No Excuses | 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.

All right, all right, all right.

Church, I pray that you all are doing well.

I missed every single one of you last week, um, but I am incredibly excited and happy to be back.

And so if you're relatively uh new to celebration, I I want to go ahead and embrace you now.

And some of you may have picked up on this that whenever I'm out the week before, I preached that much harder and that much longer.

So we're gonna be here for about an hour because I got some things that have been stored up in me.

Maybe not an hour, but we are gonna preach hard today.

So I'll need you guys to lean in and to fully engage.

I'm so excited and expected for what God is gonna speak to us today.

Now, before I jump into today's message, I do want to give us a little bit of a pep talk, a little bit of family discussion.

I like having these moments every now and then where we have like a family discussion where we can all be kind of brought up to the same page in regards to some things that God um is doing amongst our community.

Um here's the thing.

You guys, we have labeled next month, we're calling it Unique November.

Unique November.

I want you all to say it with me.

Unique November.

Unique November online.

I want you to type it in unique November.

And here's let me set the framework for what we mean by that.

We've seen God do some amazing things, inclusive of allowing us to have some incredible partnerships with many local expressions here in the Orlando area.

And as a result of that relationship, it allows us to have moments where we can step in to serve, to make a difference in partner, and inclusive of here at the museum where we currently are gathering in person.

And each relationship is built off of grace and flexibility.

We're so thankful for OMA and the grace and flexibility they extend to us, as well as the grace and flexibility we need to extend to them.

So in the month of November, our gatherings are gonna look just a little bit different to make room for what God wants to do in this facility, but also what he wants to do with us in our church and in our community.

Starting with November 14th, um, which is an amazing day that we're gonna be concluding our signs series.

I'm gonna go ahead and give you guys the spoiler.

We're gonna be preaching on Lazarus, we're gonna be praying and believing that God is gonna resurrect and restore some things.

So that November 14th date, I want you to mark it.

I want you to come in with an expectation that God is gonna move and do some incredible things.

I believe the entire series has been building towards this date.

But on November 14th specifically, we're gonna be gathering in the evening instead of during the day.

Again, flexibility and grace for here at OMA to have something that they have going on during the day.

So we're moving our services to the evening.

So you'll get more information about registration, everything will be the same.

It'll just be in the evening time.

Now, the thing I'm excited about for the 21st, that very next Sunday.

You guys know that we're a church that believes that God has called us, yes, to gather, but we gather to scatter.

We come together so that we can go out into the community and make a difference.

So on November 21st, we're calling that Serve Sunday.

November 21st is Serve Sunday.

This is the Sunday right before Thanksgiving.

And what we're gonna do is we have an opportunity to partner with U.S.

Hunger, which is right here in the Orlando area, and we're gonna be able to have 120 slots available for us to actually go to the facility to serve and to package meals that will then feed the community for Thanksgiving and beyond.

It's an amazing opportunity for us as a church to go out into the community and make a difference besides just us gathering.

So on the 21st, we will have an online stream available, but here locally in our gathering, we're going to be going out and serving in our community.

So here's what I want you to do.

Yeah, we can give it up for that.

I can see some of y'all like tweet.

Can we clap?

Can we not?

Let me pause.

Yes, we can give it up for that because we believe that the church is more than just in these four walls.

We still need you to register because there's only 120 spots, but it is very much kid and family friendly.

I believe the best thing that we can do for our children is allowing them to see what serving looks like instead of just being the recipients of what God is doing.

So we want to make sure we create space for them to partner with us.

So that's gonna be available on the 21st.

And then on the 28th, that's the last Sunday of the month.

We typically, at this time anyway, we call it church at home.

And the reason why we do that is because we realize that this is the Sunday right after um Thanksgiving.

And here's why we want to do church at home specifically on that.

It does a couple of things.

One, I realize that many of us travel, we have family and friends, and we want to give you the space to be able to spend time with your family and friends, but also we've seen God do some incredible things in these environments.

Case in point, there are many people that would not step into the doors of a church, but they will come to your home for some brunch.

They will come to your home for some for some food and some fellowship, and then in that, as you take in church at home in your environments, we've heard seen miracles, and God use those moments as great opportunities to really activate faith in others.

So on the 28th, it will be a church at home experience where you're gonna be able to watch online, much like our online audience is now.

It's gonna be an incredible time, but it's also gonna give you a chance to recover from um from all the food that you overate.

It's gonna give you an opportunity to kind of recover from the guilt and shame of overshopping for Black Friday, and also to kind of recover from all the drama politics talk that's gonna take place on Thanksgiving, which we should avoid, but it's gonna happen anyway.

So, church at home on the 28th is gonna be a great opportunity for that.

So, unique November is gonna look a little bit different.

We're still gathering, but we're gathering to scatter, and we're believing God's gonna do some incredible things in that time.

So make sure you download the app, thank you, Hector, so that you can stay up to date on all these things that's going on.

Um, but we're excited about what God's gonna do in this season.

