MOMENTUM: Keep That Same Energy

Welcome to the Celebration Church Orlando podcast.

We are so glad you joined us, and we hope you are encouraged by today's message.

Alright.

I'm telling you, I'm gonna let I'm gonna let Pastor Justin be like my hype man from now on.

Like I just I feel like he just he stirs the pot just enough.

And I'm not sure if I've said this to you guys before, but the 12 o'clock is my favorite service of all of our services because I know this is the service where we get turtle.

Anything, anything can happen.

So let's buckle up and get ready to jump into it.

As Pastor Justin said, man, if this is your first time here, uh my name is Keith, my wife, Megan and I, we have the honor and the privilege of serving as the as the lead pastors here at Celebration Orlando.

And if we haven't had a chance to meet you, man, we'll we're typically out in the lobby hanging around.

Please come up, let us know that you're here.

We'd love to shake your hand and learn of any ways that we as a church can serve you and your family.

I'm excited about this being Baptism Sunday.

So as a community, we're gonna all get out there and celebrate with everybody as they take that critical next step.

And as Pastor Justin mentioned, man, we're we're going into this new series.

Because what I recognize about the season that we're in, just as a culture, if I if I think about it, January is typically that time of year where we think a little bit about like what's the what's this year gonna look like for me?

2020, a year of vision.

What's things gonna look like for me?

And so for most of us, we've we began to put some things in place so that we could see results because we know that discipline will create results.

If we could just do something consistently enough, we'll start to actually see us take ground.

So that's kind of been our theme, and we're gonna we're gonna talk about that all throughout the course of this year.

Taking ground, advancing, moving forward.

And when you consider what January represents, that time of getting some things in order, maybe you did see that you began to take ground.

Maybe you thought about, man, I want to I want to get in shape.

So I'm gonna go to the gym, I'm gonna make some adjustments to my diet, and you're starting to see results.

You're taking ground with your health.

Maybe you're taking ground with your family, making some adjustments, spending time with family, connecting with your community, and you're beginning to see the results that come from it.

We we know that discipline will create results.

And so the thing that's important though is to make sure that we carry that momentum forward.

Because truth be told, if we're not careful, we can see some pr we can see some progress, we can see some momentum beginning to build, and and if the temptation to temptation will be for us to take our foot off the gas, it could cause us to lose that momentum a little bit, and I believe that many of us we've we've felt that momentum that takes place.

Now, now here's what I know about momentum.

Momentum is one of those things that it can be organic or it can be strategic, but it nonetheless it moves you forward.

Organic momentum is kind of like what I would consider to be like people who binge watch an entire series in one day.

That's that's organic momentum.

Like you didn't anticipate spending your Thursday, Friday, and Saturday watching season seven of Homeland in anticipation that this is gonna be the night that season eight, the final season, kicked off.

You didn't anticipate that.

I know I didn't anticipate it, but nonetheless, I binge watched the whole thing because as you finish one episode, like, well, I gotta see what happens next, and then you've organically just rode this momentum through.

We all know what that feels like.

But then there's also those moments where we have strategic momentum, those moments when we're trying to identify where maybe there's some rhythms and patterns in our lives, and if we can really double down on it, then maybe we'll see some progress.

We see this a lot in the athletic industry, where a team that may be winning or are doing something that's very effective, they'll try to double down on that momentum.

They'll do a no-huddle offense because they want to try to exploit the mismatches with the defense.

We see teams when they're getting that momentum, the other team will call a timeout.

Why do they do that?

Because they want to stop the momentum.

So we know that momentum is one of those things that we have to be intentional with.

We have to recognize and discern what to do with it.

Because here's the thing if we are if we have momentum without direction, it can be reckless.

Because all of us know when we have some momentum, you have a lot of energy, but you don't have any plans for it, you can it could actually end up hurting you.

This is what happens a lot of times to people when they win the lottery.

They get all this money, but they had no plan.

They got this big momentum, but without direction, it can cause them to crash and burn.

But when you have a plan in place, it actually allows you to streamline your resources and to be more successful with it.

This is what we want to talk about in this season because we realize that momentum is gonna be a critical part for moving us forward.

Even when we look at space shuttles, which I absolutely love, it takes a lot of momentum to get them into the sky, but it also takes a lot of momentum for them to stay there.

It takes about they're going about 18,000 miles an hour, 18,000 miles per hour to leave the Earth's atmosphere.

But then at the same time, even after they eject the boosters, they still have to go at least 17,000 miles per hour in order to stay in orbit.

You have to keep that same energy.

And what I know is that there's times for us where we we could put a lot of energy into the start of something, we have all that momentum, but if we don't keep that same energy, we can lose that momentum and actually end up falling right back to the place that we intended to leave.

Physics defines momentum like this it says that momentum occurs when mass and velocity work together.

That means that whenever you have something that has weight, significance, importance, and you connect it to forward motion, it will create momentum.

We see this happening all the time.

And when I think about this from a faith standpoint, I love what it says here in James chapter 2, verse 26.

James 2:26

It says, For the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.

Here's what Jesus' brother is telling us.

Ultimately, what he's saying to us is this we are in the orbit of grace, but if you really want to see momentum in your life, you're gonna need to have two critical components that work together: faith and works.

It is impossible for us to actually have forward momentum in our lives if we don't put our faith to work.

