebrews chapter 11, verse 6, it says, and without faith, it is impossible, it is impossible to please God.

Hebrews 11:6

For whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.

Faith is assurance, faith is conviction, no doubts, no questions, no turning back.

I'm positive, sure.

I shared this example, this example with you before, but I think it's appropriate to do it again.

Pastor Keith, are you an Eagles fan?

You are.

You're sure.

I I don't know about that.

You are tattooing everything.

I think I saw you driving in Windermere with a Patriots jersey on.

It was not you.

You're sure.

I can take the next 17 hours trying to convince him the opposite, and I'm going to fail.

Do you know why?

Because he's convicted.

He's sure.

No questions, no doubt about it.

So are you sure God is the provider?

Do you still believe that if you are sick, God is his healer?

Do you still believe that when you are lonely, God is a good father?

Are you sure he's the deliverer, he's faithful, he's good, his friend?

Do you still believe it?

And if you do, let's live like we believe it.

Come on, faith is sure I'm convicted, no doubt.

Do you know what's faith?

Faith is I know because I know that I know what I know.

I know because I know that I know what I know.

Do you know what I know?

I know he's good, he's a savior, he's a good God, he's with me, he listens to my prayers, he's the Lord of this church, he's taking care of my family, he's taking care of me, he's the provider.

I know because I know that I know what I know, and I am convicted.

Faith.

I don't want to live in the back of the plane, I don't want to sit right there.

I want to live this new life, this no unbelieving heart life.

Do you know what's faith?

Faith is believing God is who He says He is, and He will do what He says He will do.

He has promises to you, my friends.

Do you know what's what's faith?

People confuse faith with positive thinking.

Positive thinking is not faith.

Faith is certainty of hope.

Do you know what's faith?

And I've been trying to figure this out for myself.

Faith is obeying God even when you don't understand.

Hey Noah, Noah, Noah, can you build me an ark?

Because it's going to rain.

God, I don't know what's an ark, and I don't know what's rain.

But because I live my life through faith, I'll do it.

Even when I don't understand, I obey.

I do whatever he's saying I need to do.

Do you know what's what is faith?

Faith is taking one step at a time.

Oh, this is hard, friends.

Especially in the American culture, right?

Because you guys are so organized.

Hey, listen, the birthday party will be from 12 to 1:30, and you exp you can expect to have water.

You can expect to have you guys are so organized, and I appreciate that.

But faith is taking one step at a time.

You don't have all the details.

Hey Abraham, let me tell you something.

Go from your country, go from your family.

Alright, God, but where am I going to?

Well, I'll tell you that later.

Now, what I'm telling you to do is taking one step.

And then later I'll tell you the next one.

Living by faith is taking one step at a time.

Faith is not having all the answers.

So hard.

Listen, faith is giving up of living according to your will.

Faith is to face the impossible and realize this is nothing for my God.

Nothing.

And without faith is impossible to have a relationship with God.

So what the author is saying is the upgrade is available.

Why going back to the back of the plane?

If you can live your life with no unbelieving heart.

You can live your life by faith.

But above all, I have learned three things about faith.

Very challenging.

I have learned that to live by faith is to live in radical dependence.

Radical dependence.

Listen, most of us we don't like this idea of dependency.

But because I live my life by faith, I understand that I depend on God to wake up.

I depend on God to have a successful marriage.

I depend on God to raise my kid.

I depend on God to be a good leader, a good friend, a good pastor.

I depend on God in every little single detail of my life because I'm trying to live by faith here.

Have you ever been in a situation where you said I don't know what else to do?

Have you ever been in a situation where you said there is no way out for me?

Maybe it is a God's invitation for you to take a step further in your faith life.

Maybe God is inviting you.

Hey, let me teach you something.

Let me teach you radical dependence.

Radical dependence.

These are all good stuff, but I depend on God.

Radical dependence.

In 2017, when we decided to move here, we were afraid.

We were like, should we do this?

This is not an easy decision, as you can imagine.

Give up of everything you have and start again.

We were unsure, but we decided to apply for the visa.

As we were waiting for the visa to get approved and praying about it, hey, God, help us out here.

We don't know what to do, we don't know if that's the right next step.

Juliana was very excited to watch the Beauty and the Beast movie.

As you can see, this is a sermon about movies.

So we went to the theater to watch The Beauty and the Beast, and we are watching it, we're having fun, everything is great, and then the Be our Guest scene.

Do you know the scene I'm talking about?

Everybody singing, be our guest, be our guest.

Very colorful.

I'm having fun singing a little bit with it, and then I look to my wife, my wife is crying.

Pretty much the same Hazel Grace situation.

Crying, and I'm like, I don't understand what is happening, and then as a good husband, I was like, okay, take some popcorn here.

Try to control yourself.

What's happening?

We don't do that in public.

She was crying, and then she said, I had an experience with Jesus.

So inappropriate moment to have an experience with Jesus.

And then I said, What's up?

And then she said, I think we need to go to the US.

I think we need to move because pay attention to this.

This is Belle.

She's a foreign.

She went to a different world.

She's living in a different place, a different house with different people.

But when she got there, they had a table in front of her full of food.

They were taking care of her and they were just singing, Be our guest.

I think this is Jesus telling us you need to go.

I was like, sure.

Thanks, Jesus.

Thanks, Belle.

So we decided to move, but again, it's still not simple, right?

Let's sell our car, let's sell our apartment, let's quit our jobs, let's close our company, let's go to a place where we have no friends, no community, no church, we don't even know the language.

But we did everything depending on God.

Radical dependence.

Faith is radical dependence.

I have learned, point two, that to live by faith is to trust in God.

Do you trust him?

Do you trust him?

Are you sure he takes care of you?

Do you trust his sovereign and his plans are better?

