But This Time | Pastor Adrian Vega | Overflow Church

He's in the room and he sees us.

He sees us without the mask this morning.

He sees us without the mask this morning.

Without pretense.

These are the moments where we cannot fake the Lord out.

He sees us.

As I wrote it down, as I heard it, what's at the altar of your heart today?

What's at the heart of the altar of your heart today?

Is it his devotion?

Is it his affection?

Man, Lord God, I pray today, Lord God.

Lord God, let us not be divided today, Lord God.

All the affection is yours, Lord God.

All the devotion, let it be yours today, Lord God.

Oh Lord God, at the altar of our heart today, Lord God, we surrender today, Lord God.

God, we're here for you today, Lord Jesus.

Oh, we're here to experience your power and your glory today, Lord God.

And I pray today, Lord God, Lord God, uh, everything that is dividing us today, Lord God, whatever the curtain today, Lord God, that's between us, I pray today, Lord God, let it be rented today, let it be ripped away today, Lord God.

But I pray today, Lord God, that you would know me today, Lord God, that you would know me today, Lord God, and that I would know you today, Lord God.

I pray right now, this morning, Lord God, meet us, meet us in grace today, Lord God, meet us in love today, Lord Jesus.

Meet us today, Lord God.

We give you honor today, we give you glory this morning today.

We thank you, Lord God, because you're in this room today.

I thank you, Lord God, because we wouldn't have it any other way, Lord God.

We wouldn't have it any other way today, Lord God.

It's about you, it will always be about you today, Lord God.

This moment will always be about you today, Lord God.

Lord God, we honor you today, Lord God.

We honor you this morning, Lord God.

Thank you today that you met us and that you're meeting us today, Lord God, that your Holy Spirit is in this room today, God.

Lord God, meet us today, Lord God, meet us in the hurting areas today, Lord God.

Meet us, Lord God, in the broken areas today, Lord God.

I begin to speak today, Lord God, in the name of Jesus.

I begin to speak right now, Lord God.

Meet us, Lord God, and heal the broken areas today, Lord God.

You are God the healer today, Lord God.

You are God the healer today.

You're still healing today, Lord God.

You're still healing right now today, Lord God.

And we put it, we put hurt at the altar, we put brokenness at the altar today, Lord God.

Oh Lord Jesus, today we put wounds at the altar today, Lord God.

Oh Lord God, it's man, I I just thank you, Holy Spirit.

It's like Meshebabath that was dropped as a child.

Oh man, you've been dropped along the way.

You've been dropped along the way, and you've been walking around broken.

But just as King David went to redeem the house of Saul, he went back and found what was broken and redeemed it.

And Lord God, you come to redeem what is broken today, Lord God.

You come to redeem the broken pieces of our heart, the broken areas of our heart today, Lord God, where we've trusted others, Lord God, and we're broken today.

You redeem the broken parts today, Lord God.

You see us today, Lord God.

You see all of us today, Lord God.

Oh, right now in the name of Jesus, Lord God.

Let your prophetic word meet us today, Lord God.

Let your prophetic power meet us this morning.

Oh, we glorify you right now, Lord God.

We glorify you because Holy Spirit, you're moving and healing right now, Lord God.

You're restoring right now, Lord God.

We honor you today, Lord God.

We give you glory in this room today, God.

In Jesus' name we pray today.

Can we say amen today?

Amen and amen.

How many glad to be in the house of God today?

Man, I'm excited to be in the house of God today.

Amen.

Hey, well, you guys can have a seat.

Man, I just felt, man, it's just a beautiful presence of God in this room today.

Amen.

Amen.

We're gonna dive right.

Amen.

Guys, good morning.

Man, we're excited to have everybody in the room today.

Uh man, I'll tell you what, if you're here and you're visiting us for the first time, and I truly believe that finding a church home is sometimes a challenging thing.

But man, if you're in the room today, man, you're in the right place.

Amen.

And I pray that you feel the love of God.

I feel pray that you feel the peace of God in the space and know that your family in the room today.

Amen.

Well, I'd have to start every week, uh, kind of with the best thing I heard this week.

And and man, this was uh really this this particular podcast.

I mean, I must have listened to this thing like three times this week.

It was so good.

Um, but there's uh so many different snippets, but something that I that really just hit me this week uh that I wanted to share with you guys was uh this the simple phrase that says, you have as much of God as you currently want.

And you can get more of God than you currently have.

And those are two truths.

I'm gonna say them again.

You have as much of God as you currently want, and you can get more of God than you currently have.

And what I see here is contentment versus discontentment.

This will become the catalyst of your experience.

Amen.

You're either satisfied with where you are, or you're hungry to believe for more.

You're either satisfied with where you are, or you're hungry to believe for more.

I don't know about you guys, but I want to be in a room that's hungry.

Amen.

Can we be hungry this morning?

I don't know about you, but there's a lot more of God to have, and I want it all.

Amen.

If you don't want any, I I share.

Put it on my plate, okay?

If you don't want it, I'll take it.

Amen.

I'll tell you what, there's a buffet out here, and Jesus is here in the room.

Amen.

Uh yo, buffets be going crazy.

You know what I'm saying?

But that's another story.

Okay, I'm not mean to get hungry here.

Uh, I'm gonna get hungry for real food.

Amen.

But let's pray right now in the name of Jesus, Lord God.

I pray and thank you that your spirit is already in the room.

I thank you today for your manifest presence.

I pray right now, Lord God, that you would meet us in power and in grace, that you would meet us, Lord God, and your spirit would come to convict, that your spirit would come and move in our heart today.

Let this be a seeking word today.

I pray, Lord God, that I'm simply a vessel and a vehicle that you would work through, Lord God.

But I pray truly, Lord God, let heaven come to earth and meet us in this room today.

Let every listener, Lord God, be changed and transformed in Jesus' name today.

And the church said, Amen.

