The Climb (Overcoming Fear) 10-4-2026

Welcome to the Life Family Church Sermon Podcast.

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Now let's get right to the message.

Have you had a good week?

Amen.

We've uh this last week we had the privilege and honor of going to a minister's conference in Colorado, and we had a great time hearing the word growing and uh developing as leaders in the ministry.

And I'm telling you, man, the Church of Jesus Christ is doing great.

Amen.

The kingdom of God is stronger than ever.

Don't ever don't ever think for a moment that the kingdom of God is getting weaker.

We're not getting weaker, we're getting stronger.

More miracles, more things are happening than ever before.

I mean, God is working.

Amen.

He's moving, and we have a part to play in that.

This church has a part to play in that.

We're not just a small church out in the middle of nowhere.

We're a church who God has ordained from the beginning of time to come together and do a work for his kingdom.

So you're not here by accident, you're here for a purpose.

God has a plan for your life, and he's going to change and develop you into someone who is walking and living with purpose.

Amen.

Say this with me.

Say, I have purpose.

One of the things David said when he went to the battlefield, he said, Is there not a cause?

Is there not a cause?

We're not here by accident.

There's a cause, there's a purpose, there's a reason why you're here at this church right now for this time.

Amen.

God is moving and doing great things in our midst, and I just want to be a part of it.

I'm glad to be a part of this church.

Man, this is a great church.

I love you.

I love these people.

I love you all.

Man, this is just a great time.

Amen.

This morning we're going to talk a little bit about some of the experiences we had there up on the mountaintop.

Uh, we we enjoyed ourselves up there, but I just have a few things I'm gonna throw at you this morning.

The Lord spoke to me this morning, and I was riding as fast as I could hear it.

And um, I just want you all to be blessed this morning.

Um, this morning we're gonna talk a little bit about the climb.

The climb.

But before I do that, I'm I was reminded by my wife to remind you at five o'clock next week when you come to the chili cook-off, make sure you bring your lawn chairs.

I know she said it, but you told me to do it, and I'm gonna do it anyways.

Bring your lawn chairs.

Amen.

So we had the privilege of being in a place that is probably uh to me is one of the most beautiful places I've been.

It's called Woodland Park, Colorado.

And sitting at the base of Woodland Park is Colorado Springs, but at the base of that, you're looking up and you're staring at this majestic, beautiful mountain named Pikes Peak.

Uh, Miss Janie knows what I'm talking about.

She lived there for a time and she was able to see that mountain every day.

And that mountain changes, it just looks different every day, doesn't it?

It's a beautiful place.

It sits nearly 14,100 and something feet high up on just the majestic mountain.

In the morning when you wake up, you see the clouds are rolling away, and the the top of the mountain was covered with snow.

It's just gorgeous.

Every morning I'd wake up, I'd say, you know, I've been up there before, and I kind of want to go back.

But there's something amazing about that mountain.

When you were on the top of that mountain, did you know that you could see for nearly 140 miles?

Over five states you can see on top of this mountain.

The higher you go, though, this is what's interesting.

The higher you go, the thinner the air.

The higher you go, how many of you guys that went to the meeting are still every once in a while catching your breath?

The higher you go, the thinner the air, the more you have to remind yourself breathe.

Breathe.

And drink plenty, plenty of water.

H2O is your friend when you're climbing a mountain.

This mountain is absolutely amazing.

Um, but I'll be honest with you, it can be somewhat intimidating to drive.

And also, the way I overcome the intimidation is really easy.

I'll remind myself, people go down this mountain on skateboards.

They ride bicycles up this hill.

In fact, fun fact, one person pushed a peanut, a peanut up the mountain by his n with his nose.

It took him over 140 days.

And so many peanuts and 12 pairs of gloves and knee pads, and he he got on his hands and knees and pushed a peanut all the way up the mountain.

Is there not a cause?

People are wild.

They will have races up this mountain, race cars.

Up and down.

It t it took the record is seven minutes and so many seconds to be the record holder of going up the mountain and down.

Seven minutes.

They have helicopters that cover over and they film these things.

It is amazing what happens on this mountain.

But I will say it's it's interesting that as you're climbing up this mountain, it begins to look scary because you're up so high, the trees are no more, all there is is rocks, and when you look down beside you, it's nothing but a drop-off that goes thousands and thousands of feet.

And when you're looking eye to eye with a person in first class on an airplane, you're up there, man.

You're up there.

But there's something about it that I wanted to bring out this morning.

We have to overcome the fear of the climb.

Because the view from on top is amazing.

We have to overcome the fear of stepping out into the unknown, into places where we never thought we would ever roam.

