IN THE NAME OF JESUS: Keith Pittman

Welcome to the Celebration Church or Windows podcast.

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

Is anybody else excited to be in the house of God today?

Is it just me?

Amen.

Amen.

I believe that this is going to be our best service yet.

In Jesus' name, I believe it.

I believe it.

I really do.

Um, if you have your Bibles, I want to invite you to join me in the Gospel of John, chapter 15.

John 15 · chapter mention

The Gospel of John, chapter uh 15.

I want to give you some context in just a moment, but what I believe today's message is going to be for us is I believe it's going to be a bridge.

It's going to be a conduit that takes us from where we were to ultimately where God is leading us.

So over the past three weeks, we we've been in this amazing series going from here to there, where we took a brief look, a three-week look at the life of Abraham and recognizing that his life is a life of faith and how faith is one of those ingredients that gets us from here to there.

Well, well, next week we're going to be kicking off another series, a six-week series that I've been literally praying and processing through for the past two years before me even knowing I was coming here.

And we're going to be looking at the Exodus narrative.

It's something that literally shapes the framework of the Bible and helps us to encounter the power of God that's available to us.

So for the next six weeks, we're going to be talking about it.

And what Exodus is all about is how to really experience the life of freedom that God has for us.

So you see this journey of going from here to there and the faith component, but now we're going to start talking about how do we really experience the freedom that God has for us.

We're going to be exploring that over the next couple of weeks.

And so, what I believe today's message is going to be is a great bridge that allows us to know that God is leading us from here to there, but also God is leading us to a place of freedom.

So in John's gospel, he begins to introduce us to these ideas that are unique to his framework, the way that he looks at God.

You see, John's gospel, he he he he sprinkles in these statements, these I am statements that Jesus would make from time to time.

Those I am statements were moments where Jesus was directly connecting himself with the God of the Old Testament.

We'll unpack that a little bit next week, but but this I am statement was so powerful.

So throughout the course of John's gospel, there's these moments where Jesus is making these statements.

Statements such as, I am the resurrection in life, I am the way, the truth, and the light.

I am the door, I am the good shepherd.

Jesus was directly connecting himself to the God of the Old Testament.

Now in John's Gospel in chapter 15, this is like Jesus at the Last Supper.

This is the last meal that Jesus is having with his disciples that he's been spent the past three and a half years with.

And in his time, he's he's shown them a lot, he's encouraged them a lot.

But now it's kind of like his last pep talk.

And it's in this moment that as Jesus is preparing to say these parting words to them, that they have such significance and weight.

He he leaves his disciples with this with this word, and he says this starting at verse one, he says, I am the true vine, and my father is the vine dresser.

Every branch in me that does not bear fruit, he takes it away, and every branch that does bear fruit, he prunes it, that it may bear more fruit.

Already you are clean because of the word that I was spoken to you.

I want to pause there for a moment because I want you to see what Jesus said here.

He said, You're already clean because of the word that I was spoken to you.

You're not clean because of your best efforts, you're not clean because you've done it in your own strength, but you're you're clean because of the word of God.

I I love the imagery that we see in John chapter 13, where we we literally see Jesus um at his disciples' feet, cleansing them.

John 13 · chapter mention

The Gospel of John chapter 1 already declares that Jesus is the word of God.

John 1 · chapter mention

So what we see in John 13 is the word cleansing the disciples.

We see that moment where Peter's like, Man, like Jesus, I don't want you to do it.

And he said, Well, unless I do this, then you have no part of me.

So there's a moment where we all have to resolve and say that we're gonna have to let the word work in our lives.

I think it's interesting how Jesus decides to wash his disciples' feet, because our feet is the place that represents where we're going and where we have been.

So there's often a lot of traction and dirt, history.

So when Jesus comes into the scene and begins to wash his disciples' feet, he's saying, My word is the thing that wipes away the painful history in the past that you've gone through.

What Jesus is saying to us is like, you have to let me do the work.

The word already does the work.

Picking up at verse number four says this, Abide in me and I in you.

And as the branch cannot bear fruit itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.

I am the vine and you are the branches.

Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit.

For apart from me you can do nothing.

If anyone does not abide in me, he is thrown away like the branch and he withers, and the branches are gathered and thrown into the fire and burned.

But if you abide in me and my words abide in you, you can ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.

I want to add a bonus bonus verse here, looking at verse eight.

It says this By this my father is glorified, that you bear much fruit.

So prove to be my disciples.

Jesus is walking us through this process of abiding with him, and he says this at verse eight.

He said, My father is glorified when you bear much fruit.

Remember, the very first instruction that God had ever given to mankind is to be fruitful and multiply in the mind and the heart of God.

