Rock Life! - Pastor Kipp Penrod

Thank you for listening to this message from

Lifehouse Church. rock life. Say rock life. Yeah,

rock life. Rock life. If you were in the house

or if you were listening online last week, I

said that phrase over and over multiple times

at the end of the message. And rock life is this.

Rock life is a life that is firmly planted in

Jesus. It is. Rock life are people who are saved

by God's grace through faith in Jesus Christ.

They are people who know in their heart that

they were completely lost and undone without

Jesus, that they were doomed, that they were

condemned, and on our way to hell without Christ.

We know that, and we live on the rock. Amen?

Rock life people are completely aware of the

immeasurable grace that was given to us and the

gift that was given to us at the cross of Jesus

Christ. That sacrificial gift. Rock people know

that rock life is knowing Jesus and it is doing

life just like Jesus said. It's rock life. Rock

life people are people who chase after God. They

know it. They're convinced. They go after them

with everything that's inside of them. And yes,

before you even ask me this after gathering,

I'm going to tell you, yes, I indeed ripped this

off from a Salt Life t -shirt. I got to confess.

How many of you have ever seen a Salt Life t

-shirt? And I'm thinking, well, that's cool,

but that's not as cool as Rock Life. You know,

it's not. How many of you see somebody that's

got our Salt Life t -shirt on? How many of you

have a Salt Life t -shirt, first of all? Okay,

yeah, they're proud. They're like, yeah, it's

me. All right, so here's the thing with Salt

Life people. I can see somebody wearing a Salt

Life t -shirt, and I know what they're all about

before I even talk to them. I don't have to know

them. I don't even have to chat with them. They

love the ocean. Salt Life people, they love the

ocean. They love to get in the ocean. They love

to get on the ocean. Some of them like to sit

just lazily on the beach and stare at the ocean.

They love sailing on the ocean. They love fishing

in the ocean. There's something somewhere along

the way that if they have a Salt Life t -shirt

on, you know what they love. You know that the

ocean is a priority in their life. They will

vacation there. They will buy vacation houses

there. And they will talk and dream about one

day retiring at the beach, right? It's somewhere

near the ocean. It is their jam. It's what they

do. It's their happy place. And all the salt

people said, amen. All right, come on. But rock

life, rock life is that and so much more. So

much more. Rock life people, they love talking

Jesus. They love talking the Bible. They like

talking about church stuff. They love it. They

eat it up. Rock life people, we'll go to the

rock every single time. We'll think about the

rock every single time. We live and breathe and

read about the rock, Christ Jesus. I totally

want to retire in Rock Life Village, right? It's

called heaven. That's where I want to retire

one day. They raise up. We just did it. They

raise up little rock people, right? They do.

They do. They wear the t -shirts. They've got

the bumper sticker. They're toting a Bible with

them where they go. This is Rock Life, people.

This is what we do. And just to say this so you

know, this may or may not be true, and it's probably

most likely true if I have my way, but we've

got church merch coming up soon, and you're going

to see Rock Life on the church merch. Amen? Yeah,

come on, we're going to give glory to him. Yeah,

on the LHC merch. So today, I want you to take

another peek into God's Word and talk about what

Rock Life really looks like. You know, some little

slices of what rock life is all about. So if

you've got your Bibles, you can begin to turn.

We're going to go to John 8, verse 31. We're

John 8:31

going to read through verses 38, and then we're

going to jump around a little bit inside that

particular portion of Scripture. And while you're

turning, I'm going to pray over the Word. Actually,

I'm going to pray over your ears, hearing the

word. The word's already blessed. And I'm going

to pray over the invitations that are right down

here in front of us, these green balls that are

representing people we're inviting into the kingdom.

Father, we thank you for this day. God, we thank

you that we get the opportunity to come into

your word, Lord, to hear your word. I thank you,

Lord, that we do have life on the rock. And Lord,

I thank you for these invitations that are represented

below me here. God, I pray, Lord, that you would

just go forward, minister, meet them wherever

they're at. God, help us while we're hearing,

Lord, that we're praying for them. those individuals,

and God, that they might come into the kingdom,

they might know you, and God, they might grow

in you, and everybody said together, amen, amen.

John 8, 31 says this, so Jesus said to the Jews

who had believed him, if, say if. How many know

that's a statement that means it could go two

ways, right? This is a conditional word that

Jesus put in there. If you abide in my word,

you are truly my disciples, and you will know

the truth, and the truth will set you free. They

answered him, we are offspring of Abraham, and

they have never yet been enslaved to anyone.

