The Power of Saying No | Pastor Chris Kouba

Hey, before we get going, I do want to make sure to make uh a speck of rec special recognition.

Not only do we have our kindergartners here today, but I heard that Miss Melva Logan is in the house.

Is she here?

Where's Miss Melva?

Is she in the room?

Where's she at?

Right there.

Miss Melva Logan right here.

She turned a hundred years old yesterday.

So Miss Melva.

Miss Melva is the is the oldest member of our church, and I think it is appropriate that we sing her happy birthday.

Can y'all do that real quick?

Let's do that, Miss Melva.

Happy birthday to you.

Happy birthday to you.

Happy birthday, Miss Melva.

Happy birthday to you.

She said what she wanted for her birthday was to be able to come to church.

So praise God that you are here, and we're so thankful that that is the case.

Uh, it's amazing.

I got to go to a birthday party yesterday and just hearing the testimonies of how she taught kids like kindergartners of some of the folks that were there.

Just, I'm telling you, our church is so blessed with the intergenerational legacy that we have.

Uh praise God for people like Miss Mel Velogan and the ministry that we get to experience as our church.

It is amazing in every way.

Grab your Bibles, open them up to Genesis chapter 39.

Genesis 39 · chapter mention

Genesis chapter 39.

Genesis 39 · chapter mention

If you are a kindergartner, it is page 53 in the new Bible that we gave you.

If you are not a kindergartner, it's page 33 in my Bible.

I don't know what it is in yours, but either way, I want to make sure that you open up God's word and hold it with us today.

And if you are here today and you've not been in any of the messages so far and have not ever received a journal, would you raise your hand and keep it up so we can get you one of these journals?

We want to make sure uh everybody has one of these.

Hopefully you're bringing these back with you each and every week and that you're taking notes.

I just want to tell you, I want you to know whenever you get to heaven, you will get to cut in line if you took notes in church, all right?

It's a big deal.

You're gonna want to make sure that you take notes.

And again, a reminder we're walking through this uh in all of our areas of our church, okay?

In in preschool, in kids, in youth, as well as adults, we're all walking through this journey together.

And so, therefore, not only can you take notes so that you can to remember and reflect on what it is that you're learning, but it also will help you in your group.

If you're not in a group, this is the perfect time for you to jump into a life group.

We actually got our Wednesday groups and our midweek groups starting back this coming Wednesday.

Youth's gonna be back this Wednesday.

I want to just encourage you to be a part of that.

But this is a great opportunity for you to jump in.

If you want to learn more about that, you can go out to the group's uh table out there in the lobby.

Recently, my uh son just turned 16 years old, which meant that he was driving, and we've been kind of thinking through what we're gonna do for him for quite a while.

Just leave your hands up, I promise you we'll get them to you in just a moment.

Um, but we've got some in the corner over there, if we can.

So get there perfect.

Um, my son just turned 16, and we were gonna get him uh a car.

And so we have a church member that was selling his vehicle, and I knew that that this was somebody who takes care of his cars.

This is somebody who makes sure that he he watches over it really well.

So I knew I was not only buying a used car, but I was buying one that was taken well care of and gonna be in good condition.

Had 163,000 miles on it, kind of a perfect uh first car ever for a 16-year-old driving around uh the area.

And so I bought it, was excited, had the car in my possession, all that type of stuff.

A couple weeks later, I look up and I noticed that there's a little bit of a oil leak, there's a little bit of a spot, and so I wanted to kind of get that checked out.

So I ended up taking it to the mechanic shop, a mechanic shop that I'd been to many, many times, and a mechanic shop that the previous owner had been to many, many times.

But whenever you take the car in and you register it, it erases all of the previous owner's history, and it now starts a new one with you.

But but they knew the previous owner and they knew me, and so therefore they they began to look at the car and said, Hey, we we think we've identified what the problem is.

We think it is a crankshaft oil seal that has broken.

I don't even know what that means, all right?

But I'm like, okay, great.

How much is that gonna cost you?

They said, Well, you're lucky it's actually covered under warranty.

In fact, we've already ordered the parts, it's gonna be here in a few days, and you should be.

I'll call you when it's ready, and you'll be on your way.

Can you do me a favor, though?

Could you possibly look and see if you have the original receipt so I can figure out what technician was working on the car at the time?