Let me say it to us this way: when you put your faith to work, you will create momentum in your life.

That's what this series is about.

This series is gonna help us walk through over the next couple of weeks a couple of key areas where we need to identify how do I put my faith to work in this area so I can experience the momentum that God has for us.

There's a passage of scripture that I believe will will perfectly set off this series.

It's found in the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 4.

Matthew 4 · chapter mention

We're gonna look at verses 1 through 11, and it's a it's a fairly popular passage of scripture if you've been around church for any period of time.

It says it here, starting at verse number one that Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.

After forty days and forty nights he was hungry.

And the tempter came to him and said, If you are the son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.

But he answered, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.

The devil then took him to the holy city and set him on a pinnacle of the temple, and he said to him, If you are the son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, He commanded his angels concerning you, and on their hands they will bear you up, least you strike your foot against a stone.

Let me explain that.

Ultimately, what he's saying is, Jump off of this temple, because the angels will catch you.

The devil is literally quoting scriptures at this point, taking it out of context, but quoting scriptures to Jesus.

Jesus responds and says, Again, it is written, You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.

And again, the devil's very persistent.

And again, he takes him to a high mountain and he shows him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory, and he said to him, All of these things I will give you if you will just fall down and worship me.

Jesus then said to him, Be gone, Satan, for it is written, You shall not worship, you shall worship the Lord God, and him only you shall serve.

Then the devil left him, and behold, the angels came and ministered to him.

Another translation said, The angels came and strengthened him.

Today I just want to spend a couple of moments before we go out to celebrate baptism about how do we get momentum in our walk with God.

How do we have this momentum for us personally?

If you're taking notes, I want you to write this message title down.

Keep that same energy.

Let's keep that same energy.

Let's pray.

God, we thank you.

We thank you so much for your word.

We thank you for your people, God, and creating a space where we can come in and put you first, prioritize you in our week.

So, Father, I just pray over the next few moments that you give us open eyes to see you, open ears to hear you, God, and open hearts to receive everything that you have for us.

We believe it with an expectation, God, in Jesus' name.

Amen and amen.

Just for a quick show of hands, I I kind of want to get a sense of who I'm talking to because I I I've come to learn something about myself that I'm not what I would consider to be a thrill seeker.

So just let me just get a show of hands.

Is anybody in this room ever going skydiving?

What?

The 12 o'clock service is crazy.

Like this, that's more than all the other services combined.

Like I'm actually quite surprised.

Like a lot of y'all have gone skydiving.

Here's something that I want you to know that you'll never see on my Instagram feed.

I'm so excited to jump out of this plane.

Like you'll you'll never see that in my feed.

You'll never hear me talking about, man, I can't wait to go sperlunking.

You'll never hear that.

You'll you'll never hear me talking about, man, I can't wait to go bungee jumping.

Now, I'm not gonna say that that I don't like excitement, but what I'll tell you is the the bulk of my excitement that you're gonna see in my life is gonna either be, man, I drove in a convertible today.

Or, or, or, man, I went on a roller coaster.

Those are pretty much the two biggest expressions of excitement that you're ever gonna see in my life.

I just feel like that's that's just not the grace that's on my life.

And and here's the thing: my family and I, we we love, we absolutely love roller coasters.

Like it's it's one of those things.

Like I consider it a a life's mission to make sure that we travel all across this great country to hit up all the best roller coaster spots, except for the ones that are like in carnivals, because if you can fold it up, then it's not for me.

Like it's gotta be something that's it's gotta be bit, it's gotta be like consistent with the ground.

If you can move it, then it's not for me.

That's just my own thing.

Everybody kind of do what you feel is best for you.

But but here's the thing that I here's the thing that I love about um roller coasters.

I love the engineering of it, I love the the structure of it, I love the the process of waiting in lines, I love the the anticipation of going up and then dropping and all that.

Like I love it all.

So for me, I thought I've thought I've seen it all.

But just a couple of weeks ago, man, my my family and I, we had an opportunity to get on a ride that we had never gotten on before.

And so for me, I was like, okay, like I know what to expect.

You wait in line, you have all these things that engage your senses, it's all good.

But this this particular ride, it it blew away every expectation that I had.

I would easily say that it probably is like in the top five of roller coasters I've ever ridden in in my entire life.

Like it was it was that dope.

Because here's the thing like, you know, you're you're on the ride, you have this anticipation, and the momentum just keeps continuing to build.

Like it seems as if it was getting faster as you go.

So, like my family and I, we were we were loving it, it's all exciting, but there was this moment where I did feel a little bit of disappointment because it seemed as if we were getting all of this momentum, everything was going well, and then a ride just kind of comes to a complete stop.

Then it goes backwards.

And so initially, I didn't know what was going on.

Initially, I was a little bit annoyed because I felt like we were finally getting the momentum, but then we come to a stop, we go backwards.

But when we went backwards, it brought us into another part of the ride that only helped us to move forward.

It was crazy how somehow this the engineering of this ride like was that captivating.

Like it was so good that my family and I, we got we got right back on it.

Like, I think we cut in front of some small kids, but I was bigger than them.

I was like, shut up, it's okay.

Like, but but it we were we were about that.

But when I got off the ride, I just began to replay the engineering in my mind of how the momentum was building up, we're moving fast, then we come to a stop, we go backwards, but somehow going backwards still moved us forward.

It was mind-blowing to me.