How is it that you say you will become free?

Jesus answered them, truly, truly, I say to you,

everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin.

Jesus is speaking to a crowd just outside of

Capernaum somewhere, beside the Sea of Galilee.

And in this particular case, he goes to teach,

and a large crowd shows up. So he gets into a

boat, pushes out to shore, and begins to... Speak

back to them. And as he begins to speak, he tells

them this particular portion of scripture. He

says this to them. And then Jesus, he's speaking

to believers and unbelievers. I'm sorry. At this

point, he's at the temple speaking. And he's

speaking to believers and he's speaking to unbelievers.

alike. In the crowd that he's talking to, he's

talking to both. And in verse 37, he shifts the

conversation and he says, at the beginning, he's

telling them, if you abide in my word, you're

going to be truly my disciples. He's speaking

to them. And then he shifts the conversation

37. He says, I know that you are offspring of

Abraham, yet you seek to kill me because my word

finds no place in you. I speak of what I've seen

with my father and you do what you've heard from

your father. There's a whole bunch of talk we

could do in this. Jesus is speaking to a people

of believers. It's actually new believers, new

followers of his that have come and converted

and are now following Jesus Christ. And he's

speaking to people who are adamantly against

him in this particular crowd. And he's saying,

if you abide in my word, these are new believers,

words of instructions given to new people. who

have come to faith. Powerful truth right out

of the gate with those who have chosen to follow

him in this moment. And he says, if you abide

in my word, you are truly my disciples. If you

stay, if you remain, if you continue in my words,

then and only then are you an authentic follower

of Jesus Christ, a disciple. This is what Jesus

said. He, if we're serious and we want to follow

Jesus in all of our life, we want to commit,

we want to go all in, right? Because Jesus calls

us for that kind of commitment. It's not ever

a halfway commitment with God. It's all in. Then

you will abide in his word, in his words. Amen.

Period. We will. Another way to put this is,

if you are his, if you know his words, you will

know his rule of life. You will know his decisions.

You will know his recommendations. You will know

his verbiage and his commands. You will understand

the nuances and the cadences, even in the written

word of God, because you will know his word.

Jesus was not just scheduling a new believers

class here, right, the next semester with these

converts. He was giving them, he was taking them

to Jesus school right off the bat. These people

had come, heard him speak, said, Jesus, you are

the Messiah. They believed in who he was. We

are going to follow you. And he didn't say, great,

sign up for a new believer's class that's going

to be taking place next, right? Our semester

is going to start soon, and you can pop in. He

said, no, if you truly follow me, right, you

will hear my words. He's taking them to school.

There's students that are going to abide in his

word, and he wants them to pick up on everything

that he's saying, everything he speaks, everything

he will speak, everything he commands, everything

he encourages, every rule of life. Pay attention

to what I'm saying. My children, my grandchildren,

went back to school this week. They're part of

the Carlisle School District, and they went back

to school. And I wasn't in their classroom because

they don't let me. But big people go. But I can

assure you that once the bell rang and they sat

down in their seats, well, once they got settled,

the teacher probably introduced them. Now, teachers,

you can back me up on this. Teachers probably

introduced themselves, right? Gave their name,

who they were as the teacher. And then they probably

said, now we're going to talk about something

that is my word. How many of us, the class rules?

Yeah, right? They probably started right down.

These are my classroom rules. This is how it's

going to work as you're in here through this

school year. This is what it's going to look

like. The teacher's going to go down through

like, this is going to happen, and this is going

to happen. This isn't going to happen. This isn't

going to happen. This is going to happen. This

isn't going to happen. Right? That's what teachers

do. They go down through. Jesus told these brand

new believers, if you're going to authentically

follow me, you'll abide in my word. You will

live in my word. You will follow my word. If

you're mine, if you're living rock life, it's

all God's word. It's our job to abide in the

word. It's our job to park there. to hang our

hat on what Jesus said, to let it be our guide,

to let it be our creed, to let it be our hearts,

to let it be something that we walk. One of the

defining marks of an authentic Jesus follower

is that they love to abide in God's word. If

somebody talks to me and they tell me they're

following Jesus and they don't really like looking

into God's word at all, I'm like, no, I'm not

the judge. I don't know their heart, right? But

rock life people, we like to hang out there.

