← Church of the Highlands - Sunday Messages - Audio
Church of the Highlands - Sunday Messages - Audio
This Is My Bible
00:41:50
Part 2 of This Changes Everything
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Welcome to church, everybody. Come on, put your hands together if you're excited to be in God's house. Oh, there's no place I would rather be. It's so amazing to look around this room. Grant's Mill, you look amazing today through that camera to welcome every location, Alabama and Georgia, everyone joining us online or on demand. And of course, in our correctional facilities in Alabama and Georgia as well. We welcome you. Come on, Highlands. Put your hands together for the entire church family. We love you guys so much and just sense God's presence with us today. And I'm so grateful to be here with all of you. We've already had a great weekend at Highlands. How many are a part of the Freedom conference? Come on, make some noise out there. It was amazing. I know at every location hearing great reports of what God did. Such a powerful weekend. I was able to be there on Friday night and just. You could just sense the faith in the room. If you don't know what freedom is, it's actually a small group curriculum we have here that's all about saying goodbye to yesterday. Even though that verse we just saw and hello to the. The future, to all God has for us. And such a powerful, powerful experience and excited for what God has for us today in our series. This changes everything. Before that, though, there's a couple things I want to make sure you guys know about as we head into this summer season. Can you guys believe we are almost to summer? It's wild. Just, just right there knocking on the door of summer. And summer is a really special time here at Highlands. And we have a couple of events if you're. If you're new with us that you just got to know about. And the first, we actually open up registration this week for Summer Blast, everybody. And so this is. Yeah, this is our expression of vacation Bible school. It's our kids conference and it is life changing. I know for Jill and I, our kids have been a part of Summer Blast and it has marked their life. It's coming up in the month of June there, June 22nd through 24th. And registration is free, but we do need people to sign up. And so that's going to be a great experience. And then right after that, in the month of July is our motion student conference. A little better noise. Now I got a few whoops over here from the student section. And every. Every summer, what a miracle. We get to go down to the arena here in the Legacy arena here in Birmingham and just, you know, 14, 15, 16,000 students gathered to worship God. So if you're a junior high or high school or college student, we want you there. There is registration for that, and it's actually open as well. But as always, we have scholarships. And I do want to pause there, really, reflecting honestly on what I just said, that for Summer Blast and Promotion Conference, we've never had to say no to a student. Summer Blast, completely free Motions Scholarship. And that's because of your generosity, Church of the Highlands. So I just got to say thank you for your faithfulness and your tithe and your offering. Come on, can we put our hands together? Together we can do a lot. So thank you so much for making that possible. And we are in week two of a new series called this Changes Everything. We actually have a guest speaker today that I'm so excited to introduce you, too. And this series, the heart of this series is it's really a series for all of us, but especially for those who have said yes to Jesus over the last few weeks. I got a good report. Highlands of 4,518 salvations at Easter, another 500 last week, over 5,000 people.
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God is moving in a huge way. And so, again, for all of us, God has more for all of us. But if you're new in your walk with God or if you've just come back to God, this series is really important as we look at what does that really mean in our lives? So last week we talked about discipleship, and our speaker today was very intentional. And the word he's going to bring today is an incredibly powerful truth for all of us. I met Pastor Chad Veach a little over a decade ago, actually, through our Motion Conference and just through youth ministry. And he's an amazing leader and pastor. He and his wife Julia, Pastor Zoe Church in la, he'll talk more about that. But over the years, he and really both of them have become the dearest friends for Jill and I, and they're encouragers. He's always encouraging, lifting us up. Even over this last year, he has been in our corner in prayer and encouragement. And I'm really, honestly excited to know a lot of our young people. Motion students. You already know and love him. I'm excited to introduce him to many of you here at Highlands. Again, one of our close friends. I'm so grateful for him at every location. Can you stand to your feet? And welcome to the platform. Pastor Chad Veach. So come on, welcome in. Good.