But God, who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all, according to the power that works in you.

You have to let go of your fear and grab a hold of faith and say, I'm going, no matter what, and I'm determined that nothing is going to stop me.

That is a bulldog mentality that nothing's going to stop me from reaching the summit of whatever God has for my life.

Whatever it is, I don't know what you're facing, I don't know what your battle is, I don't know what your mountain might be, but I'm telling you this morning that with God's help, we can all reach the summit.

We can all rise above circumstances, above the fear, and rise up to new heights.

Every one of us.

And the fun part is the journey.

It's amazing.

And when you get there, you're so thankful.

I did this.

I did this.

Amen.

But there's a few things I wanted to bring to your attention.

Number one is let's get to climbing.

Start today.

What are you waiting for?

Let's go.

Let's go.

Amen.

Hebrews 12, 1 and 2, it talks about, uh, I believe it was Paul who wrote it, but the writer writes this that we are supposed to let go of the weights and the sins that easily beset us.

And run the race that God has for you.

Run it with endurance and with patience and do it with all your might.

Go after it.

Let's get rolling.

You see, the writer instructs us to run the race with endurance.

When you're climbing a mountain like that, if you're hiking it, you have to have endurance.

Endurance is so important.

The Christian life is not a sprint.

The Christian life is a journey.

I know it looks like some people get born again and all of a sudden they zoom past you and they're heading toward the finish line, you think?

But they're going to run into battles just like you will.

And they're going to have struggles just like you will, like I will.

But it's not about how fast you run in this race.

It's staying the course, staying steady, running this race with patience, enduring to the end.

You don't have to know everything before you begin either.

You don't have to have everything explained to you.

It's a walk by faith.

It's all in faith.

You don't have to have everything figured out in life, guys.

I know your mind, your logical thinking will say I have to figure it out before I step out.

But that is not how it works in the kingdom of God.

We step out, God shows out.

That's not in my notes, but I like it anyways.

And you don't have to see the road ahead.

You don't always have to know what's coming up.

Most people I've met are fearful about stepping out for God because they don't know what where it's going to take them.

I didn't know when I was in Bible college in Knoxville, Tennessee, over 20 something years ago, that I would be in Illinois preaching to a group of people around a cornfield.

I didn't know that.

I want you.

I want everything you have from my life.

And I don't want to stop.

I want to keep on going.

I don't want to stop limiting God because of my unbelief, limiting God because of fear I might have.

I want to keep on pressing into what God has for my life.

Because I'm telling you, it's worth the journey.

It is worth the prize of admission.

Jesus paid the price.

Man, just step in, step in, start climbing.

Faith can be intimidating.

Sometimes the mountain in front of us looks bigger than the faith in us.

But you don't have to, you don't have to conquer the mountain in one step.

That's the good thing about God is you don't have to conquer it all in one step.

It's step by step by step.

I like to say it this way: it's faith to faith to faith to faith.

You don't have to get from point A to point Z overnight.

You can step into your call.

Grow into your vision.

You don't just go there, you grow there.

It's a journey.

It's a journey to win the battles of the mind.

It's a journey to win the battles when it comes to health.

It's not always a miraculous, instantaneous thing that takes place when those things happen.

Praise God.

Those are great moments.

But that's not always going to happen.

Sometimes it's staying the course, keeping your mind stayed on the Lord, focusing on the Word of God, keeping your path straight and leaning upon the Lord and not leaning upon man's opinions.

It's keeping your eyes focused on the prize, Jesus.

And when we get there, we can shout and we can rejoice.

But most people forget this: Jesus is already there.

So we don't have to wait to start celebrating the victory.

Because the one who we call our Lord and Savior, the one that called us to climb, is the one who's already on the mountaintop, shouting and dancing and celebrating because he's already won the victory.

And if we're in Christ, guess what?

We've already won the victory, and we can go ahead and start shouting right now at the base camp.

We can go ahead right now and celebrate while we're about to even start our journey because we know that we're gonna win.

Faith always wins.

Faith always succeeds.

There is no failure in faith.

Amen.

So the best thing you can do for your life, for your family, for your uh job, your employers is to step out in faith and rely upon God for everything in your life.

Zachariah.

You know, a lot of times we think we think, you know, I'm gonna do this big thing for God.

If God calls me, it's gotta be a big thing.

But I want to make this church aware of something.

God spoke to me this week and he said this in my into my spirit.

Do the small things big.

Do the small things big.

Love big, have joy big.

Do things with excellence in a big way.

Don't despise, Zechariah 4.10 says, do not despise the day of small beginnings.

