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Greetings and welcome to 2019 Church. Beloved. How y' all doing? All right. My name is Eric Hayes. I'm one of two elders here. Thank you. God bless you. We. We are a church that is a house of prayer, presence, and proclamation, and we intend to stay that way. You hear me? Amen. I just want a special shout out to the overflow. It's my second time preaching up here in the new building. There you go. Y' all a lot closer. Good to hear y' all. Love y' all family. That's beautiful. That's beautiful. Welcome to our online community, the Digital Disciples. Whether you are tuning into a recording live around Georgia, other parts of the country, other parts of the world, we recognize you. We love you guys. Amen. And last but not least, welcome to the unbeliever. This is indeed a place. This is indeed a place where you can belong before you believe. Right? All right. We want you to keep coming around. Yeah, Yeah, I think. I think. I think it's good for a church when people that don't know how to know when to raise their hand and when to sit down and know the church protocol. I like them coming up and messing up the program ground. Right. We got unbelievers around. It probably is. Is. Is a good sign that somebody cares about preaching the gospel. Don't get me wrong, believers, we definitely benefit from hearing the gospel. Right? But the mission is to preach the gospel under the power of the Holy Spirit so that he third person of the Trinity can prick the heart of them and they would come to a saving faith, come to a saving faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and that eternal life would start now and continue in eternity. So welcome unbelievers. All right? And like always, I make it a practice man to honor the pastor of this Eklesia, Philip Anthony Mitchell. You may say, well, why are you doing that? Why are you standing up as the pastor, listen the scripture, talking about. Although I want to say it's a monetarily sense right there, but give honor to whom it is due says double honor in that context I was talking about. Right, right. And I. I know more because I am now. I'm an elder. Right. I have four children. I have a wife. Right. I have bills. Amen. And they keep on coming. You hear me, beloved? Right. I'm concerned about the flock as well. Okay? So I know more of what that looks like at my view now, at his view, to be leading what most are calling a revival. It comes with some weight, beloved. It comes with some arrows being. Being pointed at You. It just comes with satanic attacks. Okay, can we just keep it real here? It comes with attacks from the. From within the body. It should not be so, but it is. So I gotta fight my brother and sister to push the gospel. That's evil, right? And even though discouragement, you know, may hit your soul, you can't let it stop you because we care about you guys. We care. We care, right? So I'll always. I want to say in my heart to honor for keeping his hand to the plow, regardless of what hits him. So I just want to do that. And as a church, we are continuing to walk through the book of Matthew in a series we titled Entry and End Times. However, I've been given the assignment to deliver a standalone message today. And at this time, we do not have a title for it, but we're gonna preach the word of the Lord. Amen. Okay, so a quick story time. I'm actually a part of what I would call, like, a forgotten generation, right? So now my children are part of Generation Alpha. Then it was Gen Z, then it was the millennials. And then a lot of times people just jump all the way to. I saw somebody put up millennials, y' all, God bless you, right? That's most of you, right? And then y' all jump all the way to baby boomers, right? God bless y' all, too. And y' all forget Generation X in the building, okay? This is beautiful because, like, for 10 years, like, everybody in our church is 20 years old. Everybody, right? So we're getting some more multi. Generational joints, right? So, and. And if you came up in that time period, you were almost forced to deal with someone with the initials mj. Oh, you were forced. You were forced just by way of media. Now check me out. I said, mj. Some of y' all may have thought of one person, some of y' all may have thought of someone else. And some of y' all thought of two, right? So I'm actually talking about two people. It was Michael Jordan and Michael Jackson, right? Right. I remember. Oh, I'm dating myself here, right? I remember watching a floor model tv and if either one of them came on the screen, you were glued. That's back when you had one TV per house. So it wasn't like, can I go over here and watch that? Absolutely not. Must try to get a beating trying to change the tv, right? And these brothers, they captivated us with their talent and their hard work, right? So much so that people have modeled themselves after them, right? So even. Even the late great Kobe Bryant, like, he was like, I would say, the living embodiment to an extent. Even out to the way he talked and walked. Turn around, over the. Over the shoulder, jump shot, the whole deal. He was like Michael Jordan. Right? And actually one of my favorites. I'm an ex dancer. Ex dancer, 80s dancer, right? 