But here's the thing that it made me consider that sometimes life can feel like that.

We we wait in line and we wait in line and we wait in line, and then we finally get the thing that we're waiting for.

We're strapped in, we're filled with anticipation and expectation, we we we we finally take off, things are going really well, but then all of a sudden things can come to a stop and even go backwards.

And in those moments, it's hard to not feel like you've just lost momentum.

It's hard to not feel as if, man, like how is this going backwards a part of anybody's plan?

From when I look at the engineering of my life, I know the destination that I'm trying to get to.

So, how is it possible that me going backwards somehow will simultaneously move me forward?

I'm talking about those moments when when everything in your life seems to be picking up some really good momentum.

Family life is good, your work life is good, but then out of nowhere you find out like your child has a learning disability.

Man, I feel like I just got set back.

Or those other moments when your finances are going really well, but then you find out you got this debt that comes out of nowhere, and it just can seem like sometimes it can set you back.

It seems it can be very frustrating in those moments in our lives where we're we're trying to build momentum, we're trying to we're trying to move forward, but then we get hit in these seasons that not only bring us to a complete stop, but it brings us backwards.

And often we can say to ourselves, how is it in any way possible that somehow me going backwards is going to help me to move forward at the same time?

It's with this understanding I want us to understand what's happening here with Jesus.

Jesus has has lived his life virtually, basically perfectly, all the way up until the age of 30.

Now he is prepared to step into full-time ministry.

Everything that he had been planning and living his life for, this was the moment.

Everything was all set.

And what the Bible tells us is that Jesus is prepared to go into ministry to radically change the entire world, that he didn't he didn't go and grab a bunch of people and preach a profound sermon.

No, that would have made perfect sense to me.

That would have been a great way.

He didn't he didn't come down and perform a bunch of miracles in front of people to build up a strong following, he didn't have any press releases or anything like that.

When it was time for Jesus to go into ministry, the first place that he went was into the wilderness.

At the time when Jesus was just picking up momentum, at that time when he should have been going faster than ever, it says that he goes into the wilderness.

Now, here's what we need to understand about the wilderness.

The wilderness was never considered to be a provocative place that anybody would ever start off their ministry in.

The wilderness was an uncomfortable place.

It's a place that was barren, it was a place that was filled with brokenness and broken dreams.

The wilderness is a place that Moses ran to after he had finished killing a man in Egypt.

That was his place of refuge.

The wilderness was always a place that was considered to be disconnected without any potential of growth.

We even can see in Leviticus chapters 16 and 17 where the Day of Atonement is beautifully spelled out.

Leviticus 16 · chapter mention

It's there that you'll see that the children of Israel they would lay their hands on a goat and confess all their sins on that goat and then release him off into the wilderness.

So the wilderness was meant to be this place where sin lives.

This is where we get that phrase scapegoat.

It's the moment when all the sins were placed on something else's shoulders and led off into the wilderness.

And this is the place, this is the place that Jesus goes to first.

We're talking about killing your momentum.

It's while Jesus is here, we get hit with this other revelation because the Bible says that while Jesus was there, he was led there by God.

He didn't go there on his own.

That wasn't part of his strategy.

The Bible literally says that the Spirit led him to a place of brokenness, of despair.

A place that I would probably say is a step backwards for a man who's lived perfectly his entire life.

What good in loving God would allow his son to step into a place of such brokenness?

And the truth is, maybe some of us have asked that question ourselves.

What what good in loving God would allow me to deal with what I'm dealing with?

What good in loving God would allow me to walk into this season?

I'm losing all my momentum, I'm going backwards.

How can this going backwards somehow still move me forward?

But it even gets a little bit more, it even gets a little bit more challenging.

Because not only did the Spirit of God lead him into the wilderness, it says that he was led there to be tempted.

Now, depending on your translation of the Bible, that word could be rendered as tempted or tested.

The original Greek version of that word is pudazo, and that word is rendered 38 times in the New Testament, and about 50% of the times it's rendered as tempted, the other 50% of the times it's rendered as tested.

We also see that it's used as examined as well.

So it's this word that has these multiple meanings depending on the context of it.

So you can look at it this way: that Jesus was led into the wilderness to be examined.

Same word.

Jesus was led into the wilderness to be tested, same word.

Nonetheless, God led him into this environment to be tested, to be examined.

But what I realize is that every test has a moment of temptation, but every temptation is a moment for us to recognize that we're only being tested.

What we have to recognize is our response determines what exactly that is.

Here's the thing you'll never know the integrity of something until it is tested.

You'll never you'll never know how strong something is until it is tested.

When we look at the very cars that we drive, those engines are put under high pressure circumstances to see if it has the strength to create the output that it needs to successfully drive us to our destination.

It's put under a test.

When we consider um the planes that we ride in, they're put under extensive testing and analyzation to ensure that it is going to perform the way it's supposed to.

The airbags in our vehicles, we they're they're tested to make sure does it have the ability to absorb the impact in the in the case of a collision.

We will never know the integrity of something until it is tested.

So we have this moment where where Jesus is is under this examination.

He's under this pressure.

And for many of us, we may feel that same way.

My son, he's he's old enough now that he's going through this period where he's preparing to go to college.

He's only in 10th grade, but even now, he just took his ACT test.

This week he's gonna be taking his PERT test because we're gonna put him in dual enrollment.