If you're not willing to do the small things big, if big ever got there, you wouldn't be able to handle it if he had it.

Amen.

I'm believing God for this, I'm believing God for that.

Well, have you have you have you just picked up a piece of trash out in the parking lot when you saw it?

Do the small things big.

Have you served?

Have you done things to help out when nobody else wanted to help?

Do the small things big.

God will take you to big, but you gotta be faithful over a few things.

And then he said he'll make you a ruler over many.

Amen.

But if you're not faithful over the small things, the little steps.

I'm gonna stay the course and I'm gonna read the word every day, the little steps.

I'm gonna worship the Lord in unity with the body every day, together as a team, little steps.

I'm gonna be willing to be corrected.

If I need to be corrected, it's okay.

Correction is not rejection but protection and direction.

And when we step out, you're gonna get corrected.

Thank God there's correction.

Because if you're looking at the moon right now, if you just started climbing to the moon, thank God we have some correction because you might end up in Venus.

You might want to be corrected in life.

It's a good thing to be corrected because it protects you and directs you and keeps you on the path that God has for your life.

So do not despise the things that are small.

Do the things that are small in a huge way.

What are you waiting for?

Start praying today, start believing today, start walking in obedience today.

Start pursuing the things God has placed in your heart today.

Stop waiting.

Start moving.

You may not be at the top yet, but thank God you're no longer standing at the bottom.

You've started up this mountain.

The moment you decide in your heart, I'm gonna go, you've started.

And the enemy will immediately start to speak to your mind.

You are a nut.

What are you thinking?

You're gonna lose friends, you're gonna lose family members, you're gonna lose relationships.

If you go after this, what God has placed in your heart.

Go anyways.

Go anyways.

Amen.

Faith, this is number two.

Faith requires endurance and willingness to look past fear.

I want to give you a definition, just one I kind of came up with this morning.

Faith is a commitment of endurance and a willingness to look past fear and grab a hold of the truth of God's word and never look back.

Our klein.

As we're heading up this mountain, because I was convinced that everybody wanted to go up this mountain again.

No, I really wanted to take people with us.

I wanted them to see it.

Yep.

So that's our vehicle, and that's us climbing up this mountain.

And um, yeah, you can leave that up there while I'm talking.

Our climb, my wife kept telling me, look straight ahead.

Don't look over there, don't look over there.

Keep your eyes ahead.

That's exactly how she said it, too.

And I know why, because when you start to look at the drop-offs, the winding roads, and the distance between you and the bottom, fear can take hold of you.

It can.

Your wife can take hold of you.

She can.

I do remember one time I went up there with my sister, and you know, she got a little nervous, and it got so it got so intense that my arms started turning to noodles.

And I'm driving.

I'm I'm I'm right here, probably at that point.

And she's like, ugh.

And my arms are just like starting to limp.

Let me tell you something.

Fear is real, fear is tangible, and fear is a spirit.

And we don't want fear in the car when you're driving.

Amen.

Thank God for faith.

Thank God for the love of God that drives out all fear.

Amen.

Something, the best things that you can do in life is keep your eyes on the road.

That's a good, that's a good illustration for all these people down here running this road.

Keep your eyes on the road.

And you do not have to pass everybody else up.

Everybody wants to be in front here.

It's okay to wait for a minute, guys.

Good night.

It's like a racetrack out there.

I know.

She says I drive too slow.

But we're all here, right?

Everybody's safe and sound.

Jesus tells us to keep our eyes on him.

He is the author and the finisher of our faith.

We're to keep our eyes on the prize.

Not on the problems, not on the circumstances, not on the distance that you have to go.

But keep your eyes on Jesus.

Keep your eyes ahead of you when you're making the step of faith up the mountain.

There will be things that you cannot understand along the way.

Circumstances that look intimidating.

There will be moments when you feel like turning around.

If you remember, the children of Israel was always arguing and fussing about let's just turn around and go back.

But God had something for them.

He called it the promised land.

And there is a land of promise for each and every one of us.

But it requires something of you.

It requires you to start the journey up the mountain, throwing, casting off all fear and all doubt, and stepping out in faith and going after God.

And when the enemy tries to intimidate you, don't give up, don't quit and go back.

Because although they had, you know, a little bit of fish and a little bit of fruit and vegetables in Egypt, guess what they were in Egypt?

They were slaves.

Guys, I'm not a slave anymore.

We're no longer slaves to fear.

Jimmy didn't sing this song this morning because I told him to.

This song was not.

This was the Holy Spirit, knew what he was doing.

We're not to walk in fear.

Fear has torment.