Can we get an amen?

Hey, all right, there we go, there we go.

I thought we were asleep there for a minute.

Amen.

All right.

Well, today's message is called uh, but this time.

Tell your neighbor, but this time.

How many know sometimes we come into places of our life and we we we like, man, this time is gonna be different.

Have you ever heard that?

Have you ever made that that statement?

I've said that statement many a times.

This time's gonna be different.

And really, the the the story that I'm pulling is actually not even like my own personal story, but I mean, I just felt like just pulling this story, extracting it right from uh the Bible to set up the message that we got for today.

But man, I was just thinking about uh in the idea that we want to share today.

I was thinking about the children of Israel, and the children of Israel, they're in this the space of Egypt and they're in this slavery, and it's that for years, and and we're not gonna go through the scripture, but it's that for years that they cried out before the Lord to deliver them, right?

They cried out, God help us, God meet us, and generation after generation cried to the Lord, and the Lord heard their cries.

That's what the Bible tells us.

Have you ever been there?

You've cried, God, I need something.

God, meet me in this space.

Man, God, would you help me today?

I've cried that crying, I prayed that prayer.

And what happens?

The Lord responded, and he sent Moses, and Moses shows up on the scene.

And miracles and all these different things break out to the point that the Pharaoh is like, yo, get out of here, people! Like, yo, go, go, like, get out.

Why?

Because sometimes I believe we cry out for the Lord, and at some point, God begins to move, and God begins to shake some things, and at some point the devil's like, Go ahead and keep them, have them, take them.

All right, all right.

And Moses shows up, and Pharaoh's like, yo, yo, go, go, go, and they leave.

And the children of Israel leave Egypt, and and I even as a last mark, what happens in in the moment they feel like, man, I can't escape Egypt.

God splits the sea.

And we we hear this miracle, one of the most famous miracles in the Bible.

The the the sea splits and they walk on dry land.

That's that's such an important little detail.

God's like, yeah, you ain't gonna get muddy.

I'm gonna let that thing dry for you.

But what happens?

God does the miraculous part.

Everybody say miraculous.

Because it was no easy feat freeing them from what enslaved them.

Just like when God met us, it was no easy feat that he delivered us from the bondages and the chains that were holding us back.

God delivers us.

No easy feat.

Easy for him.

And what happens?

The children of Egypt get delivered out of Egypt.

We get delivered out of the different things that we were entrapped by, ensnared by.

But here comes the crux.

Was getting Egypt out of the people.

You see, God can take you out of Egypt, but how does he get Egypt out of you?

God can pull you out of the chains, God can break the things that bind us.

But how do you get out of the mindsets that bound you?

How do we get Egypt out of us?

Well, I say that part.

Because this is where we get lost.

It's getting that Egypt, it's getting the mindsets out of us.

And so we're gonna turn in Mark chapter 8, and that's kind of the setup for this message.

Mark 8 · chapter mention

Uh, Mark chapter 8, 34 and 35.

Mark 8 · chapter mention

And and what is this?

This is like we're we're in this post-encounter moment, and for those that were at the encounter, we had such an incredible and an experience of God in such a powerful way.

And what happens?

We get these encounters with Jesus that are life-changing.

You shut up in this room, it's because at some point something happened that draws you back to him.

It was an encounter.

But but Jesus in this moment in the scripture is gonna let us know, hey man, how do we get Egypt out of us?

Come on, it is good, girl.

You know what I'm talking about.

In verse 34, it says, again, Mark 8, 34 and 35.

I'm reading from the amplified version.

There's some just good context and good language here.

But it says in verse 34, Jesus called the crowd together with his disciples and said to them, if anyone wishes to follow me, everybody say, Follow me.

Everybody say follow me.

All right, let's say that with our chest, like we want to follow.

He says, in the Amplified, it says, as my disciple, he must deny himself.

And in the Amplified, it says, set aside selfish interests and take up his cross, expressing a willingness to endure whatever may come and follow me.

And what does that mean?

Believing in me, conforming to my example in living, and if need be, suffering or perhaps even dying because of faith in me.

And that last part seems really intense.

Man, dying for you.

Come on now.

I mean, some people don't want to drive down the street for you, Lord.

But but what happened?

And this he's talking about dying.

But what you know, here it doesn't make a lot of sense in our context.

But you know what?

There's people in underground churches today that literally it is death.

I was hearing a testimony, man, probably like man, months ago, about this this pastor uh that that was starting this church in India, and uh, it was two brothers, and and one of them uh had like kind of this underground network, and uh they were looking for him and he got arrested.

And he's like, Man, I don't even know what's up with my brother, he's been missing.

Guys, why?

Because man, perhaps something may come in this belief of faith.

Do we go on?

Let's break down the scripture a little bit.

Jesus called everyone that was near.

Are you near enough to hear?

Come on now.

God's calling, he there was he called to the crowd.

How many know we're we're the crowd?

He's talking to us, amen.

But we got to be close enough to hear that call.

And he begins to gather people together to answer a question that nobody asked.

If you look at the scriptures before that, yeah, he was in the city, he shows up, and he's he's doing what Jesus be doing.

You know, he's he's out there just trying to minister and and and and and and show the power of God to these people in this city, in this town.

And he he breaks away, and then just before this passage, he's talking to the disciples about, hey man, there's gonna come a time I gotta go.

And he rebukes uh Peter.

And and like from this moment, all of a sudden he comes out and he begins to call everybody.

Hey, God, you guys come over here.

And what I love is no matter where Jesus at, there's a there's a crowd nearby.

And he calls everybody, including his disciples.

Why?

Because even though it wasn't a question that we could physically hear and it wasn't noted there as a question, but what I believe is that Jesus was there and somebody was thinking about this question.

Somebody's like, Man, how do I become a disciple?

What does that look like to follow this guy?

So he begins to answer that question.

Why?

Because what he's talking about is not exclusive to those in ministry.