He said, Well, we're gonna go ahead and cover it because we're looking at the Car Facts report, and the Car Facts shows the work was done in June of 2024.

And we know that the work has almost all been done here, so we're just assuming that we did this work, and so therefore, it's gonna be covered under warranty.

I said, Well, what happens if I don't find the receipt?

They said, actually, you know what, we're just gonna believe we did it, we're good, don't worry about it, and just just just see if you can find it that would be helpful to us.

I said, Well, how much would it cost if I didn't find if I didn't have it wasn't under warranty?

And they said, Oh, it'll be over$2,000.

Like, okay.

So I go and I went to look for the receipt, trying to go and give it to them so they could figure out who the technician was.

And I, in fact, found the receipt because the previous owner kept meticulous records.

I look in there, I find the receipt, and I notice that there, in fact, was work done for that exact issue in June of 2024, but the name on the top of the receipt was different than the mechanic shot that I had in my car.

He had it done somewhere else.

So I call and try to figure out what's gonna go there if they'll honor the receipt, and they inform me that when the car changes hands, that the warranty is no longer valid.

Now I got a choice.

Do I just act like I never found the receipt?

I mean, let's be honest, I've taken my car to this shop many, many times, and I can assure you over the course of time, they have probably won when it comes to the whole negotiation thing, and I've paid more than I probably needed to or should have.

And so, therefore, they're a successful organization, they're a successful company, they assume that they have done the work, they are already have ordered the part and are planning on doing the work.

Why is it that I have to say something when I could just act like I didn't find the receipt, act like it's not a big deal, and just allow myself to have a car that was fixed?

And here's the thing nobody would have known.

Here's the problem.

I would have known.

And more importantly, God would have known.

Have you ever been there?

Have you ever been in one of those moments when like you're faced with a choice and nobody's gonna see?

Nobody's gonna know.

Nobody's gonna notice.

And you've gotta make the choice am I gonna do the right thing?

Or am I just gonna act like I didn't see it and I'm gonna move on and drive away with the car that has been fully fixed under warranty.

You need to know this.

What you do in that moment says everything about you.

The Bible calls this idea integrity.

I want you to write this down.

Page 11 of your journals.

Page 11 of your journals.

Write this down.

Integrity is doing what is right when no one else will see.

Integrity is doing what is right when no one else will see.

You need to know this.

Somebody's always watching.

It may not be someone here on this earth, but you're watching.

And you're gonna know.

And not only are you gonna you're gonna know, but God is watching what you do, the choices that you make.

And no one's gonna see.

Here's the deal.

If you want to be a leader that's worth following, you better get this right.

Because people can sense a fake from a mile away.

You can get away with it in secret, but it will be exposed in public.

People will look at you and know, man, that guy's just something's off on him.

They're just the way that they interact, it just feels phony.

They're gonna be able to sniff it out.

We're in the middle of a sermon series uh that is called Rise from the Pit.

We're looking at leadership lessons from the life of Joseph.

I'm telling you, if you want to be a leader, which everybody in this room is a leader and a minimum of themselves, and you want to grow as a leader, the best leadership book you will ever read is this one.

It's God's word.

It is filled with story after story and example that helps show us what it looks like to grow as a leader.

And right now we're in the life of Joseph at the end of the book of Genesis, and he is a guy who faced some serious tests.

And what I love about Joseph is not just that he survived these tests, he passed these tests.

And he shows us some insight into how we can respond as a leader in the same way.

I want you to write this down.

This is the bottom line, main takeaway that I want you to get out of this message today.

It's this leaders choose integrity.

Write that down.

Leaders choose integrity.

I want you to actually say that with me.

Say it again.

Leaders choose integrity.

Notice I didn't say fall into.

Notice I didn't say drift into.

Leaders choose integrity, meaning they are faced with a choice.

Do I do this or do I do this?

And if you're gonna be somebody who God is gonna be able to use, and you're gonna be a leader where anyone wants to follow, then you better be someone who passed this test.

People follow who they can trust.

This morning I want to show you from the text three tests of integrity that we all face as leaders, not might face, could face, you will face these as a leader.

And Joseph shows up how to pass every one of them.

The three tests are the test of power, the test of purity, and the test of conditions.