He wants us to live an abundant life, but there's something that we have to do, and our part is to abide in him.

Today, over the next few moments, I want to talk to us about this idea of what does it mean to abide or remain in Christ.

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

In the name of Jesus, let's pray.

God, we thank you so much for your word.

God, I thank you for this amazing church, God, that that my wife and I get a chance to be a part of, Lord.

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

Lord, it's my prayer that you give us open ears that we can hear your truth, God.

And I pray for an open heart that we can receive what it is you want to speak to us.

God, I decrease, I get it out of the way, and I pray that every word is spoken, it goes on good ground because they're your words.

We pray and declare it all in Jesus' name.

Amen and amen.

You know, I I was thinking about this message, and and there was this um this image that came to mind for me.

I I remember um I remember a few years back, I had this incredible opportunity to go to London for the first time.

Um, I I had never gone, and so I was filled with anticipation and excitement.

It was a work trip, but I was I was really looking forward to going.

And so my family and I, we had just moved, so we're kind of looking at, okay, what's the best way for me to stay connected to my family?

There's some things that I still needed to kind of uh speak into and deal with, even though I was gonna be across the pond.

So, what's the most effective way for me to stay connected to my my family?

I I began to kind of look into the possibility of of maybe me getting one of those international plans.

Now, going back a couple years ago, they weren't as they weren't as intuitive as they are now, and so it was like you had to add the plan to to your phone plan, and it can get expensive because what I found out is that that many times people will have these plans, and unfortunately, if you're if you're if your cell phone data is still running in the background, it's like getting your emails, and now you end up having a thousand dollar bill and and and ain't nobody got time for that.

So I was like, okay, what is what is the cheap way for me to still stay connected but not be at risk of incurring these extra costs?

Well, my friend told me it's like, hey man, once you go to London, man, there's Wi-Fi everywhere.

Like you don't even need it.

Like you can just put your phone on airplane mode and you can have the Wi-Fi on, man, and you're gonna be good.

Like it's literally everywhere.

I'm like, all right, cool, I'll I'll do that.

I'll I'll I'll disconnect and I'll just let Wi-Fi kind of do the work.

Well, then the friend that I was traveling with, he said, hey man, like I'm actually gonna get one of those like little wireless like hotspots that we can have with us.

And so not only will we have the Wi-Fi, these varying facilities we're gonna be in, but then if we ever are out and about, we actually still have access to the internet because there's like this little cheap device that you can have shipped to your hotel and it'll save us a ton of money.

I'm like, man, that sounds like the genius.

Like, I like I'm I'm all in.

So here we are.

We're we're at we're in London and we're we're living our best life.

We're going to these meetings and doing all this stuff, but but at night we're going out, we're taking in all the sites, and and life is good.

Well, we get about three days into the trip.

And and anybody who's an introvert, you you kind of get it.

Like, you kind of get to a point where it's like, okay, I got nothing left to give.

Like, I got no more words left.

I'm I'm done.

I need a space where I can just go back, unplug, relax, rest, and then I'll get ready for it later on tonight.

So after we finished this one important meeting, um, he said, like, hey man, let's go out and let's do some some shopping.

I want to go look at a couple more sites.

So in my mind, I'm like, man, look, I think we've seen it all.

Um, I'm I'm done with it.

I said, so here's what I propose.

I'm gonna go back to the room, you go ahead and go and hang out and chill and do all that stuff that you need to do, and we'll catch up in about three hours and we'll go and get something to eat.

He's like, Man, are you are you sure?

I'm like, I'm 1,000% sure.

I got nothing left to give, bro.

Like, I'm I'm done.

He's like, all right, cool.

He's like, all right, I'll meet you in the hotel lobby um in about three hours.

Boom, it was it was all good.

So as he gets onto the he gets onto the tube, that's what they call it over there in in London.

Um, he gets onto the tube and he's about to get on this train and as he goes, I grab for my phone.

When I grab for my phone and I I look up into the top right hand corner, it occurs to me that I start seeing my my little Wi-Fi little box losing signal really, really fast.

Then then it then it hit me.

It was almost like slow motion, but not that he had the hotspot in his pocket.

So as the train was going away, I was losing signal by the second.

So now I'm chasing after the train, trying to put the address to the hotel in so I can know how to get back to where I was supposed to be at.

Needless to say, I didn't make it.

So so now I'm standing there with my phone in my hand, and then I see that fateful thing, no service.

No service.

So so I'm I'm looking around, there's there's no Wi-Fi to be found, so that person was a liar.

And so now I'm I'm I'm I'm stuck in this spot where I'm wandering in the streets of London with no clue of where I am or how do I get to the spot I want to be at.

Now, here's the thing.