Jesus people can't get enough. And if you don't

like to read, you can listen. I listen to God's

word and I read both, right? It's our jam. It's

what we talk about. It's what we mull over. Here

at Lifehouse, we get together and we have group

discussions. about this. Group studies, we call

them life groups. If you're not a part, little

plug right here. If you're not a part, shameless

plug. I'll shameless plug life groups any day

of the week. Sign -ups are taking place right

now. Get in a life group because that's what

they're doing. They get together. It's a bunch

of us rock life people, right? You get in and

you get all giddy. And even if you're not a rock

life person, you can get in anyway. You're going

to get to hear about what God's doing and what

his word's all about. It's why we do Bible in

a year. We talk about Bible recap and doing the

Bible in a year. It's because that's what rock

life people do. If you want to know about the

king, if you want to know about the rock himself,

you get in his word. It's our thing. It's what

we do in the regular. Amen? Come on, it is. It's

part of life. It's part of life. If you're in

the gym, put it on the headphones, cruising down

the road, man, listen to God's word, whether

it's sung, preached, taught. Being just read?

Listen to what he's teaching, what's being preached,

what's being read, what's being sung. Retire

into God's word, truly. Why? Because he said,

abide in the word. It's the standard that's going

to get us through. It is, righteously and in

God's favor. We know that his word holds hope

and future. We know that it becomes my compass,

my guide, my shield, my belt of truth, a lamp

to my feet, and a light to my path. We know that

it's living and powerful. The Word of God tells

us that. We know that the Word of God is a sword

in our hands. We know that it is a GPS if you

are under the age of 50. Say amen. If you're

over the age of 50, it's your map. All right?

I had this message prepared already this week.

And I was talking with a group of young adults

and got in a conversation this week. And somehow

they got on the topic of talking about GPS and

maps. And they're like, I don't know how those

people used to read those maps. I don't know

how they got where they were going. How in the

world did they find the street they were going

to? And I was thinking to myself, I didn't comment,

but I was thinking to myself, well, most of the

time we did find our way there. We just wasted

a lot more gas and we had a lot more arguments

with our spouse. That was the only difference,

right? It's true. Jesus said, if you are really

mine, you'll abide in my word, man. Turn to somebody

right now, turn to your neighbor, tell them life

on the rock is life in the word. Tell them that

right now, just declare it. Life on the rock

is life in the word. Preach to them just for

a minute. Life on the rock, right, is life in

the word. And it cannot be a casual pursuit.

It can't be a once a week thing where you pick

up your Bible, go to church, throw it back down

on the coffee table when you get back, and pick

it back up seven days later. seven days later.

Jesus left heaven and earth to come and give

us his word. He declares in Matthew 24 and 35,

heaven and earth will pass away, but my word

will by no means pass away. Everything around

us one day is going to melt into nothing. Take

a look around you. Buildings, houses, stuff,

it's all going by the wayside. It's going to

be dust. It's going to be chaff. It's going to

be gonzo. That's my word, right? It's going to

be a distant memory. But his word will not pass

away. Get your head around that. Understand that.

Park yourself squarely. And this morning, for

the rest of this message, I want to give you

just one example of why Jesus said that. authentic

Jesus followers stay in his word. I want to give

you one illustration out of God's word, because

Jesus knew we would need the word of God to navigate

all of life. He knew it. To navigate it successfully,

to have peace in your heart, to have hope in

your life, you're going to need it. And in one

small teaching, I got this backwards. Jesus was

teaching in the temple, the first scripture.

Now he's by the Sea of Galilee. Thank you for

being patient with my geography mess up. All

right. But in one small teaching by the Sea of

Galilee, right outside of Capernaum is where

this takes place. And this is where he pushed

out in the boat and he's looking back at the

shore. Jesus speaks this parable in Matthew 13,

24. He says another parable he put forth to them

saying, the kingdom of heaven is like. Now, anytime

you see in God's word, the kingdom of heaven

is like, pay attention. Pay attention. It's like

a man who sowed good seed in his field, but while

men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among

the wheat and went his way. But when the grain

had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares

also appeared. So the servants of the owner came

and said to him, sir, did you not sow good seed

in your field? How then does it have tares? He

said to them, an enemy has done this. The servants

said to him, do you want us then to go and gather

them up? But he said, no, lest while you gather

up the tares, you also uproot the wheat with

them. Let both grow together until the harvest.

And at the time of harvest, I will say to the

reapers, first gather together the tares and

bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather

the wheat into my barn. Jesus was telling a story.

