Winning The War In Your Mind - Pastor Denny Rodney Duron

I'm just so thankful to be in the house of God today.

How many of you are thankful?

Come on.

That we can gather, that we can lift up the name of Jesus.

God does great things.

Come on, say it with me.

The best is yet to come.

And we believe that.

How many of you believe it?

Truly, you believe the best is yet to come.

But even with great things happening in our future, we gotta stop and be thankful for what God has done in our past.

Thankful for where God has brought us.

And I I can't tell you how thankful I am for each and every one of you.

I just I adore you, I love you, and I believe the best is yet to come for your life.

But I'm just overwhelmed with gratitude, honestly, for um our senior pastors, Pastor Denny and Pastor Deonza, because they're such a covering.

And whether you know it or not, what the feeling and the life and the culture in this house, it was set by Rodney and Francis, by Denny and Deonza, by our leadership pastors, and I can't tell you how thankful I am for them.

Get on your feet right now.

Come on, put your hands together for Pastor Denny and Pastor Deonza and Francis Grammy.

Come on, we can do better than that.

Come on, put your hands together for them.

God is so good.

What a legacy.

It's incredible.

I want you to remain standing, remain standing.

We're about to get into the word of God, and I just I want to encourage you, live in gratitude this week, live in thankfulness this week because God has done so many great things.

Can I get an Amen?

God is so good.

Come on, let's get in the Word of God, but bow your head before we do this.

God, we love you.

We praise your name.

Thank you.

God, thank you for your blessings.

God, thank you for what you've done.

Lord, I thank you for the needs that we believe that you're gonna come through for us and do miracles.

We know the best is yet to come, but God, we thank you for today.

And God, transform our lives in this moment today.

God, we love you and we lift your name above every other name, the name of Jesus.

In your precious name we pray.

And everybody said, Amen.

Come on, give a couple high fives.

Tell someone good morning.

You can be seated.

Turn with me in your Bible to Romans 12 and 1.

Romans 12 and 1.

You can follow on the screen.

The Bible says this.

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed.

Everyone say, transformed.

By the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable, and what is perfect.

Can I get another big amen?

So Paul is reminding us that transformation begins in our minds.

And that's our brand new series: Winning the War in Your Mind.

How many of you understand there's a war going on in your mind?

The enemy is trying to win it, trying to get the best of you.

But Jesus is saying we got to have the mind of Christ.

Winning the War in Your Mind, it's based off of this book.

It's by Craig Groschel.

He's the pastor of Life Church, the largest church in America.

These are available for you to buy in the front.

Get on Amazon, get one.

And we also have community groups that are going through this book.

I encourage you, I encourage you that if you change your thinking, you can change your life.

And Jesus has to be in the center of it all.

One of the things that Craig says in his book is that we get caught in ruts.

And a rut is a repetitive, unhealthy thought over and over again until we're constantly living in that way.

Last week at our family church at North Point Community Church, we started this series, and Pastor Philip D's he started this series, and actually his sermon, it's available on our YouTube.

Go watch it.

It's powerful.

But this is what Pastor Phil said last week starting this series.

He said, What you rehearse, you reinforce.

So what you rehearse, you reinforce.

So you think something over and over and over again.

It's positive or it's negative.

And whatever that thing is, eventually it becomes the pathway that your mind takes over and over again.

He talked about David and Goliath.

So in the Bible, Goliath stood for 40 days, twice a day.

He taunted Israel, the children of God.

He rehearsed his tauntings.

And then David came up on the scene, and David flipped the script because David rehearsed the blessings of God.

David rehearsed the power of Almighty God.

David rehearsed how strong our God is, and God gave David victory over the giant.

And this is what Philip said.

Philip said we got to recognize the lie, replace the lie with truth, and then rehearse the truth.

We're going to stick right here today, and this is what I want to talk to you about.

We got to dig trenches of truth.

Digging trenches of truth.

A lot of what I'm saying is in the same vein of what Phil said last week, but I want to take a little different angle.

Because today I don't want to just talk about our thinking.