For most intelligent human beings, you would then take that as a moment to take inventory of where you are, find a good citizen, and ask them, like, hey sir, I'm I'm trying to get to this location.

Would do you mind helping me?

But see, I'm I'm I'm a little bit paranoid when I'm in places that are unfamiliar to me.

So I'm thinking, like, man, this is I seen that in that movie, and when that guy asked for that, man, that's how he got his kidney taken.

So I'm not doing that.

Like, you just kind of like find these like extreme examples, and you're like, I'm not doing that.

So here I am, wandering around in the streets of London, afraid to ask anyone for help because I don't want anyone to know that I'm a foreigner, so I'm I'm doing everything I can do to blend in.

I'm in Europe and I'm trying to blend in.

I'm not sure why you're all laughing.

So I start seeing people and they're walking up and they're saying, Good day to you, sir.

And I'm like, Pip pip cheerio, God save the queen.

Delting Abbey.

I don't know.

Like I'm just I'm just rambling on things, just like trying to like trying to blend in.

I I refuse to ask for any help.

So I'm wandering the streets of London forever before I finally eventually just stumble upon the hotel.

I walk into the hotel, and at the exact moment I walk in, my my friend comes down, he sees me, he's refreshed, he's recharged, he's like, hey man, you you ready for dinner?

It it turns out that he was able to go see some sites, buy souvenirs, go back to the hotel, rest, take a shower, come downstairs and meet me while I was all out there wandering in the streets.

He was able to accomplish so much more, and I realized that I had to walk through so many things unnecessarily because I chose to distance myself from the source.

I think there's times in our lives that we that we have this I got it from here mentality.

That if I can just get a quick download, I can I can disconnect from the source and I know exactly on where I'm going, I know exactly what I need to do, I know exactly what my destination is.

But unfortunately, what we do when we do those things is we're forced to live in airplane mode.

And here's the thing about airplane mode you end up downloading old episodes when God wants to do a new thing in your life, and you're watching reruns of the past.

We have to be careful that we're not entering into a new season with last year's revelation.

And so when we find ourselves in this space where we distance ourselves from the source, we're relying on things of the past.

When we distance ourselves from what God wants for us, we're relying on things that we heard in the past, but we're not getting that fresh download.

And this is exactly what Jesus is talking to his disciples about.

He's saying, like, man, I want to do a new thing, but you gotta stay connected to me.

Because here's the thing that we have to be mindful of.

Our intentions don't determine our destination, our direction does.

And I know that's uncomfortable sometimes because we've built a theology that says, God knows my heart.

It's true, but do you know his?

God's heart is for us to be fruitful and multiply, but the only way we can do that is if we abide in him.

And sometimes we're putting the expectation that God's gonna cover our gap when he's saying, if you could just abide in me, this would be so much easier.

Our attentions don't determine our destination, no matter how much I wanted to be at the destination.

God knew my heart.

I wanted to get to the hotel.

You know when I got there?

When I started going in the right direction.

And what I believe God wants to make sure for that is he wants to make sure that we're going in the right direction.

Because here's the unfortunate thing that happens.

When we allow ourselves to distance ourselves from God, it leads us to a place of denial.

It leads us to a place where we begin to deny certain things about our lives, we begin to deny what God's best is for us.

We even can sometimes get to a place where we deny God Himself.

Remember Peter walking on water, Peter, cutting off ears, Peter, on this rock, I'm gonna build my church, Peter.

That same Peter, that Peter that said, Lord, I am not ever gonna forsake you.

That same Peter that had the heart, that had the audacity to actually rebuke Jesus.

He's the only one in scripture that rebuked Jesus when Jesus started talking about dying on a cross.

He said, Hey, knock it off, Jesus, you're not gonna die, I won't allow it.

Like that, that Peter, that very same Peter, the Bible says that when Jesus was arrested, he began to follow at a distance.

What happened from Peter's perspective that caused him to distance himself from Christ?

See, what he saw is when Jesus put on handcuffs, it became very real to Peter.

Man, following following Jesus can sometimes be restrictive.

And so he began to distance himself from that.

Let me let me play this out on how this can work for us sometimes.

You know what it is?

It's like, man, I I love church.

God is so good, he knows my heart, everything is great.

Wait a minute, you're you're telling me I have to live a life of purity?

I'm gonna distance myself from God in that area.

Man, I I love church so much.

This is great, man.

I love going in, I love groups, everything is so great.

I love worshiping.

Yes, it's a powerful name in Jesus.

Oh my gosh, Pastor Justin's up there talking about giving and worshiping God with our resources.

I'm gonna I'm gonna distance myself from God in that area.