And he's also getting ready to take his driver's test.

Help me God.

Like he's he's in a season where he's doing uh a lot of stuff, but those tests are just things that's a reality to him.

Now, my son, he's not one who's particularly in love with tests.

He gets a little frustrated with like, Dad, I I hate taking all these tests.

And and what I realized and what I shared with him yesterday, I said, son, I said, you know, tests are are meant to reveal how strong you are in certain areas, but to also to reveal areas where you need to send reinforcements.

The tests are always meant to show you how strong you are, but also reveal that if you have any points of vulnerability, these are areas that you need to get better in.

You don't have to look at a test as a place that's meant to destroy you or to make you feel insecure.

A test just reveals to you where you are.

I think it's important for us to know that some seasons we'll go through a test.

And if we're and if we're not careful, we'll begin to think that that test was meant to destroy us.

If we're not careful, we'll believe to think that that test was meant to set us back.

But the reality of it is, is God will never put you in a situation that is meant to destroy you.

God will never put you in a scenario that is meant to set you back.

God simply allows us to walk through things to show us how strong we really are.

I want to show you this passage of scripture here in 2 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians chapter 13.

2 Corinthians 13 · chapter mention

Paul says this to the Corinthian church.

He says, examine yourselves.

That word examine is the exact same one from test or temptation, same word.

Examine yourselves, test yourselves to see whether or not you are in the faith.

Test yourselves, or you do not realize this about yourself that Christ Jesus is in you.

In other words, what Paul is saying, unless you are put to the test, you will never know how much God is in you.

Unless you allow the pressure to come upon you, you will not know what's going to come out of you.

Paul is saying that Jesus is in you, and the way that you know that Jesus is in you is when the pressure comes upon you.

Because what's in you will eventually come out of you.

Paul wanted to make sure that the people in Corinth know that even though you may be going through a season of oppression and testing, don't believe that God is trying to tempt you in order to fail.

God is simply trying to reveal to you the areas where you are actually strong.

God uses tests to reveal our strengths.

The enemy uses temptation to exploit our weaknesses.

Let me say that again because I think somebody wants to write that down.

God uses tests to reveal our strengths.

The enemy uses temptation to exploit our weaknesses.

When Paul was when Paul was struggling with a thorn in his flesh as he refers to it, the Bible says that he prayed over and over again that God, would you please just take this away?

Like, could you take this thorn, this setback, this struggle away?

And this was what God's response was My grace is sufficient for you.

My power is made perfect in weakness.

Here's what you got to understand: that even when you find yourself in an environment that could be categorized as weakness, this is where God sends his reinforcements.

Let me say that again.

This is what God is saying to you.

That even if you're in an environment that seems to expose your weakness, that is the place that he is sending reinforcements.

That means that no matter what you're walking through, that God is there with you to make himself strong in the moment of your weakness.

No matter what you're suffering with, God will make himself strong in the moment of weakness.

But our responsibility is to get out of the way and depend on God instead of allowing temptation to exploit us for our weakness.

See, Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians chapter 10 that there is no temptation that is overtaking us that is common to man, but that God is faithful that no matter what temptation we may find, that He will provide an escape for us so that we are able to endure it.

1 Corinthians 10 · chapter mention

That is by the strength and the grace of God that no matter what season you're walking in, that God knows how to send reinforcements.

And even if you're in a space where you feel a little bit weak, God will give you the strength to get out of it.

It takes strength to say no.

It takes it takes strength to turn the other cheek, it takes strength to speak up, it takes strength to not lose your mind.

And all this time we're thinking that we have to do it in our own strengths, but it's God.

Let me make it for make it practical for you.

A couple days ago, my wife and I were in fact we're driving back from Amelia Island where we were last week.

Great, great church up there.

But as we're riding back, this guy came and he like tried to cut me off.

I saw it coming a mile away.

I didn't let him.

I said, nah, man, you ain't cutting me off.

So I sped up.

Shut it down.

Boom.

No.

So would you believe that this guy flipped me the bird?

I'm a pastor, man.

The disrespect.

Now let me tell you something.

I've been walking with God for over two decades.

That simple gesture that allowed the old urban version of Keith to rise up real quick.

Let me tell you what I felt like doing.

I felt like slowing down, getting behind this guy, following him off the exit, and saying, like, hey, bro, we were on the highway and you had that you had a lot of gestures, man.

Give me that same energy now that we're face to face.

Like I was, I was ready, like, here's what y'all don't know, man.

I don't want to put this out in the streets, man, but I'm nice with these hands.

Like, you can test me if you want.

But I was, I was ready to I was ready to say, hey man, like, don't you?

But something inside of me said, Keith, you're a pastor.

Operate with some restraint.

Here's the thing: it took every ounce of strength in me, but I realized that it wasn't me, it was God.

My reaction that I wanted to have, that was the Holy Spirit restraining me and keeping me from going and off the deep end.

For some of us, you we're wondering how I'm at this job and I am channeling my inner DMX because y'all are about to make me lose my mind up in here.

Like I'm about to spasm out on my boss if they say one more thing to me.

But then you're wondering, man, but but but I don't say it.

That ain't you.

That's the Holy Spirit restraining you.

That's God's strength being made strong, even in your point of weakness.

That so often we are wanting to step outside of line, but God says, no, that's not who you are.

I got a better purpose than calling on your life.

