A Faithful Father || Fathers of the Faith Pt.1 || Pastor Diego Mesa

Welcome to the Lesse podcast. Here at Lesse we seek the loss, teach

the found, and send the disciples. We truly hope you're encouraged by this

week's message. Father, thank you so much for everything that we're about.

Ready to hear people not coming to hear Diego. Diego cannot help them,

but the Holy Spirit will invade the dark crevices of our lives and bring truth

that will not just simply convict, but will really heal us and be the

answers that we need. So we honor you in Jesus name. Would you

stand today for the reading of God's Word and we're going to read it on

the screen to you today and today for the month of June, we launch

a new series called Fathers of Faith. So we would be talking about men

in the Bible that we're heroes, but ladies, don't take a nap.

There's so many principles you're going to hear today and this month that are really

really going to apply to you. So we get introduced to our first care

after today prompted by faith, Noah being forewarned by God concerning events which as

yet there was no visible sign. What's he talking about? He's talking about

rain, he's talking about a flood. He could be talking about what's a

boat? But God's forewarning him that destruction is coming, judgment is coming,

consequences of people's living is coming. And so it goes took heed and diligently

and reverently he constructed and prepared an arc or a boat for the deliverance of

his Let's say this one word that's highlighted. What's it saying, red?

He built the boat for who? He built the boat for who? His

family? Okay, Then it goes on and says, by this his faith,

which relied on God, he passed judgment and sentenced on the world's unbelief

and became an error and a possessor of righteousness, that relationship of being right

right into which God puts the person who has faith. You may be seated

two people in this story that you read about. You read about a people

that went through destruction. They didn't have to go through destruction if they would

have heated the warnings of God. Then you deal with the other types of

people that heated the warning of God and they were delivered from the ultimate destruction.

Now this is type in shadow of a lot of things. It's the

way of the world, it's the way of heaven and hell. But there's

so many stories or underlining thoughts in this amazing story that we read in most

people when they think of Noah's Ark, they think of a childhood story.

It's a make believes story. It's a cute little bedtime story of a boat

and you know two of every animals that were on there and rain that came,

and they talk about the rainbow. How maybe you remember the rainbow.

You know, there's another group of people that like to claim the rainbow.

But the reality is before you claim the rainbow, the rainbow already existed in

it was already claimed, So you're actually stealing the rainbow. Now. I

don't care if you use the rainbow. Just remember what the rainbow was created

for. And God put that rainbow that's still here thousands of years later,

and yet people don't believe there's a God. Well where did that rainbow come

from? Go back to the book and you'll read about when God put the

rainbow, because up till then a rainbow did not exist, and the rainbows

for every person in the future to look up and remember judgment, remember God's

mercy. Remember that God keeps a promise that what God says, he will

do everything in the rainbow. Folks focuses to a creator trying to be political.

I'm just trying to tell you the Bible here today. Now there are

some people that still don't believes that the story exists. And so how many

of you ever people hurt people, they're more of an atheistic perspective or on

church, and we were all there so we can identify. Give me a

sign that God exists. Well, you could go to a place called Mount

Ararat where thousands of years ago God said that boat landed, and you could

take satellite photos because the boat is still there. Thousands of years later,

the boat is still there. So tell me how a boat got up on

a mountain. Tell me what manufacturer went on that mountain and created that boat

and it exists unless the story in the Bible is real. There was a

flood they floated in had flood on this boat, and then all of a

sudden it landed on a mountaintop and then they the water dispersed and they walked

out from that boat. So today let's talk about this. I love going

to dinner and at dinner. I always like to have a little bit of

an appetizer. How many of you like appetizers? Look at somebody and tell

somebody looking at you, and you look like you eat appetizer. You like

appetizers, don't act like you don't. I'll just have water and bread.