Can we give God some praise for the opportunities that He's given us for unique November?

Unique November.

I'm gonna go ahead and speak uh to the production team.

Okay, so the clock was ticking during that that time.

That doesn't count as my preaching time.

I just want to go ahead and say that so that we all can prepare ourselves because I need we're gonna we're gonna get a fresh start in here.

If you have your Bibles, I want you to turn with me to the Gospel of John chapter five.

The gospel of John chapter number five.

Starting here at verse number one, this is what the word of the Lord says to us.

Afterward, Jesus returned for Jerusalem for one of the Jewish holidays.

Inside the city near the sheep gate was the pool of Bethesda with five covered porches.

Crowds of sick people, blind, lame, and paralyzed, lay on the porches.

One of the men laying there had been sick for 38 years.

Somebody say 38 years.

Okay, and when Jesus saw him and knew he had been ill for a long time, he asked him, Would you like to get well?

I can't, sir, the sick man said.

For I have no one to put me in the pool when the water bubbles up.

Someone else always gets there ahead of me.

Jesus told him, Stand up, pick up your mat and walk.

Verse number nine.

Instantly, somebody say, instantly, instantly, the man was healed.

He rolled up his sleeping mat and began walking.

Exclamation point.

But this miracle happened on the Sabbath.

This miracle happened on the Sabbath.

One of the things that you will see in John's writings, but in in the other gospels, is this tension of not only what Jesus was doing it, but when he chose to do it.

And in John's writing, if you're as we're reading through this series, you're gonna see that it's often referenced that Jesus does these miracles on one of the holy holidays.

The reason why John is helping us to see that Jesus did this on the Sabbath, that that Jesus did this around Passover.

John helps to frame this throughout the entirety of the gospel because those were sacred days.

But Jesus performing miracles on those days was meant to do a couple of things.

One, to show that he's the fulfillment of that feast, two, to show that that all those feasts point to him, and three, he has authority over everything.

The idea of knowing that that everything points to Jesus, everything is built on Jesus, but also Jesus is the fulfillment of everything, is one of the main narratives that he transcends all of these traditions.

See, back then it was all about religion, but I want you to understand is that religion doesn't heal you, Jesus does.

It's not religion, it's not our procedures, but it's the power, the presence of God is the thing that breaks into chains and allows us to walk in the freedom and the wholeness of what we have.

I'm just getting started.

But listen, I love the simplicity of church and me giving you three pretty little points, but the three points don't save you, it's Jesus that does it.

These are practical next steps that we can take, but we don't place our faith in those things.

We place our faith in Jesus, understanding that religion is man's way to God, but Jesus is God's way to man.

He says, I need you to get out of that so that you can embrace what I want to do.

This conversation, I believe, is gonna stir some of us, it's gonna challenge some of us, it's gonna it's gonna convict us.

But if I leave, believe if we lean in, it's going to change us.

Today I want to I want to talk to us about what God is doing in this moment.

And I've entitled the message, No Excuses.

No excuses.

That's right.

As the title implies, I'm stepping on toes today.

Let's pray.

God, we thank you so much, Lord, for your presence.

We thank you for what you're doing in this atmosphere.

God, we are we are humbled that you would invite us to be a part of this amazing work that you're doing in our church.

Lord, I pray over the next few moments that you give us open eyes that we can see you.

Lord, I pray for open hearts that we can receive everything you want to give to us, God, and I pray for open ears that we can hear with our spirits what it is that you're speaking to us.

Challenge us, inspire us, convict us, correct us, lead us.

It's in Jesus' name that we pray.

Amen and amen.

I I want to pose a rhetorical question to kind of set the tone for our time together.

Um, and and and feel free to respond if you if you feel like it's it's it meets you dead in your heart.

But have you ever asked a simple question but got a very convoluted answer?

I'm I'm gauging by your your chuckles that yes, we've all been in a place where you ask a simple question, but you don't get a simple answer.

Now, I I want to go ahead and apologize right now because I am notorious for doing this.

Ordinarily, I'm like, oh, this happened to me.

I am notorious for taking a simple question, but providing a lot more detail than is necessary.

And and I genuinely don't know where it comes from.

I'm not sure if it's just because of the way that I'm wired.

I'm I'm not sure if it's because I have a heart for people that are in the service industry, specifically somebody's talking to me because some of us know, like, I mean, we let me let me just bring y'all into the Pittman household.

Whenever we're driving and we decide, like, hey, let's pull over and let's get something to eat.

We're gonna stop at a drive-thru.

Now, to me, I realize that when we go to the drive-thru, there's a couple of things that's gonna take place.

They're gonna greet us, they're gonna ask us what do we want.

All of us know in this car, we're pulling up, they're gonna ask us what we want.

So it seems to me, for the person that's in the driver's seat that's going to give the order, tell me what you want.

So when we get, when we get to the driver's window, it doesn't look like I'm having a stroke because we don't just tell me, just tell me, just tell me.

Okay, you want a number two?

What size do you want it to be?

What kind of drink do you want?