It's not your strength that's doing it, it's the grace of God that allows it.

This is what it looks like practically when we find ourselves in those moments where we're tempted to step out of character.

See, God will use those tests to reveal our strength, but he also sends reinforcements to our weaknesses.

Here's what I see: opposition is an opportunity for God to be glorified in your life.

That opposition is an opportunity for God to be glorified in your life.

Listen, you are stronger than you think you are.

1 John 4 says it this way: greater is he that's in you than he that's in the world.

And we will never know that greatness that's in you until the world begins to put pressure on you.

But when you find yourself in those moments, the Bible says that that Jesus shows up.

That even when you're facing opposition, that Jesus shows up.

The thing that we have to do is get out of the way and allow God to flow through us instead of allowing us to give in to that temptation.

This is what God's word is saying to us.

It takes strength.

It takes strength to say no when someone is trying to lure you to do something that God has invited you to do.

It takes strength for you to be obedient when everybody in your circle is leading you a different lifestyle.

It takes it takes a great deal of strength.

And it may feel like it's a test.

It may feel like something that's crushing you, but I believe that God is simply revealing to you that you're stronger than you think you are.

There's greatness on the inside of you, there's anointing on the inside of you, there's power on the inside of you, there's favor on the inside of you, there's influence on the inside of you.

Get out of the way and allow God to flow, to flow through you.

With every temptation, there's an opportunity to escape.

I want you to write this down.

Wherever there is momentum, there is temptation.

But wherever there is temptation, there is strength.

That God will not allow you to be exposed to something that He's not going to give you the strength to get out of it.

But we have to be realistic for a moment.

Because I do think that categorically there are certain temptations that we need to be aware of.

First John chapter 2, verse 16.

1 John 2:16

It won't come up on the screen, but but we have here that John begins to break down the categories that temptation typically falls into.

And if you and if you look hard enough, you'll see that this is expressed in every sin issue that there is: the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life.

In fact, if you really break it down and look at the Garden of Eden, that is the exact methodology that the enemy used to convince Adam and Eve to sin against God.

The lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life.

So categorically, that's where most temptations are going to always express themselves.

But when we look at this narrative with Jesus, it's expressed the exact same way.

Here's the first temptation that I believe that we're running into whenever we're doing our best to walk in alignment with God's word.

The temptation to give up.

The temptation to give up.

The enemy appears before Jesus and he says to him, Man, like, I know you're fasting and I know you're hungry.

Fasting, that means you've you set aside yourself, you've you created space for for you and God.

Like you're gonna you're gonna abstain from some things so that way you can be more close to God.

Okay, that's cool.

But man, since you're out here, like, why don't you just take this these rocks and turn it into bread?

Because at the end of the day, man, it's really, it really doesn't matter if you eat this bread or not.

It's not that big of a deal.

I mean, there's nothing wrong with eating bread unless you're like on a no-carb diet or something.

But other than that, like it's it's it's okay.

Like, so so why is this such a big deal?

That's because Jesus was fasting.

He set himself apart because he wanted to be consecrated to God.

He made a he made a dis He made a decision that he was gonna live his life differently, but the enemy came in with the temptation of, man, you might as well just go ahead and give up.

Just just go ahead and just go ahead and give up.

And here's what I believe.

I know that during this season of fasting and praying, since I gave my life to Christ, we fasted every year, multiple times, and it never gets easier.

Every year, I'm like, okay, we're gonna be fasting and praying.

Two days in, I'm like, man, I want Burger King, I want, I want Chick-fil-A, I want, I want everything.

Why?

Because whenever you whenever you create some space to dedicate something to God, the temptation will always be to give up on it.

It doesn't matter because God knows your heart.

Yeah, I know that you want to fast, but you can you can fast in your spirit.

God gets it, He knows He knows your heart.

That's the place where that excuse begins to justify us not following through on a commitment that we made to God.

It's that it's that temptation to just give up, it doesn't matter.

But but here's the second temptation that we can often run into the temptation to prove something.

The temptation that to prove something.

The Bible says that the enemy shows up and after Jesus shuts that down, that the enemy then says, Okay, so why don't you just jump off of why don't you just jump off of this temple and um and let the angels catch you?

Because after all, like that's what they do.

They said they're gonna provide and protect for you and protect you.

Now, I want us to understand something that's happening right here.

This is the devil quoting scriptures.

The devil knows the Bible.

I know that messes with our mind a little bit.

The devil knows the Bible.

But what we have here is he is taking scriptures out of context.

And he is saying it's okay for you to put God to the test.

Here's what I'm saying.

Just because somebody quotes a scripture at you does not mean that they were sent by God.

Let me say it over here.

Just because somebody quotes a scripture at you does not mean that it was sent from God.

Can I tell you how many times I've had people come up to me and say, Man, I got a I got a prophetic word that God wanted me to give you, man.

It's stirring in my heart.

Like, I got a word I want to speak to you.

And I'm like, okay, cool, man.

So here's the thing we're gonna go by Old Testament rules, which means that if you're wrong, I get to throw rocks at your face.

Oddly enough, they don't want to follow their own of prophecy anymore.

Here's what I'm saying: the Bible says we're supposed to try every spirit.

That when people come to you with the word of God, that you have to discern it to make sure that it's in connection to the entire nature of the character of God.

Here's why I say that.