Let me give you three appetizers before I bring on the entree today. Here's

the first appetizer that's written in the Bible. Then God remembered Noah and every

living thing and all the animals that were with him in the ark. And

God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters began to

subside. Number One, God remembers you. God remembers you in places where

you are confined, in a situation where you are limited in getting out,

in places where you've been in lockdown for a long period of time. God

remembers you in close quarters. Some of you might be in that place symbolically

in your life. God remembered Noah. When Noah's supplies began to run down

low. Noah didn't know how long he would be in that boat, so

him and his family made provisions for him in the anom the animals had to

be fed. He had to be fed. So as he began to see

maybe the supplies and the cabinet's going down, he started looking at that chicken

and cow and saying, if God doesn't come through, you are Tomorrow's supper

boy. And therefore today we wouldn't have chickens and cow because Noah atum.

But we have chickens and cows because God came through. And when his supplies

were running low, God said that's enough, and he blew on the water

and it began to subside. Number two, when you're tired of shoveling crap

in your life, how many of you know there isn't necessarily air conditioning in

the ark? And how many of you know there's an a lot of animals,

and what do animals do a lot of? And so this man has

been shoveling poop and his family, and the stinch of the poop is there.

But God remembers you when you've been shoveling crapping. You're tired of shoveling

crap, tired of shoveling the crap of this marriage, I'm tired of the

stinch of my finances. God will remember you when you are in that place.

And then Ultimately, when all you see is just a flood. I'm

tired of looking out in the boat and just seeing a flood. God will

remember you. Here's the second entree that will bring to you to help give

me the appetizer. And Noah began to be a farmer and he planted a

vineyard. Then he drank of the wine and was drunk and became uncovered,

or the translation as he became naked. So here's the second principle that you

need to understand. When you come out of a great victory or you come

out of great success, don't let your guard down to the devil's temptation.

Here is a man that just built a boat. He saved his family,

he was a hero of faith, and the next picture of him, he'd

getting drunk, getting drunk. So watch it. When you come out of

great victories, you come out of great battles of success, don't let your

guard down. Don't get comfortable. If you were praying before the flood,

keep praying after the flood. If you were believing God and going to church

before the flood, then keep going to church through the flood and after the

flood. It's no time to kick back. If not. Then, just

like David, who never went out to battle, no more got comfortable,

and he found himself in the bed of Bathsheba committing adultery. Don't get comfortable.

There's a lot of preachers like me. After they built some level of

success, they start getting comfortable, and they start doing things that they never

were supposed to do. And the enemy steals the testimony of the victory and

the success, because now in your resume is not only boat builder, but

drunkard. Here's the third principle. So it came to pass at the end

of forty days that Noah opened the window of the arc which he had made.

Then he set out a raven. Say the word raven with me.

He set out this word, this raven, which kept going to and fro

until the water had dried up from the earth. Then he set out for

himself a dove to see if the waters have receded from the face of the

ground. But the dove found no rest in place, just like the raven

did. But look at the difference for this silver foot, But she returned

into the arc. Didn't say that the raven returned. It did say the

dove returned to the ark. For the waters were on the face of the

whole earth. So he put out his hand, took her the dove back,

and drew her into the arc himself. Don't send a raven to do

a dove's work or a dove's job. Understanding there are two different birds.

You've got to understand the difference between a raven person and a dove person so

that you are not let down or not put down. They're two different birds.

And the raven, the Bible says he sent out, but the Bible

doesn't say that that raven came back to Noah. But the dove went out

and he came back, which is a sign of accountability under authority. Anybody

here when I'm talking about today, he comes back to his family. There's

a lot of men lost. They were sent out and we don't know where

they are. But dub men returned back to their boat. They were returned

back to their families. They tell them where they've been. I'm a man,

don't be asking me where I've been, MC grown man. Well,

then you're acting more like a raven, not a dove. So let's go

on to the real point now that you'll like me, sir, would you

please bring out the entrees. Here we go. First point. It's found

in Hebrews the eleventh chapter by faith Noah being divinely warned of the things not

yet seen. Will stop here because we read it already was moved with godly

fear. Three things that Moses possessed, they're all fs. And if you

and I are going to build something that is going to sustain the world's sin

and the world's corruption and over when other people are drowning in the flood of

this world and society, then you've got to make sure that you're building it

on the fear of God. The fear of God. What does it mean

to fear God. It means to honor to God. It means to respect

God. It means to have a reverence toward God. It means to be

wowed and awed by God, the way people are towards celebrities and superstars.

