Just Breathe | 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.

Even greater.

He hates when I put him on a spot.

That's why he's running out the back right now.

But we'll it's it's okay.

It's okay.

Um we're so so glad that you guys are all here with us today.

We're glad that um for those who are um we're safe and things are going well as well as for those who are um online with us, we're so glad um that you're with us as well.

Um, before I jump into today's message, I do want to kind of piggyback a little bit off of um what Pastor Nate was sharing, specifically around the area of generosity.

Um during our All Hands Vision Sunday, which was the first uh Sunday in August, we we had an opportunity to kind of share a little bit about who we are as a church and what we feel like God is calling us to do.

And a couple of the practical things that we wanted to do was being able to expand our digital footprint.

That was one of the things.

Um, in addition to being able to have a recognizing the our our responsibility, our burden to to pastor beyond just the four walls of this church, as well as inside of the four walls of the church.

Um, and so while we were sharing that that vision and that desire to do that, we kind of just casually mentioned, like, hey, there's a there's a couple of things that we need to update um within our celebration um digital system.

We need to we need to buy some equipment, we also need to buy some software that's gonna allow us to do it.

And so I shared with you guys before just how incredibly generous our church was.

I couldn't even get through the first sentence before people weren't already just like, hey, I got it taken care of, I got it taken care of.

So as a result of that, we were not only able to upgrade our equipment, but our software and a couple other things that we actually had held off until next year.

And so it's just uh a reminder of what happens when our church puts its hands in to what we're called to do.

And so I wanted to put another call of action out there for us as we recognize there's so many needs in our community.

We're partnering with Convoy of Hope and things like that.

But typically around this time of year, every year, we have our heart for the house giving.

And if you're new to church, that's essentially just kind of built on a foundation in the gospel of Matthew, where it simply says that where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

And really what it's meant to do is meant to challenge us as Christians and saying, hey, if you want to know what's really important to somebody, look at their calendar and look at their bank account.

That typically reflects where they choose to prioritize things.

And so what this time of year does for us is it simply allows us to kind of look and see where our heart is and to make sure that we're investing in what we're called to do.

And so as a church, we believe that we're called to partner with the vision and mission of God, and so we sow accordingly because we believe in that.

And so that's pretty much what this time of year is for us.

I just wanted to make you aware of a language shift that's taking place.

As I mentioned, um we typically call that heart for the house, um, but we're shifting the language and it's now being called our all hands giving campaign.

Um, and because we're changing the name, I wanted to just give you some context as to what that means.

As I mentioned earlier, we're a church that's an all-hands church, simply means that that what you want to see is what we want to see, but we all put our hands to it.

We wanted to see this update of equipment and people put their hands to it and we all participated in it.

So it's this idea that we all are in it, we all put our hands to it.

Um, and so as I mentioned on our Vision Sunday, that as it stands right now, um, what we want to do is we want to see more people put their hands in in every area of our church, whether that's equipment, whether that's coming and getting involved in groups, whether that's participating with youth, even if that is in the area of our generosity, we want to see more people participate and get involved.

Um, I shared then that about 30% of our church currently gives.

And I had many people come to me and say, Man, is that is that right?

30%?

I'm like, Yeah, like look at all we're able to do with 30%.

But but I want to illustrate that a little bit differently in a way that maybe we can possibly comprehend it.

Let's say the 1030 service is over and you guys are deciding to go to brunch because I'm planning on going to brunch after this 1030 service.

So we all go together and I'm there sitting at a table with 10 of my friends.

The bill comes, seven get up and leave.

That's what giving is in our church right now.

The three that remain.

And and and I say that to say this I'm amazed at what we're able to do with the three that give.

But I'm inspired by what we could do if the other seven did as well.

And and what I want to challenge us to do in this season is to pray about what it is that God wants you to do as it relates to your generosity with our church.

I really want you to pray.

And simply this, Paul says it this way pray and obey.

We're not gonna do any bait and switch.

Ultimately, what we do with those resources, it allows us to finish the year strong, it allows us to continue to partner with local organizations that Nate just mentioned, as well as it puts us in a position to purchase our building up much quicker.

I want to tell you guys, there's no shortage of vision, but vision moves at the pace of generosity.

And as you guys partner with us, we're able to accelerate what God's calling us to do.

So I want to simply say this um the last Sunday of the month of October is where we're going to be collecting that offering, but we'll obviously take it through the rest of the year.

But all I want you to do is the same thing that Paul instructs the church in Corinth to do: pray and obey.

What is it that God wants you to do and simply be obedient to it?

And I believe we'll be amazed at what can happen when the full 10, the full 100 give in whatever way God leads them to.