Unfortunately, when we do that, we end up living a fragmented faith where we're only giving God access to certain parts of our lives and we're not producing fruit because we haven't given God full areas where we can let him move in our lives.

What he's saying is, I don't I don't want it just a part of you.

I need you to abide in me.

I need you to stay connected to me because it's only then that you can produce fruit in every area of your life.

I don't just want a segment of it, I want all of it.

Jesus is walking him through it and he's saying, like, I don't want you to live at this place of denial, because here's what happens with Peter.

As Peter begins to distance himself from Jesus, he finds himself now outside of the place where Jesus is now being falsely accused.

While he's outside, he he he he nuzzles up next to this fire.

He's standing next to a servant girl, he's standing next to a centurion, and he's trying to warm himself up.

He's cold.

That's understandable.

It's it's it's it's the middle of the night.

He's he's cold.

But but I want you I want you to see something here.

The entire time when Peter was with Jesus, when he was with the disciples, there's no mention of him being cold because he was being ignited by the fire of God because he was in proximity to God's people.

But the moment that it began to follow from a distance, he was now exposed to the elements that was around him, and now he was being worn by the flames of bondage.

Where do the areas that we would run to to find comfort when we know that we're supposed to be closer to God?

Because if we were closer to him, we wouldn't need to run to those other things.

This is the situation that Peter finds himself in as he distances himself from God, he begins to look at other sources.

The one thing that Jesus wants us to walk away with for today is the one point.

Last week I gave you six points, and so I'm only gonna give you one to kind of compensate because I know I went a little hard last week.

So let's here's here's it is here's it is here's my one point.

Jesus is the source.

That's it.

We can call worship back out, we can go back into the song.

Jesus is there's there's nothing more profound I want to say, Jesus is the source.

He begins to use his language about being the true vine.

This imagery of the vine was deeply connected to the Jewish people.

Everything that was like their symbol that represented God's favor and blessing.

So when Jesus says that I am the true vine, he is saying, I am the source that's gonna bring you joy.

I am the source that's gonna bring you blessing, I am the source that's gonna bring you freedom.

It's it's all found in me.

It's this idea of being fruitful and multiplying.

God put that in us from the very beginning.

But the problem is when we when we begin to draw inspiration from things that's not Christ, we end up getting our place to a place where we're we're focusing on artificial things.

See, the book of Judges, chapter 21, tells us that when the people had no king, each man did what was right in their own sight.

Judges 21 · chapter mention

Let me let me make that a little bit more plain for us.

When we don't allow Jesus to be king of every area of our lives, we end up doing what's right in our own sight.

I feel good about this, so this is gonna be I'm gonna do what's right in my own sight.

Not not what God's word says, not what his spirit says, but but I'm gonna do what's right in my own sight.

And here's what Solomon warns us of in Proverbs chapter 14.

Proverbs 14 · chapter mention

He says this there's a way that seems right.

It seems right, it feels good, it seems right, but it leads to destruction.

Jesus is aware of this, and he's saying, I just need you, I need you to stay connected to me.

Don't don't get caught and distracted by looking at these artificial sources because they're never going to be able to fill you.

My my family and I, we, we often would take road trips, and so you always got to have like your little road trip kit.

And one of the things that we would often do is like we would have to figure out, like, okay, what do we need to take in order for us to be successful on this particular road trip?

Well, this one we knew that we needed to get a cell phone charger.

Like we had a vehicle that had like a charger for the front and for the back, so we knew to get it another one.

Well, I began to do some research, and and I was gonna go to Apple to go and get mine.

Um, but then I saw like they were charging like$60 for it.

I'm like, that ain't God, that's the devil.

Um$60 for a charger?

So I did what any other red-blooded American would do.

I went onto Amazon and I found the exact same charger for$3.99 and extra accessories.

I was like, if that's not the Lord, I don't know what is.

So I go on there and it was Amazon Prime, and but because we live close to a distribution center, we got it in one day instead of two.

Boom.

So I mean, I'm as far as I'm concerned, I'm winning right now.

The charger comes, we hop in the car, we're off to the races.

We get about three and a half hours down the road, and as we're riding, I decide, hey, you know what, let's stop and get some gas, let's stretch our legs a little bit, let's get something to eat.

I get out of the car and I unplug my phone, and I find, to my horror, to my to my to my complete distress, that my phone did not charge not one percentage point.

Not not one point.

After three, after three hours of of riding this road, I recognized that it didn't move, not one percentage point.

I was like, was it plugged in?

Well, yeah, it was plugged in.

Like, so so what how how did I miss it?

It it turns out that this little cheap knockoff, this little this little plastic thing, it didn't have the internal integrity that actually could charge my phone, it could only sustain it where it was.