And I and I want y'all to hear me.

I have seen people use the Bible to justify being racist.

I have seen people use the Bible to justify being segregated.

I have seen people use the Bible to justify oppressing women.

What I'm saying is, you could take any scripture in the Bible and make it mean whatever you want it to mean.

So I'm gonna say it again.

Just because somebody quotes a scripture does not mean that it's coming from God.

That's a good place to clap if we're gonna do it.

So he comes at Jesus and he's quoting this scripture to him because he's trying to convince him the temptation to prove something.

And a lot of times we we find ourselves in that space where we feel like we have to prove something.

Listen, don't put yourself in the area of your weakness and expect God's strength.

Don't don't willingly say, hey, I know this is a weak spot for me, but I'm gonna go here anyway to prove that I'm really over it.

Let me let me say it to us plain because I know I know this audience.

Don't go Facebook stalking your ex just to prove that you're over it.

No.

Because you're gonna end up down this rabbit trail, and now you everything that you thought you were over, you just allowed it to come back into your life because you're gonna see they moved on with somebody else and they're not even as pretty as me.

I don't even know what he was thinking like.

And now, and now you went backwards.

Sometimes the strength is just to simply say, No, I'm not going down that road.

Don't put yourself in an area of your weakness and expect God's strength.

Let me say it to somebody else.

Maybe there's some of us that we've overcome an addiction, but the enemy will come in with the temptation, like, man, if you're really delivered from alcoholism, then it really shouldn't matter if you drink one drink.

Trying to convince you to prove that you're really delivered.

Don't put yourself in an area of your weakness and expect God's strength.

The strength is, I'm not going to take a sip at all, because for me, that could be a stumbling block.

This is what God wants to make sure of of his people is that you not allow the enemy to come into your ear to tempt you to do something that can lead you to fail.

Don't allow it to happen.

But here's the here's the third one.

Here's a third one.

After Jesus shuts that down, he says, he says, okay, man, if you're if you're if you're the son of God, like let's do it this way.

I'm going to show you all the kingdoms of the world.

Everything.

Everything is at your fingertips.

So here's what I want you to do.

I want you to bow down and worship me, and I'll give it all to you.

Here's the third temptation that we can have: the temptation to take shortcuts.

The temptation to take shortcuts.

Because here's the thing after Jesus died and he was raised from the dead, when he came to his disciples, the first thing that he said to them is, All power has been given unto me in heaven and in earth.

So watch this.

The enemy was tempting Jesus to get the kingdoms of the earth without going through death.

And how often do we see an end result that we want?

But we know it's going to require sacrifice.

And you know what we can find ourselves doing?

What's the shortcut for me to get the same results without me having to have to sacrifice anything?

How can I get there without actually having to go through any suffering?

He was trying to convince Jesus that I can give you all the stuff that you want to go without you having to die.

And what can happen with us if we're not careful, we can find ourselves looking for shortcuts.

But the truth of the matter is you may walk through the valley of shadow of death, but that's not going to be your final resting place.

But all of us are sometimes gonna have to walk through it.

We see that the temptations that Jesus faced are the exact same patterns that the children of Israel faced when they were struggling with their disobedience.

Jesus was successful in the things that Adam wasn't.

Jesus was successful in the things that the Israelites wasn't.

Jesus is successful in the things that even we aren't.

See, I used to think of how Jesus walked through the wilderness as uh as this weird thing of like, okay, I don't understand why he's there.

But as I've grown to understand what the passage of scripture is saying, the Bible tells us in Hebrews 4, 15, for we do not have a high priest who was unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect was tempted as we are, yet without sin.

I want you to feel this for a second.

That Jesus is not on some distant mountain in the heavens, completely disconnected from anything you're struggling with.

The Bible says that Jesus walked through every temptation that we did, yet without sin.

That means that no matter what you're walking through, Jesus has been there and he's there with you now.

So now what I realize is that the wilderness season wasn't for Jesus, it was for us.

So that when we go through the wilderness, we know that the power of Christ is in the wilderness with us.

That no matter what we walk through, that Jesus is there with us.

Be encouraged in knowing that you may have been walking through some difficult times.

Jesus walked through those times, which means he knows how to get you out of it.

Take courage, my friends.

No matter what you're walking through, Jesus has walked through it with you, he's walked through it for you, and he's gonna bring strength to you in the midst of it all, knowing that Jesus is with us through it all.

See, Jesus stood in places that we could never stand, that Jesus fought for us when we couldn't fight for ourselves, that Jesus, that Jesus died for us so that we can live for him.

Jesus created momentum that allows heaven and earth to overlap in our lives.

So our responsibility is this we gotta keep we gotta keep that same energy.

That same energy that we once used to have when we were living in the world, we gotta have that same energy for the things of God.

That that same energy that we have when we used to be so outraged and lose our minds over certain things.

Can you put that same energy into the kingdom of God?

We gotta keep that same energy.

We gotta keep that same energy when we consider the fact of all the opposition that we face, but yet God has faced it all for us.

Keep that same energy, that same energy of when we can celebrate the fact when our favorite team wins the Super Bowl, but come into worship and get real quiet and waiting for our favorite song to come on.

Keep that same energy.

If we could cheer for things in the world, why is it that when we come to church, that's the place that we gotta wait to be primed into it?

No, keep that same energy.

If you can celebrate out there, you can certainly celebrate here in the context of the kingdom.