Let's break these down one by one.

First, the test of power.

The test of power.

Here's the question What do you do when you have influence over other people?

Because here's the deal.

If you're breathing, you've got power over somebody.

You may be thinking, PC, I don't have any power.

What are you talking about?

I can assure you of this.

If you've got kids, you've got power over your kids.

If you're in a leadership position at work, you've got you got power over those people at work.

If you've got money, then you've got power over how you spend that money.

You've got power over the way that you live your individual life.

The question is not whether you have power, the question is, what are you going to do with that power that you have?

Let's begin reading in Genesis 39, beginning in verse 1.

Now Joseph had brought down, been brought down to Egypt, and Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, the captain of the guard, an Egyptian, had bought him from the Ishmaelites who had brought him down there.

The Lord was with Joseph, and he became a successful man, and he was in the house of his Egyptian master.

His master saw that the Lord was with him, and that the Lord caused all that he did to succeed in his hands.

So Joseph found favor in his sight and attended him, and made him overseer of his house, and put him in charge of all that he had.

From the time that he had made him overseer in the house, and over all that he had, the Lord blessed the Egyptian's house for Joseph's sake.

The blessing of the Lord was on all that he had in house and field.

So he left all that he had in Joseph's charge, and because of him he had no concern about anything but the food he ate.

Now Joseph was handsome in form and appearance, and after a time his master's wife cast her eyes on Joseph and said, Lie with me.

But he refused and said to his But he refused.

Let's stop right there.

What an incredible contrast between what you see in the first six verses and what you see in seven in the beginning of verse eight.

You've got Potiphar's wife, the woman has everything.

She has money, she has position, she has influence, she's got power.

What does she do with it?

She tries to use her power to get what she wants.

She looks at Joseph and he's like, Okay, I like this.

And then she says, I'm powerful, I've got all this power, I want you.

And she uses her power to try to manipulate the circumstances to achieve what she wants.

Please, let me just stop right there.

This is the way the world works.

He who has the most power wins.

And the idea is that if you are in a powerful position, whether through your strength or whether through your position, what it means is you should use that to impose your will on other people.

It's contrasted with the first six verses with Joseph.

Joseph is a slave.

He's got every reason to be bitter, he's got every reason to look out for number one.

But look at what it says in verse 5 again.

It says, The Lord blessed the Egyptian's house for Joseph's sake.

Translation Joseph used his influence to bless everybody else around him.

He was receiving blessing, but he didn't use his power to get, he used his power to give.

And everybody around him, it says, was blessed simply because Joseph was there.

The question we have to face as leaders, are you going to bless others?

Or are you going to use others?

Joseph chose to use his power to bless, and that's exactly what we should do too.

What led him to this?

I think it goes back, look at the text again in verse 2.

It says, The Lord was with Joseph.

Verse 3 says, The Lord was with him.

The Lord caused all that he did to be successful.

Verse 5, the blessing of the Lord was on all that he had.

Joseph understood something that we can so easily forget, and that is this all you have comes from God.

His talents, his opportunities, his position.

It's all a gift from God.

And here's the things about gifts from God.

They are not just meant for you, they are meant to go through you.

Your advantages come from God.

He gave them to you so you could be a blessing to other people.

God gave you your gifts.

God didn't give them to you so that you could hoard them, he gave them to you so that you could be a blessing to other people.

Let's get super practical.

You get a bonus at work, you get some unexpected gift.

Do you immediately think, oh, now finally I can get that thing that I've always wanted?

Or do you begin to use that and say, okay, how can I use this unexpected blessing to bless somebody else?

You're the boss now, you get promoted.

Do you use that opportunity to say, you know what?

I finally it's about time for me to get mine, and I'm gonna take care of me and I'm gonna look out for myself, or do you instead use the fact that you're promoted as the very means by which you get to take care of other people that are all around you that have been forgotten?

The test of power shows up in your wallet.

The test of power shows up in your job.

Maybe you're a parent.

You've got all the power in that relationship.

What do you do with it to dominate your kids, control your kids, or do you develop your kids and do you instead grow your kids?

The test of power is at home.

What's the test of power for you?

What's the test of power in your life?

Here's the test this week.

Every time you have an advantage over somebody, ask yourself, how can I bless this person?