But we don't treat God that way. And that's why whatever we build drowns

in this world and we go down with it because we don't understand what it

means to fear God. Here's what the Bible says of how important it is

to fear God. Therefore, my beloved as you have always obeyed, not

in my presence only, but now much more in my absence. Work out

your salvation. You can grow in your faith. You can't be born again

and not begin to bear fruit and grow without fear and trembling. You got

to always fear God, love him, honor him, and respect him,

obey him. Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves

from all filthiness of the flesh. Because if you'll never be cleansed of the

fel you'll be saved, you'll be going to heaven, but you'll have a

dirty flesh unless you have the fear of God. And you, oh,

that makes sense. Why so many people raise their hands say I am a

Christian, have a cross around their neck, but live like a junkyard dog.

It makes sense now, I never understood it. You said, how

can these people go to church and yet live another lifestyle because they do not

fear God. Next scripture, Please and do not fear though those who can

kill the body but cannot kill the soul, but rather fear him. That's

God who is able to destroy both the soul and the body in hell.

It seems as though we've got the wrong focus of who we fear and who

we shouldn't fear. Here's the reality every one of us identifies with us.

How many of you have ever been in your car and you've been speeding,

and all of a sudden you see a policeman. Tell me your first reaction.

How many of your first reaction is to accelerate and go faster? Why?

Because he just a man, he just a person. But why are

you so fearful, reverential, respectful, honoring, obeying. Why why do

all of us slow down? You hit the red and you're hoping you don't

pass him, and he sees the red. One time I thought i'd do

that with Cindy. One time, I said, oh man, uh,

it's it's the it's the first, and it's the last luxury car I've ever

bought. And then I went to trucks and I said, I'll never do

it again. I bought a Jaguarre, so I took it on the highway

up north. I said, Cindy, get ready, I'm gonna put my

foot into it. And now yea seventy boom, eighty nine hundred, one

hundred ten. No moment I did one hundred and ten. I don't know

where that cop came. Anybody like me, you break when you see the

policeman. Why, how many of you have ever had don't don't lie,

but don't raise your hand. How many you have ever had a gangster lean

when you're driving and your bump musical school and then you see the man that's

just a man? Why did you act so differently? He? Why?

How many of you you never use your directional signals. You don't even know

what a blinker is, but all of a sudden you see it. You're

actually doing the old school hand out left her. You're stupid. We're all

stupid. He's just a man, but you show more fear toward him than

you would ever do God. And yet God sees everything, watches everything,

rewards and judges everything. Don't fear a man that could kill your body.

Here's someone that could send you to hell. So God says, Wow,

that's tough to deal with. Watch you what the Bible says, what Jesus

said from his own mouth, found in Luke, as it was in the

days of Noah, So will it be in the days of the Son of

Man when he returns. That's what he's referring to. They ate, They

drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage until the day that

Noah entered the Ark and the flood came and destroyed them all. This is

really a great learning point today. If you want to know what it was

like back then when Noah was building the arc, it's to look at the

world today, because they resemble the same. People are eating, they're drinking,

they're doing life, and they're marrying. What's the difference. What was

the main catch of then versus now? No fear of God. Here's what

the fear of God looks like. I don't take God seriously, mister Noah.

There ain't no gonna be no how and there's no judgment, and there's

no punishment for my life. And I can do what I want whenever I

want. It. Ain't nobody gonna tell me nothing. I don't need God,

I don't want God. I don't believe in God. God says as

it was back then, is the way it is in June of twenty twenty

three. People don't take God seriously. They have no fear of God.

He likes me, I likes you. Let's get it. Let's get it

on. Oh, let's get it all. Man, Come on, let's

live together, let's get married. I mean, let's live to bed.

Excuse me, let's live together, let's have kids, and let's live in

the same house. But we ain't gonna get married. I'll connect that in

a few moments. Let me forget about that one. So the reality is

is that they've lost the fear of God back then, and the challenges for

us not to lose the fear of God. Because here's the reality. You

will fail to build anything I said it, but I'll say it again long

lasting without the fear of God. And when you don't walk in fear,

you will be open to all the other fears of the world today, the

world. I don't care how. You could be six foot four, three

forty pounds and have twenty four inch bython guns like me. You could be

as beautiful as can be, as educated as can be. But people are

scared today. They are fearful today. Why because they don't fear God.