Keep that same energy.

It's amazing how our theology gets all mixed up around these things, but that's never an issue when we're cheering for a politician.

Our theology doesn't come into play, but when it comes to the kingdom of God, then we start to get a little bit.

Okay, let me move on.

Okay, we gotta we gotta keep that, we gotta keep that same energy.

See, faith has to go from concept to concrete.

That's the only way.

That's the only way that we're gonna actually begin to see momentum in our lives.

I wanna I wanna take a moment to help you guys understand that maybe you come to church every single week.

And and maybe you maybe you see us have our rhythms and patterns.

And and what I realize is that when you're around things long enough, it just becomes a part of something and we can lose its momentum in our lives.

Case in point.

We come to church on Sunday and we know that there's gonna be someone out in the in the parking lot that's gonna greet us.

We come across the street, we get our coffee, and we smile, and we walk in and the worship song is on and we and we worship.

And then Pastor Justin comes up on the platform and he and he goes, does prayer and praise and helps us get all excited about that.

Then they share some announcements with us to help us understand what's going on in the life of the church.

Okay, now Pastor Keith is gonna come up and he's gonna preach a message and it's gonna be incredible.

And then he's gonna he's gonna do his thing.

And after that, the band's gonna come out and they're gonna sing a song, and then we can all leave and check the box off that we did church today.

I want us to understand something.

We don't do this to do church.

I'm not interested in doing church, I'm called to do ministry.

What that means is that everything that we do is for you to gain momentum in your life.

When Pastor Justin is on this platform and he's sharing with you the different things that are happening in the life of this church, it's not to just find things to fill your calendar.

It's literally meant to be areas of your life that you can begin to get momentum if you invest in it.

When we talk about groups, we're not just talking about groups because that's what church does.

We're helping you to understand that if you can get connected to this, you will get momentum in your life.

When we talk about these critical things that we do as a church, it's not just a thing that we check off.

We prayerfully are saying we believe that this is going to help our church begin to move forward.

So, so let me give you a list of things.

I want to put this up on the screen because I truly believe this.

When you put your faith to work, you will create momentum in your life.

So let me walk us down a quick list.

Attending church will create momentum in your life.

Let me say it again.

Attending church consistently will create momentum in your life.

Attending church consistently will create momentum in your life.

That when we worship God, it will create momentum in your life.

If you only understood what was happening in the other realms every time that we lift up the name of Jesus and worship, the Bible says that David was such a profound worship leader that every time he began to worship, that he was literally fighting off dark, demonic spirits.

If you only knew that every time you came to church and you lifted up your hands and you began to declare the name of Jesus, that you're actually taking ground in the spirit which will flex itself out in your life, you would only know if you knew that what your worship was doing, we would engage it in knowing that our worship does create momentum.

Prayer will create momentum in your life.

The Bible said that if any two touch and agree, believing any one thing that God will do it, prayer will create momentum in your life.

You may not always feel it, you may not always see it, but Jesus says, keep asking, keep knocking, keep pursuing, and he will perform what he said he's going to do.

Prayer will create momentum in your life.

Fasting will create momentum in your life.

When you decide to disconnect from some things of the world and plug into the presence of God, I promise you, you will begin to create momentum in your life.

Engaging in the word of God will create momentum in your life.

When you begin to read the word of God and allow the word of God to watch over your mind and redirect it to way that you see the world, you will create momentum in your life.

This is why when Jesus was facing temptation, he responded with scripture.

He didn't respond with his own philosophy, he didn't respond what Google said, he responded with the word of God.

If you can engage the word of God, you will get momentum in your life.

Giving, you will get momentum in your life.

Y'all were nodding every all the way up until I said giving.

When you give, you will get momentum in your life.

The Bible says it this way: this is the only thing in Scripture where God says, Test me in this.

I remember being a young Christian, and I could do everything that was listed, but giving was the area that I struggled with.

I went to Financial Peace University with my wife.

I got connected to a strong community of people.

I began to recognize the resources that God had given me, and I never looked back.

I don't have the testimony of saying that I've but I magically got a million-dollar check.

I didn't.

There were times that I struggled, but I knew that in order for me to truly get momentum in my life, I had to be consistent with putting God first in every area of my life.

Either Jesus is Lord of all or he's not Lord at all.

And that included my resources.

When you give, it will create momentum in your life.

That moment during our service, when we talk about it, I want you to understand that this is not a donation, this is worship.

We're not we're not tipping God, we're putting God first.

That when we give, we will create momentum in our lives.

Serving will create momentum in your life.

The Bible says that God refreshes those who refresh others.

That means that as you pour out for the kingdom, God will bring refreshing and strength to you.

But here's what I know: I know that there's a temptation every time a serving opportunity presents itself.

Those same temptations that Jesus had to deal with, those same temptations that that Adam failed with, that temptation to say, Well, no, that's that's not for me.

Let me find the easy way out.

Or what's the shortcut?

What's the quickest way for me to get the end result?

In other words, hear what I'm saying.

So often, when it comes to things like serving, pouring ourselves out, we have to evaluate it with the rest of our calendar to determine whether or not it's the best time for us.

I get it, it's just not anywhere in the Bible.

We find ourselves implementing these world philosophies into things that have nothing to do with the kingdom.

No matter what was going on in the people of God's lives, it never included disconnecting from being a part of God's kingdom and advancing it with serving.