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Love you so much. Come on, let's have some fun. Come on, everybody. Let's clap and give God some praise together. Today, stay standing just for a moment. Stay standing across all the locations. I want to just thank God. Do you love your church today? Come on, can we clap and thank God for Church of the Highlands and all that it represents in our lives? I'm going to jump into the word in just a moment. Before I preach, I want to honor two people. The first person I want to honor is I want to honor our founding pastor, Pastor Chris Hodges, legend of legends. Everything I know I learned from Pastor Chris, except for golf. He refuses to teach me. But PC to see what God did in him and through him. With Church of the Highlands across Alabama and Georgia, it is no small thing. Church of the Highlands doesn't just touch Alabama and Georgia and America, but around the world. And I just want to honor and thank God for Ms. Tammy and PC. Can we clap and honor them one more time? And thank God, but you know how God works. God always goes from glory to glory. And look at what the Lord has done by bringing us Pastor Mark and Pastor Jill Pettis. Come on, can we clap and honor them? We thank God for you. Thank God for your faithfulness. Thank God for the way that you've led. Thank God for your diligence, your work ethic. And the Bible says if you're faithful with a little, you'll learn how to be faithful with much. And I believe the way that you've served this house and the way that you serve these teams, of course God trusts you with so much. And we just want to say we're with you heart and soul. Come on, clap if you love your pastors today. Come on, clap a little bit louder. Let's thank God for the future. Turn and tell somebody you look good today as you sit down. Tell somebody you look good today in church. Amen. If you have a Bible, go to second Timothy, chapter number three, verse 16. I'm going to preach in just a moment. Are you glad you came to church? I'm happy to be here. I'm representing Los Angeles, California and. Okay, all right, Mickey Mouse. And I'm so happy to be here. I'm a married man. Any married people here today? All right, my wife and I are celebrating this year 17 years of marriage. And can I show you a photo of my family real fast? This is my beautiful family that I left at home. It's my wife Julia right there. That's Winston to the far left. Maverick Clive Alive is under my arm. And then that is my 14 year old miracle right there in the wheelchair. Her name is Georgia Estelle Veach. When she was born, the doctors said, a bunch of nevers. She'll never walk, she'll never talk. She'll never live to this many years. I just want to encourage somebody. Never let the doctors have the last say. Come on, everybody, clap if you believe that Jesus is a greater physician and our God will have the final say. And so she has defied the doctors by Living. She's 14 years old. And I'm believing for a miracle today that she's gonna get up out of that bed, walk into the kitchen, make a sandwich and say, what's up, dad? So come on, clap if you're thankful for God's grace today. Open your bible. Go to second Timothy, chapter number three, verse 16. I'm going to preach about the Bible today. Second Timothy, chapter three, verse 16. Says, all scripture is given by the inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, so that the man or the woman of God. Come on, ladies, make some noise. So the man or the woman of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. I want to read the same verse. Let's go now to the NIV translation. It's going to say a little bit different. Watch. Same scripture. It says, all scripture is God breathed. And I like those two words together. In the Greek, they mean theo nusos theo, meaning God, meaning the breath of God. We believe man did not write the Bible. God wrote the Bible. The Bible is perfect as it is. We don't need to add to it. We don't need to subtract from it. Come on. Anybody believe in the Bible today? The bi B L E? Yes, that's the book for. Come on, church people. I stand alone on the word of God. Look at all these people with trauma in their life. Grew up in church. Amen. You had a lot of goldfish in your childhood. I know it. The Bible, all scripture is God breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. I want to preach a message today. Write down the title. It's called this is My Bible. I like that. This is. I want to hold it up. This is my Bible. I can do what it says I could do. I am what I says I am. This is my Bible. Anybody believe today in the living, breathing word of God? Come on, clap one more time if you're grateful for the Bible today. There's something about the power of God's word. I'll Never forget the first time I moved to Los Angeles was in 1998. I moved from Seattle, Washington, graduated high school in June, moved in August to go to Bible college in la. And I'll never forget my buddy's dad took us to a Starbucks. And I'm a pastor's kid. I grew up in church my whole life and I love God. I just didn't know