Instead of how can I benefit from this person?

Because listen, if you're gonna be a leader worth following, people need to be better because you're in their life, not worse off.

We got way too many arrogant, controlling, powerful leaders who have no influence whatsoever.

They just have a position and a title.

Instead, what we see so often presented, particularly through the person of Jesus, in John chapter 13, the most powerful one in the room was the one that was washing the disciples' feet.

John 13 · chapter mention

Joseph passed the first test because leaders choose integrity.

The testing's not over though.

The second test that you see in this passage is a lot harder.

It's one the test of purity.

It's the test of purity.

This test answers the question what do you do when you want something that you shouldn't have?

And let's be honest, we all know what that's like.

All right?

You see a sign that says wet paint, don't touch, what do you want to do?

You just want to touch it.

Just want to touch it.

Why?

Because we we want to cross that line.

We want to see how close we can get without necessarily going over.

And if we go over just a little bit, it ain't that big of a deal.

Why?

Because we have this mindset that basically says, I don't want to be told what I can't do.

And at times we have things that are presented in front of us that we're not supposed to have, but we want those very things, mainly because we're not supposed to have them.

This is the question what do you do with what you want?

Look at the text beginning in verse 7 again.

And after a time, his master's wife cast her eyes on Joseph and said, Lie with me.

But he refused and said to his master's wife, Behold, because of me, my master has no concern about anything in the house, and he has put everything that he has in my charge.

He is not greater in this house than I am, nor has he kept back anything from me except you, because you are his wife.

How then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?

And as she spoke to Joseph, day after day, he would not listen to her, to lie beside her or to be with her.

But one day, when he went into the house to do his work, and none of the men of the house was there in the house, she caught him by his garment, saying, Lie with me.

But he left his garment in her hand and fled and got out of the house.

Picture this.

Day after day, the most powerful woman in Egypt is pressuring you, is pursuing you.

The pressure's crushing.

Your freedom depends on her favor.

This wasn't a one-time situation.

It says that she went after Joseph day after day, every single day.

This is relentless pressure.

And the story here is a woman going after a man, but let's be honest, this is not specific to that scenario.

We know that men and women can use their sexuality as a tool to try to get what they want.

Maybe it's influence, maybe it's uninhibited pleasure, maybe it's satisfaction.

Either way, they're using their sexuality to try to figure out what I can get from this situation.

And I want you to notice what it says.

It says there that Joseph refused day after day.

Not just once, not just when he felt strong, day after day after day.

Because the thing about purity is this it's not a one-time decision, it's a daily choice.

You don't get a medal for having a good day.

You instead get character by having a thousand good days in a row.

Some of y'all are thinking, man, Joseph must have had some pretty strong willpower to resist these temptations in this situation.

No, no, no.

Please hear me.

Willpower is gonna fail you.

Willpowers will willpower is like a muscle.

It gets tired.

You can't white knuckle your way to purity.

Joseph won because he loved something more than the temptation.

Verse 9, look at it and it gives us an idea of what this is.

It says there, How can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?

Do you see that?

Joseph's no to temptation was powered by his bigger yes to God.

So he he didn't decide, what am I gonna do about this situation?

He instead made the decision, I'm gonna go and follow God so that when this or any situation comes up, I know what I'm gonna say.

I'm prepared, I'm ready.

Here's the secret sauce.

You don't overcome temptation by fighting it.

You instead overcome temptation by being satisfied with something better.

By the way, let me just stop here.

Joseph does something else that's very, very helpful.

This is the only temptation we see in the Bible where the way that you're told to deal with it is not by fighting it, it's by running.

When it comes to sexual temptation, don't play around with it.

The goal is not to see how close can I get to the line without going over it.

The goal is to see how far away can I get from the temptation so that I'm not even near it.

I'm living in such a way where there is purity, and when there is purity, there's power in your life.

I'll take it.

I'll take it.

If you guys respond, I promise I'll preach a lot better.

I can assure you of that, okay?

Let's get super practical.

Because I know one of the things that may come up here is in in Particularly, I know a lot of times whenever I heard sex being taught, it was always presented in such a way that basically was that it was all bad.

It's a gift, it's a gift from the Lord.

But with all of God's gifts, he has not only given the gift to enjoy, he has also given the gift within boundaries and parameters to protect it.