If we can make the difference that we are making now with what we have, I can't imagine what God will do when we all participate and partner with the vision that He has for this incredible church.

Amen?

Amen.

All right, now we're gonna get into the message.

That did not count as part of my message time for so those of y'all that are like looking at the clock.

Nope, that is not five minutes off.

We're about to get started right now.

So now let me shift into gears.

Hey guys, welcome to Celebration Church.

I am so glad that you're here.

If you're joining us online, welcome, church.

Can we put our hands together for everyone that is joining us online?

We're so glad we're here.

We're so glad to be continuing in our series looking at grace through the book of Romans, our incredible series called Grace to You.

And what we're gonna do is we're gonna pick up right where we left off at.

If you have your Bibles, I want to invite you to join me in Romans chapter number seven.

Romans chapter number seven.

And so far, we've we're two weeks in, and so far what we've identified is that grace upgrades us, that grace is the thing that takes us from one level to the next.

And that was our opening week.

Last week, Pastor Nate preached an incredible message on even greater, how grace is even greater than our biggest setbacks and struggles.

What I want to do is I want to give you some context and some framework uh to think through in the event that you didn't catch either of the other two messages.

Paul is writing this letter to the community of churches in Rome.

And and the image that I want you guys to get is that Paul writes these letters, and it wasn't broken up into chapters and verses as we have the privilege of looking at now, but it was literally just a single letter.

So Paul is writing in a way that you would have a conversation with someone.

And if you think of someone who's facilitating a TED talk, like they have a singular thought and are finding different ways to reinforce that thought throughout the course of that dialogue.

So there's moments where Paul will refer back to something he's already said and then he'll jump on, but it's almost like he's working a room, but he also understands that this is going to be read to a community of people.

I want us to remember this.

It's written to a community of people, but it has individual responsibility.

It was never meant for one person to take this by himself.

It was written to the community and then it has individual application.

And so Paul has been making the case of the salvation that is found exclusively in the person of Jesus Christ.

He he lays that out brilliantly, but then he begins to talk about the tension that all of us can sometimes wrestle with, that awareness of knowing that God is good, knowing that God has more for us, but sometimes struggling to really walk it out practically.

I believe that Romans chapter 7 beautifully captures the challenge that, if we're honest, we all have had at some point.

Romans 7 · chapter mention

Starting at verse number 15, let's look at what Paul says regarding putting into practice this knowledge that we have of Jesus Christ.

He says this He says, What I don't understand about myself is I decide one way, but then I act another, doing things I absolutely despise.

So if I can't be trusted to figure out what's bad for myself and do it, um, it becomes obvious that God's command is necessary.

But I need something more.

For I know the law, but still can't keep it.

And if the power of sin within me keeps sabotaging my best intention, I obviously need help.

I realize that I don't have what it takes.

I can will it, but I can't do it.

I decide to do good, but I really don't do it.

I decide not to do bad, but then I do it anyway.

My decisions as they such are don't result in actions.

Something has gone deep wrong within me, and it gets the better of me every time.

It happens so regularly that it's predictable.

The moment I decide to do good, sin is there to trip me up.

I truly delight in God's command, but it's pretty obvious that not all of me joins in that delight.

Parts of me convertly rebel, and just when I least expect it, they take charge.

That's a little dramatic.

It's almost like somebody got a hold of Paul's personal journal, and and now we get to read it.

And and when we read this language, it's it's so it's so colorful, it's it's so weighty, but but if we honestly were to listen to it with our hearts, we could probably identify what aspects of it.

Those those parts where you're like, man, I I want to do the right thing, but man, I don't understand why I still struggle with doing the wrong thing.

I I know what God is calling me to do, but somehow I still find myself being led to do something opposite.

I I've been walking with God for a long time and I and I thought that I was over this, I thought I was past this, but but man, like I it's so it's so weird to me how I could just reflex right back to something that I know is absolutely not good for me.

I know it's not God's best for my life.

Paul is pleading and processing through this pain, and he he asks us to enter into that same tension, that tension that many of us probably can identify with.

Because if I can be honest, when I gave my life to Christ, my expectation was true, I won't be struggling with sin anymore.

I got the Holy Spirit and God is good.

That's what I thought.

That lasted for about a week, and then I began to recognize this balance and this battle that just doesn't seem to go away.

And so, what I want to do is I want to speak to that part of us, that part of us that that wrestles with the dichotomy that exists within all of us.

So I want you to write this message title down if you're taking notes.

Just breathe.

Just breathe.

Let's pray and let's get into it.

Lord, we thank you for your word.

We thank you for every opportunity that we come to gather in your presence.

As Pastor Nay mentioned earlier, we we pray for those who've been impacted by the storm and those churches that are unable to gather.