Imagine my frustration of having this source that I thought could fill me, but it only could maintain where I was.

What what are the things in our lives that we're plugging into, hoping that it's going to fill us, but it only can sustain where we are?

The thing that I love about God is that God is a filler, not a maintainer.

That God is a God that wants to take you to the next level, not allow you to maintain exactly where you are.

God is a filler, not a maintainer.

But when we tap into these artificial resources, we end up having an expectation that they just can't meet.

Let me say it this way.

Sometimes we can put those expectations on relationships.

Sometimes we put those expectations on our spouse.

Listen to me, married couples.

Listen to me, singles, as well.

It's gonna work.

There are times, there are times when we're expecting our spouse to take the place of God.

I need my spouse to be the source of all of my affirmation.

I need my spouse to be the source of all of my identity.

I need my spouse to be the source of all of my joy, and every day there's a checklist of the things you better do, and if you don't do it, then this may not work out.

The problem is we're putting pressure on a spouse that they were never meant to carry.

But when we have those things that we're looking for them to be fillers, it will often still leave us empty.

Listen, yes, your spouse is supposed to be a help meet, they're supposed to help you meet the calling of God on your life, but they're never supposed to replace God in your life.

God is saying that I am called to be a filler, not a maintainer.

You can bring your emptiness to me and watch me fill it.

This is why when we look at 2 Kings chapter 4, and we see that this woman brings all of her empty vessels into the presence of God's word, that we see that there's an abundance of overflow.

2 Kings 4 · chapter mention

Listen, we serve a God of overflow, we serve a God of abundance.

We have a God that you can bring your emptiness, you can bring your brokenness, you can bring your struggle, and God is gonna have you overflowing with joy, with peace.

But we got to make sure that we recognize that God is a filler, not a maintainer.

And we have to make sure we distance ourselves from these artificial sources.

As Jesus is talking to his disciples, he's like, Listen, I know a lot of things are gonna pop up.

I know a lot of distractions are gonna pop up, I know a lot of things are gonna come your way, but I need you to make sure that you recognize that I am the source.

He begins to use this word, abide in me.

I need you to abide in me.

I need you to I need you to stay with me.

Let me tell you what abide means.

Abide means simply means this.

It means to remain, it means to dwell, it means to stand.

Another translation says it this way is to remain under.

Remain under the shadow of grace.

Remain under the will of God.

Remain under the word of God.

Don't don't move yourself from it because when you move yourself from under it, now you're exposed to the things that should be under your feet.

But when I'm but when I'm under God and I have this access and I'm a conduit of God's goodness, he begins to show us this idea of the vine and how it provides the nutrients that allows us to grow.

That is the nutrients that allows us to go to the next level.

It's this idea of kind of like the way that a fish is in water, but the water is also in a fish.

But we got to be mindful that it's the way that God lives and moves through us, that we don't allow the bait of the enemy to take us out of our natural habitat, and now we're struggling with it being able to breathe.

See, this is the lore of the enemy, but we have to we have to abide in it.

Here's the thing though it sounds beautiful, but sometimes it's not that easy.

Because sometimes when we're abiding in him, we're not getting the results that we want to see.

It's when we're abiding him that we find ourselves struggling unnecessarily.

It's when we're abiding him that we find ourselves in the middle of these seasons that we just can't we can't make heads or tails of it.

So for me, I I'm I'm a I'm a big I'm a big TV fan, I'm a big um action um story fan.

So I'm I'm a big fan of the of the franch of the uh Transformers franchise.

Any anybody remember the Transformers?

Eight of us, eight of us do.

It's cool.

Uh let me let me let me let me let me pastor y'all real quick and let y'all know.

Y'all didn't know y'all gonna come to church and get some doctrine on Transformers.

Watch this.

So okay, so so Transformers, they're they're like these robots from Cybertron.

They came here to Earth to work alongside of us and to help us, but obviously there are some bad guys that are called Decepticons.

We have the Autobots.

Autobots are the good guys, Decepticons are bad guys, Decepticon, it's in the name, Deception.

Okay, so we have the Autobots that come.

And so their whole mantra was this transformers more than meets the eyes.

Transformers, robots in disguise.

Like it's it's it's right there for you, robots in disguise.

So the so the name is right there for you.

So what you would see is that you would have like these cars and sometimes like planes and these other like mechanical devices, and you wouldn't even realize that it's actually like a robot.

So it's it's it's really cool.

So I was raised on it.

I had the lunchbox, I had everything you can imagine.

I was I was heavy into it.

So you can only imagine that in the early 2000s, when I found out that they were going to make like a live action movie of my like cartoon, they I was like, you couldn't like I was like a kid on Christmas Eve.