how to read the Bible. And so he brought his son and I to a Starbucks and he taught us. He opened up the Bible, he taught us how to do his daily reading plan, and he taught us a thing called soap. SOAP stands for Scripture observation, Application and Prayer. And so my buddy's father said, boys, you stink spiritually. And so you need to come here every day and you need to soap from that day forward for about the next three years. Every morning at 6:30am, my buddy and I would get up, we'd drive to the Starbucks. I would order every morning in these days a grande vanilla latte and a scone. This is before we knew what calories were. And I ordered this latte and a scone. And every day I would do my soap. Every day I would read. And it reminds me of that old saying that if you feed a man a fish, you'll feed him for a day, but if you teach a man how to fish, you'll feed him for a lifetime. I'm encouraging you today that God's word is not just good on Sundays. God's word is just as good on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays. Come on, clap if you believe all scripture is from God to us. In fact, I'm going to give you a few things to write down today. Write down point number one. God's word is God speaking directly to me. It's God speaking directly to my heart. Look here in Jeremiah. I love this scripture, Jeremiah 15, it says, you, words were found and I ate them. And your word was to me the joy and the rejoicing of my heart. For I am called by your name, O Lord, God of hosts. The Bible is God speaking directly, straight to me. This is the only book in the history of the world where the author himself comes to sit with you to tell you what he said. I know, PC just put out a new book. But PC don't sit with me at my living room to tell me what he wrote. God comes to sit with me, to open up my eyes and to speak directly to my heart. Recently, somebody connected me with a guy that plays for the Rams. I live in la, and so this Rams player is new to Faith. He just came to Faith, and he just got saved. And I'm not a Rams fan because I'm a man of God, but he's one of us now, so I'll welcome him in. So somebody connected us and said, I would love for you to meet with this guy. He just came to Faith, and he's really excited about his faith. So he comes to church and we sit down together, and he's all excited about following Jesus now. And he's like, what do I do now? And so I said, open up your phone. Download the Bible app. So he gets the Bible app. And I said, we do a reading around here called Zoe Devo, our church called Zoe Church. So I show them the plan, and I said, every day I want you to open this app, go to the daily reading, and you and I are going to read the same thing every day. So if you ever have questions, just text me. Because every day we'll be doing the same reading. So he's all excited. From that day forward, every day, him and I text about our devotions. Every day, him and I are talking. The other day we read David and Goliath. He was like, bro, David and Goliath, wow. The other day we read Matthew 4. He's like, Dude, Matthew 4. I went to chapel last year. I wasn't paying attention. I didn't understand any of it. Today I read it. Wow. You want to know why he's so excited? Because he doesn't need to go to church to get a word from God. He can open up his Bible and get a word from God. Come on, clap. If you believe today that God will speak directly to you. Oh, I just love this. Go put it on the screen. Psalm 119. Open up my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your law. You can't see wonderful things about God without God showing you. When I read the Bible, God is showing me who he is. By the way, you don't know who you are until you know whose you are. When you know whose you are, you come to develop who you are. And when I open up God's word, God is showing me my character. He's showing me my identity. He's giving me great purpose. I don't know about you, but I believe in the living, breathing word of God. And when I open up God's word, it's God speaking directly to me. See, when you hear a voice, you gotta check the source. When you hear something, there's only four places it could come from. It could come from you. It could Come from below. It could come from them or it could come from God. But I know when it's God. Remember, you gotta check the source. Because God tests Satan, tempts and people tease. But when I hear God, a stranger's voice, they will not follow. But they will follow the voice of the shepherd. I know when it's God speaking to me. I know when it's God leading me. I know when it's God healing me. Anybody thankful today that I don't follow a stranger's voice, but I will follow the voice of my good shepherd. Come on, everybody clap and praise him. Today I'm going to follow God. He's speaking right to me. You ought to use the Bible. It says all scripture is God breathed. And it's useful. It's useful for what? I'll give you four things today that the Bible is useful for. Here's the first one. It's useful for content. For content. You might think, well, why do I need content? I'm not a content creator. Why do I need content? If you're a parent, you need good content. If you are in a marriage, you need good content. Content. By the way, Jesus said this. He said, an evil man will store up evil things in the treasure of his heart. But he said a good man will store up good things in the treasure of his heart. Then he said this. Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth, what speaks, what he's saying is the content you consume becomes the content you create. Whatever you put into you, that's what's coming out of you. So if you put bad stuff in, don't expect good things out. When I read the Bible, I'm putting up his truth, his law, his word, his wisdom. So when my kids are going through something, I don't give them a good luck charm. I give them the living, breathing word of God. When someone's going through hell on earth and they're in the hospital, I don't get on chatgpt to look up verses about healing. No, I know the word of God to deliver a word in season that by his stripes we are healed. Come on, clap. If you believe today that God's word will bring great content into your life. Oh, I love this. Put it on the screen. In the book of Matthew, watch what Jesus says. He says, for out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things. And an evil man out of the evil treasure of brings forth evil things. And when you hide God's word In your heart. And you read the Bible, what happens is you're talking to somebody and they're going through depression and you say, you know what? I know you're going through a hard time, but I want to stand on the promises of God together. That God says that he'll exchange your ashes for his beauty. He'll give you the oil of joy for the spirit of despair. You're not having to Google a scripture. Cause you have a scripture on the inside of when you read God's word, it'll give you content. Write down number two. It'll make you successful. It'll make you a success. Now let me just see your hand. If you'd love to have success in life, let me see your hand. Just put up your hand. If you'd love to have success. Some people are like, can we do that? Yes, you can do that. Jeremiah 29:11. For I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord. Plans to what? Prosper you. Give you a what a hope. And so God wants you to be a success. Watch how God in the Bible tells you how to become a success. Joshua, chapter 1, verse 8. This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night. That you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good. What's that last word? Success. This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate. See, I want to tell you today, meditation is not hot yoga's idea. Meditation is God's idea. This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it both day and night, day and night. That you may be careful to observe all that is written in it. And then you will make your way prosperous. And then you will have good success. God's word will cause you to become a success. The more you put it into you, it causes you to navigate with wisdom, with insight, with revelation, with knowledge and understanding. Oh, I'll never forget when I understood this. Remember I told you I moved to LA and I got hired at a church in 1999. I was 19 years old to become a youth pastor and in east la, in the hood, in the barrio. And I'm half Mexican. The city was 91% Hispanic, so I felt at home. Mi casa es su casa. And so I'll never forget, I'll go to Bible college in the morning, eat a quick lunch and then I drive to the church to work the rest of the afternoon, in the evening. And my buddy that was also hired as another youth pastor, he was in Bible college with me. We'd go to class, we eat the lunch, and then we drive to work, to the office. 30 minute drive. And on our way, we would challenge each other with flashcards to see how much scripture you'd memorized. And so if you were the driver, you were the one getting challenged. And so you'd be driving and the passenger would go, okay, Galatians 2:20. Ooh, Galatians 2:20. I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I that live, but it's Christ that lives through me. And the life that I now live, I live by faith in the Son of God, who gave himself as a ransom for me. Next. Other guy, go. Okay. Philippians 4, 6, 7. Oh, Philippians 4 6. Do not be anxious about anything. But in everything, through prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God that surpasses all understanding, guard your heart and your mind in Christ Jesus. Next. Galatians 6, 7, 8. Do not be deceived, for God cannot be mocked. For whatsoever a man sows, that he shall reap. For the man that sows of the flesh, will of the flesh reap corruption. And the man that sows to the spirit, will of the Spirit reap. Zoe. Life. We started hiding that stuff in our heart. And I'm telling you, I'm only here today because I hid his word in my heart that I might not see sin against thee. Come on, clap if you believe it. Meditate on His Word day and night. Then you will make your way prosperous. And then you will have good