Our thoughts and prayers are with them.

Um and Lord, I pray over our community.

So, Lord, I just pray um for the Holy Spirit to come in and to challenge us, to change us, to correct us, but ultimately to help us to be to conform to the image of Christ.

We pray for open eyes, we pray for open ears, and we pray for open hearts.

And it's in Jesus' name that we pray.

Amen.

Amen.

You know, being um the father of three uh amazing children, I I gotta tell you that I I've really grown to appreciate um a child's first breath.

Now, of course, uh we appreciate it, but when my children were born, it was pretty much no hiccups, no challenges, no issues whatsoever.

So it just seemed very, that's just the way it's done.

But when my second granddaughter, Calea, was born, um, it wasn't as easy for her.

It was it was very traumatic for her, so much so that she actually struggled to breathe when she was being born.

And and honestly, I didn't understand, I didn't understand it.

I didn't understand the nuances of it.

I didn't understand the the challenge that went along with it.

And and I found out that it's fairly common, um, but nonetheless, it's not something that we take lightly.

So as I began to research and I ended up talking to a doctor friend of mine, they they personified it in such a way that it made sense to me.

He said to me, he said, Keith, imagine for a moment that you were living in a cocoon of perfection, that you're just living your best life, things are good, food just shows up in your stomach, you don't even got to think about it, every need is met, and then one day you're violently taken out of that environment.

I I never thought of when a child is born that it's the process of them coming from one environment that's filled with so much safety to them now being brought into another environment.

And and sometimes in the process of them being born, the fluids can get inside of their lungs, that that the residue of where they were continues to go with them to where they're going to.

I I never I never considered that that was like a really violent exchange that takes place.

So he said, so this is very common.

And it made me think like, man, like giving birth is messy.

Because because I mean when you think about it, it's like like the the process, the trauma, all the things that are going on, even for that little one, and then even after they're born, they gotta adapt to being in a new environment.

They they gotta they gotta adapt to now these bright lights, they gotta adapt to all the sounds, they gotta adapt, and and sometimes the evidence of where they were from is with them even as they're trying to thrive in a new environment.

It makes no wonder why in Psalm 51, where the psalmist says that we are born in sin and shaped in iniquity.

And what the psalmist is trying to do is paint this picture that when we were created and we are in the mother's womb, so to speak, that we're in an environment that's filled with sin and brokenness, and we've been feeding and nourishing on that sin our entire life.

But then God sends a deliverer to come and take us from out of that broken condition so that we can now begin to thrive in a new environment called the kingdom.

But the problem is the residue of where we came from can still be on us that prevents us from thriving that we were supposed to, and it can take our breath away.

That now I am in this new environment that God has brought me into, but but but I can't breathe.

I'm in this new environment, and the residue of where I came from is still on me and it's a little bit sticky.

That that where I came from is on the inside of me, and I can't seem to catch my breath.

This is why Jesus says that it's important for us to be born again.

Because when we are born again, we understand that we get a fresh start, but the reality that some of us wrestle with sometimes is that the residue of what I came from is with me even while I'm in a new environment.

And now we have this struggling act where I'm wrestling with how to catch my breath.

I never thought of it that way.

I never thought of it in the sense of that what I am born out of can be the thing that goes with me in this new environment.

And it's so easy to revert back to it.

It's so easy for me to deflect back to the environment that I thought God was trying to help me to escape from.

This is the picture that Paul is painting.

He's talking to a bunch of people who are born again.

They are now followers of Christ, but they're wrestling with the tension of how do I practically walk this out day after day?

This is why he says, like, I don't understand myself.

There's something deeply wrong with me because I want to do good, but evil is yet with me.

The residue of where I came from continues to stick with me.

Has anyone ever recognized how easy it is to revert to your old self?

I'm the only one that's gonna tell the truth in church today.

I'll do it.

Like I honestly thought, like, man, I'm a follower of Christ, I've mastered sin, I am good, I am strong, I am thriving, and all of these things.

I honestly thought that the moment I said yes to Jesus, I'm gonna want to wake up at six o'clock in the morning, get my coffee, go out on my back porch, and have a dove fly by while I'm reading my Bible.

I thought that that was gonna be my life.

You know what my life is like now, six o'clock?

I'm like, nope.

The Lord knows my heart.

It's amazing how I know that me spending time in the Word of God is something that's actually good for me, but yet I still wrestle with it.

It's amazing how we know that being in the community of faith is actually good for us, but yet we still resist it.

Isn't it interesting how we can find ourselves reverting back to something that we know that's just not good for us, to our behaviors that we knew that God's trying to deliver us from?