Like I I could not I could not sleep the night before.

I was so excited about it.

It's like seeing your childhood come to life with better graphics, like it was gonna be amazing.

So so here we are.

Like we the movie comes out, we see it in the movies, but I was I was really looking forward to like watching it at home with my little home theater situation that I had set up.

So here I am, I'm sitting at home, and the and the DVD comes out.

Okay, so DVDs are like these little discs that they um that they used to put movies on um before they started streaming, and then you would take that little disc and you would put it inside of a DVD player.

A DVD player is a thing that allows you to play the DVD.

I know I'm talking to a young audience here.

I need to provide some context.

Like, what's the DVD?

Okay, so let me try.

Y'all with me?

Okay, you can Google it later.

So the the DVD comes out.

I'm excited about it.

I think I take off work.

Like it's it's like a big deal for me.

I wasn't in ministry at the time, don't judge me.

Um so so so I'm I'm I'm excited about it.

I kind of have the atmosphere all set up.

I got my I got my feet up, everything is good.

So at the exact moment, like the climactic moment, because everybody knows, like, hey, yes, Transformers is amazing.

I love seeing all the other guys transform, but at the end of the day, we just want to see Optimus Prime.

Like, sh sh show me Optimus.

Where's where's Optimus at?

So the movie's going on, and and you're seeing these varying characters, yeah, Bumblebee is cool.

Ironhide, that's awesome.

Where's Optimus?

So there's this scene when the giant truck shows up and it pulls up, and like you're standing there, and I feel like I'm in the film, and I'm like breathing heavy, and my eyes are tearing up.

Like, it's like it was it was a deal for me.

And at the exact moment when Optimus was about to transform, I I hear this voice of distraction cut through all of my focus, and it says, Dinner's ready.

So, so let me walk you through some things in my household.

My wife, when she when she cooks and she says dinner's ready, you have one of two choices.

You you can ignore it and sleep on a couch, or you can stop whatever you're doing and immediately find yourself rallied around a dinner table.

I've been married for, you know, I mean, 20 years now.

Like I know what I'm doing.

I put pause on it.

Like, I put pause on it.

So I was like, okay, fine, I'll pause it, I'll go downstairs, I'll eat.

I go downstairs and I and I eat.

I hurry up and run through it, but I run back upstairs with full excitement, ready to finish watching this moment of when Optimus Prime was gonna emerge on the screen.

When I sit down and I kind of like get collect my thoughts and I'm about to hit play, like it occurs to me that I hit pause a little too late.

So that so the transformation started, but it was paused in the middle of it.

So as I'm as I'm looking at the screen, like I see that I I can no longer make out where the robot is versus where the tractor trailer is.

Like, it's just like this, it's like this twisted mess.

And I'm looking at him like, what is that?

Like, and and I'm upset right now because I realize that it played through and I paused it in the middle.

I'm frustrated.

I'm like, my wife called me downstairs, it's her fault.

The food wasn't even that good.

Um I'm joking, but listen to me.

It was it was it was amazing.

Your food was that curry chicken, girl.

I'm telling you, that is from God.

They will make that in heaven.

Can y'all give it up for my beautiful bride?

Y'all help me out in here.

I'm telling you, girl, you're a grace by the heavens.

So y'all help me out.

Y'all pray for me after this service.

So so watch this, watch this.

So I'm I'm I'm I'm frustrated, I'm annoyed, and I'm looking at it, and then I hit the button and I see the transformation complete.

What was once like this twisted, mangled mess, it eventually did become Optimus Prime, but I but I was looking at it while it was in the middle of transformation.

Listen to me.

There's times in our lives when we back out and we pause on our lives, and it looks like a bunch of twisted metal mess.

And when we look at it, it's like, man, I can't even see where God begins and I end.

Like my my life is so twisted up and it's so mangled that that that it's frustrating because it's it's messy.

There's all these extra parts, and I I don't see myself ever accomplishing what God has called me to do.

I don't see myself ever producing fruit.

It looks just like I'm in the middle of this mess.

And if we're not careful, those are the moments that we lose faith.

Those are the moments that we lose hope and we begin to check out.

But but take it from me.

Sometimes you just gotta stand still and let that thing play out.

You may feel like your life is a twisted mess, but you're a transformer and transition, and that God has started something in you and he's gonna see it through, but you gotta stand still and let that thing play out.

Don't allow the pause mess that you're looking at right now be an indicator of all that God's gonna do in your life.

Having done all to stand, you have to make up in your mind, I'm gonna stand, I'm gonna let this thing play out.

God has started something in me and God is gonna finish it.

I'm not gonna check out, I'm not gonna give up, I'm not gonna hit eject, I'm gonna stand here and watch all that God is doing in me manifest itself.