Fear will paralyze you, and fear will cause you to make irrational decisions, decisions you don't need to make.

Fear has no place in your life.

No place.

As you're climbing this mountain that God has for you, we can say that the summit is our promised land.

God has a place, but it requires you to step out from where you are and lean back on the everlasting love of God and depend wholly on Him.

The thing is, if we lean on others, the Bible says, lean not on your own understanding, but in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct your path.

The problem is a lot of times we lean on others' opinions and thoughts about what we should do for our life.

And I'm here to tell you, you're free from others to love them.

You're not free from others to do what they tell you to do.

You're free and you serve God and He tells you what to do, and then you can love them the right way.

Amen.

There will be things we will not understand, though.

Faith does not take its direction from fear.

Faith takes its direction from the Word and the Word of God only.

When fear says you can't, faith says God can.

When circumstances say stop, faith says keep trusting.

When your feelings say turn around, faith says keep your eyes on Jesus.

Don't allow what you see around you to cause you to forget what God has spoken to you.

There was a price paid for your salvation.

There was a price paid to get you on your journey.

It was a high price.

It cost him everything to deliver you and set you free.

The admission was really high.

And we were there a few years ago, and it was like$8 a person or something.

Now it's$18 a person to go up this mountain.

And although it cost a little bit of money, I just think about the price Jesus paid for every one of us.

And said, I've got something for you that you would have dreamed of.

Just something so amazing for your life that boy, if you'll just step out in faith and trust me, we'll go on a journey and we're going to see something great.

Every one of us has that opportunity.

Not just a few, all of us have a journey of faith to go on with our Lord.

Before we could go begin our climb, we had to pay the price, though.

There was a cost to enter, but God.

Jesus did it.

We didn't pay our way into righteousness.

Jesus did that.

We didn't climb high enough to deserve his love.

He loved us while we were yet sinners.

He loved you when you were so unlovely and so unworthy, but he still loved you.

And he gave his life for his enemies just as much as he gave his life for those who did care about him.

But although Jesus paid the price for our salvation, he also calls us to a life of following him.

Luke 9, 62 teaches us about the importance of keeping our hands on the plow and not looking back.

One of the tricks the enemy wants to put in front of every one of us is to distract us or get us to think about our past.

Get us pondering on the mishaps in our life, the problems.

You might have gone through a divorce, you might have gone through some serious things in your life.

You might have been dependent on things or stuff, might have been controlling your life.

The enemy wants to keep you focused on the hurts of the past because he knows if you're looking back, you'll never rise to the occasion and keep climbing that mountain.

We are not climbing God's mountain to get God's acceptance.

We're climbing because we've already been accepted in Christ.

We're not striving to become righteous.

We're growing in the understanding of the righteousness we've already received.

And as we continue this journey, we will discover that God has so much more for you.

So much more.

Some of us have experienced some amazing things in the spirit, but you've stopped.

You've stopped climbing.

You said, well, I've, boy, some things I've seen in my life.

Let me tell you about that's great.

What God did do in your past was wonderful.

But faith is now.

And we're not stopping on yesterday's miracles or yesterday's uh glory.

We're going for the new.

We're going on.

We're going to keep on marching.

Some of you older people in here, listen to me.

You have something that these younger people need.

You have experience that they need.

Don't stop halfway up the mountain.

Keep on climbing.

We need to see your victory.

Don't stop and say, boy, 1984 was wonderful.

Who cares about 1984?

Nobody else cares about it.

Everybody's already moving on.

1984 is over.

Those moments in the charismatic movement are over.

What we're after now is what God has for us today.

And we need the older to remind the younger, keep on climbing, keep on going, keep on moving.

You can make it.

Don't give up, don't quit.

Amen.

Keep climbing.

There's more ahead.

We're going to march from righteousness to righteousness.

There's more to learn and experience, more to accomplish, and more of the goodness of God to discover.

You may have experienced his grace yesterday, but there's more grace for today.

You may have experienced his strength in the last season of your life, but there's strength for this season.

You may have seen his glory in the past, but there's more glory to behold.

Amen.

Lamentations 3, verse 22 and 23 say this that his mercies are new every morning.

Lamentations 3:22

Every morning.

Every morning you wake up, there's a new mercy for you.

You might have failed him at 12 o'clock.

Just go back to bed and wake up.

Oh, there's new mercies.

Amen.

Don't give up or quit.

You do not live in yesterday's supply.

God has a fresh grace for you to live today.

The higher you go, the more you must learn to acclimate.

And I was telling you about the air.

And how while you're climbing, you have to acclimate to the to the climate.

Ask that to Krista.