He didn't just pull the disciples and say and say, Hey, oh, hey, you guys, because you guys are close to me.

Let me tell you how this thing is done.

No, he calls everybody.

Why?

Because we're all called to be his disciples.

Everybody in this room, everybody say me.

We are called to be disciples.

To follow him is to become a disciple.

To become a disciple is to follow him.

Is the same.

I can't say, man, I love Jesus and not become a disciple.

That is what it means to love Jesus and follow him rightly.

Amen.

But what happens?

We want to live in the realm of salvation.

Oh, Jesus, you met me today.

I gave my life to you, Jesus.

I love this.

I love just love.

We love in each other.

We want to stay in this realm.

Salvation is the equivalence of deliverance from Egypt.

Salvation is a one-time, complete.

I love this word complete.

When I say complete, when you hear that word complete, what does that mean?

Nothing missing.

It's a complete act of God, not earned by works, and it reconciles the believer to God, granting eternal life.

But what happens?

If we stay here in the realm of salvation, then we experience exactly what the children of Israel experienced in what was supposed to be seven days to the promise.

They walked around in a wilderness.

See, the wilderness is just living in this realm of salvation where, man, I love Jesus, but I don't know if I can really commit like that.

So we're not following Jesus.

We just love the salvation part of Jesus.

Man, God met me, a part of Jesus.

Man, I felt something goosebumps, part of Jesus.

Can I tell you what?

In the wilderness there were miracles.

In the wilderness, God moved.

But what happened?

There was a generation that got lost.

Because Jesus said, Man, you know what?

You guys ain't getting Egypt out of you.

Like, did you not see?

And I can imagine, and I'm not gonna get all into this because it's a little bit off top, but I can I can imagine and I understand.

Like, if you read that story, like Moses, like he ain't shy about how he feels.

Moses in in that passage, like he he goes in one point, he goes to God.

He said, Yo, you're your people.

These are these your people, and they're acting a fool.

Your people.

You need to get them right.

Why?

Because it's frustrating.

How do you not see the glory of God moving?

How do you not see?

Man, God just showed up in this place and you're not changed, and you're not moved.

But it talks about this murmuring in the wilderness.

Why?

Because it's salvation, man.

God moved, ooh, that was nice.

Oh, you saw that water split.

That was crazy.

But then a couple days later, we're like, man, but you know, this is hard.

That's how we act with the Lord.

But what does it look like getting Egypt out of you?

It's called discipleship.

Because that's the next step.

Everybody say next step.

See, discipleship is a lifelong journey.

How long?

Lifelong.

I say lifelong.

That's not a Sunday.

That's not even two Sundays.

Lifelong.

Characterized by prayer, studying scripture, fellowship, service.

It requires daily surrender to God's will and transformation by the Holy Spirit.

Everybody say discipleship.

And we go back to this passage.

It says, if anyone wishes to follow me, I love this.

If anyone wishes.

He asks everybody come.

But what does he already realize?

Not everybody wants.

Everybody wants to.

Ooh, I just want to feel good.

And they want to stay in this realm of salvation.

He says, but if anyone wishes to follow me as my disciple, he must deny himself.

Follow me.

To follow Jesus is more than dethroning of our lives, but the enthroning of Christ.

Let me read that one again.

Following him means uh more than the dethroning of my life.

It's the enthroning of Christ.

What does that mean?

Hey, I'm gonna put one thing aside, but I gotta make him the center of my life.

What does it mean to deny?

In the Greek, the word is our aparnomia, which literally means to deny, to disown, to renounce, to express a strong, emphatic refusal to acknowledge or to be associated with someone or something.

What is God saying in this?

What is Jesus letting us know?

He's saying, Hey man, to deny means, hey, at some point those friends don't serve you anymore.

You gotta walk away.

At some point, the things that we've been chasing after don't serve you, you gotta walk away.

To deny, everybody say to deny, and Jesus is talking about the self-life.

Jesus is inviting us to a great exchange.

And I'm gonna do this the first time I do this on a Sunday, but I and I'm not one for illustrations, but uh, this is just I'm gonna preach it how I saw it in my mind.

And this is us.

We walk into salvation with this bag, and we're like, ooh, this is nice.

You know, this is good, man.

And we have this encounter with Jesus, and he's asking us in this moment, what are you willing to surrender?

Because I gotta surrender something, I gotta deny myself to follow him.

So he's saying, Hey, let go of this bag to grab that one.

Now, I already know what's in this one.

Because this is the one I've been I've been wearing for a long time.

What do I got in this one?

I got I got everything that I want.

A new house, a new car, gotta get that new phone, gotta get it look right.

Uh uh Whatever, fill in the blank, right?

We're trying to keep up with the Joneses.

Well, I got my vision and I got my vision board life, okay?

Um, I got my five-year plan, my ten-year plan, etc.

I got my dreams.

What am I saying?

My dreams.

My dreams.

Oh, I got I got my wealth strategy on here.

I got success on here.

I got everything that the world says is right.

That's in my bag.

And you tell me, let this one go for what's in that bag.

I don't know.

But God is saying, hey, this is your self-life.

But but let me, everybody say, but there's more.

Why?

Because this bag that you're carrying around, it's got this.

But I love this because this is the little secret compartment that the enemy's like, oh yeah, hold on.

This is a good one.

This is a good bag.

But you know what you're also carrying?

Shame, pain, heaviness, abandonment, brokenness, lust, offense, hurt, lies.

See, this is what we're carrying around.

And God is saying, hey man, you want to follow me?

But you got to let this part go.

You got to let these things go and go take up what I have for you.

And this is the challenge.

This is why Egypt never gets out of us because we want to hold on to this.

Because why?

It's familiar.

Man, Lord, but this was my dream, Lord.

But man, God, I really want this, God.

But God, if you help me, I'll help you.

If you meet me, I'll meet you.