Just past summer, um, Megan and I, we we had an opportunity to go back to our homeland in the Northeast.

We were up in Philadelphia, the undefeated home of the um Philadelphia Eagles.

Um and and and and while I was there, I don't know what happened, but as soon as I got off of the airplane, that Philly swagger hit me a little bit different.

I can't be walking in the streets of Philadelphia with my Florida flip-flops and all ha.

Like, I gotta go in there with a different edge, it's gotta be a different edge to me.

I'm like walking around, I'm calling everything Johns now.

You know I'm talking about Daquan.

Yo, give me one of them Johns.

Like, I'm I'm craving cheesesteaks.

Like, I'm I'm I'm literally just like I adapt so quick, and I'm like, I've been going for so long, but it's amazing the minute that I'm back in that environment, I'm right back.

Heads on a swivel.

Why that dude looking at me?

What's up?

Like, it's amazing.

I've been walking with God for 20 plus years, and I'm ready to throw hands in the streets of Philly.

Like, what is wrong with me?

It's amazing how quickly we are out of environments, but how quickly we can get right back into that mindset.

I I love, I love Pastor Vinny because what I love about Pastor Vinny is that he owns his dichotomy that exists within him.

There are moments I'm having conversations with him.

I'm like, hey Vinny, what do you think we should do?

He says, I'll tell you what Brazilian Vinny would do.

And then I'll tell you what American Vinny will do.

Here's what I've concluded: I want Brazilian Vinny with me in a fight.

I want American Vinny with me when I need to pray.

It's very clear, but it's amazing how we understand that we have these two sides that exist inside of us.

And it's it's interesting how even though I know that this is what's best for me, it's almost like there's this gravitational pull that's constantly pulling at me to do the wrong thing.

It's like it's like gravity.

What goes up must come down.

And if we're honest with ourselves, that seems to describe our spiritual walk.

I can be on a high one moment, but it doesn't take long for me to hit rock bottom again.

I can I can be I can I can do my devo for a whole week.

I can go to church, I can listen to them talk about giving and I'll tip God.

I can I can do that for a couple weeks and I feel good about it, but then something comes up, and now I'm like, uh, I'll be there, I'll go next week, I'll go in two weeks.

And we begin to revert right back, and that tension continues to exist in every single one of us because that sin is there, it's the gravitational pull that wants to keep us from being elevated.

But when you're in Christ, God's desire is for us to transcend gravity by using aerodynamics, which means we rise above it.

When I'm in Christ, even though gravity exists, I'm supposed to be inside of an ecosystem that allows me to rise above it.

And when I rise above it, it doesn't mean that there's not turbulence.

When I rise above it, it doesn't mean that there's not struggles and tension.

But what it does mean is I have a different perspective and vantage point of the very same laws that other people struggle with.

This is what Paul is challenging us to understand.

And what he tells us is there is no way we are going to be able to overcome the gravitational pull of sin if we do not have the Holy Spirit.

Outside of the Holy Spirit, he says it is literally impossible.

Paul presents this beautiful argument that even though we are struggling with the things that want to keep us down, that when God gives us the gift of the Holy Spirit, that is the thing that allows us to rise above.

That's why he closes out chapter 7 talking about the struggles and the tensions and the burdens that he has, but then he goes into chapter 8 sharing the good news of what we have.

He talks about the Holy Spirit.

Do you realize that in Romans 8 alone, Paul mentions the Holy Spirit more than 21 times?

And he begins to shift things around.

The thing that we understand about the Holy Spirit is that the Holy Spirit is defined as the power of God, it's defined as the personal presence of God, it is defined as the breath of God.

His literal breath, his essence, the very thing that animates all of life.

To illustrate this, we see in Genesis when Adam is created, it says that he was uh created in the image of God, but he was not a living soul until the breath of God went on the inside of him.

We see this even with the person of Jesus, when he was preparing to ascend into heaven, he breathed on his disciples and said, Receive the Holy Spirit, and they were animated by the power of the Holy Spirit.

What God wants us to understand from Genesis to Revelation, from Old Testament to New Testament, is that we can't do this without the presence and the Spirit of God.

He wants us to understand that God is breathing on us, and when God breathes on us, he is breathing life.

The grace of God is always there to breathe on us and to move us forward.

I want to be very clear and very unapologetic that there is a lot of people that say that they're doing things empowered by grace.

But watch this.

If what you're doing isn't producing life, then it's not God.

It's got to be life-giving because what we see with the power of the grace of God is that every time God moves in a situation in some way, it begins to move us forward.

I've heard it said that Romans chapter 8 is the most powerful book and chapter in the Bible.

Romans 8 · chapter mention

And and that's that's a big statement.