So when you don't fear God, you open yourself up to all other fears

today. People, I don't care who you are. They fear death,

people fear being used by God, people fear failure, people fear change,

people fear people's opinions of them. Oh no, they don't follow me no

more, they said, they don't like me. I don't need be the

sympathy. I'm not trying to be. This is the way of the word.

How can you kill yourself just because someone that is called DM fifty four

says you're ugly? Need to like you because you don't fear God. And

when you don't fear God, you take on the fears of the world.

F omo whatever it is they say, right, yeah, I fear of

missing out, y'all look at me like I'm crazier. People fear death because

we've lost the fear of God. Let me give you the second principle.

Noah was extremely faithful, and he was faithful for one hundred and twenty years.

This is all he did every day. Boring. This isn't fun,

This isn't exciting. Going home every day after work and looking at my wife,

boring, sitting down with my kids and playing gave boring, going to

church every Sunday, boring, reading my Bible every day and pray ball.

Sorry, Noah, see that a real man can fix things, not a

girl. Real man. I'm not trying to make fun. I'm gonna come

back to that right now, Billie, I got two things I gotta come

back. Why says he's faithful. Here's the Bible, and the Lord said,

my spirit shall not always strive with man, for he is indeed flesh.

Yet his day shall be one hundred and twenty two ways of interpidating this

God puts a limit on how long man can live. Number one. Number

two. What he's saying is he's saying, I'm giving you one hundred and

twenty years to build a boat, because at the end of one hundred and

twenty years, the reign of destruction is going to come. So get building.

Think about what it took for Noah to build that arc Where did he

go? Did he go to Ace hardware home deep or Lows? Did he

go to Did he go to boat architectural firm and begin to look at designs?

What did it take for this man to do it? To mill that

would Did he just get on a blowhorn and say the boat's done? Animals

come forth? No, and they started marching two by two, and the

snails started on the first day he started the boat. You all go on,

she'd all be there in one hundred and twenty years. I'm moving real

fast. Right now, I got it. I got it in Turbol,

right now, I'm having too much fun. Right now. Life is not

easy. Life is not fun. Life gets boring, especially if you've been

married for forty years. I'm just gonna get me something half my age and

get something exciting in the bedroom. Oh faithfulness, faithfulness to do the same

thing that's righteous, over and over and over and over and over and over

beyond what you feel like. So watch what he does, watching the construction

of what he does, watch the faithfulness. Make yourself an art, Make

yourself an art. Underlining this word gopher Wood. Why didn't God? Because

right I'm just like making it up. What if down the street from his

house was Pinewood and gopher Wood was a mile away. Here's what I'm trying

to tell you. If you and I had to make the boat, it

would have sunk. It would have been some tore up, jacked up jelape

that the moment a wave came. Watch go get some look at that.

It just highlighted just God underline right now, gopher Wood. I want you

to see. What I'm about ready to read is how specific God is and

how obedient which is faithful. No one has to be make rooms in the

arc cover and the inside and the outside pitch. And this is how you

shall make it. The length of the arc shall be three hundred cubits,

not two nine to nine. It's it's with fifty cubits, not forty nine

cubits. And it's high shall be thirty cubans, not thirty one cubits.

You shall make a window for the arc. You shall finish it in a

cubit above from above, and set the door of the arcs on its side.

You shall make a lower level, a second level, and a third

level. You mean God's not into details. God don't care again. Let's

I told you to hold on to something. Now I'm gonna come back to

it. We can live together, we can have kids, and we can

have a house. We don't have to get married. Really, then,

why is God so detailed oriented here in how he directs and what he commands?

Because we're trying to survive the corruption and the wickedness that's in this world

that people are drowning by left and right. God is a god that commands.