I don't believe I need to make the person that's on the other side have make them ask me every step of the way.

What do you want?

What size do you want it to be?

What drink do you want?

We all know they're gonna ask those questions, so let's provide the information up front.

Let's simplify it a little bit.

As you can see, I'm making the case here.

And and and here's why.

Because I the way that my mind works, I realize that every question has motivation behind it.

And so sometimes when I hear a question, I immediately begin to say, okay, I know what you're trying to get to, so let me just give you all the information up front so you don't have to ask me any follow-up questions.

This is real life for me.

And so let me give you a perfect example.

As you guys know, I am a diehard fan of God's team, um the Eagles.

Okay.

And here's what I've learned with being an Eagles fan.

If you don't have faith being an Eagles fan, then I don't know what you have because you gotta hold on when you don't see it.

You you gotta believe God for miracles, so sometimes.

So a miracle almost took place.

They played against, they played against the Buccaneers.

I say that they played against Tom Brady and the referees on on Thursday.

I said what I said.

So they they they played a game, they lost, but they they came close, good effort.

My son Caleb, on the other hand, he plays football for his high school team.

So on Friday, I go to the football game and I'm still representing my Eagle shirt.

You gotta ride with him, you gotta die with him.

Bad boys for life.

So we're riding.

I go, I go inside, and I see a gentleman, and he looks at me and he's like, Oh man, that was a that was a tough game, man.

I'm like, yeah, I know.

And so then he says, Man, where are you from?

See, I I understand what he's asking me.

What he wants to understand is, okay, we're living in Central Florida, you're an Eagles fan, so he's trying to understand how is it that I'm an Eagles fan.

But for me, that's a very complicated question to answer.

So now I feel the need to unpack a lot of details to this man to give him context because again, I know what he's getting to.

So when he says, Where are you from?

I say, okay, I was originally born in Wilmington, Delaware.

Delaware is the first state.

Did you know that?

Um, it's actually 15 minutes outside of the Philadelphia area, so we kind of inherit that culture.

So that's this area that I spent a lot of time at.

So I moved to Jacksonville, Florida about 17 years ago.

I worked for the school system there, had an incredible journey there, but God called me into ministry, and so I was living in Jacksonville for about 15 years, and then I went to DC for two years.

No, I never became a fan of the Washington football team because I'm a diehard Eagles fan, but then I've been living here in Orlando for two and a half years now.

He was literally speechless.

He just looks at me and he's like, okay.

And here's the thing: I think inside of me, because there's still that part of me that was like, listen, I don't have a lot of time to get into this discourse because I realize that if I say I'm from Delaware, that's gonna be a follow-up question.

That's gonna be another follow-up question.

And I'm still trying to get to the seat so I can have an optimal view of watching my son's team lose or try to win.

I know.

I didn't want to give up my seat.

So I just downloaded all the information so that way you get the information, we move on.

A simple question made so complicated with all those nuances and details.

Some of y'all know it.

Let me let me frame it a little bit differently.

As parents, those of us who have children that are at the age where they they think and respond on our own, you ever ask them a simple question and get a very complicated answer?

Again, let me give you a little insight into the Pittman household.

This is a real life scenario.

If there was a reality TV show, we would get canceled probably.

Okay, so so so here's here's the thing.

My I see my son, he's kind of like wandering around the house, and I understand that my assignment that I gave him is to clean his room.

I'm aware of this.

We've had a conversation, we had an agreement on it, we signed a contract on it, clean your room.

So I see him wandering around, and I can hear that he's shuffling around, getting ready to leave and go somewhere.

So I simply say to him, Caleb, have you cleaned your room?

To which he then said, No.

But you see, what had happened was this.

My good friend, he he just broke up with his girlfriend.

He's heartbroken.

And and dad, you know that you you raise me to really be, you raised me to care about my friends, and so I got sidetracked talking to him and encouraging him, and and and I really feel like man, it would really do him well if if we if I get him out of the house and and if we can go um to the movies.

So um I'm going to the movies and hey, can you pay for me to go to the movies?

Okay.

How do we go from did you clean your room to it's your fault that I'm kind and can you also give me some money?

It's fascinating how quickly these things devolve into some weird thing.

And so I said, listen, Caleb, I said, man, it sounds as if you're giving me a whole bunch of excuses.

He looked at me dead in the windows to my soul, and he said this to me those aren't excuses, it's an explanation.

So here's the thing you need to understand.

I am prepared publicly in front of all these faithful witnesses to acknowledge you, son, that yes, you are faster than me.

I can't outrun you anymore.

You are more in tuned to culture than me.

Bro, you got me beat on all of that stuff.

You are a better video gamer than me, all of that stuff.

But one thing you don't got me beat it is when it comes to language.

I said, bro, welcome to my area.

On this corner, we have 17-year-old Caleb.

Over here, we have 46-year-old Keith.

Let me give you a lesson on language.

I said, Oh my son, that absolutely was not an explanation.

That was an excuse.

Let me tell you the difference between the two.