I want to talk about what our thinking is keeping us from doing.

What our thinking is keeping us from experiencing.

Because you can believe something for so long, even if it's a lie, it eventually becomes part of you, and then you even stop questioning it anymore.

So today, a rut and a limited way of thinking sounds like this.

Well, that's just who I am.

That's just how God created me.

My mama said that's how I am.

That personality test just said I'll always be in this vein.

And my favorite one, I tried that one time.

Really?

You tried it one time.

Um I tried golf one time.

I shot a 137 and almost killed a guy, lost 15 balls.

Golf's not for me.

Well, maybe, or maybe you just need to practice.

Like get back out there.

What if we treated, what if we treated babies like that, right?

It's like, you're not a walker.

I just you're a crawler.

Stay down.

Like my kid Dash just turned one this past week.

He's one year old.

And I love him.

Let me brighten up your day.

Okay, let me just make your day.

Play that video right now.

This is little Dash.

Look at those thunder thighs.

Come on.

Quads for days.

Let's go.

He's a running back, folks.

He's a running back.

Oh, I love him.

What if I was like, and he fell?

I was like, dash, that's terrible.

Just stay on the ground.

No, hey, buddy, get back up.

Come on, take another step.

It's the process, it's learning.

But it's like as we grow older, we feel like that we graduate to a place where we don't have to go to the process and we never experience failures.

And it's just like I'm not getting back into that.

And there's a great resistance to this.

And honestly, whenever I give sermons like this, there is a great resistance because it's like I don't want to change my thinking.

Like I don't, I don't want to have to go through the process.

Well, Paul says, be transformed by the renewing of your mind.

We're constantly transformed.

So I'm asking you, no resistance.

We've got to lean in today.

Everyone say lean in.

We got to lean in and be transformed by Jesus.

Because our minds are spectacular.

Our minds have the ability to learn and adapt to change.

We got neuropathways that are formed.

Whenever you have an experience, good or bad, well, now that thing's set and your mind is traveling that neuropathway.

But if it is unhealthy through the power of Almighty God, we can change our thinking with Christ Jesus.

Sometimes an experience, well, it teaches us something, right?

And then we're limited by that.

But here's the thing we don't want to have any limitations.

How many of you want to be limitless with Christ Jesus in this place?

So today we're going to get in the story of the apostle Peter.

And Peter knew what it was like to believe he was so ready and then to fail miserably.

So before the episode happened, Jesus set him up.

And Jesus says this in Luke 22, 32.

Jesus said, Peter, I have prayed for you.

And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.

In other words, you're gonna fail.

Peter, you're gonna fall, but do not let failure have the final say.

Don't let failure be your master.

Don't let failure dictate your future.

But I don't even know we all do this, right?

We have seasons of failure, and it's like so many failures.

Well, I quit.

I'm finished, or or we'll fail one time.

I'm not not trying that again.

Failure, it can be something that we believe about ourselves, but even worse than that, it changes what you're willing to do.

You know, you have opportunities and open doors, and it's right there, but you won't even walk through that open door and opportunity because of what happened before is keeping you from God's best.

And it's called avoidance.

Avoidance sounds like this.

If I just don't try, I won't fail.

If I don't apply, then I can't be rejected.

If I don't get in the relationship, well, then they can't hurt me.

And avoidance sounds like, man, that's that's really safe.

But what it's doing, it's keeping you from growth and it's keeping you from the best that God has for you.

Um, growing up, I was involved in a lot of things.

So I was involved in like sports and and music, instruments, like acting, all these different things.

And um, I was pretty uninhibited, but then I grew older and I grew more self-conscious.

And when I was 11, I started having more and more situations like this.

But um, I was 11 years old and I was playing basketball, and I'm on the court, and just by the way, where people sit in the stands for basketball, it's way too close, okay?

Like um, football and baseball is so much better.

You got a little way too close.

And then the uniforms, well, didn't like them.

Short shorts, little tank top, and I'm out there and I felt exposed, right?

You're too close.

I don't like what I'm wearing.