Why?

Because we we when we become negotiators.

And we try to negotiate salvation.

And that's why we're in the wilderness.

Because the wilderness becomes the negotiation field.

Where, hey man, I know there's a promise, but hold on.

There's some things in the bag that I want to keep.

Can I keep some of these things?

And this is where we get stuck.

Church, this is where we get stuck.

Absolutely.

It's familiar.

It's control, it's the illusion of control.

But it's these very things that keep us bound.

It's the very things that don't let us step into promise because the children might have experienced promise coming out of Egypt, but you know what they couldn't experience?

The actual promise that God had for them.

Because the promised land was unknown.

They knew.

This felt so familiar.

It literally, at some point, they're telling Moses, man, I had it better in Egypt.

The same place that they cried out, set me free.

That's us.

That's the Sundays we wake up and say, Man, you know what?

I'm kind of tired though.

Man, I remember them Sundays, man.

I just hit the beach.

I remember them Sundays that I could just, man, I go to the game.

Man, I remember them Sundays, I would just wake up late, hit some brunch with some friends.

But and what happened at some point, those are the same Sundays that you would cry out, God, would you save me?

Would you meet me?

But what happened?

You got some goosebumps, you feel good now.

And now you say, oh, hold on, but this bag, Lord, I mean, it's a nice bag.

And what happened?

It's still my dreams, but it's also attached to brokenness.

It's also attached to the things that never served me to begin with.

Why?

Because the enemy wants you to keep you in the familiar.

He wants to keep reminding you that, hey man, even in Egypt, you ate pretty good.

But you were a slave.

Man, even in Egypt, you had a little crib.

Not the one that you really wanted, but you know, you got a house.

Why?

Because at some point we begin to disillusion ourselves and romanticize what we had or what God was pulling us away from.

And it just felt good.

And what happened?

We're gonna keep reading.

And this is an invitation.

We have to deny ourselves.

And he says, take up his cross, expressing a willingness to endure whatever may come.

What is the whatever may come?

The unknown.

And follow me, believing in me, conforming to my example, and living, and if need be, suffering or perhaps dying because of the faith.

We just thought about this.

So, what is he saying?

Hey man, let this one go.

All right, I don't need that.

I'm gonna grab this one.

And this is the invitation.

He says, Man, come grab this one.

I like it's a nice little tan color.

Oh, this is a Jesus color.

Uh, and and and he's inviting us, hey, pick up your cross.

Pick up the cross.

Why does he say pick up your cross?

Because the cross is where things go to die.

So he's saying, hey man, as you pick up his cross, and love is it says his cross.

Did Jesus get crucified yet?

No.

But God already knew, hey, there's a promise in that cross.

So go pick up his cross, the cross that he didn't even die on yet, or get resurrected.

But he says, go pick up his cross.

That was a prophetic statement.

Hey man, I'm about to die on this cross for you.

But I need you to also, just as I died, man, you need to die to self.

So he said, pick up his cross.

Why?

Because at the same time as I choose to pick up his cross and I die to self, what happens?

I also get resurrected at the same time into a new thing.

Everybody say new thing.

Why?

Because God wants to give you the new thing.

See, and the invitation is, hey man, you gotta pick up that cross daily.

Every day I gotta say no.

It's not that bag, it's this bag.

So I make the choice every day.

Hey God, it's this bag.

And what happens?

It says it takes 21 days to make a habit.

But what happens?

The more I'm pursuing God, I don't wake up thinking about one bag or the other.

I just wake up here.

Why?

Because this is my life now.

This is what I do.

I pursue God.

We read in verse 35.

For everyone who wishes to save his life in this world will eventually lose it through death.

But whoever loses his life in this world may take, or for my sake and the gospels will save it.

What is Jesus saying to us?

What life are you trying to save?

And and this is where we get back into the trappings of this world.

Why?

Because we have grown up.

Everybody say grown up.

Follow your heart.

Have you ever heard that statement?

Follow it.

I've heard people tell me, follow your heart, man.

Just follow your heart.

Follow your dreams.

You know, the other day I was, and I've said this many times.

I I mean I hate the statement, God knows my heart.

I mean, hate is such a strong word, but I do.

I'm not even gonna lie.

But but but you know, as I was thinking about this and kind of ruminating in my spirit, like, man, that expression, God is just so empty.

And and this is what the Lord told me.

Oof, man, I gotta go.

I I wrote this one down, I had to make some notes.

God knows your heart, but the problem is so does the devil.

Because he's been making deposits.

That's why the Lord says, hey man, your heart, man, is corrupt.

Your heart is evil.

That's why we have to guard it.

And that's why when people are telling you, oh no, no, follow your heart, man.

Follow your earned it, you are it, you're owed.

Follow your dreams.

What?

Man, those are the deposits the enemy is making into that heart.

Why?

Because, man, the more he got you confused on what's the right direction, he's just sitting back.

Oh, yeah, keep keep chasing that thing.

Good luck with that.

So let's do the math here.

Chasing hard after the self-life, what does that mean?

Your ways plus your will plus your desires equals spiritual death.

That's what Jesus is talking about.

It's spiritual death.

Why?

Our ways pull us away from his plan.

Why?

Because the further I'm in this direction, he's far away from me.

But what happens?

We get in this tension.

But then he says, Hey man, if you seek to preserve yourself from inconveniences and difficulties that come from identifying with Jesus, you're gonna lose out on the abundant life that Christ promises.

That is the experience of a relationship with him now and in the eternal reward.

So God is saying, Hey man, in doing this, hey man, uh you can make the choice.

Maybe it is, it can feel inconvenient.

Maybe sometimes it isn't the easy thing.

But I'll tell you what, man, the more you identify with Christ, man, the more you will experience the abundant life that he has for you.

Can I get an amen?

That's good.

So what happens?

And and I wrote down this, I was thinking about this.