But but I heard another person say it's the inner sanctuary within the cathedral of the Christian faith.

Because what you'll find In Romans chapter 8, is these ideas that if we look at them, they pull the entirety of the Bible together in a message that makes sense.

Romans 8 · chapter mention

To simplify it, I would say it this way: if if the Bible is a collection of varying albums from an artist, Romans 8 would be the greatest hits.

Where you pull the best things from the artist and you have one playlist that has some of the best things you ever need to hear.

I know when I go on a road trip, I like to have a certain playlist that I can play.

I don't want to have no skips when I'm on a road.

I want to just play through every single thing.

Because if we're honest, some parts of the Bible we just want to skip.

I'll wait.

I mean, like, yeah, I mean, there's parts of you like, man, I want to skip.

What Romans does is it brings us to a place where we have a playlist where every single thing is what we need to hear, even if it challenges us.

And what I love to start off this amazing playlist, here's the first song in a playlist: There's no condemnation.

I can't think of a better way to start my journey and my walk with Christ than being reminded that there is no condemnation.

But it says in Romans chapter 8, verse number one, he says, There is no condemnation to those that are in Christ Jesus.

Romans 8 · chapter mention

I want you to understand that Paul is saying this phrase right after he gets finished saying, I don't know what's wrong with me.

Sin is everywhere.

I want to do good, evil is yet with me, but thank God there's no condemnation to those that are in Christ.

It's one single thought to him.

He's acknowledging what he's struggling with, but he's celebrating the fact, but there's no condemnation to those that are in Christ Jesus.

Somebody right now needs to hear this because unfortunately, you've been brought up in a theology, in a belief system that has told you that in some way that maybe you have disqualified yourself from being in the family of God, that maybe you've made a mistake, that God is saying that I'm officially done with you, but maybe you came here just to simply hear this one statement.

There is no condemnation to those that are in Christ Jesus.

That there is no condemnation to those that are in Christ Jesus, that God is not done with you yet.

That should be encouraging for some of us.

But I also want to make sure that we're not misreading that.

Because it says that there's no condemnation, but it does not say there is no correction.

It does not say that there's no consequence.

See, I think what can happen is that we can gravitate so closely to the no condemnation part that when correction comes, we mislabel it and think it's condemnation, and then we leave environments that's actually meant to help us grow.

We gotta be careful that as we gravitate and grab a hold of this idea of knowing that there's no condemnation, we have to understand there's absolutely correction.

There absolutely is accountability.

And there are moments when by the grace of God, he will lovingly, gently, but directly begin to correct us because he knows that what we may be doing is not God's best for our lives.

Let's make sure that when people come to us and challenge us to change some things about us, that we don't tap into our inner two pocket and say, only God can judge me.

That may be true, but the Bible also says that we are supposed to discern fruit amongst one another.

And if you're part of Christian community, you should have people that are able to come up, that can inspect the fruit in your life, and by relationship begin to challenge you to say, I know that you can produce more than this, you are better than this, you are stronger than this, I know I know the goodness of God that's on the inside of you.

That is how we actually grow and thrive.

But we have to understand that there's no condemnation.

So we just need to breathe and receive that there's no condemnation.

Here's another song on the playlist of the kingdom that that Paul makes available to us is that we are the children of God.

He said, I need you to breathe this in, because right now you may be hit with some scenarios that have taken your breath away.

But I want you to be encouraged that you are a child of God.

What it says in Romans 8, verse number 14, it says, For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God.

Now, now some of us may say, Okay, so what exactly does it mean to be a child of God?

What does it mean to be led by the spirit?

Because depending on your background, depending on what you were brought up in, being being led by the spirit can seem a little bit aloof.

Like, let's be honest, people have weaponized the idea of being led by the spirit to do some crazy stuff.

I feel led by the spirit too, and it's just complete chaos.

God is not the author of confusion.

Let me give you the simplest definition of what it means to be spirit-led to do what God says.

How provocative is that?

To simply live your life in a way that I am obedient to what God says.

But what it says is that you are children of God as long as you allow yourself to be put into a position where you're going to follow what he says.

It's that simple.

That there's nothing we can do that can disqualify us from being children of God.

There's nothing we can do.

That God's not saying, hey, you know what?

You're out of the family, you're out of the will, you're out of here.

Like, he's not doing any of that.

There's nothing we can do to disqualify us from being children of God.

Let me let me say it this way.

So about two months ago, um, my my beloved son Caleb Pittman got into um his first fender better.

You remember that?

I told like so when he this happened.

Caleb is he's he's with us here today.

I was gonna pull you on stage, but I'm like, I'm not gonna do that to you.

Um, but but he typically works on Sundays, but he's here.