success. So God's Word will give you content. It'll give you success. It'll mess. Write down number three. It'll mess with your motives. Oh, I love this scripture. Look at Hebrews 4, verse 12. For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any two edged sword. It penetrates, even dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow. It judges the thoughts and the attitudes of the heart. One translation right there says it exposes us for who we really are. Listen, let me just tell you this about God's Word. You could put on your Sunday best, but when you get into God's Word, it will expose who you really are. And God's Word will deal with the motives and the intentions of your life. What? Why do you want to make money? Why do you want a following? Why do you want all that stuff? Why Are you serving? Why do. God will deal with your motives so you live to build his kingdom, not yours. When Jesus taught us to pray, what did he teach us? He said, pray this way. Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be what thy name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is where. You know what I've noticed is that when I stop reading the Bible, my motives go sideways. When I stop reading the Bible, I stop living for God and I start living for me. And the more I read God's word, God starts to deal with the motives and the intentions of my life. So I live as a servant of God, not living to be seen for God. My father in law is awesome. My father in law is also a pastor. It's kind of a mafia deal with our families. It is what it is. My father in law played college football. He's an offensive lineman and he's a bigger guy. And he looks like Fred Flintstone and his suit just is screaming to get out. He just. It's a schmedium situation. And he contacts like this. How you guys doing? And sometimes when I see him, he's like, hey, rock star, how you doing? You know, some of us are still with the sheep. This is a grown man. This is how he acts. But he always wants to call me Rockstar. Hey, Rockstar. Hey, Rockstar. And can I tell you, when I open up the Bible, it reminds me that I'm a nobody trying to tell the world about somebody. That I am just a servant of the most high God. Come on, clap today if you believe I've not been called to live for myself. Come on, clap a little bit louder. Every location, I've been called to live for something bigger than myself. God's word, when you get in there will give you content for your dialect in your marriage, with your children, with your co workers, with social media. Give you something to say of encouragement, strength. It'll make you a success. It'll mess with your motives. Write down number four. It'll show you how to move in a dark world. How are you and I supposed to live in this dark world? We are literally living amongst cowboy fans. Come on, Pete. You think this is easy? God's word? Watch what it says. I love this. Your word is a lamp for my feet and a light for my path. So listen, we don't have to worry about the darkness. Cause listen, Steve Jobs didn't just know I needed a flashlight. God knew I needed a flashlight. So I know how to make business deals. I know how to operate in conversations. I know how to move in culture. Why? Because just as Jesus lived for the glory of God when he was here, I can live for the glory of God while I am here. And I can shine bright for the glory of God if I've got the word of God in my mouth and in my life. Come on, clap and praise him today if you're grateful to have a Bible. If you're wondering, how do I live today in these dark days, how do I live in this dark culture with all this stuff going on and all these things going on? I'm not afraid, by the way. We don't live in fear, we live in faith. Jesus said, the crazy thing is the light of the world has come into the world. But men, because of their evil deeds, has chosen darkness. He said, don't worry, you're the salt of the earth and you're the light of the world. If we've got the word of God, we'll know how to handle every situation, every conversation. If I've got God's word, it will teach me how to live for his name in a dark age. Clap today if you're thankful and you're living by faith. So it's useful, so you should use it. Because it's useful, you should use it. Write down this next one. I love this. God's word will set me straight. I'm telling you, God's word will set you straight. Let's read it again. All scripture is God breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, and correcting and training in righteousness. All of scripture is God's breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking and correcting. I have yet to meet the believer that's like, you know what I just love? I just love getting rebuked. Call me crazy. I don't know what it is. I just bring on a good rebuke. You know, just like, whoo. Went to church the other day. It was beautiful worship. And then after the service, I was in the foyer and I got rebuked. Then I went to small group and a brother pulled me aside and said, brother, rebuke. Nobody likes being rebuked. Nobody enjoys being