This isn't good.

I was embarrassed.

So after the game, someone comes up to me and says, You looked embarrassed on the court.

You looked really uncomfortable.

And my 11-year-old brain, it thought this, dear God, they knew.

Oh, and if they knew, everybody knew.

And if everybody knew how I felt, well, everybody can read my mind when I'm uncomfortable and when I'm self-conscious.

Obviously, that's not true, but my 11-year-old brain, that was my false interpretation.

So, this is how I started living.

Whatever makes you uncomfortable, do not do it.

Whatever makes you self-conscious, don't get in the midst of that.

And my world began shrinking.

I stopped walking in certain rooms and sitting at certain tables, having certain experiences.

Why?

Because I was living in a rut, a repetitive, unhealthy thought, a false interpretation, of false truth.

I made a neuropathway and I was walking that line over and over again.

I'll come back to that in a moment, but I want to go to the apostle Peter now.

So Peter, he walked with Christ.

And the night that Jesus was to be arrested, Peter was boasting to Jesus, saying, Hey, look at me.

And Peter in Matthew 26, 33, Peter says this, everyone might fall away from you, Jesus, but I will never fall away from you.

And Jesus said, actually, buddy, tonight before the rooster crows, you're gonna deny me three times.

Peter said, I would never.

I would never do this.

Jesus, you don't know me.

I would never, well, sure enough, Jesus is arrested.

Peter is so scared and fearful.

Someone comes to him and they say, Don't you know the guy that was just arrested?

No, another person.

Hey, weren't you like teaching with Jesus?

Absolutely not.

A child.

Hey, you're one of Jesus' disciples.

Everyone, I swear I do not know this man.

The rooster crows.

And his heart sinks because he realizes he has done exactly what he said he would never do.

Have you ever been there before?

I'll never be like my dad make that mistake.

I'll never be like my mom.

I'll never have failure that way and mess up in this way.

And then life happens, and sure enough, you do exactly what you said that you would never do, and you're in the midst of failure just like Peter.

But you have a decision to make.

You can either quit and you can run, or you can get back up with Jesus Christ and learn from that failure.

We can keep going.

The greatest lessons that I have learned in my life, bar none, were from my failures.

All throughout history, there's really famous quotes about failure by Thomas Edison.

He said this I have not failed 10,000 times.

I've successfully found 10,000 ways that will not work.

All right.

Winston Churchill said, success is not final.

Failure is not fatal.

It is the courage to continue that counts.

And today, I just want you to know that we can learn from failure.

And in the name of Jesus, failure will not be your master.

No, God has so much more for you.

Because we go through things, and maybe it's a season, maybe it's a lot, maybe it's just one time, and then it's like I'm never doing that again.

And we call it wisdom and we call it our personality.

But really, what it is, well, it's an excuse wrapped up in fear keeping you from God's best.

This is what the Bible says in Philippians 3 14.

Paul says, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

In other words, I'm not living stuck in what's behind me.

The best is yet to come, trusting Almighty God.

And here's the thing: I don't care what season you're in, this is still true for you.

Oh, but Denny, I'm 75 years old.

Like, do you really think that I can change my thinking?

Yes! Absolutely.

Oh, well, be transformed by the renewing of your mind.

If you're under 65, if you're over, you're fresh.

Out of luck, buddy.

Sorry.

That's not what Paul says.

No.

We're all transformed by the renewing of our mind constantly.

It doesn't matter where you are, we're always becoming.

Who told you that?

Who told you there's a limitation on how young you are to be able to impact the students that are around you, to be able to have revival in your school?

Who told you that you're too new at this to do something for Christ Jesus?

All of us.

And go back and read your Bible.

Josiah became king of Israel when he was eight years old.

Abraham, he had his blessing child at a hundred years old.

All of the disciples, unlearned men, they brought the gospel to the world.

We're having service today because of them.

Do not limit what God can do in our life.

Failure will not be your master.

We only have one master, and his name is Jesus Christ.

Go forward on what God has for you.

So in my story, I started living life in this rut.