But but watch this.

Um we we are on our way to go and get our haircut, and because he's going to work after we drive separately, so I'm like, okay, man, we gotta make it to the appointment.

We don't want to be late.

So we're driving there, and so Caleb is trying to like flex a little bit, he's leaning a little more than he should be.

He's trying to like, he gets in front of me, he gets to the red light ahead of me, and while he's there, um he does the same thing that I did when I was his age.

He looked to the left, could clearly see it was an opportunity for him to go, puts his foot on the gas as any responsible driver would.

However, he forgot to turn and recognize that the car in front of him had not been moving with the same velocity as him.

Boom! Right into the back of the car.

Now, I see all of this.

I'm the next car behind him.

And as I see my son crash into the car, I can look in the rearview mirror.

He's not concerned about the pressure in front of him, he's immediately looking and seeing what is dad gonna say about this.

We pull over to the side, I get out, it turns out it was it was so minor, like it was all good.

The guy's like, Man, I'm not worried about it, you're not worried about it.

We drove off.

So I look at Caleb, and like, I mean, at this point, it's laughable because I did the exact same accident.

But when I look at him and he looks at me, I just turn around and get in the car.

Don't even say a word to him.

Don't even say a word.

Just get in the car.

He's gonna drive these next 18 minutes to the barbershop, just meditating on what has happened.

We get to the we get to the barbershop, he he gets into the cherry and he's just sitting there.

And I'm like literally texting my wife, just laughing, like, yo, you would never guess what happened.

I'm gonna see how long I can make this boy sweat.

I'm out there taking pictures of the stuff.

He gets up, he looks at me, and he's like, I know.

I'm like, hey man, you're paying that copay.

He's like, I know.

I was like, hey, but but it's okay.

So he leaves, he goes to work, and when he comes home, he begins to tell the story to Megan.

He tells a story um to his sister, and what he says is, hey, I ran into somebody, you know what the worst part was?

Is that dad was right there.

And for me, I'm thinking, like, that's actually the best start.

Because if we think about it, he got into an accident and his dad was right there.

And and what I wanted him to understand is that there is nothing that you can do that's gonna disqualify you from being my son.

There is nothing that you can do that's gonna disqualify you for being my son.

Somebody needs to hear this.

There is nothing that you can do that will disqualify you from being a child of God.

Somebody has been walking around with shale with guilt and shame and ridicule and been thinking that because maybe you've crashed when you should have been keeping your eyes on the road, that maybe God is done with you, and maybe that he's kicking you out of the family, and that you're no longer part of the inheritance.

I'm here to break the lie of the enemy right now and let you know that you are a child of God, and there's nothing that you can do that will disqualify you from being God's child.

However, there's always a however with me.

However, the way that we live will determine what God puts into our hands.

So there's nothing I can do to disqualify myself, but I also need to make sure that I'm living a life that I can be entrusted with what he wants to do in my life.

So the lesson that I told my son was this Hey man, just whatever you do, don't get ahead of your father.

Don't get ahead of me.

Because if you stay behind me, you're gonna be okay.

You only are gonna find yourself vulnerable when you're trying to outpace me.

For some of us, we we get outside of God's covering because we get ahead of God.

And what he wants to say is that there's nothing you can do to disqualify you.

But if you could just learn to get behind me, I know I may not be in a fastest lane, but you're gonna get there safe.

I I know that it may not go the route that you want to go, but you're gonna get there on the time that I want you to be there.

There's nothing that can disqualify you, but I want you to make sure that you're following me.

Paul reminds us in this beautiful collection of letters and helping us to understand that we are children of God, and there's nothing that the enemy can do without it.

Can we give God some praise for knowing that we're children of God?

But but he's not done.

There's there's more.

He then goes on to say that God is not done with us just yet.

I love what the passage of scripture says here in Romans chapter 8, verse 26.

Romans 8:26

It says this, and the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness.

For example, we don't even know what we should pray, but the Holy Spirit intercedes for us.

He then goes on to say that God causes everything to work together for the good for those who love him and who are called according to his purpose.

I want someone to hear that deep in their soul, that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love him and who are called according to his purpose.

It doesn't mean that everything is good, it doesn't mean that everything is what God desires for your life.

But what it does mean is no matter where you are, you cannot outreach the hand of God, that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love him, who are called according to his purpose.

We can look at this illustrated beautifully in the life of Joseph, because when we understand the life of Joseph, that we see that he is sold into slavery by his brothers.

And you thought your family was bad.

He's sold into slavery by his brothers, he's falsely accused, he's ridiculed, but oddly enough, he is now in an environment that he begins to excel in, and then he's in a position that he's literally able to preserve and save his entire family from a famine.