corrected. No marriage enjoys a marriage full of correction. But I'm telling you, you read the Bible, this thing will cut you up. We don't talk like that. We don't use our money like that. We don't use the temple of the Holy Spirit like that. We don't treat others that aren't of faith like that. God's word will set you straight And I love this, you know, because I know Alabama's got some Great Lakes. We got Smith Lake, we got Lake Martin. You know, we got Great Lakes out here. Have you seen the meme where it shows some kids on an inner tube and they're getting flown and one's flying out there and the kids are just going, you know, they're getting tossed. And the meme says something like, some of you never had a dad that drove the boat like this. And it shows. You want to know what I want to say to most Christians? Some of you never read the Bible like this. And it shows. And so the reason why you have rebellion and the reason why you have deviant behavior is because you never let God's word correct you and mold you and shape you. I don't know about you, but I'm grateful that God is. Is a God of rebuke. He's a God of correction. Clap today if you're down. Clap a little bit louder if you're willing to open up your ears and open up your eyes to say, speak for thy servant is listening. And I'm telling you, when you say this. Oh, look at Romans, chapter 12, verse 2. I love this scripture. Romans, chapter 12, verse 2. And do not be conformed to the patterns of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. You and I were not called to conform, to look like the world. We don't talk like the world. We don't act like the world. We don't post like the world. We've been called to be salt and light and ambassadors for Jesus Christ. And when I read the Bible, God's word starts to change me. It says, uh, buddy, you ain't being a cowboy fan. Uh, no, sir. Ebobski. No, no, no, no, no. You're going to walk in my light. You're going to walk in my truths. Jesus said, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. How could you be free if you don't ever open up this book? Some of us are wondering, man, I came to church and nothing changed. I came to church and I'm not growing now. I believe you got to get planted in the house of God. If you keep showing up, you're going to keep growing up. Do you believe that today? But you really want to fast forward your growth in Jesus? Open up the living, breathing word of God and let God speak directly to you. This thing will get you right if you're Wrong today. Open up God's word and let him get you right today. Do you believe it today? In fact, write down the last point today. This book points me straight to. That's what I love about God's word is it points me straight to Jesus. I don't just read it so I can become smart. I don't read it for flashcards in a car. I don't read it so I can post this verse of the day. I read it because I want to know Jesus. Anybody grateful for Jesus today? Watch what Jesus says. John, chapter 5, verse 39. You study the scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very scriptures that testify about me. Yet you refuse to come to me to have life. What I'm not saying today, you just read the Bible so you can quote it. You can read the Bible so you can weaponize it versus your neighbor. We read the Bible because we want to know Jesus. The Bible is all about Jesus. I wake up in the morning before my kids every morning to read my Bible. There are no grande vanilla lattes welcome in my house anymore. There's not a scone in sight. But I sit with my coffee and my word. I've been doing the same reading plan since 1999. Every day in our reading plan is a proverb I like to say I A proverb a day keeps the fool in me away. Because in me there is a fool lurking. And I don't read the proverb to go, oh, oh yeah, oh. They oh yeah, oh. I read the proverb to go, oh, help me God. Help my attitude, help my faith, help my perspective, help my motives, help my character. You know, he's still the potter and you're still the clay. And if you'll allow God, he'll mold and shape you to look like Pastor Mark. Like Pastor Chris. He'll actually mold and shape you to look more like Jesus. And there's still a lot of my life that doesn't look like Jesus. How about you? Somebody in the back raise their hand, But we read the Bible. Not so that we can sound smart or quote scripture. We read the Bible because we want to know Jesus. Every morning I sit there, I read the Bible. Now I have to get up before my kids because God stops talking the moment they start. I've never heard God and my kids at the same time. Not one time. Not one time. The devil is a liar, but I'm telling the truth. I got to tell you, I'd rather read the Bible than teach the Bible. I'd rather just sit and open it and see what God has for me. You know, I know this football player is talking about David and Goliath. I read David and Goliath and God. Wow, how many times I read it, I don't know. But I still marvel because this book is not dead. This book is alive. It's alive and it's active and it's sharper than two edged swords. It