A fire is a beautiful thing.

A fire is something that provides heat.

A fire is something that is that brings people together.

It's something that's very encouraging to look at.

However, if you put a fire in the middle of a living room, the whole house is going to get burned down.

It's instead meant to be in a fire pit, or it's instead meant to be in a fireplace.

Boundaries put around it so that it can achieve the goal that it was designed to achieve instead of causing great havoc and damage.

So let's get super practical.

When it comes to the issue of sexual temptation, when it comes to the issue of purity, what are you doing behind closed doors when no one sees?

What are you looking at on the internet?

If nobody has a chance to see that internet browsing issues, would it look any different if your kids song?

If your parents song, if your teacher song, if your boss song, would it hit differently if Jesus saw?

Oh wait, he does.

I'm not telling you this to judge you.

I'm saying I'm trying to tell you this to help you.

I want you to check out your phones, if you would, for a minute.

I've got a podcast that I'm doing.

I'm in season two of it called Step Up, and I want to point you to a couple of resources.

Um, ladies, you're allowed to listen to this, okay?

You're always allowed to listen to it, but just FYI, this is for men.

But specifically, I've got two episodes that I'm highlighting where I talked about it last season that give specific practical things to help you when it comes to the test of purity.

One episode is called The Power of Saying No.

I talk about the fact that if you're gonna be really faithful and holy in your life, you're gonna say no a lot.

Like a lot.

You just practice it.

No, I'm not doing that.

Nope, I'm not going there.

Nope, I'm not gonna go in this room with you.

Nope, I'm not gonna be in this situation.

You just gotta know how to do it.

And so I want to teach you how to get real good at saying no a lot.

The other one I have is a what I would lose list.

I made this years ago.

I made a list and I listed out in detail if I was to blow my relationship with Hillary, all the consequences that would go.

Because here's the thing nobody, when they make a decision like that, are thinking through those consequences.

And I literally want to scare the hell out of me.

Literally.

And so I've just walked you through how to make a list to do the same thing for you.

In addition to that, I'm in the middle of a series right now on the podcast called Girls, Gold, and Glory.

And we're looking at the temptations that trip men up.

And a week from this Tuesday, I'm gonna release the first one, and then I got one a couple of weeks after that, where I'm literally walking through practically how you can avoid these temptations when it comes to this issue of purity in your life.

I just want to resource you and put these things in your hand because here's the thing it's not a matter of if, it's a matter of when you will face these tests.

And you're gonna need to know what I'm gonna do because your no, write this down.

Your no to temptation needs to be powered by your yes to God.

Your no to temptation needs to be powered by your yes to God.

So, what is the greater yes need to be in your life?

What love needs to grow stronger so that the lesser love will lose its power?

Let me just tell you, this is not an area that you just have to live defeated.

But it is an area you better you better step up and fight.

Because as we see what Joseph did, man, he he chose integrity.

He chose to do the right thing.

And because of that, he shows us a guide and a help to do the same.

We see Joseph used his power to bless.

He chose purity day after day, and if this was a Disney movie, the story would end right here.

We'd live happily ever after, and we move on.

That's not how real life works.

Instead, what we see is things take a really, really difficult turn, which leads us to the third test today, which is this the test of conditions.

The test of conditions.

This test answers the question what do you do when doing right leads to wrong results?

Because here's what nobody's gonna tell you about integrity.

It oftentimes will cost you.

Like when I was faced with telling the mechanic shop about the receipt, like that I didn't have that didn't have their name on it, like it meant I had no warranty, and that's real money coming out of my pocket at that point.

But let me just tell you, for most of you, all of you, your integrity is worth a heck of a lot more than$2,000.

And that's when you find out what you're really made of.

It absolutely was the case for Joseph.

Look at what happens in verse 13.

And as soon as she saw that he had left his garment in her hand and had fled out of the house, she called to the men of her household and said to them, See, he has brought among us a Hebrew to laugh at us.

He came in to meet to me to lie with me, and I cried out with a loud voice.

And as soon as he heard that I lifted up my voice and cried out, he left his garment beside me and fled and got out of the house.

Then she laid up his garment by her until his master came home.

And she told him the same story, saying, The Hebrew servant whom you have brought among us came in to me to laugh at me.