Hey hey, Abraham, Abraham, listen.

Do you know the son I gave it to you?

I wanted it back.

Can you please offer it back to me?

I know I gave it to you, but I want it back.

I know you have feelings.

I know you like the boy, but I want it back.

This is what the Bible says in Hebrews chapter 11, verse 17.

Hebrews 11:17

And this blows my mind.

Hebrews 11, 17 says, By faith, Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice, he who had embraced the promises was about to sacrifice his own, his one and only son, even though God had said to him, It is through Isaac that your offspring will be rockened.

Abraham, risen that God could even raise the dead.

And so in manner of speaking, he did receive Isaac back from death.

Isaac said, I trust you, Lord, and I'm going to offer Isaac because I know that even if I kill him, you are going to bring him back to life.

Do you trust God like this?

Do you trust God like this?

Living by faith is to trust God.

Point three, I have learned that to live by faith is to go against circumstances.

We were like, okay, Bell, we know what to do.

We got our visas approved, we sold everything, we bought tickets to come, we were ready to go.

And I want to say two weeks before we moved here, um a prince from the Middle East met this Brazilian Brazilian girl, and they decided to get married in São Paulo.

My wife is a wedding planner.

So listen, they reach out to the best wedding planner in Sao Paulo saying, Would you please take care of our wedding?

And this girl said, Well, I can't.

I already have a wedding on that date, but I know someone who will take care of you guys.

And she called you.

And now Juliana is about to have the best opportunity of her life.

The best wedding, the biggest wedding of her life.

And then Juliana was like, What should we do?

What should we do?

It was a decision.

We stay and do the wedding or we go to America to make things uh even sorry more complicated.

The lady told Juliana, would you please send then a quote?

And Juliana said, I don't even know how I'm gonna charge then.

And then Juliana decided to charge then, and they accepted the the the quote.

Juliana was charging then, she would work for then one month, and she would make the equivalent of three years of working in a month.

We go by faith or circumstance.

We do what God is leading us to do, to go to America, or we just accept this opportunity that looks uh looks like it's amazing.

We decided to go by faith because sometimes going by faith means going against the circumstance.

You know what?

It is not easy to live by faith.

Definitely not easy, but it is the only life possible.

Don't get back to the back of the plane, don't do that.

So I think I wanted to ask you, how is your faith?

How is your faith?

Do you put your faith in God or in circumstances?

Do you put your faith in God's word or in our culture?

Do you how is your faith?

Have you ever been tempted to abandon your faith because of difficulties of life?

Living by faith, it's not easy.

But only the brave ones who decide to walk this path will see God supernatural in their lives.

It is so much easier to do what everybody else is doing.

It is so much easier to keep 10% of your salary for yourself.

But as for me, I don't want you seat in the back of the plane.

No unbelieving hearts here.

No unbelieving hearts there.

Let's live by faith.

Can I be very honest with you?

And I'm gonna close with this.

I'll be very, very, very, very honest with you guys.

I shared with you a couple of steps of faith that we took, and I share with you guys that it's been 17 years in full-time ministry.

But when I think about faith, when I talk about faith, I struggle with it.

I personally struggle with it.

And the prayer I prayed the most in my entire life, and I still do weekly, I kneel before my God, and in prayer I say, help me out.

Because I don't want to have an unbelieving heart, I want to be someone full of faith.

I want to live my life in a radical dependence.

Help me out here.

I struggle with it every day.

I feel tempted to go back to the back of the plane.

Every day I feel tempted to take control instead of resurrender.

Every day I feel tempted to trust A, B, C, D, and then lastly, in God.

Every day I feel tempted to run away from this uncomfortable place of depending on God.

The Bible says in Mark chapter 9, verse 25, this man he had an encounter with Jesus, and he said, Help me overcome my unbelief.

Mark 9:25

That's my prayer.

Help me out here.

Hebrews chapter 11 talks about the heroes of faith.

Hebrews 11 · chapter mention

By faith, Moses, by faith, David, by faith, Joshua, by faith, Abraham.

But at the end of my life, I don't want to be known as someone who had a lot of followers and a lot of money.

At the end of my life, I don't want to be known as someone who had a couple of talents and a few friends.

I want to be known as a man who didn't seed in the back of the plane.

I want to be known as someone who lived a life full of faith, full of faith.

So I don't believe Hebrews chapter 11 ends on a verse 40.

Hebrews 11 · chapter mention

I believe it goes on.

I believe it goes on by faith, Vinnie, by faith, Annie Marie, by faith, Andy, by faith, Raina, by faith Keith, by faith Caleb.

Let's just leave by faith and run away from the back of the plane.

Do you receive this word?

Now let me ask you something.

Do you think you need to grow in that area?

Do you think you need to grow in that area?

Show me your hands.

Is there anyone here who can say, Jesus, help me because I need to understand radical dependence?

Anyone here?

Anyone here that needs to pray this prayer this morning?

Jesus, help me because I need to learn how to trust you.

Anyone?

Anyone here this morning that needs to pray and say, Jesus, help me because I don't want to go with circumstances.

I want to go by faith.

Anyone here?

So I want to ask you to take a step of faith.

We're gonna exercise faith right now.

If you need to grow in that area, I'm gonna ask you to come here to the front.

So we're gonna pray together.

I struggle with it as well.

So I wanna pray with you and I'm gonna pray for you.

And listen! Alfie, this is uncomfortable! There's lots of people right beside me! My faith is uncomfortable! So if you are here and you wanna take this step of faith, I wanna ask you to come to the front so we can pray together.

So we can say, Jesus, I want to learn how to live in the radical defense.

Jesus, I need to learn how to trust you.

Jesus, I need to grow in the radical.

I wanna leave my face.

I want to live by you.

I put my face.orl.org.

We hope you join us next time.