2000 up. The way they dance. And that's different, right? So I used to watch them like this was in the age of the video, right? You didn't drop a song without a video. A visual companion to go with the song. Y' all know nothing about that, right? Right. And I remember watching it. We were talking back there. The video Smooth Criminal. Check me out. If something almost bust our head. Like, how in the world did he lean at a 45 degree angle like that? He was killing it. I'm like, oh, oh, you see me? I'm doing it. Check me out. Right, right? And whether it was Michael Jordan or Michael Jackson, man, we. Most of us cheered, man. Oh, man, Mike's amazing. You see that shot? You see how he scored 48. Like, you see Mike, man, You see him? You see? And before I go on, have any of y' all seen Michael Jackson do a moonwalk? Some of y' all too young. Y' all need to go check YouTube and check it out. This brother, he used to slide and glide like he had on skates. Like Usher. He's on skates now. Mike had no skates. He would actually slide and glide and like, he wouldn't move above the knee. Y' all think I'm try it. I'm not try to hike the elder up. I'm right here. And fall. Negative. I did get pretty good at it back in the day, but nevertheless. Right, but that's. That's you. So you saw him glide, right? And although most of us, like, we did cheer and we recognized them, really as the goats and lease of their era, we could have the Mike and Kobe or LeBron debate another time. Another time. All right? But we cheered them when they scored when they dance. Right? But some of us took it a little further, right? You were such in awe of what they showed you. Part of it was marketing, too, Right? Right. Because they got brands to push them as the face of things. So part of how big we think they are was because they were pushed. Right? There was an agenda to do so. Right. It made everybody money. So not only do we look at them, we beheld them. Didn't we want you to sit there and just looking at them, just, oh, man, you see? I want to be Like Mike. Oh, you might be in the spirit, sister. Right? Oh, man. You see that new video? That might drop. The way you make me feel, I'mma move on because I want to do the kick. But check me out. I want to do it. I'm not. A lot of us went out and tried to do the very things that we saw them do, right? We couldn't really jump. We was out there trying to do the layup package, right? Some of us couldn't really dance when we out here trying to do what Mike did. And we failed miserably. Unless you really, really worked at it and you worked at imitating that person that you beheld. Similarly, when we come into a relationship with God, although it is amazing, when we come into the experience with other believers and we clap our hands, that's biblical, y' all. That's amazing. When we jump for joy, that's biblical, y' all. That's amazing. When we shout with a voice of triumph, when we do that thing as Pastor exhorts us to do, that's beautiful, y' all. But the question is, do we act like God? Do we act like Him? I would call that the deeper part of worship. When you literally behold him so much, you behold him so much that you actually have your nature changed in his presence. And you know what's beautiful about hanging out in the presence of the Lord? Some of it is effortless. If I hang around you long enough, I'm going to start staying your slang. Your. You gonna start saying mine, right? We're gonna rub off on each other. Isn't it a beautiful thing when God can rub off on us in his presence? Because the veil is rent and we've been ransomed. We can hang out with him without fear and he can just rub off on us. Oh, I want to be changed by him, that he would just rub off on me, his son, as I think about that. Go and put that picture up, all right? I love y' all, because I did not want to use this picture. All right? So just for the record, we're looking at this handsome guy on the right, okay? And if you look at him, he's looking at his father and he's trying to mimic him. Emulate. Copy. It doesn't even make sense for a one year old to have their hand under their chin right there. Why is he even doing that? Because he sees his father. He has beheld his father. He's not old enough to have a mind process to be like, oh, I should be doing this. No, no, no. He's Just mimicking what he sees. Take that down. Can I tell you, in the New Testament, Christ said himself, I only do what I see the Father do. So it's along those lines Paul drops this bombshell on us. At least I think it was you. Let me know if you feel the same way. Throw up Ephesians 5 for me. Paul says in Ephesians 5, 1, he says, Therefore be imitators of God as beloved children. Amplified says, therefore become imitators of God. Copy him and follow his example as well. Beloved children imitate their father. Can I tell you something? Even at the time, we have a good relationship, at the time, me and my stepdad did not have a good relationship. I started driving with my left hand on my right, above my knee. Did somebody say, that's how you're supposed to drive? They surely didn't teach me that in driver's ed. I happened to observe him and I started doing it automatically. Sir, my question to you is, if I were to imitate you, would I need the Holy Spirit to be able to do it? No, no, no. Check me out. If I were to imitate you as a disciple of Jesus Christ, would someone need to get saved and come into the kingdom to be able to do what you do? Right. Because we move from just praising the Lord here with our hands raised, which is amazing, right? Don't hear me condemn that, because I'll do it. And we do it every Sunday. We have a culture of it. I'm just saying it's not supposed to stop there and it never was. So some of y' all hearing that when I say imitate God, you may feel a little helpless. Like, imitate God himself, Our Father. Mimic him. Anybody feel like they would need some help to do that? All right, we're in good company. I want to talk about four different ways that we have help imitating our Father. The first one is the Son, Right? So I have the privilege of reminding some and informing you of Jesus. Present day ministry. Okay, I know that he came, died on the cross, rose on the third day, finished work of Christ. We stand on that right now. He's also coming back, right? Tattoo on his thigh. But some of you don't know his present day ministry. All right, go ahead and Give me Romans 8:34, talking about help to be able to imitate Our Father. Verse 34 says, who is to condemn Christ? Jesus is the one who died. More than that, who was raised, who is at the right hand of God. Who indeed is interceding for us? Take that down. Some