God is a God that gives orders. God is a God that gives

laws. Why so that he could dominate our lives. No, so he

could protect our lives. That's what it's about. So we see all the

direction that Noah gave in the building of the boat. So I have to

ask the question, how long can you stay doing something without giving up and

quitting? Would you have last ten years, twenty years? Would you have

been still building in the hundredth year, would you still be doing in one

hundred and twenty years? Why don't people stay doing and give up because of

delays, because of the unexpected, because of hardships, because it's boring,

because it's not fun, and because it's taking too long. That's why many

people just stop going to church, stop praying, stop doing whatever they were

doing in the Kingdom of God, because it's just not what's boring, it's

taken too long. But here's what you record. You've got to understand.

This is what faithfulness looks like. There's gonna be a quote on faithfulness that's

gonna go on on your screen, But here it is. Faithfulness is not

measured by what you did, but what you're doing well. I used to

go to church, I used to give money, I used to volunteer,

I used to know what are you doing today? That's faithfulness. So one

hundred and twenty years, one hundred. Faithfulness is the every day stuff.

Every day. I come home after work every day, every weekend, I

spend time with the kids. Every day. I try to exercise a little

bit every day. I try to try. I try to uh watch watch

what I eat. Every every day. I try to be a good steward

over my find it's the everyday stuff that's sometimes mundane, and sometimes it's amazing

how many people come up to me. It's really something I laugh to laugh.

Sometimes they come I know they're right, but they come up to me

and they say, hey, Diego, are you still into that health stuff?

Eating right? Hey Diego? Are you are you still into that exercise?

It'd be like me asking you do you still be believing that breathing stuff?

Are you still taking a shower every day? Because what you're asking me

is my lifestyle. You don't have to maybe when I'm ninety five years old

ask me if I'm exercising. But but that's what faithfulness is. It's not

this up and down and hit and miss and sometimes so at make every day,

make every day a big day, so that when big days come,

you can enjoy it. See, there's a lot of big days in people's

lives. They don't enjoy wedding anniversaries. What do we have to do?

Go to hold our hands? What do you have to make love tonight?

We have to go to the movies? What do you have to do?

Go out? We've lived like how we've foughten like cats and dogs all year

long, and all of a sudden, you and I want to act like

we're in love one day a year. Why Because they've not made every day

a big day, so that when big day comes they regret it, they

don't enjoy it. Retirement live every day as a big day so that when

the big day of retirement comes. Have you been saving? No, so

you got to work for the rest of your life. So retirement is not

an enjoyable thing for you. Birthdays, what are you doing for your birthday?

Nothing? Why? Because I have no one to do it with.

I'm just gonna work a double shift. Why because something reflects and an emotional

imbalance in your life of how you've been living every day so it's just another

day for you. Make every day a big day to the best of your

ability to live it as though it's a big day, so when big days

come, you can completely enjoy it. The third principle and the last principle

is the fact that Noah was a family man. And now get into the

second thing that I left you hanging with. That was the hammer. One

person remembered them. Thank you, mom for remembering the hammer. Here's what

the Bible says in Noah building the ark, but I will establish my covenant

with you, and you shall go into the ark. Who's going to go

on the arc? Your sons, your wife and your son's wives with you?

Okay. Then the Lord said to Noah, come into the arc,

you and all your household, because I have seen that you are righteous before

me in this generation. Then God spoke to Noah's saying, go out of

the ark, you and your wives, and your sons and your sons wives

with you. Notice all these scriptures about Noah's family, Noah's family, Noah's

family. Noah was a family man. And that's the third f today Noah

fear God. Noah was faithful, and Noah was a family man. Now,

Hobby is I'm talking right now? Can you pull up the scriptures again?

That gives a description of the animals that went in the arc, you

have it, and thank let's give a hand for hobvey. Hobby has to

be sharp, and and of every living thing of the flesh. You shall

bring two of every sort into the art to keep them alive with you.

They shall be what what went into the arc? Too? Male? And

two males? God said, just go get you two male sheep they're sheeps,

and bring them on the ark. Don't get get you two female cows

and just bring them on the ark. Why is there a male and a

female on the arc. Why didn't he let to dude sheep and to broad

cheeps get in the ark. I don't know. I'm not gonna get you.