There's a big difference between being a volunteer and being a servant.

Volunteer simply means this: I'm doing it, and you guys are gonna be obligated to me.

Serving means I'm being obedient to what God's word says.

There's a big difference.

We're gonna unpack that at another time.

Serving, serving will create momentum in your life.

Community will create momentum in your life.

Being connected to people that think about scripture the way that you do, the ones who can come alongside you, the ones that when you say, like, man, I'm struggling in my marriage, the ones that's gonna say, Let me pray with you, let me read this book with you, let me come alongside you, not the one that's gonna say, girl, you know what?

I told you he wasn't no good.

You need to move on in.

Like, when you get around God-loving community, it will create momentum in your life and help you to not give up on things that God has told you that you're destined to do.

Where there is momentum, the gates of hell will not prevail.

Wherever there's momentum, the gates of hell will not prevail.

If we want to see success in our lives, we have to get momentum.

And if we want to see the gates of hell not prevail, then that means we have to be fully committed to the things that God says will create momentum in our life.

The gates of hell will not prevail against your marriage, the gates of hell will not prevail against your finances, the gates of hell will not prevail against what's going on in your mind, what's going on in your job, the gates of hell will not prevail, but you've gotta fully, you gotta fully commit to putting your faith to work.

Salvation creates momentum for your life.

That that moment of surrender, that moment of giving it all to Jesus, that will create momentum in your life.

And maybe you've come to church enough times to hear us have that salvation moment where we lower the lights and we and we bring it in and we we try to help you to understand the importance of it.

I want you to know that's so much bigger than a moment during a service.

We have a responsibility to make sure that wherever the gospel is preached, that we invite you to step into this thing, this on-ramp to radically change the rest of your life, surrendering your life to Jesus will create momentum in your life.

We want to create a space for people to step into that right now.

With every head bowed and every eye closed, I want to I want to create this space for us.

I don't want to drag this out because I believe that God's already been stirring some of our hearts.

But but here's the question if you're in here with us right now and you know that that if you were to do inventory of your soul, that you're away from God, maybe you've walked with Jesus at some point, but right now you That you're away from God that you don't have any momentum with with your soul.

I simply want to pray for you.

That's all.

We want to include you in this prayer.

So on the count of three, would you be would you be bold enough to lift your hands and saying, Yes, I want to commit or recommit my life to Christ, knowing that this is going to create a momentum that allows me to walk into eternity with Jesus.

One, two, three.

Hands up.

Amen.

Amen.

My God.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Come on, church.

Let's celebrate with everybody who's making that decision.

God bless you.

I'm so, so proud of every single one of us.

In just a moment, I'm going to ask Pastor Justin to come out, but but before I do that, I have one more thing.

Baptism will create momentum in your life.

You know, for Jesus, when we get into Matthew chapter 4, you know what happens in Matthew chapter 3, right before that?

Matthew 4 · chapter mention Matthew 3 · chapter mention

Jesus gets baptized.

And when he gets baptized, his identity is affirmed by God, my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased.

His identity is secure, which then means that when he was in the wilderness and the enemy began to say, Well, if you are the Son of God, he was going back what his father said about him, not what his situation said about him.

Baptism will create momentum in your life.

And I'm not sure if you knew this or not, but today is baptism Sunday.

I'm not sure if you knew this or not, but today is baptism Sunday.

Baptism will create momentum in your life.

And what I know is that some of us may have come prepared to get baptized, but there's others of us that know that we need to get baptized.

Since January alone, we've had over 130 decisions for Christ.

And many of you are sitting in this room right now.

Yeah, we can celebrate that.

You know what your next step is?

Getting water baptized.

But even as I say those words, especially if you didn't come prepared to do it, the temptation of the enemy is now whispering in your ear.

Man, there's got to be a shortcut to this.

Does it really matter?

Is is baptism salvic?

Does it really we begin to find reasons to not be obedient to the word of God because we're more we're more faithful to being comfortable.

What I want to do is I want you to resist that temptation.

Because right now I know that there's some among us that God is stirring and saying, that's for you.

Your next step is to get baptized.

And right now the other side is saying, Well, no, not today.

Let me make it clear for you.

If you know you need to get baptized and there is something telling you that you shouldn't get baptized, that ain't God.

Respond.

Put your faith to work, and you will get momentum in your life.

Let me pray for us.

God, I thank you.

I thank you, Lord, that that even in moments like this, in messages like this, God, about the importance of us being intentional with the momentum that you're creating in our lives, Father.

I pray that in moments like this, God, we recognize what our response and our responsibility is.

That we respond, that we cooperate with grace, that we put what we believe to work.

So, Father, I pray for everyone in here, those who know that their next step is to get baptized, those who are you're stirring.

Regardless, God, we all have a next step.

And I pray that we can boldly step into it, knowing that at some point we have to put our faith to work.

We have to demonstrate what we believe.

We have to go from an intellectual faith to a faith that we can walk out.

So, Father, in the name of Jesus, I pray that you stir the hearts and minds of everybody.

Reveal to them what our next step is, God, so that we can advance the kingdom and carry the momentum of grace in every area of our lives.

In Jesus' name, Amen.

Thank you for tuning in to today's podcast.

For more information about Celebration Orlando or to get in touch with us, please visit celebrationorlando.org.