You see, an explanation is to make something known.

An explanation is to bring understanding or provide a reason attached with accountability.

An excuse, on the other hand, is justifying and removing the blame.

An excuse is when you provide an explanation, but you're trying to avoid responsibility.

I said, son, you see, you were close to being in a place where you were providing an explanation, but because you refuse to accept accountability, you actually turned it into an excuse.

So I said, let me tell you how you should have responded to me if you were trying to provide an explanation.

Hey Caleb, did you finish cleaning your room?

Take note.

No, sir.

No, sir, my beloved father, my provider.

Um I have not completed it as of yet.

It is completely on me.

My good friend is going through a tough situation right now, and I wanted to be an encouragement for him.

So my goal is I want to finish cleaning the room.

Then after that, I would love to take him out to get his mind off of his troubles.

Is that cool with you?

It's like I'm giving him the cheat sheet.

It's like for teachers that are saying, This will be on the test, this will be on the test, this will be on the test.

I'm literally giving him the tools to be successful and how to make sure that you don't allow the excuses or the explanation to shift it to a place where we're leaning on excuses.

You see, an explanation, it gives an account but takes accountability.

An excuse shifts blame and justifies what has happened.

An explanation, it gives context of the past.

An excuse justifies why we can't move into the future.

See, every one of us have really, really good explanations or reasons for why we can't do what we're supposed to do.

We all have great rationale and reasons for why we haven't accomplished certain things.

Come on, think about it.

We all have a very good reason on why we are paying for that gym membership but have yet to go to the gym.

We we all have very, very good reasons on on why we can't consistently make it to church.

And I should add on time.

Okay, we all we all have good reasons on why this just isn't the best season for me to get involved in a group.

We all have really, really, really good reasons for why, man.

Like I'm gonna give, but I'm I'm gonna start giving that I'm stepping on toes.

Okay, we all have very, very good reasons on on why this just isn't the best time for me to serve.

We all have very, very good reasons on why we haven't made that phone call or had that very uncomfortable conversation or for why we haven't apologized yet.

We we all have very good reasons for why we haven't forgiven because they really don't deserve it yet.

We all have good reasons on why we can't go back to school.

We all have very good reasons on why we can't start the business.

We all have rationale for the things that we are doing, but at the end of the day, we're just justifying the lack of progress.

You know the thing that turns a victim into being a victor is that you don't allow yourself to lean too heavily on your excuses.

It's a matter of changing our posture.

It's a matter of letting go of what happened so something new can happen.

I don't know who needs to hear this.

But you're not you're not a victim, you're victorious, but you gotta let go of the excuses.

You may have fallen, but you're not a failure, but you gotta let go of the excuses.

You may even be struggling right now, but by the power of God's word, you are more than a conqueror.

But you but you gotta you gotta let go of the excuses.

I want us all to understand this that every bad excuse started as a good explanation.

Every good explanation can quickly turn into a bad excuse.

How?

If we let it live.

Linger too long.

Because there are moments that we really do have very good tangible reasons on why something happens.

But what happens when we begin to lean on that reason to the point that it stops our mobility?

And now what was a very good explanation, what was a very good reason, it becomes an excuse for living a life of mediocrity.

We must be careful that we don't allow what has happened to stop something new from happening.

Our excuses, they keep us in bondage.

It limits our ability to completely move forward.

And here's the thing: there are many times that our excuses affect more than just us.

Once I got into ministry and I knew the things that God has placed on my heart in regards to engaging God's word, teaching God's word, being amongst God's people, being together and specifically with marriage groups, and then also spending time with guys because I want to see men take their rightful place in the kingdom of God.

But you know what happens?

The moment that you start getting busy, you start getting very active, you got a lot of things going on.

The thing that I knew that God was calling me to do, the thing that I know that God is calling me to do, it was always a very good reason on why this wasn't the right time.

Man, I got so much going on, this isn't the best time.

Last group semester, man, like man, I have this burden on my heart.

I really would love to lead a men's group.

It's just not the right time.

And here's the thing by definition, that very well may have been true.

So when this new group semester had started, I remember as I was talking with Pastor Nate, and he's like, hey, are you are you still thinking about doing one of your groups?

And I was like, man, like I'm thinking about it, I really want to, but but I gotta check my schedule because at the end of the day, it's it just may not be the best time.

And I believe that the Holy Spirit spoke to me and said, the right time to do the right thing is right now.

How long are you gonna allow a season that was a very good explanation to turn into an excuse that justifies your inability to lead and move people forward, like I've called you to do it?

God's grace meets you at the place of your obedience.

And so often we're so analytical and thinking so far down the road that when God is telling us to take a step, we're so busy trying to analyze all the angles of the steps that God is saying, if you just take the step, my grace will meet you there, and I will give you the strength and the capacity to do what I've called you to do.

God will only require us to do what He's given us the grace to do.

But if we lean too heavily on our excuses, it will keep us from truly moving forward.

Our excuses can turn into crutches that stagnate us.