And it wasn't everything, it was just a few things in my life, and I was just all about control of the situation.

If I'm out of control, and guess what?

I got to be 27, trying to control my life, and then I fell flat on my face.

I had zero control.

No control.

And this is what I prayed.

I had a surrender prayer.

And my surrender prayer to God was this God, I'm sick of doing things my own way.

Said, God, I will do anything you ask of me.

And then I literally said this I will fail for you.

God, I will fail for you.

For me, that was really big because it was me saying, God, I give up control.

God, I give up plan it's safe.

I'm sick of letting fear be my master.

You're my master.

And if I fail, I know that you can even use that failure to get me to where I need to be.

I trust you.

Forget that rut.

I trust you.

And here's the thing a rut can be very deep in your life.

It can be deep, but it does not have to be permanent.

It does not have to be permanent.

And maybe the first step today for you is to stop telling yourself it's too late to change.

Stop it.

Stop it.

Because today we're transformed by the renewal of our mind.

And the way that Craig Rochelle says it in his book, he says, dig a trench of truth.

Replace the rut with a trench of truth.

So in warfare, well, warfare trenches played a vital role in you know military warfare.

Some of you know this far greater than me.

But military trenches weren't just holes soldiers like set in.

They provided protection.

They were dug intentionally, and they were dug so that important things, well, people could get where they needed to go, supplies could get where they needed to go, ammunition, the need.

So when I say a trench, this is what I want you to think.

Intentionally dug to get important things where they need to go while being connected to Jesus Christ.

So we can have two ways of living stuck in a rut, or we can have this trench.

And there's a difference because a rut is where our mind naturally goes.

So it's the human default of negativity.

But a trench, well, it's digging towards the truth of Almighty God in His Word, what he says about.

You and it's connected to Jesus Christ.

And everyone says day by day.

Doesn't happen all at once.

It's day by day, one shovel at a time, baby.

It's one moment at a time.

One prayer.

One Bible moment.

And being in community groups, it's getting close.

And then we become what God has called us to become.

So back to the story with the apostle Peter.

So you remember that he had failed.

And he denied Jesus three times.

And then he saw the face of Jesus, his heart sank.

Well, Jesus defeated death held on the grave, went to the cross, rose on the third day, and he's walking around, resurrected Jesus, right?

And Peter sees him in this instance I'm about to get into, and he has a decision: either run from Jesus or even in his shame, run to Jesus.

And with all his might he swam and he ran to Jesus, even in his shame.

And when they sat down, this was the conversation that Peter and Jesus, what they had.

John 21, when they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, Do you love me more than these?

He said, Yes, I love you.

Feed my sheep a second time.

Do you love me?

Yes, I love you, Jesus.

Feed my sheep a third time, Peter.

Do you love me?

Yes, I love you.

Feed my sheep.

Follow me.

A lot of theologians believe the repetition, the three times, was to cover every time that Peter denied Jesus to cover it in the love of Jesus.

And then he gave him the next step.

Follow me.

Dig a trench of truth connected to me.

Let me tell you this a trench don't dig itself.

You don't just stare at the shovel and you're like, huh, go for it.

Pick the dad-gum shovel up.

Come on.

And it's one moment at a time.

We gotta delight in the work.

Keep digging, keep going, get close to Jesus.

And here's where this gets practical.

This is for you.

For some of you, digging a trench of truth, it looks like trying again.

It looks like loving somebody again, even though you've been hurt in the past, means forgiving.

Means applying for that job, having that difficult conversation.

And I'm not telling you everything's gonna be perfect from here on out.

Actually, I can guarantee it's not.

It's gonna be a little bit messy, but it's you declaring in the name of Jesus, fear is not my master, failure will not dictate my future.

Jesus, if you have me walk through a door, I'm going for it.

You are the one that leads me.

And when we live like that, it's so much more fulfilling.

Jesus said this in Luke 22.

He said, When you have turned back, remember how this started.

When you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.

And he's saying this.

It's for your brothers, it's for your friends, it's for your children that are gonna come after you.