What does that mean to even that the death, to die spiritually, the spiritual death.

And I was remembering this episode of Spongebob.

Remember, you know SpongeBob.

Don't act like you ain't never watched no SpongeBob.

Everybody knows some.

And what happens?

SpongeBob at some point, I think in this particular episode, he's trying to save his friend, Sandy.

Let me get into the details there because Sandy's a little squirrel that lives under the sea.

I don't know.

I don't know how that works.

I don't math the math on that one.

But nonetheless, he's trying to save his friend.

And Spongebob gets out of the water.

And it's so funny because the moment Spongebob gets out of the water, he's walking and he's walking, and he's good, and he's good, and but the sun is kind of cooking and it's and he's good and he's kind of like, ooh, he's trying to shribble up.

Ooh, what's going on?

Well, and I love it because in the episode, at some point, he looked like an old man, and then literally it shows like uh like in real, a real like sponge that's like old and dry.

You know the old dried up sponges that like they like crunched up, and that was SpongeBob.

That's how we are spiritually when we when we pull away from his plan, when we pull away from his purpose, when we say, Man, you know, God, I don't want to be a disciple, but man, I really love you.

Man, I believe in you, Jesus.

Can I tell you what?

The enemy believes in Jesus too.

But what happens?

We get troubled up because we're far away, and we don't even realize that we're dying this slow spiritual death because it doesn't come fast.

It's over time.

I got kind of quiet in here.

But what happens when we choose to deny the self-life, the me and the I for Jesus?

Then our prayers begin to change.

It becomes, God, give me your dream for me.

God, give me your heart.

Why?

Because at some point there has to be a shift.

Remember, Vianne was testifying the other day, she was praying, God, give me a heart transplant.

And is that that's the prayer?

God, transform my heart.

Why?

Because the moment he begins to shift your heart, what does that look like?

It's literally like, hey man, my heart has been inundated with all of these different things.

God is flushing that heart out.

And say, God, give me your heart.

Man, let me see your dreams for me.

And then I was thinking, man, how do we get into these spaces where we become apathetic or we become cold or lukewarm?

It's because at some point, this is the line of demarcation.

We've we we we spent a little time with Jesus and we say, Oh man, God, this I love me some God.

I love me some Jesus.

Man, but but I still have some things that I want to do.

I still have my plans.

And but I don't want to let this one go, but I don't want to let this one go either.

And before we know it, we're in this space where we're just trying to hold two things.

But God didn't tell you to hold two things.

He said, pick up my cross and carry the cross.

I gotta choose.

Everybody say choose.

And how do we get lukewarm?

Because at some point we're we're we're we're we're trying to determine, man.

Well, uh, you know what?

I yeah, I feel like this is a discipleship Sunday.

I'm gonna put this back on this.

I'm still holding on to this one though.

And I kind of just strap one strap this guy.

Oh man, I feel, man, thank you, Jesus.

Man, I felt I felt something today.

Jesus, he we here today, God.

That was kind of a good word.

Yeah, that was not for me, but that was for somebody.

That was for somebody today.

And what happens?

Then the next week when it doesn't serve us, we're like, man, you know what?

But this Sunday, man, I I got some some other man, I'm tired, man.

It's a long work week.

Man, I owe myself some rest.

I owe myself, right?

And we get into these moments where at some point, or it vice versa, man, we're praying, and God is telling us, hey man, we need to let something go.

And at some point, we're like, we gotta let something go.

Well, well, let me I'm kind of loosened.

I don't know if that word is for me.

Because I don't want to let this go.

I don't want to let this dream go.

I don't want to let this, my plans go.

And we get caught in the tension.

And that's where we get the scripture we talked about last week, where where Jesus comes not to the lost, not to the unchurched, not to the unbeliever, but he speaks to the church of Laodicea.

But I say the church.

Because this happens in the church.

And he says, Man, you neither hot nor cold.

Man, I wish you'd make a choice.

You're lukewarm.

And I will spit you out.

And at some point we have to make a decision.

Everybody say, make a choice.

Don't mess up my back though.

And what happens?

We get caught in this trap here.

But the word of God tells us, man, the gospel will save it.

What does that mean?

Man, sins, the chains, healing, they're yours.

Everybody say that's all mine.

Because God comes to heal you.

It said in the beginning, it's complete.

Didn't we read that?

It's complete.

The work that God did through salvation is complete.

What does that mean?

God comes to deliver you from sins, break chains, heal you.

That's yours.

And what happens?

In this encounter, he sets us free.

But it's only through his word we stay free.

It's only through our experience with him daily that we learn how to live the right life.

That's what the gospel does.

That's why God says, no, no, you gotta stay with me.

Man, you gotta you gotta get discipled in my word.

Why?

Because the more I'm in this word, this truth, it is recycling out the bad.

It's recycling out, man, all the things that I've been telling myself, right?

Because we got our own self-talk.

And this is where these moments are saying, you know what, man?

I don't even want to watch that anymore.

Man, I don't want to listen to that anymore.

Man, I can't hang out with those people anymore.

And why?

These are just casual decisions that you start making.

That you're like, man, man, I used to like this.

Or you put something on, you're like, ooh, I don't like listening to that no more.

Have you been there?

I've been there.

Then what do we discover?

I'm gonna read from Jeremiah 29, verse 11.

Jeremiah 29:11

This is from the Passion Translation.

Such good language.

Again, Jeremiah 29, 11.

And the word reads, Here's what Yahweh says to you.

Hey, repeat, he's talking to me.

Everybody say he's talking to me.

Here's what Yahweh says to you.

I know.

Everybody say, I know.

All about the marvelous destiny I have in store for you.

What does that mean?

Hey, there's there's a mystery here.

And God is saying, Man, you haven't been in the bag yet.

Yo, but I got some good things in the bag for you.

Didn't it say?

This is what he's saying to you.

Who's the you?

Us.