My question is: are we leaning more on our excuses than we are on God?

Are we leaning more on justifying things than we are on what God is challenging and encouraging us to do?

Our excuses are the prisons that keep us from moving forward.

There's a lot that God wants to do in every single one of us, but at some point we got to get away from the excuses, the justification, and take ownership of our calling and step into it.

This brings me to my place in this text.

Because we have this man who has been paralyzed for 38 years.

38 long years, and there was this tradition that at this place where they were all laid out in front of this pool, that that whoever got into the water first, they would be the ones who got healed.

Biblically and theologically, that just doesn't seem to be accurate, but it was a tradition.

Whoever can get in first is the one that's gonna that's gonna get healed.

So this man had been laying there, and the Bible says that Jesus looked at him and he could tell he had been there for a long time.

I often wonder, what are some telltale signs that Jesus saw that gave him the clarity to understand he had been there for a long time?

I believe that as we look at this and understand the culture, it means that the man had established some good rhythms for his broken condition.

That he had found a way to function within his dysfunction.

We all know what it's like when we find ourselves weaving into a place of brokenness, and then we end up finding ways to continue to survive in that brokenness, and then we become so comfortable in that brokenness that the idea of becoming free becomes more uncomfortable than the bondage that we're in.

Let me let me talk about it.

Just yesterday I took my son and his friend uh to a movie, Matinee.

And so we went to a movie, had a great time, and then when we came outside, of course, it's almost like you forget that it's light outside, right?

It's it's bright, it's oh my gosh, it's bright, it's daytime.

And I find it fascinating how how uncomfortable the light is.

I find it fascinating how quickly our minds and our bodies and our eyes can adapt to being in the dark.

And then the moment we come out into the light, it becomes a little uncomfortable.

I gotta I gotta figure out a way to deal with it.

I believe that there's many of us that we had a season when we were in the darkness, but God is calling us into the light.

It may require us to get a little bit uncomfortable, it may require some things to shine on us a little bit, but if we can just continue to move forward and stop allowing the comfort of the dark to keep us there and understand that God is calling us into a season of light, that is when we begin to walk in a place of true freedom and wholeness.

Jesus could see that this man had probably created some rhythms that allowed him to function within his dysfunction.

When you were broken and paralyzed at that time, you had a way that you asked for money, you had a way that you learn how to survive and to and to be able to just exist, so to speak.

These broken systems that allow us to thrive even in the midst of our brokenness.

So Jesus looks at this man and he says, This is this is the the Keith Pittman translation, bro, do you even want to get better?

Now, it would seem to me that where the man is located, that yes, of course he wants to get better.

He's he's positioned himself in an environment where he could get better.

In other words, he was at the temple complex.

In other words, he was going to church.

Yes, I want to get better.

But there was something in his condition, there was something in his posture that allowed Jesus to recognize there's a comfort level that you have with where you are that you're justifying where you are.

So I need to ask you really quick, do you even want it in your heart?

Because before God puts it in your hand, you have to have it in your heart.

Do you do you want it?

Do you do you really, really want to be whole?

Do you do you really, really want to be free?

Do you do you really, really want this breakthrough?

Because I want to put it in your hand, but I first got to see it in your heart.

Do you do you really want it?

Or have you gotten comfortable with where you are?

Have you have you gotten content with where you are?

Have you found ways to justify it?

Have you found ways to to sidestep accountability?

Is it is it everybody else's fault?

Is it everything that's happened to you?

And now you're at a place where you become like, yeah, it would be nice if I got my breakthrough, but but I'm content, and I believe that Jesus is asking some of us right now, do you really want it?

I believe he's posing this question to prepare our minds and our hearts for this thought.

Did you know that you have a part to play in the miracle that you want to see?

We all want a supernatural invasion of God.

We want God to disrupt the natural order of things and do something miraculous in our lives.

But do you realize that outside of creation, outside of creation, every major move of God as it relates to people, it involved obedience from man.

You have a part to play in the miracle you want to see.

But do you want it?

Isaiah 43, 19 says this look, I'm about to do something new.

Can you see it?

Can you perceive it?

Can you recognize it?

What the text is helping us to understand that it's impossible for us to grab a new thing with an old mentality.

It's impossible for us to take a hold of the potential of what God wants to do as long as we are leaning heavily on the excuses of what has been done.

We have a part to play in the miracle that we want to see when Jesus shows up in the life of this man and everyone else that he had an encounter with, understand that Jesus wasn't necessarily looking to do miracles.

He was living his life and he was walking his path and he would interrupt people's regularly scheduled program and then he would say, Do you want to be made well?

He would hear somebody else crying out and says, What do you want?

These moments where Jesus is interrupting someone else's regular life, and it's like it's a moment of visitation for us.

And Jesus was interrupting people's brokenness, he was interrupting their comfort zone and saying to them, But do you want to be made well?

Because right now I'm here.

I believe that God is speaking in some of us right now, that there's been some areas that we've gotten comfortable in.

And Jesus is here to disrupt your regularly scheduled program, and he's asking this question.