Here's the thing who's depending on you to keep digging in your life, who's depending on you to keep pursuing Jesus.

I'll tell you right now, your children are depending on you to break the cycles of the past, the death that's been in the things of the past, and now you have the life and the love of Jesus in your future.

Because here's the thing you're sitting here because somebody continued digging for you.

Some of you had a praying mom when you went crazy and went off.

She stayed on her knees seeking Almighty God, and you're sitting in this place because she never stopped digging for you.

Some of you in this place because a little, you know, Sunday school teacher just all they did is bring donuts, open the Bible.

You found Jesus, or maybe a coworker had the courage to invite you to church.

What I'm telling you is we don't dig alone.

We've got to dig together in community.

Everyone say community.

We've got to do this together.

And I want to invite you, one of the greatest ways is community groups.

Everyone say Wednesday nights.

I'm telling you guys, Wednesday nights is for everybody.

We have some of the best Bible studies.

Mark Pittman, come on, put your hands together for Mark Pittman, has a Bible study for men right in the front four here and Ronda and Charisma, and we got kids and students.

I'm telling you, this place is filled for everybody.

Keep digging together.

And then we have other nights and other days.

Everyone say keep digging.

Say it again.

Say keep digging.

We got to keep digging and we got to delight in this.

Oh, this is just overwhelming.

No, it should be delightful.

Because we have a place with Jesus Christ.

He gave us a place.

I'm going to invite the worship team out.

I'm going to start my closing, but Peter.

Peter didn't stop at that conversation with Jesus.

He kept digging.

In the upper room with 120 other individuals, well, the Holy Spirit, Almighty God, fell on them.

And the Holy Spirit filled them.

The same one that denied Jesus three times went out and proclaimed the gospel, and he preached this unlearned man, and thousands of people came to Jesus.

The church was born in one day.

He kept digging.

Say, how do I do that?

Well, these are the words, these are the words of Peter.

Peter says this in 2 Peter 1:5.

2 Peter 1:5

He said, For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith.

In other words, keep on digging.

Keep digging in virtue and knowledge and self-control.

Keep digging in steadfastness, godliness, brotherly affection, but more than anything, keep digging in the love of Jesus Christ.

For if these qualities are yours and are increased, they keep you from being ineffective, unfruitful.

They keep you from quitting, from letting failure be your master.

And you keep digging, connecting to Jesus Christ.

Keep on that's what Peter's saying.

Here's the thing Peter never got to a point in the Bible.

If you can find it, come tell me.

He never said, Well, I saw Jesus do miracles.

I walked with him.

Church, I mean, I'm the rock the church was built on.

I have arrived.

No.

He never said he had arrived.

He had ups and downs.

He kept digging through every season.

And that is what we've got to do.

I want to tell you this.

After I prayed that prayer, Lord, I will fail for you.

Let me tell you, I've learned a lot from a lot of failures.

And I've learned a lot from a lot of victories.

But I've learned that the secret is no matter what season, find where Jesus is and dig towards Jesus.

Be connected with Almighty God.

Three weeks ago, my dear friend Skeeter Snyder went to be with Jesus.

I loved him so much.

He's an incredible guy.

And he was a fighter.

These last few years, he was fighting for his life.

Doctors gave him bad reports over and over again.

He kept getting back up.

Even this last month, he kept fighting until his last moment, and he's in the presence of the king.

Can I get an amen?

Like all of us, Skeeter had ups and downs in his life.

He had good seasons.

He had bad seasons, but what remained constant is Skeeter continued digging in worship and in praise.

So he had one of the greatest talents to sing that I had ever encountered.

When he stood on the stage and sang, the glory of God fell.

How many of you ever heard Skeeter sing?

Just raise your hand.

You know what I'm talking about.

And I witnessed, and you did as well.

In the good seasons, he would stand on the stage and he'd get in the posture of worship.

And then in the last season, when he could barely even walk up on the stage, well, he would get in his posture of worship and he'd praise Almighty God.

Let me tell you, after that song was finished, people would be weeping.