Be the preacher up here, come on up here and explain it to

us, please, because it's the law of God, it's the creation of

God. I'm not trying to judge anyone. I'm just trying to go to

the Book of Origin that we live by. And it's amazing how many preachers

are afraid to preach scriptures like that, or people that believe in something different

avoid the Bible and rip that page out. There was a boy, and

there was a girl. There was Adam and his wife, and there were

the three sons and their wives, and there was the boy's sheep, and

there was the girl's sheep. The laws of God, the commands of God,

the pro creation of God. If there were two boys on their creation

would have died. The last sheep would have been there to three thousand years

ago. For longer, they would have died because two girls cannot produce a

child, two boys cannot produce God's about creation, pro creation for his glory,

to witness who he is and to receive his son as salvation. That's

why there's a jealous size taking place in this world. The devil is after

our children. Because I'll end it, they will not have an opportunity to

accept Jesus Christ. So I got to create this belief system around. I

want to be respectful. So here's the statistics. One out of four men

live. One out of four men that are thirty years and over live with

their mama and daddy. Our society in our world today gives permission back to

him. Our society and world today gives permission for men to remain boys and

immature and childish. Listen to the music of today, and listen to the

movies of today, hangover, jackass Friday, dumb and dumber step brothers making

all kinds of money off of someone. But to pick the men as sexual

addicts can marry a woman got seventeen children from seven women, are lazy,

are angry, have no ambition, and have no goals. Are soft men.

Noah was a builder. Men are builders. They're tough by nature.

They're visionary. They give direction to their family, their providers, their protectors.

And when you don't teach me how to be a man, you violate

God's laws and God's orders, and we destroy the family, thus destroying the

church and thus destroying the society. The enemy knows what he's doing absolutely,

so the world gives permission and celebrates men that remain boys. So you got

mamas who are still doing the laundry of their forty five year old son,

still cooking meals for their forty five year old son, letting their forty five

year old son use their hard to get around, giving stipends and money to

their sons, and we are failing to produce men. Here's the next statistic,

went out of four married men are in an extra marital affair. Let

me have the movie industry is around sixteen to twenty billion dollar industry. The

video game industry is a thirty six billion dollar industry. Let me ask you

a question. Try to guess what is the average age of a gamer.

It's the average age of a gamer. Put the answer on the screen.

Please. The average age of a gamer is thirty four years old. So

you thought it was fourteen years old. I'm gonna say I'm not gonna say

anything. I'm gonna just leave it at that. This is why no Noah

was a family man, and he depicted what a man was. Here's my

statements to you. Noah's grown up family, his wife, his grown up

sons and daughter in laws followed him into the boat. If you ain't living

right, dude, I don't believe in no rain, I don't believe in

no judgment, and I don't believe in no God, and I don't go

to church. I ain't following you nowhere. Why did he have so much

influence over grown up people because he lived right. He didn't bribe him,

he didn't make them. The second thing that made him a family man is

his family worked together, depended on each other, lived together, and worshiped

together. They were in that boat together. They worshiped God together. They

had hand me the lumber, hand me the nails, hand me the hammer.

You do the left side, I'll do the right side. You build

the first Lord, I'll be working on the second. They worked together.

And the strength of a family is that right there? Can you worship together,

maybe not in the same church because your family's friends, but you're worshiping

God somewhere. You're able to work together, depend on each other, and

you're able to live together. The third thing that I recognized about Noah being

a family man was he was a husband and father before he was a famous

arc builder. He put his family in front of his job. He put

his family in front of his reputation. He was a family man first before

he ever became famous as the arc builder. He knew his first ministry and

who he was to please first was his family. That's why they followed him.