But as soon as I lifted up my voice and cried, he left his garment beside me and fled out of the house.

As soon as his master heard the words that his wife spoke to him, this is the way your servant treated me, his anger was kindled.

And Joseph's master took him and put him into the prison, the place where the king's prisoners were confined, and he was there in prison.

But the Lord was with Joseph and showed him steadfast love and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison.

And the keeper of the prison put Joseph in charge of all the prisoners who were in the prison.

Whatever was done there, he was the one who did it.

The keeper of the prison paid no attention to anything that was in Joseph's charge because the Lord was with him.

And whatever he did, the Lord made it succeed.

Joseph does everything right, and here's the results.

He gets falsely accused, he gets imprisoned, and he loses everything.

Joseph's sitting in prison, likely thinking, I did everything right, and this is what I get.

This will mess with your head.

Have you ever felt this way before?

Like you're laying awake at 3 a.m.

And you're thinking, God, I did exactly what you asked me to do, and I was crushed for it.

And here's the temptation in that moment.

For you to look back and think, man, this wasn't worth it.

For you to look back and say, Man, I just I should have just compromised right there.

I should have just given in.

Look at what integrity has got me.

That's the voice that will whisper in your ear when doing right leads to suffering.

It will tell you if you're suffering, it means you made a bad choice.

What we see over and over again in scripture is that many times making the right choice guarantees suffering.

It leads you into suffering.

Here's what I want you to write down.

It is always right to do right.

Even if everything goes wrong.

It is always right to do right.

Even if everything goes wrong.

Your circumstances don't determine what is right.

God's character determines what is right.

And God's character never changes.

Verse 21.

But the Lord was with Joseph.

And showed him steadfast love and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison.

Even in prison, even when everything looked hopeless, even when it seemed like God had forgotten him, God was with Joseph.

God wasn't punishing Joseph, he was preparing Joseph.

Every trial he went through was training, every setback was a setup.

God was writing a bigger story in the life of Joseph that he could not see.

And here's the thing about leadership sometimes you have to make hard decisions.

And here's the really brutal part.

Sometimes you gotta make them when you're all alone.

It's just you.

You're the only one not going to the party.

You're the only one not cutting corners in this industry.

You're the only one who's deciding to treat your employees with the utmost respect and to treat them in a way that is gonna bless them as opposed to a way that's taking advantage of.

And everybody else around you is cheating, everybody else around you is cutting corners, everybody else is doing all the things, and you got a choice to make.

Am I gonna do what's right?

Even if I'm the only one who does it.

Sometimes you have to trust God even when you can't see his plan.

Practically, what are you gonna do?

You discover your company is cutting corners, you could stay quiet, you could keep your job, or you could speak up and you could risk everything.

What are you gonna do when integrity might cost you your career?

You're in a relationship.

You wanna be honest about this relationship.

Things are not what you want, things are not what the way they should be, whatever it may be.

But you know, man, if I if I go there, things are gonna change.

Am I gonna have the courage and the willingness to be honest in this relationship, or am I just gonna keep things status quo?

What are you gonna do when your integrity might cost you relationships?

This is where the gospel comes in.

Because Jesus faced the ultimate test of conditions.

He could have avoided the cross by compromising his mission, but he chose costly obedience.

He chose to do what was right when everything went wrong.

And because he passed the test that we couldn't pass, we can have forgiveness when we fail, and we can have power when we're weak.

So here's the test.

When doing right costs you something, are you still gonna do it?

When integrity leads to suffering, will you still choose integrity?

When you can't see God's plan, will you still trust God's character?

Because let me tell you something, your reputation is built on what you do when it costs you.

Pass the test of conditions.

The question isn't whether these tests will come.

The question is, will you remember that leaders choose integrity?

Remember that moment when I had that choice of the mechanic shop?

It's interesting, I had all three tests in one.

I had the test of power, I had information the other shop didn't have.

I had the test of purity, the temptation to compromise, and maybe the ledger could fall in my favor this one time.

I had the test of conditions, doing the right thing was gonna cost me real money.

I ended up telling them that I found the receipt, but I told them that the receipt was from a different place.

But here's what I also found and realized in that moment.

My life is not defined by what I did in that one circumstance.

My life is defined by how I respond to a thousand of those same circumstances each and every day.