And he's talking about seed, and he's talking

about a field, and he's not really just kind

of trying to have an illustration or a lesson

in gardening, right? Jesus says, while the owner

of a field is sleeping, his enemy sneaks into

the field that he planted with wheat, and he

plants tares. Now, if you don't know what tares

are, that's a type of weed. all right? W -E -E

-D, weed. And the enemy came in and planted tares

amongst the wheat. Now, you might be thinking,

well, why in the world would somebody do this,

right? That sounds like craziness. What would

you do? Why would that be the plot of an enemy

to go out and do this? Sounds like a strange

thing, right? The answer is to sabotage the enemy's

food supply was the idea. ruin their crops, to

choke out and overtake the wheat crop with the

tares, with the weeds, to destroy the harvest.

How many know that starving your enemy causes

them to be just as dead as stabbing your enemy?

Right? That's what this was. This would take

place back in that time. They would come in and

try to starve out their enemy. And some of you

are thinking, well, wouldn't the farmer notice,

right? Because some of you are gardeners in this

place. Some of you might be farmers. And you'd

be like, well, if they planted wheat in the field,

wouldn't the farmer begin to notice, like when

it started to grow, that this is wheat and this

is tares? And wouldn't he just go around and

just weed the garden? Because that's what we

do in Pennsylvania. We weed the garden. We figure

out what's crop and what's wheat, and we weed

that thing, right? But here's the thing with

tares. Tares, when they begin to grow, look just

like wheat. when they begin to grow. That's why

the enemy would use it. And by the time it grew

high enough to recognize and to identify, it

had already interweaved. The roots had already

interweaved with the wheat. And that's why in

this parable, the servant goes and says to the

owner, do you want me to go and tear out the

tears? I can go pull all those out. And the owner

says, no, because if you pull up the tears, you're

going to uproot the wheat with it. You're going

to pull them up. And what was Jesus saying here?

This was not farming advice. That's not what

he was after here. What was he teaching those

who are listening, right? What was he teaching

rock life people, the followers of Jesus? What

was he trying to say? He was giving them a broad

overview, a broad perspective of what was happening

then and what is happening now in our society.

In the word of God, it shows us. He shows, and

there's so many valuable things here, but he

begins to explain this to his disciples. He virtually

comes back and explains it. I'm going to read

that. Matthew 13, 36, it says, then Jesus sent

the multitude away and went into the house, and

his disciples came to him saying, explain to

us the parable of the tares of the field. He

answered and said to them, he who sowed the good

seed is the son of man. The field is the world,

and the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom,

rock life people. But the tares are the sons

of the wicked. The wicked one, the enemy who

sowed them is the devil. The harvest is the end

of the age and the reapers are the angels. Therefore,

as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire,

so it will be at the end of the age. The son

of man will send out his angels and they will

gather out of the kingdom all things that offend

and those who practice lawlessness and will cast

them into the furnace of fire. There will be

wailing and gnashing of teeth and the righteous

will shine forth as the son in the kingdom of

the father. He who has ears, let him hear. That's

what Jesus said. What does this explain? There's

a lot here, but what does this explain? Why do

rock life people maybe get a little excited as

they read this? Because Jesus' parable explains

what's happening in the world around us right

now. Right now. He lets me know what's going

on back then, and it's still happening today.

And you might be going like, oh, it's all starting

to make sense now. I understand. What I'm seeing

in the news. I understand what's taking place

in my country, state, and city, or maybe even

in my own family, right? I understand what's

happening in my neighborhood currently. I understand

what happens with all of humanity. In this field

of life, the owner said, there's going to be

wheat, and there's going to be tares, and they're

going to be coming up together. They're going

to be the rock life people who are following

Jesus Christ, and they're going to be those,

even those who are in evil, coming up together.

It'll be the redeemed, and it'll be the tares

in the same field growing up together. And some

of you are like, well, no kidding, right? Isn't

that kind of obvious? Ah, not as obvious as you

might think, honestly. I don't know if you've

ever... I don't know if you've ever met a rock

life person, a Jesus follower, who declares to

you that the entire world is going to hell in

a handbasket. Anybody ever meet somebody like

that? Come on. They'll declare up and down, right,

that the whole world is going to hell in a handbasket.

They'll probably talk like they're the only ones

that are actually going to make it, right? Everything's

awful. Everything's doomed. Everything's fear.

There's fear in their lives with everything that's

going on. They're like the writer of Ecclesiastes.

Vanity, vanity, vanity. The whole world's vanity,

right? It's doomed. It's over with. And anxiety

begins to rise within them. This is why I don't

overwatch the news. I like the news. I'm an old

guy. Old guys like the news. right? I like the

news, but I don't overwatch it. You know why?