I know that you have gotten used to people looking at you as a victim, but I've called you to be victorious, but do you want it?

I know that you've gotten used to the pain that you're feeling, but I am your healer, but do you want it?

That Jesus is interrupting our regularly scheduled program, and he's challenging us by saying, Do you really want it?

Because you have a part to play in the miracle that you want to see.

The man begins to unfold the excuses that we've talked about, and Jesus bypasses them altogether, and he he gives this man these instructions to help him move forward.

What I believe is that this is a description of what he did for this man, but it's also a prescription for how we can function because we have an expectation that he can do it for us.

Understand this church, that if God did it for them, he can do it for me.

That if God did it for them, he will do it for me.

If God did it for them, I have an expectation that I will see it done for me.

This is what happens when we begin to recognize the signs and miracles.

So when Jesus is having this interaction with this man and he begins to get lost in his excuses, Jesus bypasses it and he gives him these three instructions, these three things that I think can help us.

He says this, he says, get up! Get up.

That word, it's the same word that is connected to resurrection.

It is the same word that is connected when it says to rise up.

It's the same word that was used when Jesus said, Lazarus, come out.

Get up.

Resurrection, rise up.

It's time for you to do something about it.

What's so powerful about this word is the is the tense and the weight of the text.

It's an activating verb, which means that the power to do it is connected to the command of it.

Somebody didn't catch that.

He wasn't getting up in his own strength.

He wasn't doing it in his own ability.

But it's a power-packed word that has resurrection in it.

So our responsibility is to respond to it.

When he told Lazarus to come out, Lazarus didn't get up in his own strength, but it was the power of the word of God that gave him the strength to get up.

What I'm trying to help you to understand is that you don't have to do this in your own strength, that the power is connected to the command.

So Jesus is speaking to somebody right now, and he's saying, it is time for you to get up.

It's almost the same way as when we would go into a room and wake up our children.

Hey, there's somewhere that you gotta be.

It's time for you to get up.

Some of us have been asleep at our calling.

Some of us have been asleep at the thing that God has destined us to do, and he's tapping us and saying, Hey, you've been down long enough.

You've been crying long enough.

You've been complaining long enough.

You allowed that explanation to turn into an excuse long enough.

It is time for you to get up.

It is time for you to get up, get out of that toxic environment, to get out of that toxic relationship, to get out of that toxic workplace, and it is time for you to get it up, get it out of it, get it out of it.

There's somewhere I need you to be it's time for you to get it out of it, get it out, get out of it, stop making excuses, it's time for you to get out of it, get out of it, get out of it, get up out of the work if you get up on anything out, get out of it, get out, get out of it, stop you, stop it, stop, get it out of it, get out of it, get out of it, it's time for you to get out of it.

God is compelling his people to wake up.

It's time for us to get up and take our rightful places.

He says to him, it's time for you to get up.

No more excuses.

You gotta get up.

It starts with your mind, it starts with your heart, and then you gotta walk it out with your feet.

He then tells the man to take up your mat.

He tells him to get up, but when he tells him to take up his mat, he's actually telling him to get focused.

Get focused.

All of us knows what it feels like, right?

When we have so many things that are in front of us, so many goals that we want to reach, so many things that we would like to accomplish.

We all we all know that feeling.

And so sometimes it can be so overwhelming when we think about all the moving parts of what we want to accomplish.

You ever get you ever heard of that term analysis paralysis?

Where there's so many different variables and things that you're thinking about that you end up analyzing and analyzing and analyzing and analyzing, and three months later you still have not taken a single step.

Imagine for a man who'd been paralyzed for 38 years, a man who now his mind is being open to the possibility that I am no longer defined by my brokenness, that that people can no longer call me what I used to be, that who I was is no longer who I am.

It opens up a lot of opportunities for this man.

So now, with all these opportunities that's presented in front of him, what what do I do?

Do I do I go get a job?

Do I do I go home to my family?

Do I start my business?

What do I do?

But Jesus said, man, I just need you to narrow your focus and just pick up the mat.

Just narrow your focus and pick up the mat.

I I sense that for some of us, the reasons why we can lean on our excuses is because there's a multitude of things that we need to do and we don't know where to start.

So we end up not doing anything at all.

I remember years ago when I was on this journey to be debt-free.

Credit card bills, all these different things going on.

And so I'm like, where do we start?

And so you end up making minimum payments on everything, but making progress on nothing.

So then, so then I began to to listen to financial guru um Dave.

Y'all guys know Dave Ramsey.

And so Dave Ramsey began to instruct me on this.

I made it like me personally, like I'm not watching the video.

Like Dave called me and said, Um, hey, Keith, um, shout out to Dave.

Um but he said, like, hey, there's this thing called the snowball effect where you focus on one thing, then you take the success of that, and then you add that to the next thing, and then it snowballs into the next thing, and then that snowballs into the next thing, and before you know it, you've taken all that momentum and you've knocked out all of your debt.