She's halfway through pregnancy, and it is tough on someone who's pregnant to acclimate to the thinner air.

That little thing on the inside of her is saying, Mama, I need more oxygen.

I'm going to make your heart race faster than it's ever raced before.

We have to learn to acclimate.

One of the things you discover when climbing the mountain is that you can't always move at the same pace.

The higher you climb, the thinner the air becomes.

Your body needs more time to adjust.

You have to prepare.

You have to hydrate, you have to exercise, and you have to rest.

And this is the same way, spiritually speaking.

1 Timothy 4, 7 and 8 teaches us about the importance of exercising ourselves to godliness.

Colossians 2 talks about being rooted and grounded and built up in Christ.

We have to exercise ourselves.

So I'm going to give you a few ways to prepare yourself.

Are you ready?

Are you ready to climb the mountain?

I got two.

Can I have a few more?

Are you ready to climb the mountain?

Seven ways to prepare for the climb.

Walk daily.

Walk daily.

Develop consistency in your relationship with God through prayer and his word.

You notice that word consistency?

Be consistent in word and prayer.

This is preparing you for the climb that God has for you.

Do you want to go there?

Do you want to go to the top of the mountain?

Yeah, there's something great up there for you.

Number two, climb stairs.

This sounds silly.

Climb stairs.

Walk up and down stairs constantly.

Develop or challenge yourself to grow beyond your comfort zone.

Challenge yourself to grow beyond your comfort zone.

Number three, practice deep, steady breathing.

Everybody do this for me.

Deep and steady breathing.

Learn to rest in the presence of God rather than allowing the pressures of life to control you.

Hydrate consistently.

Stay refreshed in the living water of God's Word and Spirit.

Stay hydrated.

Eat nutritious meals.

Feed your spirit with the truth of Scripture rather than empty promises of this world.

Number six, acclimate gradually.

Allow yourself to grow.

Do not despise the principle or the process of spiritual maturity.

You do not cram for a test when it comes to spiritual maturity.

Amen.

On that one.

Maybe y'all are checked out on me.

Maybe you're resting.

Maybe we need to breathe again.

And get adequate rest.

Learn to enter God's rest and trust in his finished work.

Here's a few other things.

Don't be weird.

Just don't be weird.

It's just weird.

Don't don't don't push peanuts up the mountain with your nose.

That's just weird.

That's just weird.

Christians sometimes are just weird.

And you wonder why it's hard to preach to them and get people saved.

It's like they go on the internet and they look at all the weird things people do at church.

Stop being weird at church.

Don't be weird, period.

Just be normal but supernatural with God's help.

Amen.

You don't have to be a rogue Christian.

We're not climbing this mountain by ourselves.

Amen.

That's why I was saying earlier.

When one's shouting, we're all shouting.

When one is dancing, we're all dancing.

When one is standing still and worshiping, we're all standing still.

It's unified.

We need each other.

If you're gonna make the trek all the way up that mountain, you need help.

You don't do this by yourself.

It can get dangerous.

But I will say, fun fact, there was a guy who climbed Pike's Peak six times in one day.

Six times.

It's crazy.

He started at 1201 and ended at 11:58.

And he would climb up.

I don't even know if they brought him back down to climb up again or what.

I don't know how it all happened.

But six times, that's a lot.

So don't tell me it can't be done.

You've just got to do it.

You've got to be someone who's willing to go.

You don't have to make the climb harder than God intended it to be.

You don't have to make your spiritual life harder than it needs to be.

I talked about it earlier.

Do the small things big.

That's what you're called to do.

Small things big.

You don't have to go out and try to win the world in one day.

Because I'm telling you, that takes years to develop that kind of faith.

You need to be someone who is focused on doing the small things in a big way, preparing yourself for the climb.

And when you start climbing, don't do it by yourself because we need each other.

Spiritual maturity is not about how fast you climb, it's about continuing to follow Jesus.

That's spiritual maturity.

And I'm going to end on this: it's recognizing the warning signs when you start to feel fatigue, or you start to feel like your heart is racing and things are just not right.

Recognize the warning signs.

When climbing at high altitudes, there are warning signs that sometimes isn't right.

A headache.

How many of you guys who went on the trip experienced some headaches?

There are headaches, nausea, unusual fatigue, dizziness, a difficult difficulty sleeping can indicate that your body is struggling to adjust.

There are also danger signs that should never be ignored.

Confusion, loss of coordination, severe headaches, shortness of breath, and while resting can indicate a serious altitude emergency.

I just wanted to share with you a testimony that I had.

So listen.

No, hold on, hold on.

I'll tell it.

I'll tell it.