That is mind-blowing to me.

That somehow he was sold into slavery, he was misused, but he was still elevated, and that actually ended up putting him in the exact place to save his entire family.

What he said is what you meant for evil, God used it for good.

It's amazing how the grace of God works and how he can take bad situations and turn it into something good.

So let me encourage somebody with something right now.

If it's not good, then God's not done.

That maybe you're in the middle of a season right now and it's not good.

Maybe you're struggling with something right now and you will say that it's not good.

But if it's not good, then God's not done, because God works all things together for the good of those who call love him and who are called according to his purpose.

The beautiful thing with this is that I can look at the varying seasons of my life where I had struggles.

And interestingly enough, when I go down the list of disappointments and struggles that I have had, there's also another list of some of the triumphs that I've had.

And interestingly enough, there's some overlap.

That I've seen the faithfulness of God when I've been in some situations that have challenged my faith.

That I've seen the goodness of God move in areas when things weren't so good.

It's almost as if God reveals Himself even in the midst of all of our suffering.

I remember going through a season where we had to downsize our home, but that put us in a position so that we could actually buy our next home.

I've gone through seasons where God was pruning even the church that we got a chance to pastor, but now our church is healthier and thriving more than it's ever been.

It's amazing how we can have these situations that challenge us, but God then uses it to propel us and move us forward.

If it's not good, God is not done.

If you are going through a situation right now and you're wondering if this is as good as it's ever going to get, absolutely not.

You can breathe because if it's not good, then God's not done.

I know the enemy wants to take your breath away.

He wants to make you believe that this is as good as it's going to get.

But if it's not good, God is not done.

He is still breathing on that situation and he's going to move you forward.

He works it all together for the good.

Paul reminds us that God will sometimes permit what he hates to accomplish what he loves.

That sometimes we'll go through situations that are a little uncomfortable, but it will produce something in us that God absolutely loves.

I want to close with this.

If Romans 8 is the playlist for the kingdom that can inspire every single one of us, then these last verses have absolutely got to be the icing on the cake, the crescendo, so to speak.

I want to read it to us and give us some perspective.

It says this What shall we say about such wonderful things there are?

If God be for us, who can be against us?

Since he did not even spare his own son, but gave him up for all of us, won't he also give us everything else?

Who dares accuse us, whom God has chosen for his own?

No one, for God himself has given us right standing with himself.

Who will condemn us?

No one.

For Christ died for us and was raised to life again and is seating at the right hand of the Father, pleading for us.

Can anything separate us from Christ's love?

Does it mean that love no longer is there, even if we've had trouble or calamity, or if we're persecuted, or for hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death, as the scripture says, for his sake we are killed every day and we're being slaughtered like sheep?

No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is yours in Christ Jesus who loves us.

I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God's love.

Neither death nor life, nor angels, nor demons, nor fears of today or worries about tomorrow, not even the powers of hell can separate us from the love of God.

No power in the sky or below, indeed, nothing in all creation can separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus.

We just need to learn how to breathe it in.

That is the icing on the cake, family.

If you're ever feeling discouraged, you read that.

You know, when we this summer we had an opportunity to go to uh the Maverick City and Kurt Franklin concert.

Anybody go to the Maverick City and Kurt Franklin concert?

So for the six of us that went, um when we were there, I I was amazing because like you got these two amazing parties of groups that that have amazing collections of music.

And and while we were there, like you know, Maverick City sings their best songs, and and then Kurt Franklin is singing his best songs.

And so now the concert is about to wrap up.

And so for all of us, we heard the thing that we want to hear, but there was still one thing that was missing.

I I I got saved, and I don't know about you, but when I got saved, I got saved, and the only thing we played on repeat in our youth group was Stomp.

That was it.

So I'm standing next to De Nira, and every time I thought they were gonna play Stomp, we looked at each other like, yo! Oh, never mind.

That's the reason why we sing.

Like, I mean, like we were we're just looking, like, waiting, like, hey, is this the moment?

So now the concert's about to wrap up.

They give the quintessential, like, hey guys, thanks for coming out.

And everybody's like, man, like this, is that it?

And then he comes back.

He's like, it ain't over, and then he just goes right into it.

Stop! The whole place went nuts.

Because even though we had all these other powerful things and songs that are saying, people are crying, all these powerful moments, we were all waiting for that moment where we could just stomp.

What I want you to understand is that Romans chapter 8, verses 31 through 39 is the stomp for our faith.

Romans 8:31–39

Because what Paul is reinforcing is everything that he's already said that we need to learn how to breathe in.

What he's saying is that there's no condemnation, you just need to breathe it in.

That you are a child of God, you just need to breathe it in.