And he's saying, I know the marvelous destiny I have for you.

I'm not telling you to surrender something because there's less over here.

I'm telling you to surrender this because there's more over here.

The Hebrew word for know is yada.

Not yoda.

Come on now.

I say yada.

This word occurs nearly 1,000 times in the Bible.

It is a word that can mean to intimately know.

God is intimately involved in every aspect of your life.

He knows where he's taking you, and it is good.

So what does this mean?

Hey man, not only is this a bag, but he's telling me here, yo, there's GPS in this bag.

Why is this bag going to take me somewhere?

That's what he said right there, right?

He said, I know.

And the I know means, man, I know you.

I know you.

I saw you in brokenness.

I saw you in your hurt.

I saw you when you're empty.

I saw you in the worst places of your life.

I know you.

And I loved you.

I was in.

And what happens?

Man, the scripture says, Man, he has in store for you a future planned out in detail.

Everybody say in detail.

And I love this expression.

What does that mean?

To plan out something in detail means to carefully think through and organize every aspect of a project.

Some of us are projects.

You know what I'm talking about.

You know who you are.

A task or event before starting.

Ensuring that all steps, everybody say all.

All steps, resources, and considerations are clearly defined and ready for execution.

He says, I have a future planned out in detail.

He's saying, Man, I got you this bag right here, and everything you need is in the bag.

The cross that he's asking you to pick up, man, everything is on that cross.

It's planned out in detail.

This marvelous destiny he has for me.

And he says, My intention is not to harm you, but to surround you with peace and prosperity and give you a beautiful future.

Glistening with hope.

His intention.

That means that he's trying to bring something about for you.

To make something happen.

To cause it as a result.

How many know, man, that sometimes life is hard?

Man, life is real.

It's not sunshines and rainbows.

But what happens?

In this right here, what he's saying, his intention.

In Genesis 5.20.

We're reading from the Amplified.

Verse 20, it says, As for you, you meant evil against me.

But God meant it for good in order to bring about his present outcome.

What does that mean?

Hey man, sometimes we're going through the hardest things in life.

That doesn't mean that God is not with you.

That don't mean the bag is broken or the bag don't work.

That means, hey man, walk this thing out, but you are going to see how I work this out in your favor.

Don't let go of the bag.

If I say don't let go of the bag, don't let it go of the bag.

Why?

Because pain isn't your story.

But your pain will reveal his glory.

Pain was the enemy's setup for you to rebel.

But God meant it to be the catalyst of revival and a launching path for his purpose.

And this is Joseph's story.

Thrown in a pit.

All bad.

Thought he was doing good.

Got accused of rape.

That surely ain't good.

Went to jail.

Not good.

At every step, the enemy meant for him to rebel.

The enemy meant, Oh, I got him this time.

That's what that's what happens in our life.

God said, Oh, I got you this time.

Oh, I got you this time.

What happens?

Every time I choose.

In the morning, man, this is hard, but I go and pick up this bag.

And I said, No, God, but I'm gonna keep moving, and I believe that there is a promise in my life, there is a destiny for my life.

Joseph didn't surrender the bag, he carried the bag to the pit, he carried the bag to jail, he carried in the 13 years waiting.

And what happened?

God showed up.

What's in the bag?

Everybody said, What's in the bag?

I mean, it kind of is.

I'm not even gonna lie.

He invites us to the selfless life.

The generous life.

He gives me love, that's unconditional.

He gives me forgiveness.

I mean that's a real rider died.

A lot of good things in the body, right?

The real truth.

Healing, freedom.

Isn't that so awesome?

What happens?

And the more we press in.

And and this is nice.

This is nice.

And you know what?

God is gonna use that right there.

He will use that all day long.

Why?

Because in all these things, what happens?

We already become a catalyst for the word of God.

We begin to tell our people around us.

We tell our neighbors, we tell our friends, yo, have you heard about Jesus?

Man, let me tell you about my friend Jesus.

Hey man, can I invite you to my church?

Because, man, God is doing something there.

Man, I don't know, but you notice something different about me?

Yo, you know what?

Me too.

What is it?

Jesus.

That was in the bag.

Why are you doing these things different?

I don't know.

I just feel like what happened?

You know, the bag taking me somewhere.

But we start pressing in more.

And at some point, God's like, man, I want you to be a minister of the gospel.

Hey, man, I want you to be a marketplace voice for the gospel.

You see, because everybody thinks this is the gospel.

Oh yeah, a pastor, a preacher.

God will use you in the marketplace.

God will use you in the highways and in the byways.

Maybe a success in business.

For some, man, God raises up kingdom builders.

He gives great wealth and success.

And and man, because your heart is turned, you're picking up this bag every day.

God can say, hey man, I need you to bless this thing over there.

Man, I need you to sow a seed over there.

I need you to do this over there.

And God uses that.

I was listening to a message just the other day, and and he was talking about uh this this church that had to raise uh almost 55 million dollars, not almost they had to raise 55 million dollars.

And he said, Man, God is gonna meet us.

And and he gives this testimony.

He he talked to his church and he said, you know, he's like, no, I'm talking to the church.

We literally only had three million dollars in the bank.

55.

It's not like we had 58 and we needed like 50, 59, right?

It was it was 55 million, like we needed a lot of money, like this was literally impossible.

And he says, Man, I told the church and they were excited because we're getting in the building.

And like, yes, yes, and he said, This is how much it costs, and everybody got quiet.

And he said, Hey, we're gonna lift up an offering on this day.

Let's come ready.

That was it.

And he said, No, man, I had a bunch of people who are telling me, Hey man, like I know you want to do this, but this the way you gotta do this, we gotta do campaigns, and you have to meet with donors, and you gotta stop your itinerary, and you gotta just do this.

And he said, That's not me.

But I know God is gonna meet us.

Can I tell you the day that they set to do this this offering and it was literally a miracle offering, uh, they raised in one day, everybody say one day 40 million dollars in one day.