I know it's not comfortable, I know it's messy, I know it's a little unclear right now, but it's when it's messy that God does his greatest upgrades.

The Bible says that when Abram was in the process of transforming to Abraham, it was messy, it was a little unclear.

But God gave him the ultimate upgrade because he chose to stand still.

We even see this in the life of Israel when he was Jacob, this man who was full of sin and running from God.

But God showed up, it was messy.

But when God showed up, he transformed a man who was known as a trickster to being a man who's a champion with God.

Listen to me, it may be messy right now, but God is not done with you yet.

Don't you give up, don't you stop showing up?

God is doing a new thing in you, and you've just gotta stand firm and say, I'm gonna let this thing play out.

Can we give God some praise for that?

You're a you're a transformer and transition.

God is doing some incredible things with you.

I'm gonna invite the worship team to come out.

We're gonna we're gonna go back into worship in just a moment.

But here's what happens when we allow this thing to play out.

We see this idea of us being fruitful.

We see Jesus in the course of just 10 short verses, he says this word abide.

Abide abide.

He says it ten times abide in me.

Abide like he's virtually begging, please just stick with me.

It's gonna get messy.

You're you're gonna you're gonna see them you're gonna see them have some false accusations about me.

Just say just stick with me.

You're you're gonna see them, you're gonna see them beat me unrecognizably.

Just say just stay with me.

You're you're gonna you're gonna see them nail me to a cross.

And just just stay with me.

You're gonna literally see me take my last breath.

And that last breath could be a resemblance of the hope that you have.

Just just stick with me.

Because what Jesus was trying to illustrate to them, it's gonna be messy right now, but stay firm.

Because here's the thing that I recognize that in order for us ever to get to the resurrection, we gotta first go through the crucifixion.

Stand firm.

And and and when the church went after the crucifixion, there's the resurrection, but after the resurrection, there's the coming of the Holy Spirit.

And now, because of the Holy Spirit, we now have the authority and the ability to do the very same things that Christ did.

But if we check out in the middle of our crisis, we may miss it.

He's saying, I need you to, I need you to abide in me.

But while that word is used a little over ten times, there's another word that only appears three times.

And and and and if I can be honest with you, I believe it's probably one of the most powerful words in the narrative that we look at.

It's this word if just two letters one syllable, a simple word, if it's only introduced to us three times, but the whole thing is hinged on it.

He says, if you abide in me, you will be free from it.

If you abide in me, you can ask me whatever you want, and I'll do it.

Because if you abide in me, your motives are pure, and you're only gonna ask me things that are consistent with my word.

If you abide in me, you're gonna see these things take place.

We see that that Jesus ultimately introduces this if it then proposition if you do your part, then I will do my part.

It's it's this it's the relationship that we have with him that God is simply saying your fruitfulness is directly connected to your faithfulness.

If you can if you can be faithful, I promise you will be fruitful.

Just abide in me.

But the unfortunate thing is when we don't abide, we strive unnecessarily.

We waste a lot of energy because in many instances we're trying to invoke the name of Jesus and we don't have proximity to it.

The book of Acts, chapter 19, verses 11 through 20.

Acts 19:11–20

It tells us the stories about this this group of young men.

They they didn't have a relationship with Jesus, and unfortunately, they found themselves in a tough situation, they found themselves facing some opposition, and they began to declare the name of Jesus, but it wasn't Jesus for themselves, it was a Jesus that was distant.

They said, I rebuke you in the name of Jesus that uh that Paul preaches.

I don't know in myself, but I'm gonna invoke.

In other words, their hope was maybe I can get the results without the relationship.

They ended up literally getting beat up.

And what I what I find is that there's many of us that we're getting beat up because we're facing battles that we wouldn't have to face if we abide in Christ.

See, when we say in the name of Jesus, this is not like some type of Christian incantation that we add at the end of a sentence in hopes that that's gonna get us the results that we've been hoping for.

It's not the statement that we make that's like okay, it makes everything good.

So in the name of Jesus, it's gonna work out.

No, when we say in the name of Jesus, what we're saying is this I am in the name of Jesus.

And because I am in the name of Jesus, the power of Jesus is in me, which means that when I begin to speak with the influence of God's word in the name of Jesus, I'm not speaking on my own authority, but I'm speaking on behalf of the king because when I am in the name of Jesus, the power of Jesus is in me.

So when I face opposition, it's not me that has to do it.

This is why David says the battle is not yours, it's the Lord when you are in the name of Jesus, because the power of Jesus is in you.

What God is trying to get us to a place of is to stop having this proximity faith and having an abiding faith where it's simply saying, I am in the name of Jesus and the power of Jesus is in me.