You're actually financial free, but it starts with identifying the one thing that you can focus on and then carry that momentum into the next thing.

I don't know the multitude of things that we're struggling with right now.

I don't know all the things that we're juggling right now, but I believe that that Jesus and the Holy Spirit is interpreting for you right now.

Take up your mat.

Do the one thing, do the one thing that has the ability to attack the next thing.

Do the one thing.

What is the one thing that you know if I can do this and do this well, that this will give me the momentum to be successful and everything else?

The enemy loves the idea of us being scattered.

This is why scripture says a double-minded man is unstable in all of his ways.

Because we find ourselves wanting to do this.

Okay, well, I also want to do this, and then I also want to do this.

No, just do the one thing.

If you're very new to your faith, instead of saying, okay, I got saved yesterday, I'm going to Bible college today, just come to church every Sunday for the next three months.

Do the one thing.

Sometimes we overwhelm ourselves with the options that's in front of us, and we don't take the time to discipline ourselves to do the one thing.

Jesus said to this man, just do the one thing.

I just need you to do this one thing, pick up the mat.

But Jesus, I got some other things.

I know.

Pick up the mat.

But man, I got this business idea I've been working on.

I understand.

Pick up the mat.

Just do the one thing.

Stop being overwhelmed with all the options and do the one thing.

Go to the counseling, do the one thing, go to the group, do the one thing.

Go out on a date night, do the one thing.

Just do the one thing consistently and watch God breathe in the simplicity of your obedience.

Just do the one thing.

The third and final thing, and I want to invite the worship team to come back up.

Because Jesus, he tells them to get focused.

But now he says for him, get going.

I need you to walk this thing out.

When you look at the language that's used here, that word walk, take up your mat and walk.

That word walk, it's transliterated to mean this live.

I want you to get up.

Take up the mat and live.

Think about that for a moment.

God doesn't want us just to exist, He wants us to live.

The idea is that He wants us to walk this thing out.

And He creates this connection that in order for us to truly live, we have to walk it out.

And when we walk it out, we are truly living it out.

He shows us through the language, this intertwining thing, that somehow, if I can get up, if I can focus on the one thing, and if I can begin to walk this thing out, then the very thing I'm struggling with truly does become under my feet, and I'm walking with dominion and victory.

We got to walk it out consistently.

Jesus was talking to a man who'd been paralyzed.

The Bible says he was immediately healed.

But but let me give you a little bit of context of what this really looks like.

We understand some of us, and maybe it's just those of us who are of a certain age, but we understand that if you go to sleep and you sleep in one position, that sometimes it's a little uncomfortable when you get up to walk.

You gotta let the blood circulate.

Am I the only one that feels that sometimes?

Like for me, when I get out of bed, it's prayer, like, okay, Lord, let me stand.

I'm gonna put my feet on this ground, don't let me collapse.

Like it's just this is my walk with God at this point.

So that's just me sleeping for a couple of hours at night.

This man hadn't walked in 38 years.

So even though, at a word from God, God somehow was able to provide strength to his bones, the ligaments, and all those other things, this man now had the responsibility of learning how to do something that maybe he's never done before.

I can imagine that even after he's been healed, there have been many moments where he stumbled, keep walking it out.

There may have been moments where he makes some mistakes, keep walking it out.

I'm confident that the next day, he may have even wanted to revert back to laying on that mat because he had been there all these years.

But wait a minute, I'm healed.

I gotta get up and walk this thing out.

What I believe that means for every one of us is that our past has muscle memory, and there are moments where it's so easy for us to revert right back to the way that we used to live, respond to the name that no longer identifies us.

It's so easy for us to revert back.

But what God is saying to us, yes, you may stumble, but keep walking it out.

Yes, you yes, you may make some mistakes, but keep walking it out.

Yes, you may miss, yes, you may have some moments where you're not your best version of yourself, but keep walking it out.

Don't give up.

I need you to live this thing out because as you live it out, it will truly be under your feet.

You are healed, you are whole, but I need you to keep walking it out.

You are healed, you are whole, but I need you to keep walking it out.

Don't allow the distraction, don't allow the stumble, don't allow the setback to convince you that somehow I withdrew my grace from you.

I am for you, I am with you, and even if you stumble, my grace will catch you and empower you, but you got to keep walking it out.

He says you need to get going.

Don't allow the struggle to be an excuse for why you can't be a conqueror.

Keep walking it out.

The Bible says that this miracle took place on the Sabbath, and the reason it emphasizes that at the end is because without Jesus and his profound ability, he clearly could have done this miracle on another day.

Many of the miracles that he's done, where he confronted against the religious culture, he could have easily done it on another day.

But I think he was subversively sending us a message that the right time to do the right thing is right now.

He, in other words, he was saying, let's not allow religion or anything else to be an excuse for us not to walk in the fullness of God.

We're not going to allow any excuses.

You know, another rendering for the word excuse.

You just add a D to the end of it and it's excused, which actually means to be pardoned.

To be permitted.