And he said, Within the within a few weeks after that, they had everything.

And he says, you know, this seems to and he said, No, to some they told me, oh man, this is a once-in-a-lifetime miracle, and he said, Man, I rebuke you in Jesus' name.

This is the beginning of what God wants to do.

Amen.

And he said, No, he said, No, because down the road they're they're they're building a Muslim mosque in in their state, and they raised a hundred million dollars like that.

He said, How come it's a struggle for the church to raise 55 million, but that the enemy can go and raise a hundred million like that?

He said, No, no, no, this was the beginning of what God is going to do.

Amen.

And I'm gonna put this one out there because I just found it funny when he said it.

But he said, No, and then somebody else told me after that offering, he said, Man, this was crazy.

Like after you guys finished closing on the church and and and and and just uh just in the the relishing of the miracle that God produced, man, are you gonna go on sabbatical?

He said, sabbatical.

He said, No, no, no, man.

I'm trying to work hard for Jesus.

I want to work so hard that the enemy gotta take sabbatical.

Hey, come on now.

I I mean, I want to be doing some things where the enemy's like, yo, I need a break.

Yo, this guy got me tired.

Man, this girl got me tired.

I can't keep up with them.

Let's take a couple weeks.

Amen.

Yo, can we get faith like that?

Come on now.

I said, Man, let that faith be my faith.

But we go on.

And we talked about, hey man, the pain and all these different things.

Hey, man, there's an intention God has, and he's going to bring you out of that because it's going to glorify the name of Jesus.

And in the same passage says the word prosper here is from the Hebrew shalom, meaning completeness, wholeness, welfare, peace, and well-being.

Not just material wealth, but a life restored to God's intended order, free from danger, lack, and brokenness.

Complete.

Amen.

I don't know about you guys, but man, that sounds like a beautiful future, doesn't it?

The idea of just, man, being able to go to sleep at night and just like for some that it's been a long time since you can just go to sleep and just feel like y'all got some rest today.

Man, let God do work.

Let God cook a little bit.

Amen.

He has scripted a beautiful, glistening, a beautiful future glistening with hope.

In Hebrews 12, 2, in the Amplified, it says, Man, I love how it starts.

It's in parentheses.

Hebrew the Amplified version gives you like a little context.

But it says, looking away from all that will distract us.

Focusing our eyes on Jesus, who is the author and perfecter of our faith.

And what does that mean?

In this scripture, he said, He has scripted.

What does scripted mean?

He wrote something down that was beautiful.

And in here it says, hey man, when you're looking away from the things that distract you and focus your eyes on Jesus, what happens?

Man, you come back to the author and the perfecter of your faith.

What does that mean?

Man, you get back to the script.

Some of you guys are off script right now.

God saying, yo, get on script.

Get back on script.

Amen.

There's a future glistening with hope.

What's your hope today?

As we're winding this down, what is your hope today?

I know for me, man, I was thinking about this.

Man, my hope is, man, if he could do for me, if he did it for me, he could do it for you.

That's my hope.

My hope is, man, that my family will all know him.

My hope is that all would hear.

What's your hope today?

Your hope is not about you.

Everybody's like, man, I hope I get that new card though.

Man, I hope I get that job.

I hope I get that promotion.

Man, I hope I get that raise.

What's your hope today?

Man, God, I hope today.

Man, I can just walk with you in the right way today.

Man, my hope today, Lord God, man, is that I can witness the three people today.

My hope today.

What is your hope today?

We can stand to our feet as we're closing today.

Can we get an amen in the room?

God, quiet.

I gotta make sure everybody's still awake with me.

Man, I say this all the time, but man, there's no such thing as a hard word.

Just a word.

It's hard because it doesn't fit in our narrative.

It doesn't fit in my plan.

God's word was never meant to fit in your plan.

You were meant to fit in God's plan.

Amen.

With eyes closed.

Let's bring it back.

That's where we started.

Jesus called everyone near him to hear him.

And that same call is still going on today.

Amen.

If anyone wishes to follow me, that call is not a question.

That question is, will you choose to follow him?

That's the question today.

This is a great exchange.

Everything with Jesus is a great exchange.

What's that exchange today?

And my ways for his ways.

My will for his will.

My dreams for his purpose.

My life for his life.

And here's what I discovered.

When I finally surrendered my life to Jesus.

I didn't lose my future, man.

I discovered a new future.

You know, I was 19 years old.

Actually 18 years old.

And I gave my life to Christ 100%.

And what did I do in the 100%?

I took this bag and I said, Man, I'm done with this.

I'm done with it.

Man, I'm tired of feeling empty.

I'm tired of feeling in this place of despair all the time.

Man, there's no party that that that fills me.

There's no connects that meet that feeling.

There's no club that that feels I every time I come back home, I'm just empty.

And that day, I threw the bag.

And I said, Man, I'm gonna pick this bag up.

And I'll tell you what, my future was not this.

My future was not on a stage, my future was not preaching the gospel.

My my future was none of these things that I had here and what we're doing today.

My future was success, my future was building something on my own.

My my my my future that I saw had nothing to do with walking out the gospel, but the moment I picked up that bag, the moment I had that encounter of salvation, I said, I don't know what just happened.

I said, I don't know what just happened, but man, Lord God, this is real.

This is real.

This was more than just crossing the Red Sea.

Man, I saw every miracle, I saw a breakthrough, I experienced wholeness like I never experienced before.

Why?

Because I decided in that day and in that moment, I'm done with the other bag, I'm done with the shackles that keep me bound, I'm done with chasing what I think is right.

And what happened, man?

I I can tell you, man.

I've I've I felt pits in my life, man.

I felt like I've been in jail in my time.

Uh just God trying to figure out what's next.

But you know what?

I never surrender the bag.

I never surrender the bag.

Man, I chased hard after God.