You see, here's the thing when you're in the name of Jesus, it changes, it changes your perspective.

You you see things differently, you look at things way different than everybody else does.

A couple of weeks ago, my my family and I we went to we went to the mall.

So we're in a mall and I'm walking through and and and and I could see in the distance, I see this guy kind of like with his with his hands up.

There's like a crowd around him.

Um, he has his hands up and he's kind of moving all around, and then he like stumbles and hits the ground.

The pastoral side of me wanted to run up and ask him if he was okay.

The Keith Pittman side of me laughed out loud hysterically.

Just seeing this guy drop.

When I got a little bit closer, it it became clear to me that he had on like these virtual reality goggles.

And so like I was like, I was like, oh, okay, so now if you know anything about virtual reality goggles, like they put these glasses on you, and now you're like fully immersed into like this four-dimensional world where like you're seeing things that nobody else can see.

So I thought it was hysterical because I'm like, bro, like you you know you're in the middle of them all.

Like, like, how does your brain not override what your eyes are seeing?

He's like, Okay, man, I want you to try it on, sir.

Can you can you try it on?

I'm like, okay, cool.

So I I put on I put on the goggles with full understanding, with deep awareness that Keith, you're in the middle of them all.

You're in the middle of them all.

But when I put the goggles on, like they kind of like take you through this like simulation, and even in spite of what I knew, even in spite of what my my cognitive understanding was, they had me like on this tight rope.

And so I was literally like because from from my perspective, I'm I'm I'm on this tight rope.

And then in one second, it's like I'm flying through the air, like I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like just like flying, like like Superman, like like black Superman, like I'm just I'm just I'm just I'm just flying in the air.

And I promise you, I could feel like wind in my face.

Like I was like, you couldn't have told me that I wasn't flying.

So from the outside looking in, if someone is looking at me, they're laughing at me the same way that I laughed at that guy, because I am like this.

It looks it looks ridiculous.

But but from my perspective, I'm I'm elevated, I'm flying, I'm I'm I'm actually trying to I'm trying to get somewhere.

Then the scene switches, and now I'm like in the back of this tank or we're like in war environments, and I hear a couple gunshots, so I duck down.

That's where that guy fell.

I didn't fall, I just ducked, I just duck, just just duck him.

Now from the outside looking in, people are looking at it like, yo, like, what is wrong with this guy?

Like, why is he ducking down?

And I'm like, man, you don't understand.

Let me tell you my story.

I'm seeing something that you don't see.

Don't don't you judge me because I'm of the way that I'm responding to what's around me.

I'm I'm looking through a lens that you're not looking through.

I have a perspective that you just don't have.

Listen to me, church.

When you are in the name of Jesus, you have a perspective that the world just doesn't have.

So when they look at you and they see that you're worshiping, they're gonna say to themselves, I realize that you're dealing with sickness in your family.

Why do you still have your hands lifted up?

Because you don't see what I can see, because I am in the name of Jesus, and I see that God is about to work this entire thing out.

See, you don't understand my perspective, but I'm seated in heavenly places, and because I am seated in heavenly places, I have a perspective that you just don't have.

So watch this.

When you are in the name of Jesus, there's some things that it requires you to do.

Because when the world sees death in the name of Jesus, I see life.

When the world sees despair, but in the name of Jesus, I see hope.

When the world sees judgment, in the name of Jesus, I see mercy.

When the world is talking about sickness, I'm calling on healing in the name of Jesus.

When we're talking about brokenness, I know that wholeness is available because I am in the name of Jesus.

When people are saying that someone's getting a divorce, in the name of Jesus, I command restoration.

When everyone is talking about hate, but in the name of Jesus, I command for love.

When people are talking about fear, but in the name of Jesus, I see courage, I see boldness.

When people are talking about darkness, in the name of Jesus, I see life, and I'm a conduit of that life.

When people are talking about greed, in the name of Jesus, I see generosity.

When people are talking about being selfish, in the name of Jesus, I see it being selfish.

When people are consumed with convenience, in the name of Jesus, I'm a person of calling.

See, when you're in the name of Jesus, the power of Jesus is in you.

You walk a little bit different, you talk a little bit different, you look a little bit different, you worship a little bit different because I am in the name of Jesus, and the power of Jesus is in me.

So when I look at the world, I see hope.

I see love, I see joy, I see freedom, I see breakthrough.

I can't look at the way the world does, but I see God and everything because I am in the name of Jesus, and the power of Jesus is in me, and I am more than a conqueror.

I am filled with joy, I am victorious, and there's no weapon that is formed against me that shall prosper because I am in the name of Jesus Church.

Let's worship together.

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.