of Us don't even know that Jesus is interceding for us right now. The Lamb of God. We are here searching for a prayer partner, looking for prayer circles which are amazing. No, no, no, no, no. But the Lamb who was slain is interceding for us now. Hallelujah. That's his present day ministry. You have the Righteous one praying for you. You have the Lamb of God praying for you, right? Why is that important? Right? As our most high priest, it says in the scriptures that he is aware of the pull on our flesh, right? Say he was tempted at all points, yet did not sin. And because he came and lived on earth, he is very well aware of the struggle of humanity. He is informed as a prayer partner. He has the authority to pray. And nobody loves you more than him. I'll run off the stage. I will run off this stage. I don't care what you feel like. He's interceding for us. That helps us. Amen. Now we're going to talk about the Spirit. The Holy Spirit. Give me John 14:26. Help me, holy Ghost. This is Jesus speaking. He said, but the helper, the Holy Spirit. I'll say that again. It says, but the helper named the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name. This is Jesus speaking. He will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. I think one of the biggest travesties of the believer's life is that we spend entirely too much time trying to walk out what God has called us to do without leaning on the very one that was sent to help us. Okay. You don't think so? How much do you depend on the Holy Spirit? Check me out. So as you survey your heart, if the Holy Spirit were to withdraw his support, would you fall on your face or would you just keep on walking? Like just go to my job. Fix the coffee. How you doing? How was your weekend? It was good. Let's go back to the desk. The Holy Spirit was hovering over the face of the waters before the very earth was formed. The Holy Spirit is same one that raised Jesus Christ from the dead. He was always there when they went into battle in the Old Testament. The Holy Spirit was there in victory when it was time to actually start the church. In Acts, he fell in the day of Pentecost when they were in the upper room. The Holy Spirit. There's nothing that we can do in this godly life to have any type of fruit apart from the Holy Spirit. Without the Holy Spirit, you are in religion. That is it. And it's dead, by the way. He was sent to help. And we shun it way too much. I've done it. You've done it. And it makes our life harder than it has to be. It says, he is the One that leads us into all truth. Let me read the amplified of that. That same verse, 14:26. It says, but the helper, the comforter, the advocate, intercessor, the counselor, strengthener. To stand by the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, in my place, to represent me and act on my behalf. Stop. I'm going to come back to it. Amplified version. In my place, to represent me and act on my behalf. This is Jesus talking. Jesus is sitting at the right hand side of the Father. His work is done as far as to deal with sin. He sent the Holy Spirit to be in his place. Why would we ignore the one that Jesus sent? How in the world can we have a fruitful and healthy and vibrant church if we don't give the place of the Holy Spirit, the place that he deserves? And it's in the plan from the Father that Jesus said, what happened. How do you lean on him? I'm telling you, you know that he's always there. You lean on the grace of God, not the grace to forgive, the grace that helps you sustain. Right? He is one that will refresh your soul. You know how we were just lingering in. We're just lingering in the presence of God. It wasn't just the music, y' all. We're talking about the Holy Spirit, the third Person of the Trinity, The Spirit of God, also called the Spirit of Christ. We got to give him his place. He was sent to help, y' all. With me, beloved. Right? All right, we're going to talk about the Scriptures. Oh, man. Give me second Timothy 3, 16, 17. It says all scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness. Verse 17. That the man of God or woman of God may be complete equipped for every good work breathed out by God. It's literally translate inspired by him. So God had children, me and you, Right? He did enough to inspire the Holy Spirit. Used by men to give us letters and epistles, to be able to strengthen you in the faith, to correct you, to train you in righteousness. And many times, whether it's the real version or the app, it's just collecting dust. Right? You know, I was talking back there, and you know what the problem is? I think one of the problems we have, just as humans, if we have access to something at all times, we devalue it. Right? Right. If I said, listen man, if you don't show up from the military, if you don't show up and sit down at 12:15, between 12:15 and 12:25pm we are serving, we are serving lunch. If you miss that, you will not eat. Guess what you'll be doing. You will cut the mid conversation. Amen. Hey yo, it's time to eat man. I'll holler at you. Right, right. But he's given himself to us. He's given his word to us. He's given the scriptures and you can roll up on them at any time. And I believe because we have access anytime he loved us so much to give himself, we devalue it because he's always available. Don't you see that when people deal with you, if you always available, you need a ride, I'll give you a ride, just call me. It start when they need you, then it's like for anything. I need to go pick up some gum from the store, some gum. Take gas to come and get you some gum. Yeah man, you said, you know, just call you. We've devalued the very thing that God things in person that God has sent to help us in this walk. We seek to imitate him. God our Father. Alright, family, this is my last one, man. We got to it today. All right? We talked about the sun, talked about the spirit, we talked about the value of the scriptures and now we're going to talk