The glory of God would be in that room.

And after every time he sang, he would drop his head and point to heaven and say, Thank you, Jesus.

To God be the glory.

It was never about Skeeter, it was always about Jesus.

So if what you heard today is Denny said to think better and some self-help stuff, you missed the entire message because we can't do this on our own.

It's not about you, it's about Jesus.

So it sounds like this Jesus, please reveal where the ruts are in my life.

Please, God, show me.

God, show me where I'm missing it.

Jesus, empower me, Lord, to dig a trench of truth connected to you.

Lord, in the good seasons, help me to keep going.

In the bad seasons, help me to keep going.

Because here's the thing.

Some of you might think, well, Denny, this message, it doesn't apply to me because, you know, I don't really relate to failure.

All I do is win, win, win, no matter what.

Like I just do it and I get going.

Let me tell you this.

Well, you remind me of Peter at the very beginning of this story.

Said, Jesus, I got it all under control.

No, you need it more than anybody, especially when times are going good.

Especially when times are going bad.

In the peaks and the valleys, what we do is we find Jesus and we get in our posture of worship.

God, you're you're more than enough.

God, I worship you.

I lift your name on high, and I want you to be the ruler of my thoughts.

If we win the war in our mind, that means you have the mind of Jesus Christ.

It's his power.

It's not your power.

Stand to your feet right now.

Out of all the things that we've done today, I'm gonna give you one next step.

So bow your head with me.

Just bow your head.

I'm gonna give you one next step.

I want you to ask Jesus to reveal one rut, just one.

God, reveal one repetitive, unhealthy thought, one limiting thought in my life.

Just ask him, God, reveal, reveal it in my life right now.

Maybe it sounds like I'm just not as good as everyone around me.

I'll always be like this.

My failure, I'm just gonna live second class the rest of my life.

Maybe it sounds like I got things under control.

I can do this on my own.

What is your limiting thought?

God, God, reveal it right now.

And this is what I speak over you in the name of Jesus that you will accept truth.

And the truth is this you're a son, you're a daughter of Almighty God, that the best is yet to come for your life.

You're exactly where you need to be for such a time as this.

And the power of Jesus can transform anything that you are going through.

You're not stuck.

No, the rest of your life is the best of your life connected to Jesus Christ.

So ask God, God, reveal anything that comes in contradiction to that in the name of Jesus.

God, reveal it.

God, thank you for this day.

Thank you for every person in this place.

Holy Spirit, do what none of us could do.

What only you can do.

Holy Spirit, fall on the minds, fall on the minds of our family and friends in this room.

God, fill the minds with the mind of Christ that we will have your thoughts and we will have your confidence that we're exactly where we need to be.

I bind the enemy right now.

Lord, start to loosen the chains and God reroute these ruts to, Lord, I pray that we will have trenches of truth connected to you.

God, we speak it and we claim it.

In the name of Jesus Christ.

Come on, say it with me right now.

The best is yet to come.

Say it again.

The best is yet to come.

Today, if you believe it, we're about to worship.

But come on, give God some praise, and then let's get into worship.

Come on, give God some praise in this place.

Anybody here besides me just really encouraged by that message?

I was thinking about just my whole life sitting down there and how that throughout my life I have struggled.

You say, You, yeah.

Me.

I'm made of the same stuff you are.

I've struggled.

You say, what kind of things have you struggled with?

Well, all kinds of things that have been the same kinds of temptations, the same kinds of discouragements, the same kinds of invitations to stinking thinking that I've always struggled with.

Isn't it funny that nobody gets a new temptation?

I mean, we get new stuff all the time.

Deonza orders it.

Sometimes it's hard for me to get to the front door through those boxes.

But you don't ever get a box with a new temptation in it.

As far as the enemy is concerned and your flesh is concerned, the old ones will do just fine.

That's true.

But I'm an overcomer.

Did you hear that?

I want you to say that.

Just try that on.

Ready, everybody?

One, two, three.

I'm an overcomer.

In fact, let's let's put that little preposition there.