Because they focus on evil. They focus on tares

all the time. You know why? Because tares sell,

right? Everybody likes, I don't know what it

is with humanity, but we like to watch a train

wreck. I don't know what it is. We all like to

watch a train wreck. We do. Whether it's in human

form or some other form. And they'll dwell on

that. And if you stare at that thing too long,

if you spend your life in the field of life and

all you ever do is look at the tears, you're

going to get messed up in your spirit. You're

going to get messed up in your head. You're going

to get gloom and doom. You're going to think

it's all over with and it's all just going to

blow apart and nothing's ever. Come on, it's

true. And you can get to the other end of that

whole deal, right? You can get to the other end

of that deal. I don't know if you ever met a

Christian on the other side of that, right? Where

they, oh, it's all sunshine all the time. You

know what I mean? You'll get the Christian who

builds their own little wheat field just around

them so they can't see any of the tares. Just

get around enough wheat, all right? Make sure

I don't see the tares. Make sure I don't go out

among the tares. Make sure I don't get out in

my, just put all the wheat right around me so

I can't see anything else. Like, ah, everything's,

do you ever meet somebody like that? And you

tell them about the evil, and they're like, la,

la, la, la, la, la, la. They don't want to hear

it. They don't want to come to the reality of

what they're in. Jesus is saying, to keep you

out of discouragement, to keep you from getting

too depressed, to keep you out of being paranoid

or anxiety -ridden or mind just consumed one

way or the other, he says you're going to grow

up together. It's going to happen. This is the

world you have. This is not going to change,

folks. Jesus said so. Not until the end. He said,

one day at the end, I will sort it all out. One

day at the end, I will come in and I will separate

the wheat and the tares. You can go to another

place. Jesus talks about the goats and the sheep.

It's both. He's going to separate it all out.

He's the judge. That's what the Word of God says.

I am not. My job is just to be the wheat. My

job is just to keep being we. Just keep following

Jesus. Matter of fact, my job is to help pull

people from the flames. All right. It's to tell

somebody else about Jesus Christ and help pull

them from the flames. Make sure they don't end

up at the end being a tear. Make sure they don't

make it. The judgment's not going to be their

end. Right. I live life to the fullest in the

field. I have the realization that I am saved

and I am whole and I love God's word. And he

lifts me up. But I am also very aware of the

evil that's taking place. I commune with the

wheat. Right. The rock life people. And I make

sure I'm aware. of the tares. This is in the

word of God. One little parable. It's awesome.

I love, I don't know about you, I hate when I

don't know what's going on. I hate it. I like

to know what's going on. I like to know how things

work. I want to know how things work. Worship

team, if you'd come. Jesus said, this is why

we love the word of God so much. I have a full

view of what's happening around me because of

his word. One parable. That's just one little

piece of God's word. One little thing that Jesus

spoke. And you don't have to look very far in

God's word to see it, right? It was true in Jesus'

closest community. He had 12 disciples, 12 men

that he worked with and spoke with and trained,

right? Peter, Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew,

Thomas, Matthew, James, Thaddeus, Simon, and

Judas Iscariot. These were 12 men that he handpicked,

12 that he mentored, 12 that he raised up to

share the gospel actually in all the world. He

walked with them for years. He talked with them.

He ate with them. He broke bread with them and

their families. These were Jesus' people, if

there ever were Jesus' people, on the face of

the earth. Yet Satan would come and fill the

heart of one of these individuals, Judas. That's

what the Word of God says. And he would completely

reject and betray Jesus. He'd be a terror. The

crazy thing is, if you look at the story around

the crucifixion, All 12 disciples deny Jesus.

The night of the crucifixion, when he goes and

he's arrested, all of them scatter. Peter, right

before this, Peter's like, I'll never deny you,

Jesus. We do this. He's, I'll never deny you.

I'll follow you to the death. He literally says

this. I'm paraphrasing, of course. And Jesus

said, before the night's over, Peter, you're

going to deny me three times. And a servant girl.

A servant girl questions him, and he denies and

curses God because of the pressure when Jesus

was arrested. All 12 of them, right, deny Christ.