about the saints. God has given us each other to help us in this walk. Right? And I'll start here. But he's even told us how to deal with each other. All right, so if you're waiting for a scripture to come up, it's not because it's like 40 of them, right? So for instance, one another is two words in English, but it's one word in Greek. It's called alelon. Used approximately about 100 times in the New Testament and over 40 plus times in commandments to those in the church. Right? And they come around just different things like unity, love, humility. Like for instance says accept one another in Romans 15:7. Be of the same mind with one another in Romans 12, 16, 15, 5. Be kind, tenderhearted and forgiving to one another. Ephesians 4:32. Don't complain against one another. James 4, 11 and 5:9. Confess sins to one another. James 5:16, it says love one another 11 times. Know what I love? Because I love relationships. I'm actually a relationship nerd, right? And I say this as it pertains to marriage, but I think it pertains to the body of Christ as a whole. Right? We have a tendency to come into a relationship with someone and disregard the Creator and the blueprint that he gave to make that relationship fruitful. Right? Now, if you married, if I asked you if I rolled up on your head one of these big lights right now and I rolled upon you, I was like, give me a. The major passages of scripture in the New Testament that talk about marriage, it will probably be quiet, right? But that's marriage. How does God tell us in the Scriptures, inspiration by him, by the Holy Spirit, lead us in the truth? How does he tell us to treat one another? You know, you want to know why we have so much dysfunction in the church Universal. And some here we still got flesh stuff we're trying to work out, right? Because we have ignored the one another's. I'll keep going through love. Serve one another. Galatians 5:13. Be devoted to one another in love. Romans 12:10. Give preference to one another in honor. Romans 12:10. Serve one another. Galatians 5: 13. Don't be haughty. Be of the same mind. Romans 12:16. Be subject to one another on and on and on. One of the major things that you were given by God himself is the body of Christ. You ever just came in struggling and somebody just gave you a godly hug and you thought about saved your life or somebody genuinely looked at you and it was tough, man. I remember I was speaking to a brother. It was back when we were at the other location. He said, man, it was actually stressful because people were asking me how I was, and they really meant it, you know, I suppose. Hey, how you doing? Oh, I'm good. He said, nah, like, people were like, really interested in me. Like, yo, man, no, like, how are you doing? Which means there's a responsibility with community as well. And let me tell you something. Healthy relationships can be stressful if you're only used to dysfunction. They always in my business. No, man, it's called community. They care about you. We ain't seen you in a month. They sweat me, son. No, we love you. We care about one another. How are you doing? I know you were struggling with this, and then you dropped off for a month. What's good? And too many of us, we've all done it. You ever been somewhere? Okay, I've been saved for 20 years. You ever been somewhere in a season and then you fell into sin? And then you want to see nobody from the church. I'm talking the person you sat next to. Every Sunday, you just run into them at Walmart. You try to turn around. Hey, Brother Hayes. Hey, what's up? How you doing? What's up, man? I'm just chilling, you know what I'm saying? I ain't seen you in a while. Yeah, man, you know. All right, man, I'll holla at you. You trying to run out of there. That could have been God extending his hand of grace. As if you're the only one dealing with sin sent to help you. I think we set up squads. I know we need to. Y' all came so much. We trying to get more of them, but we set them up because we know just this Sunday is not enough. You need somebody to walk through life with you. Sunday through Sunday. I'm done, Frank. As disciples, to imitate our Father means to imitate and mimic the God man, Jesus Christ, because he is the only one to walk this thing out on earth perfectly. And we need help, y' all. Don't we need help? Don't we need the Son praying for us? Don't we need to be guided by the Holy Spirit? Don't we need to find our face in the Scriptures much more? And don't we need to treat each other right and have godly community? These are all things that God has provided for us, y' all. Let us not trample them underfoot. All right, let me pray for us. Holy Father, I just thank you for being good to us. Thank you for being kind. I thank you that you actually knew what we would go through before we get there. And you have provided a way of escape. You have provided a way of support. You have provided ways that we will receive love. You have provided the church. You have given us the Holy Spirit. You have given us the scriptures. You have given us the Son. You have given us yourself. As we continue to make disciples and have converts turn into disciples, God help us burn this message in our soul that I believe you gave me to give to them, that we will seek to honor the gifts that you have given us. That we will be able to correctly and build this kingdom in our hearts, in this church the right way. That when people see us individually and collectively, they would. They would see salt and light. That we would run to you when we sin instead of away knowing that you're the only one that can give us grace to be able to survive in this sin sick world. Help us honor the Holy Spirit more. Oh, God, lean into him and get the revelation of exactly how strong and mighty that he is, that we will walk in your grace, sustained by him in a very supernatural way. Have your way in our lives. In Jesus name we pray. Amen. Okay. All right, family, bless the Lord.