And then the last point about knowing that Adam was a family man is

he had no model, but yet he became the model. Maybe you didn't

have a father, maybe you have a male image in your life that was

right, but you could be in Noah. As far as I know,

he didn't have a model on how to build a boat. I don't see

a lot of influence from his father in the story. He could be good,

but it doesn't say but he came out from that and maybe he became

the first generation. And that's what you could be that serves God. You

don't always need a model. All you need is God, and God will

help you to do that. With that in mind, watch a screen and

we'll come back and pray after you watch this video. Steve Lewis in laye

three riverto Hernandez out quickly in four now down the back stress. This file

on the left of the screen is running very very quickly, and inside of

Lewis Sunday Butt of Nigeria and Derek Redman of Great Britain has pulled up with

an injury. Redman is out. Derek Redman, the British record lauder and

an important member of that British four by four hundreuld be to relay team because

he doesn't want anybody to help him. It'll be Lewis to win in forty

four point five zero and look at this, he's going to try to finish

his semifinal race. The British have a certain tradition of running, which you

have to respect, and a bizarre finished to the first semifinal of the men's

four hundred meters. Derrick Redman of Great Britain pulled up with an injury halfway

down the backstretch. He's fighting off those trying to help him to finish the

race in his life, and now the pain too much he had was swelling

throughout Olympic stadium. As Redman, with assistance this time, approaches the Finnish

line. He had wanted so desperately to read that there's the Olympics tery.

You know, sometimes pictures or videos don't need an explanation. All of us

were in that video somewhere. You could have been the people in the crowd.

You could have been Derek, You could have been Jim the father.

You could have been the person that tried to help. But they shoot away

because not all people should help you, not all people really want to help

you. Now, to people understand the race that you're in, there's a

lot of metaphors in that. But I wanted to play that for the men.

I said some startling things to you today. My job was not to

beat us up anymore than we're already beaten up. Not to emasculate you as

much as we are emasculated in this world, to really tell you that life

gets tough sometimes and you get injured and you pull up short of your race.

There's someone, a father that loves you, and he ain't there to

judge you by saying you shoulda, coulda and woulda. He just needs you

to reach out your arm and let him bring you to the finish of the

race. Today. That's the altar call today. Like Dered, he's a

professional athlete. Like Derek, he didn't have it anywhere in his mind that

he wasn't going to finish that race. In his mind, he didn't think

that probably injury was even possible. But it happened. It happened, and

he was struggling with all his might, all by himself. But when he

saw his dad, the real, stored up, bent up emotion was released.

I can be real with my dad. I had to put on the

fight face with the crowd, but with my dad, I could tell him

that I'm hurting, I'm empty, I'm struggling, I'm abusive, i was

molested, I've done incess in my family, or you be real with him,

because at the end of the day, all of us are going to

cross that finish line called death. And if you let God bring you through

this lifetime, in this race, that he will lead you into the next

lifetime called heaven. But if you push him away and act like you don't

need him when you know you're hurting and struggling today because the injury that you

sustain is from sin in your life today, will you reach out to God

and say, I'm trying to run the race, but it's tough, man,

and I need a forgiveness in my life. I need a savior.

I need a Daddy in my life, a real God, a so greater

than me, so much stronger than me. When I count to three,

I'm gonna ask you to raise your hand to give your life to Jesus for

the first time. You could have been like me, raised up in church.

I have a relationship with religion, but I don't have a relationship with

a person. Or you can say I'm a Christian, but you know what,

I haven't been running the race of Christianity. I've stopped and I need

to regain that race, recommit my life to the Lord because I've been played

by my rules, building my arc and my house the way I want to

and not obeying the instructions of God. Here we go. One two.

You be bold enough to raise your hand for Jesus right now. One two

three, All across this auditorium, wherever you might be, do me one

more thing. If you're bold enough to raise your hand, stand up for

Jesus. Wherever you are, stand up. If you're raising your hand,

people unders aimed or standing up all over this suditorium, say this prayer with

me. Dear Lord. I may not know you like I should, but

you know me. When I was in my mother's womb, you saw me,

and you know everything I've done up till now. I ask you to

forgive me. I ask you to help me. I ask you to save

me. I ask you to deliver me. Today publicly in front of all

these people, I asked Jesus into my heart to be my Lord and savior

from this moment forward. I'm a child of God and I am forgiven.

Amen, you may be seated. We really hope you enjoyed the message,

and if you said yes to Jesus, we just want to say congratulations and

give you a free devotional to help you walk out your faith. Click the

link in the description or head over to Grove dot faith to download your devotional.

Oh and be sure to subscribe and share this podcast with your friends.

Thanks for listening to a LC podcasts, and I hope you tune in again