There's different perspectives.

Look, so mistakes were made.

Mistakes were made.

Because I there was altitude, confusion, and dizziness and shortness of breath, and just I had excuses, but we were actually I don't really because we were in Kansas and I about ran you over, didn't I?

Yeah.

So apparently I have a problem with people getting into the vehicles before I take off.

Maybe there's a spiritual message there too.

Wait on others to catch up before you take off.

There you go.

But man, I about ran over her.

We were getting in the car.

I heard them talking.

I'm like, go, we got somewhere to go.

So I'm gonna start driving and screaming all of a sudden.

Ah, stop.

Here we go.

I'm like about to run her over.

She gets in the car.

And then a few days later, I slammed the door behind me, and Aaron was getting out of the vehicle and it hit him in the head.

And then we were leaving the campus there at Karas Bible College, and she was getting in the car, and I heard her talking like normal.

And I start taking off, and all of a sudden, screams start, and I slam on the brake, and she goes and slams it.

Anyways.

Forgive me, Jesus.

But his mercies are new every morning.

Amen.

Amen.

Yeah.

You don't push through those symptoms of all these things I talked about before she rudely interrupted me.

The Bible talks about keeping your heart with all diligence, for out of it flows the issues of life.

There's warning signs that you do not need to neglect.

One of them would be when your prayer is neglected.

That's a warning sign that you're experiencing something that's not of God.

When the word of God no longer has a place in our daily lives, that's a warning sign.

These are conditions of the heart that we need to catch on real quick and fix.

When bitterness begins to take root in your life, that's something you need to immediately.

If you start getting a headache, that's telling you something's not right.

Well, when you start getting bitter, that's telling you something's not right in your spiritual walk.

Something's not right.

Amen.

When fear comes and speaks louder than faith, that's a sign.

Don't take, these are symptoms.

Symptoms of something that's going on in your spiritual life you need to address.

When you start getting angry and bitter and you start getting hateful all the time, that's a sign, it's just a symptom, guys.

You need to get back and take a few of the medicine of the word.

Get back in the word.

When we begin to lose our joy, that's a symptom.

That something's not right.

When you stop moving forward in your relationship with God, that's a symptom.

I heard a preacher say this years ago.

He said, if you're not moving forward with God, you're backsliding.

You're backslidding.

And then the last thing I wanted to bring up, and I know we're now we're good.

You guys are okay, aren't you?

We're supposed to take care of the vehicle God gave us.

When we started up that mountain, I we had a rental car, so I was kind of confident that it only has like 6,000 miles on it.

So I was good.

But I was a little concerned halfway up.

I'm like, you know what?

I didn't check this, I didn't check that.

I didn't maybe I should have.

Because honestly, if you don't check your brake, check your brakes before you go up a mountain that's 14,000 feet in the air, that's not very smart.

So you need to make sure as you're on this journey that you take care of the vehicle God gave you.

You have to trust that vehicle, that it's gonna, it's gonna go the distance.

Amen.

You need to check the fluids, check the tire pressure, make sure everything's filled up and functioning properly.

And more importantly, I wrote down, underlined it, check your brakes.

Because on the way up, you'll encounter other vehicles.

You'll need to slow down.

You may need to pull over, and you'll need to stop when others pass.

You cannot just keep accelerating without considering what's happening around you.

It's a good thing when you're talking about your spiritual maturity and growth, is sometimes you need to slow down.

Sometimes you need to wait and allow others to go around you.

Every once in a while you need to pull over and rest.

Experience God's blessing where you are.

Sometimes you just need to uh stop for a minute.

You cannot just keep accelerating in life and not consider your spiritual life and your growth.

A lot of people will do that.

They'll spend their entire life running as hard and as fast as they can and they'll break down.

And you don't want to break down when you're 14,000 feet in the air because it's a mess.

One other thing that I learned while we were there is take care of your body.

This is practical.

Everyone of us here, take care of your bodies.

The word of God in you can only go as far as your body will take it.

The moment you lay down to take that permanent rest to go to heaven, you can no longer speak here on this earth.

Take care of your bodies.

I I I fought some illness on the I mean, I'm I falled it this week, some things.

There's no condemnation when you fight things.

We live in a fallen world, and this world will kick you when you're down and could care less.

You do the very very best you can to protect and to guard your body.

Do the things that are necessary to keep yourself healthy, eat right, do all the things you know to do.

More importantly, learn to stop when God says to stop and rest.

Don't just run and run and run and then finally just give out.

God wants you to be a good steward of the body.

He said, Your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost.

His glory resides in the temple.

So take care of yourself.