It's interesting how an excuse seeks to justify what's happened, but an excusion or being excused actually permits you to continue to move forward.

I think that for some of us, it's so hard for us to move forward because of shame.

For some of us, it's hard for us to move forward because we're we're just continuously reminded of our brokenness of the past.

But let me say it to you the way that the Bible says it.

You have no excuses because you're Sins have been excused.

You have no excuses because your past has been excused.

There is literally nothing that is keeping you from doing what God has called you to do because when Jesus went to the cross, he died and removed every single excuse.

Sin is not an excuse anymore.

Time is not an excuse anymore.

Our response is to now look at what God is inviting us to do.

Walk it out.

Get up, get focused, walk it out, live it out.

And I believe that we will see a miracle take place in our lives.

You have a part to play in a miracle that you want to see, but we've got to forfeit every single one of our excuses.

With every head bowed and every eye closed, I want to pray for us.

If you're in this room right now and you recognize that maybe, just maybe, there's some areas where a good explanation has lingered too long and has turned into an excuse, and that excuse is now the prisoner of your potential.

I want to pray for you.

I'm not going to ask you to come to the altar, but I want to pray for you right here.

So if that's you, Keith, I just want, I just want the freedom to move forward.

If there's any excuses in my life, reveal them to me so I no longer can allow a good explanation to turn into a bad excuse.

If that's you, just getting free from it.

I want to pray for you right now on the count of three.

One, two, three.

Hands up boldly amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Hands up literally everywhere.

We all simply want to step into what God's calling us to do.

I'm going to pray for you in just a second.

Here's my second question.

And this is for our online audience as well.

If you're in here with us right now and maybe you know that you're away from God, you know that your next step is to surrender your life to Christ.

And maybe there's a couple of different variables that have led you to being here with us today.

And maybe there's a couple of different reasons on why you haven't moved forward before today.

But I believe that today is the day of salvation.

I believe that today is the day for us to be reminded that our sins have been excused because of the precious blood of Jesus, that you are welcome into this family, but you have a part to play in the miracle that you want to see.

If you're in here with us today and you simply want to say yes to Jesus, committing your life to Christ, simply saying, I'm going to be done with the excuses, I'm done with my I'm done with trying to justify and rationalize, shift the blame.

But I am today prepared to accept that God is inviting me to be a part of his family, and I'm going to walk this thing out.

I may stumble, I may make mistakes, but I'm going to walk this thing out.

If you know that that's you and you want to say yes to Jesus, to commit or recommit your life to Christ, I would love for you to boldly lift your hands up on the count of three.

One, two, three.

Hands up.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

God bless you guys.

Amen.

I see you on the back.

Amen.

Amen.

I see you to the right.

Amen.

Come on, Tris.

Can we put our hands together for every single person that is saying yes to the gospel?

I want to pray for us in just a moment, but what I what I want to do is I want to ask us all to stand onto our feet.

Because I believe in the power and authority of standing on God's word.

If you're part of that group that said yes to Jesus for the first time, we we want to give you some resources.

I would love to connect with you out in the lobby.

You can text the word um decide to 25101, where we would love to give you some resources and some things that I think that can truly equip you.

We are a church that we truly love you.

Men and everyone, make sure you download our app, get connected to all the incredible things that God is doing.

We love you guys so much.

But let me pray for us, let me bless us, and let us go on about our week.

Heavenly Father, we thank you.

We thank you, Lord, that we have no excuses.

That there are so many excuses on why we can't do what we've been called to do.

But Jesus, you're the reason that we can do it.

So, Father, I pray in the name of Jesus for every person that lifted their hands up, that is recognizing that the Holy Spirit is stirring their hearts and saying, You have no excuse.

It is time for you to serve, you have no excuse.

It is time for you to forgive.

You have no excuse.

It is time for you to get involved.

If you have no excuse, it is time for you to repent.

You have no excuse.

It's time for you to get involved with your family.

Whatever that next step is, let me encourage you.

It is time for you to get up.

It is time for you to get focused.

It is time for you to get going and to begin to walk it out.

The power is connected to the command.

Simply be obedient and the grace of God will meet you exactly where you are.

Father, I pray over our precious people that you give them the strength, the focus, and the ability to continue to walk out the thing that you are calling them to do.

Father, I now pray for every person that is surrendering their life to you.

Your word declares that if we confess with our mouths and believe with our heart that you are Lord and that you died on the cross and that you rose from the dead, that that gives birth to salvation.

So I pray that everybody in here right now, you make that decision and that confession in your heart with your mouth right now in the name of Jesus.

There is a celebration that has taken place in heaven, and we're celebrating right here in our church.

We celebrate with those who are taking their next step.

Father, I pray that you fill them with your spirit and that you order their steps, God.

We're so grateful for what you've done in here today, and we're expecting that you did it for them and you're going to do it for us.

So, Father, I pray a blessing over every one of our households.

I pray that you watch over us during this week, and I pray that you challenge us to get up, to get going, to get focused.

In Jesus' name.

Amen.

Thanks again for listening.

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