And I'm not trying to give myself a pat on the back for making the right choice in this decision because I know I'm 15 minutes away from screwing this whole thing up.

And so, therefore, I want to live under the grace of God and I want to live under the fear of God.

And I want to walk in such a way that doesn't assume I got this.

I instead want to walk in a way that says, God, I'm gonna hold on to you for dear life, and would you protect me from doing something stupid?

Because I know the sin nature still exists in me, but I do know as well that the power of the Holy Spirit living inside of me gives me the power to be able to choose integrity and choose the right thing, and the same thing is true of you.

And you need to know this every time you pass that test, you become more trustworthy.

Every time you choose the right thing, you become more reliable.

Every time you pick integrity, you get to be the person and the leader that God has called you to be.

Would you bow your heads and would you close your eyes all across this room?

Twenty years from now.

And people say your name.

What are they gonna say?

You're a hard worker.

You're fun to be around.

They had integrity.

When no one else was looking, they were gonna make the right decision.

Leaders choose integrity.

The question is, what kind of leader will you choose to be when the test comes?

Because it's coming.

Maybe you're here and you're thinking, man, I've already failed these tests.

Like I've used people, I've compromised my integrity, I've trusted myself.

Instead of God, I've made it all about me.

And here's the good news Jesus passed every test that you've already failed.

His perfect record can become your record through faith in him.

That's the story of the gospel.

Jesus paid the penalty for your sin and for mine.

He died on the cross and he rose from the dead, and he now offers you the chance to have eternal life by turning from your sins and giving your life over to him.

Will you do that today?

Will you receive his free gift of eternal life?

If that's you, what I want to ask you to do is in just a moment, we're all gonna stand up.

Let that be your cue.

Just come forward.

Come tell one of our team members, one of our prayer team members up front or at the bottom of the steps, and we'd love to walk you through a prayer that you can pray today, knowing for sure that his perfect record is on your account.

Not because of you, but because of him.

Others need to come and join United City Church.

God's leading you here.

You need to make it official by becoming a member of United City.

Others need to be baptized, like these three that we just saw.

You're tempted, I know, just to be like, Man, I'll just wait.

Man, there's no reason to be disobedient to what God's leading you to do.

You need to say, Yes, I'll do it.

If that's you, would you come and let us schedule your baptism?

Maybe some of you need prayer today.

Maybe you're up against it.

Maybe those temptations are coming day after day after day after day.

It feels overwhelming.

You're not sure how you're gonna keep doing it.

Let me just tell you, let the Spirit of God fill you so that you can see the way of escape when it is provided.

You can make the right choice.

Maybe some of you have need to confess, maybe some of you need to get right with the Lord.

You've been living a double life, you've been living a lie, you've been living something where you no one's seen, no one knows, but you know.

But you know.

What we want to do is be a people who are holy before a holy God.

I'm not telling you this to be legalistic, but I am telling you this: we want to live in the fear of the Lord.

So maybe you need to get right with Him.

That starts with a heart of confession, not a heart of pride, but instead by confessing before the Lord, we would love nothing more than to walk alongside of you in that journey.

Father, I pray you'd move in our midst, give boldness and courage to your people as they respond to you.

Thank you, Father, that you continually work in the lives of your people.

Let us be a faithful people today, responding to what you call us to do.

It's in Jesus' name I pray.

Amen.

Would you stand?

And as you stand, our team is at the bottom of these steps or at the bottom in the front.

You come as God is leading you to respond right now.

Come on.

Let's pray together, Father.

We do come before you.

Would you find us to be a holy people?

Let us not play church today.

Lord, convict us if we're checking off a box.

But Father, I pray that that conviction would lead to repentance and your kindness.

And may God, we need to be serious with you.

We let your grace cover that which is exposed.

Lord, may we be honest.

Search me, O God, and know my heart.

Try me and know my thoughts.

See if there be any grievous way in me.

And lead me into the way everlasting.

May that be our prayer today.

As we seek you, knowing that when we seek you, we will find you when we seek you.

With all of our hearts.

It's in the name of Jesus that I pray.

Amen.

Thank you so much for joining us this morning.

We can't wait to see you next week for any of our services at 8:30, 10, 11:30, or Espignol at 1 o'clock.