But I'm an overcomer.

You ready?

One, two, three, but I'm an overcomer.

One more time, but I'm an overcomer.

So I have the same kinds of thought patterns that assault me, that assaulted me when I was 10 years old.

Come on, everybody, but I'm an overcomer.

Right?

I have the same kinds of feelings sometimes overwhelm me when I think about the same people that I've always had.

But I'm an overcomer.

I have the same kind of battles, the same kind of frustrations, and sometimes I feel like I'm a failure, but I'm not because, but I'm an overcomer.

By the word of my testimony and by the blood of the Lamb.

Hallelujah.

Say, what if you don't win?

Well, you, I heard I hope you heard the message.

That was the best message on that I've ever heard in my life.

Give the Lord a great round of applause.

You ever heard me?

Wow.

I'm so encouraged.

I'm getting my shovel out.

I'm gonna dig a trench of truth through the power of Jesus.

I love the way that our pastor uplifts the name of Jesus.

You ever noticed?

You ever notice he rarely says God?

He says Almighty God.

Always lifting up the name of Jesus.

Well, our pastor has prayed for us.

Denny's prayed for us, and I feel better, more encouraged.

I feel like an overcomer, and I hope you do too.

But if you don't feel like an overcomer, your feelings are lying to you.

You are.

You just need to discover it.

You are an overcomer.

God's gonna really, really help you.

Hallelujah.

Amen.

One of the toughest things that I face in my life is loving somebody so much and feeling like family member or that friend or that acquaintance is really going off the rails.

And I'm helpless to do anything.

How many of you have ever had that feeling?

Raise your hand if you've had that feeling.

How many of you have that feeling about somebody right now, honestly?

Just lift your hand all of this place.

You've got that feeling about somebody right now.

We're gonna do something very precious to the Lord.

We are going to stand in proxy for that individual.

And I want to know where you are again.

Just lift your hand if you say, I'm gonna stand for somebody today.

Pastor Jenny, I'm standing for somebody today.

And I want you just to lift your hand just symbolically for the fact that you are standing in for somebody.

Hallelujah.

Repeat this prayer after me.

Father God, I thank you that everything about my Christian faith depends on substitution.

Jesus, you took my place on the cross so I don't have to die eternally.

And so now, as your follower, I stand in as a substitute.

The person I love and I'm praying for is not here, but I'm here.

So I stand as a substitute.

And right now I pray that wherever they are, you will visit them.

You're able to do this, Lord.

Allow them to feel and know your presence tangibly, allow them to experience you in your power and your might.

I pray that you will send somebody to them.

In the name of Jesus, I see it happening in my mind.

Send someone to them with the message of life.

In Jesus' name, I declare they will never be the same.

I am not hopeless because I can contact you for them.

Put your hand on your chest and just say this: touch them deeply, Lord.

And I give you glory.

Amen.

Hallelujah.

Turn to somebody near you, make this affirmative statement, say, I believe God did it.

Say, I believe God did it.

Amen.

I'm gonna bless you, and then we're gonna go out because I believe God's done a work.

If you believe that, say amen.

Come on, here it is.

May the God of Jacob protect you from all harm.

May the Lord answer you when you're in distress.

May He sends you help from the sanctuary, grant you support from Zion.

May remember all your best offerings and accept your best offerings.

May He give you the desire of your heart and make all your plans succeed.

And yes, we will shout for joy over your victory and lift up our banners in the name of our God.

Everybody shout this with me.

One, two, three.

May the Lord answer all your prayers.

Thank you for connecting with us today.

The first step to a new life in Christ is receiving the gift of salvation through Jesus Christ.

If you have never received Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior, repeat this prayer after me.

Jesus, I believe you died on a cross and rose again for me.

I ask that you come into my heart and be the Lord of my life.

In Jesus' name I pray.

Amen.

Whether you committed your life to Jesus for the first time today or are already on your journey of faith, we would love to stay connected with you.

Please visit sfchurch.com and follow SC Church on all social media platforms.

And remember, the best is yet to come.