The things that are that are that are controlling you, your mind, some habits, whatever.

Do the very best you can to get a hold of those things so that your life can go further and longer and your testimony can continue on.

We need to take care of what God has entrusted to us.

Keep your spiritual fluids full of prayer and the word and check pressure before it becomes a problem.

Make sure your heart is functioning in love.

Keep your mind renewed to the truth and don't forget your breaks.

Sometimes you need to slow down.

Sometimes you need to pull over and spend some time in the presence of God.

Sometimes you need to stop trying to keep up with everybody else.

You don't have to do what everybody else is doing online.

Don't allow their highlight reels to become your reality of life.

Just because it looks like they're having the greatest time of their life does not mean they're having the greatest time of their life.

That big house they're showing you off, they're in debt.

That big car that they have, they want to show you how important, how valuable they are, their marriage is unhappy.

Come on, somebody.

We're not supposed to live our life trying to function like everybody else.

God gave you his glory to be individual, to do what he's called you to do.

And as you do that, don't worry about what everybody else is doing.

Keep focusing on the prize and doing what he's called you to do.

You're heading up a mountain.

Keep on going.

You cannot continually pour out without allowing God to pour into you.

One thing that I do know, I told Ms.

Terry when we were there, I said, did you know that America, the song America the Beautiful, was written on top of that mountain?

How many of y'all know that song, America the Beautiful?

A lady by the name of Catherine Lee Bates in 1893 traveled from, I believe it was Massachusetts, all the way to Colorado, and while she was there, she wrote the song America the Beautiful on top of that mountain.

Imagine looking over 14,000 feet over the landscape and riding purple, majestic mountain.

Amazing.

There's been records broken on that mountain.

There's been amazing feats taking place on top of that mountain.

There was the state flower of Colorado was found on the top of that mountain.

And I believe, spiritually speaking, when we climb the mountain, there's going to be things that are discovered on the inside of you that you never thought were there.

You will do things that you never thought you would be able to do.

You will, some of you all are going to do some awesome things for God.

You never thought you would ever be there.

Or have the ability to do it.

But God, when he places his spirit on the inside of you, is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all we could ask or think.

It's in you.

You just got to let go of fear, grab a hold of faith, and continue the climb.

One thing Ashley said, I'm proud of Ashley and Miss Terry.

They went up on the mountain with us.

She said something on the way up.

She said, I'm so full of joy right now, there's no room for fear.

Come on.

I was like, that's good.

That'll preach.

In fact, that's going to preach Sunday.

Man, there's so much in me.

There's so much God in me, there's no room for doubt and unbelief.

There's so much in me.

I'm so full of joy.

There's no room for fear and doubt.

All that garbage.

I'm so full of God.

Sickness can't hang on because there's no room in me for sickness.

Amen.

Come on, somebody.

We're so blessed.

I can't be depressed.

There's no room for depression.

Amen.

I'm full of the Holy Ghost.

I'm full of joy, full of peace.

God indwells me, and He indwells me with His fullness.

We are full of the Spirit of Almighty God.

And He's called each and every one of us to step out from where you are and step into a new mentality that I'm going to go high and I'm going to keep climbing.

I'm going to keep marching.

I'm going to go step by step, moment by moment, and I'm going to do the things he's called me to do.

And I'm going to get on top of that mountain and I'm going to start taking pictures so I can show everybody at church what I accomplished because the Bible says you were redeemed and you were bought and you were saved and you were redeemed by the blood of the Lamb and the word of your testimony.

So as you climb the mountain, you start telling everybody, look what I did, look what I did, look at this, look at that, look at all these beautiful pictures I saw on top of that mountain.

Look what God can do.

Amen.

We need to this generation needs in 20, 30 years be able to tell the next generation, look what God can do.

If you step out in faith, look what God can do.

Amen.

Let's all stand up this morning.

Praise the Lord.

You are ready for the climb.

Hallelujah.

Is this church ready for the climb?

You were redeemed by the blood of the Lamb and the word of your testimony.

One of the things that I always do before we leave is I ask if there's anybody that's never received Jesus as their Lord and Savior.

Number one, he paid the price of admission.

But you have to receive it and you have to begin the climb.

If that's you and you've never received Jesus as your Lord and Savior and you would like to do that right now, step out from where you are and come up here to the front.

We want to pray with you and lead you to the most important person ever.

Amen.

That's a relationship with Jesus.

He is everything to us.

Hallelujah.

So if you're here and you don't know and you don't have a relationship with Jesus, this is the beginning of your journey.

Hallelujah.

Amen.

If everybody's born again, I just want you to, uh, where you are, just uh let's all just close our eyes for a minute, bow your heads.