You know, yesterday I and I I'm sorry I gotta give this test more.

But yesterday, man, I I I ran into by chance a young man that the last time I saw him, he was about 12 years old.

And he's I think he's man almost 30 years old today.

He's got his own family, and he saw me and he stopped me and he said, Man, I know you.

And I was like, Man, I was your name, and he's like, Man, Andrew.

He said, You know my parents, and the moment he had some sunglasses, he took out those sunglasses and he made an expression.

I recognized the little boy, and I said, Andrew, and he said, Man, I'll tell you what, there was just something about you, and and this was thank you, Jesus.

Right after I surrendered that bag, man, I picked up this bag, and I said, Man, God, this is so glorious.

God, I want this bag all the days of my life.

And what happened, man?

I started chasing God so hard, so hard.

I'll tell you what, man.

I'm I think I'm just 40 something at this point.

I don't even know.

I gave up counting.

Uh, and I've been chasing since 18, holding on to this bag for dear life.

And I remember that young man, he was telling me, Man, Adrian, I remember days that you would show up at our house and you guys would do just worship nights.

I wasn't trying to be a pastor, I wasn't trying, no, I was just pursuing Jesus, and I would have these worship nights and prayers.

And he said, Man, I don't know what was happening in the room, but I could feel the power of God so tangible, and I was just a little boy, but it marked my life, and I remember those days, and as I grew up, I understood, man, there was a glory that was in the room, and I said, Man, you know what?

Thank you, man.

That I just remember these flood of memories.

I'm like, man, I have a church today.

I didn't know in those rooms that I was gonna be a pastor.

I didn't know in those, I wasn't looking for none of that.

I just wanted this, I wanted freedom, I wanted his plan, I wanted his future, I wanted his path, not my path.

And the unknown sometimes is hard, but I wouldn't change it for anything.

So today, who's ready to put down the old bag?

Who's ready to put down the old bag?

Who's ready to pick up the new one?

Deny yourself, take up your cross.

Follow him.

Truly follow him.

My simple hope today is that everyone could hear this call today and choose God.

Man, I I want to just get back to that place of following you.

Maybe for some, man, there's been distractions.

Maybe for some, man, just things have come up in life, and and life happens.

But every day we get to choose.

Every day we get to choose to go and pick up the cross.

And maybe today God isn't just inviting you, man.

Would you pick it up today?

Would you pick it up today?

With eyes closed and hands raised today.

I actually I just want to do something.

This is gonna sound a little bit wild, but man, I actually just want to invite everybody.

I want everybody to just come up.

And we just we're gonna do a little surrender here this morning.

Man, I just want to invite everyone.

Hey man, like uh let's come into this place where we just say, God, uh, you know where I'm at, you know what's going on in my world, but God, I want to come into a place where I just truly fall in love back with you again.

God, I want to come back to this place of surrender with you today.

God, I want to come back to this place where I meet you face to face again.

God, I want to come, draw me a little closer today.

Can you draw me a little closer today?

I want to know you today, God.

And with hands lifted up here in the front, man, Lord God, we just invite you, Holy Spirit, to move this morning.

I invite you, Holy Spirit, today, Lord God, and I pray, Lord God, can we just simply surrender the old?

Can we simply surrender what's been holding us back?

Can we simply put down the old the old bag and choose in this moment today, God?

God, I want to pick up your cross, God.

God, today I wanna I want to get back to discipleship.

God, I want to get back to a life filled with purpose.

I want to get back on track, God.

I want to Lord God fall back in love with you today, God.

I want to fall back in intimacy with you today, Lord God.

Oh Lord God, I just pray right now, Holy Spirit, meet us today, God.

Where you are, just just simply say, God, draw me closer.

Say, repeat with me, God, draw me closer.

Because he's here already, and for some, he's already ministering to you.

For some, he's already shaking some stuff up.

For some, that I just feel like there's some things that are falling off you today.

For some, I just feel like there's just a warm love that's hitting your heart today.

God just wants to remind you, man, I'm not far, I'm right here.

I've just been waiting for you to draw a little closer.

Lord God, I pray right now in the name of Jesus, arrest our hearts, arrest us today, Lord God.

Arrest us in the spirit, arrest us in your word today, God.

Your word has come to transform, your word has come to transform us today, Lord God.

We cannot leave this place the same, Lord God.

I pray today in the name of Jesus.

Let your word meet us today.

Lord God, the listener that's gonna meet this on a podcast, the listener that's gonna meet this, hear this on Spotify.

Let your word meet us, God.

Wherever they're listening to this, let your word meet them today, Lord God.

I believe you're healing people, Lord God, in a car today.

I believe you're healing people in their office today.

I believe you're healing people in their house today, Lord God, that will listen to this.

But in this room, Lord God, heal us.

In this room, heal us today, Lord God.

In this room today, break off the shackles of oppression, break off the shackles of oppression, break off the shackles of distraction, break off the shackles of depression in the name of Jesus today, Lord God.

Man, God has been there's a wrestle of depression, and I've been feeling this for a couple weeks, but man, we break right now in the name of Jesus, depression in the name of Jesus today, Lord God.

I pray today, Lord God, hunger today, Lord God, hunger today, Lord God.

Oh, hands lifted up.

I just want to just say, God, fill me with a hunger today.

Can you fill me with a hunger today, God?

Would you meet me with hunger today, Lord God?

We gotta get hungry for Him, church.

We gotta get hungry for holiness, we gotta get hungry for righteousness, we gotta get hungry for his purpose.

I gotta get hungry to become a disciple of Jesus today.

Make me hungry to become a disciple for Jesus today, Lord God.

Oh Lord God, we worship you today, God.

We worship you in this space, Lord God.

We worship you right now, Lord God.

We worship you, God.

Meet us, Lord God, meet us, Lord God, meet us today, Lord God.

We give you glory right now, Lord God, in Jesus' name.