That the Holy Spirit is working all things together for the good, you just need to breathe it in.

That God is for you, and if God is for you, there's nothing that could be against you.

You just need to learn how to breathe it in.

That God is not done with you yet, you just need to breathe it in.

That nothing can separate you from the love of God, but you have got to breathe it in.

That you are more than conquerors, you just need to breathe it in.

What Paul is saying, if you can't find yourself in any other passage of scripture in the Bible, if your Bible gets ripped out and there's only one section you got left, it is good to have a verse that says that I am more than a conqueror.

It's good to have a verse that says I am a child of God.

It's good to have a verse that says there's no condemnation to those that are in Christ Jesus.

Paul is reminding us that God is with us, and if it's not good, it is not done.

And this is the icing on the cake.

This is what we need to breathe in.

He said, This is what I need you to take into your lungs.

This is what I need you to animate your faith with, is understanding that God is for you.

You know, when I look back at my granddaughter and I see how she struggled to breathe.

I'm so thankful for the medical professionals because what they did is they they began to clean out all the stuff.

They cleaned out the gunk that was in her nostrils and her lungs, and and you can see they applied a little bit of pressure to get her lungs to start moving.

And there's that moment where, like, okay, like just breathe.

This is why community is so important.

Because sometimes we're struggling to breathe, and God will bring people around us that try to get things out of our out of our lungs so that we can begin to breathe.

And when she took those first breaths, there was a substantial sigh of relief because we knew that God was on the job.

But I think for some of us, there's areas of our lives where the residue of where we came from, the things that we struggle with, it's still with us, and it's taking our breath away.

It's it's taking my breath away in the way that I view my marriage.

It's it's it's taking my breath away in the way that I steward my finances.

It's it's it's taking my breath away as I as I relate to to other family.

It's it's taking my breath away, and and the residue of where I came from, the the bitterness, the unforgiveness, the anger, the rage that was inside of me is still with me, and I'm struggling to breathe in the context of the kingdom.

And what God is saying, let me help move some things out of your way.

Let me breathe on you, and I need you to take it in.

You've been struggling long enough.

You you've been you've been using where you came from long enough.

It is time for you to breathe in this grace.

With every head bowed and with every eye closed, I want to ask this question.

Maybe for some of us, there's areas of our lives that we're struggling with breathing.

This this kingdom idea of really thriving and in who God is calling us to be.

We're we're struggling with it, we're missing it right now, if we're honest with ourselves.

And what we need right now is a fresh wind from God that can breathe life into whatever area of our lives where we're experiencing deficits.

If that's you, if there's an area where you just need the presence of God to bring it to life again, I want to pray for you.

On the count of three, I want you to lift your hands up.

One, two, three.

I need fresh wind, God.

Amen.

Amen.

God bless you, amen.

Hands up everywhere.

If you're joining us online, you can participate as well.

You can go ahead and put those hands down.

Here, here's my here's my second question.

Maybe you're with us today, and and you know that your next step is simply to surrender your life to Christ.

That's your next step.

It's simply to say yes to Jesus, that you've been living with the laws of sin and the gravity keeping you down, and you know that it's time for you to transcend it and to become in Christ.

If that's you, today is the day of salvation.

Today is the day that you come home.

Today is a day that you change your position.

From being in the world to being a child of God, I want to count a three.

If you're ready to come home, just signify it by lifting a hand.

One, two, three.

Amen.

Amen.

God bless you.

Amen.

I see those hands.

Amen.

God bless you.

I'm so proud of you.

Church, can we put our hands together for everyone that is making that decision to follow Christ?

What we're gonna do now is um, I want to ask everyone to stand on their feet.

We're gonna we're gonna go into a time of worship, literally for just one minute to kind of like seal in um what we believe God has spoken over us today.

I'm gonna pray for us and then we're gonna be dismissed.

But but let's lean into this moment with an expectation that God is gonna speak and do something.

With every hand lifted up, I want you to receive this.

Lord, I thank you.

And God, you see our hands that are up, you see the surrender in our posture.

And Father, I just pray that God, that you can give us a fresh wind, that you can animate the areas of our lives that we're struggling to breathe in.

So, Father, we pray a blessing over your people.

Seal it in, bring us life, God, that we recognize that we are children of God, that there is no condemnation, that you are for us, and that we are more than conquerors.

God, allow us to breathe that in so that we can walk in victory in Jesus' name.

Come on, church, let's worship together.

Thanks again for listening.

We hope you enjoyed today's message.

We'd love for you to subscribe to our podcast and review and share what you heard today.

If you'd like more content like this, or you'd like to connect with us, go to celebrationorl.org.

We hope you join us next time.