I will do it like this for this.

Um if you're in here today and you found yourself at the bottom of the hill and you don't know how to go or what to do, I just want you to make a commitment that, Lord, I'm just gonna take the first step.

I'm gonna take the first step.

I'm gonna trust you and I'm gonna start the journey of where you're leading me.

And I'm not gonna allow fear to tell me what to do because I'm too full of joy to allow fear any access into my life.

If that's you, just make a commitment.

A commitment that I'm stepping out from the comfort zone of life and I'm stepping into the call of God on my life.

Is there not a cause?

Father, in Jesus' name, Lord, we thank you for this morning.

Thank you so much that you have orchestrated this message.

You've orchestrated the song set, you've orchestrated the prayer, you've orchestrated all those who are here right now to hear what I've spoken through what I believe you gave me.

Lord, I just pray for each and everyone here that Lord will take a step of faith this morning and we'll continue on the journey because great is the call, great is the climb, but the mountaintop experience is on its way in Jesus' name.

Hallelujah.

Hallelujah.

Now, listen, this morning is also communion.

And um a few things I want to say about communion before we get started.

Jesus was in the garden, and he was being pressured because Jesus loved life.

Jesus loved life.

He loved people, he loved his friends, but Jesus knew his call.

And his call was not to live and only live, his call was to live and die and then be raised again.

It's somewhat like our call.

That we're supposed to live, but we're supposed to live to die and then live again and resurrect.

And one thing Jesus said before he went to be crucified.

And some people get this mixed up in their prayer life, but but I'm not going to go into that right now.

Jesus said these words, not my will, but thy will be done.

And I want you to know something.

The climb you're going on, what you're doing in your life, you're not without Jesus.

He said he will never forsake you.

He'll never leave you.

He'll always be with you.

So don't think for a moment you're by yourself.

Communion is simply remembering that he is with us all the time.

He's always with us.

Let's go ahead and grab these.

Give it to her.

Okay.

Thank you, sir.

So as you partake this morning of communion with the family, I want you to remember that Jesus is with you on this journey.

He's with you on this climb.

And don't stop.

Don't stop because he's with you.

Amen.

So let's go ahead.

Says this, and he took the bread and gave thanks, and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, This is my body, which is given for you.

Do this in remembrance of me.

Let's everyone break the bread together and partake.

That was symbolizing that his body would be broken for you.

That he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities, the chastisement of our peace was upon him, and by his stripes we were healed.

If you need healing for your body right now, you just need to receive.

Receive what Jesus has provided.

He provided everything you'll ever need for healing in your body.

And this is your natural body.

Not just your spiritual body.

You don't have to have your spiritual body healed.

It's already been healed.

You were born again, your spiritual body's healed.

He came also so that you could receive healing in your natural body.

So if that's you and you need healing right now, I just pray you would just lift your hands and just receive it.

Father, we receive your healing right now in our bodies.

Lord, we resist sickness.

Sickness has no place in us in Jesus' name.

We're redeemed by the blood of the Lamb.

We've been bought back, and we no longer allow sickness to roll and dominate our life.

I'm healed in Jesus' name.

Hallelujah.

Communion can be a powerful moment in your life where you remember he took the stripes for you, so you don't have to suffer sickness and disease any longer.

Also after supper, saying, This cup is the new covenant in my blood which was shed for you.

This cup represents the wine on the inside, represents the new wine of the new covenant.

And this wine represents also the joy of the Lord.

That's why in the Old Testament or the New Testament, Jesus turned water into wine.

Why?

Because they were at a joyous place.

They were about to party, have a good time, and enjoy it.

So they partook the wine.

And that wine represents the joy of the Holy Ghost in the new covenant you have with God.

How many of you all share in the new covenant?

That we're no longer held bondage by an old law that's that would kill you if you picked up sticks on the Sabbath day.

But we serve a God who loves us so much, who gave us a new covenant based on better promises.

And he said he would be the initiator of this law.

And Jesus shed his blood, and because he did it, we can now partake of the joy of the Lord together.

Amen.

Let's all partake of the joy of the Lord.

Hallelujah.

Thank you, Jesus.

Thank you, Jesus.

Hallelujah.

Thank you, Jesus, for your love and your mercy and your grace.

Thank you for pouring out your blood as a sacrifice so that I don't have to look back any longer, but I can walk in freedom.

In Jesus' name.

Thank you, Jesus.

Hallelujah.

Hallelujah.

Thank you, Jesus.

Thanks for listening.

We hope that this message helps you draw closer to God as you walk out your faith.

We'll see you next week.