But there was only one that Satan filled his

heart. Jesus never holds it. When Jesus raises

from the grave, he never holds it against the

disciples. As a matter of fact, he comes back

and speaks to them. He commissions them to go

and share the gospel of Jesus Christ. Tears come

up among wheat. It's true. Even in his community,

if you'd stand. God's word gives us a right perspective

on what's happening around us. Rock life people

love God's word. I can't even begin. I could

just keep you here for hours. I cannot even begin

to tell you the truth that came to life in my

own life as I've gone through God's Word. I can't

even explain how it has straightened up my head

and my heart in so many ways. So many ways. We

love it. Your job is to be wheat, to be a witness

for Jesus Christ. To celebrate redemption in

him. To pull others from the flame. To witness

of God's mighty power. To be aware of the tares.

Be aware of the tares. His word is awesome. It's

awesome. So as you bow your heads this morning,

I'm going to ask two questions. The first one

is this. Do you love Jesus? Do you follow Jesus?

And do you want life on the rock? Now, I'm talking

to individuals here who've never committed their

lives. Maybe you're listening online. You've

never committed your life to Jesus. You've heard

about life on the rock, but today you want to

make a commitment to do that. You want to know

the amazing saving grace of Jesus Christ. If

that's you in the house, I want you to do one

thing, and here's all I'm going to ask you to

do. I'll tell you ahead of time, I'm not going

to pull you out, not going to make you walk down

front, not going to make you do any of those

things. Here's the only thing you'll have to

do just to acknowledge between you and God and

me, that you're lifting your hand saying, I want

to come into the kingdom today. I want to live

life on the rock. Thank you. Thank you for those

hands. Here's all you have to do in prayer, and

I'm going to pray this with you. Lord Jesus,

I ask you to come into my life right now. I ask,

Lord, that you would save me from my sin. And

Lord, that my life would be in you on the rock.

Lord, I thank you. I know I'm far from God, but

I ask to come near today. I know it's through

Jesus that I have life now. And I ask you to

come into my life in Jesus' name. Forgive me

of everything that has separated me from you,

the sin of my life. In Jesus' name I pray. And

amen and amen. Thank you. Can you give a hand

for three? Greatest decision you'll ever make

in your life. Now I'm going to get you by your

heads. I'm going to deal with the rest of you

now. Close your eyes one more time. Thank you,

Lord. Thank you, Lord. Next question. Do you

love God's word? Do you abide in it? Do you abide

in it? There is no greater thing I will ever

be able to do as a pastor than to point you to

God's Word and the Holy Spirit who reveals God's

Word in you. I could talk and preach to you for

the next three years straight, visit your home

and talk to you, and it will never be the same

as you getting into God's Word. and letting the

Holy Spirit speak to you. Father, I come in the

matchless name of Jesus. For every heart that's

in this house, Lord, and this is between the

saints and you. Lord God, they got to answer

for themselves. Do I abide in the word? Do I

abide in the word? Jesus, you said, if you are

my disciple, if you are truly, truly my disciple,

an authentic disciple, an authentic follower

of Jesus, you will abide in my word. That's what

you said, Jesus. Lord, I pray for every person

in the house. God, that we ask ourselves the

question, am I abiding? Am I hanging out in your

word? Am I letting it soak into my life? Lord,

I know. God, I know this, that if they do, God,

it is a sword in their life. God, it is something.

Lord, when the enemy comes, they have something

to defend with. Lord, to actually, Lord, take

the enemy down. God, I know this, Lord, that

it is protection. I know that it is truth. I

know that it sets people free. God, I know that

it redeems. I know all these things. It's so

much more. God, I pray that we abide. This is

rock life. This is rock life. We abide in your

word. I pray, God, if there's one in the house,

maybe this morning, right now, maybe they're

feeling the conviction to read the Bible through

in a year. Lord, we'll help them with that. They

can start today. They don't need to wait till

January 1. They don't need to start another time.

It can start today. It can start tomorrow morning.

Lord, I pray, God, speak into their spirit. God,

give them conviction in this. Lord, let them

make a commitment. It'll be the greatest thing

they ever do. Lord, other than asking you into

their spirit and into their heart and their life

as Savior, God, it'll be so important. Lord,

I thank you and I give you praise in Jesus' name.

And amen, and amen, amen. It was not, I grew

up in the church, it was not until I dove into

God's word. Used to just listen, didn't pay much

attention to it, not gonna lie. Grew up as a

teenager, not really reading the Bible much,

like just coasting through doing the church thing.

But it was not until I got into God's word that

my life changed, changed. Amen. Thank you for

tuning in to this message from Lifehouse Church.

We pray that you were impacted powerfully by

this message. If you have been personally affected

by our ministry and you would like to partner

with us as we love God, love people every day,

visit our website at www .lifehousecog .com.