pierces the bone and the marrow and it separates your soul from your spirit. It exposes you for who you really are and want to tell you who you really are today. You really are a son of God. You really are a chosen generation. You're a royal priesthood. You're a marvelous light. You've been called by God to declare the mighty works of God on the earth. That's who you really are. And if you're not careful, the devil's going to come up into your life and challenge your identity. If you are a Christian, if you are a believer, if he did it with Jesus, he going to do it with you. Three times he came to the Son of Man. He said, if you are the Son of man, if you are the Son of Man. And if you are the Son of Man. And he asked him to do stuff. And I'm telling you three times. Jesus Christ stood on the living, breathing word of God. He quoted Deuteronomy 6, Deuteronomy 6 and Deuteronomy 9. He said man should not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. Come on. If Jesus needed the Word to withstand temptation, you and I need the Word. I just came to tell you today, this is my Bible. And this changes everything. I wouldn't be here today if that kind man of God didn't sit me down at a Starbucks and not feed me a fish, but teach me how to fish. And I love church. Anybody love church? I love church. This is if you're thinking about church. Church of the Highlands is as good as it gets in all of the world. Think about it. God's speaking to you today in the house of God. And he's speaking to you tomorrow in your kitchen, in your living room, speaking to you in your office. Let's not limit God to speaking to us on Sundays. Let's try and open our ears to hear from God on Mondays. Come on, clap if you believe that today. This changes everything. And I'm just gonna throw up real fast. The reading plan at Church of the Highlands. We have a great reading plan. We do. Tomorrow I Wonder if you can get up and read with us. We're gonna be in Joshua, we're gonna be in Luke. We're going to be in Psalm and proverbs. What does a proverb a day do? We're going to read it tomorrow. And I wonder if you could open up your Bible and see what God has to speak to you. Join us on the Bible app or on the website. And what would happen if our whole church read the Bible? Have you heard that new song that's out? We got dust on our Bibles. Brand new iPhones. Wonder why we feel this way. It's got to get off the coffee table. It's got to get out of the nightstand. It's got to get out of that drawer and it's got to get in front of our eyes because I believe God will speak to you loud and clear. God, I thank you for Church of the Highlands. I bless this house in the name of Jesus. I thank you that you promised us. Blessed are those that hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled. We thank you for the living, breathing word of God. All scripture is God breathed. And it's useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness. So we would be fully equipped for every good work that you have for us. I bless every home. I bless every family. I thank you for every person, every young person that's picking up a Bible tomorrow. I thank you that you'll show them marvelous things from your word. I thank you that right now, God, you're preparing a word inside season for us so the messenger can run with it. We thank you that we don't have to limit you to speak to us on Sundays. We got our ears and our hearts hungry for Mondays. We thank you that a new season of Bible reading has come to this church and I pray it starts tomorrow in the name of Jesus. And everybody said together, come on, clap and give God a praise.
- [40:09]
C
Come on, let's celebrate what God has done. Can we thank Pastor Chad one more time? Amazing.
- [40:13]
A
What a great word.
- [40:14]
C
What a great reminder. And hey, I'd love for us to stay in this attitude of prayer for just a moment, if you don't mind. Don't move around just yet. If you would close your eyes right there where you are. Never want to have a service where you don't have a chance to respond. And maybe you're sitting in this room or you're watching online right now. You don't know Jesus the way Pastor Chad talked about Jesus today. I'm just going to tell you your first step is to get into a relationship, a real relationship with him and let him change your life, transform your life. Very simple. I'm going to give you the words to pray. It's a very simple prayer of commitment from your heart to God's heart that you mean it is the most important thing. You can whisper it, you can say it out loud, or just say it in your heart. If you need to know Jesus like that, you can just say these words. Say, Jesus, today I give you my life. I ask you to forgive me of my sin. Make me brand new, give me a fresh start. I want to live for you and I want to know you personally, Jesus. I believe that you lived a perfect life. You died on the cross for me, but you rose again three days later. And now you live in my heart. You are the Lord and you are my Savior. For the rest of my life, the best way that I know how, I'm going to love you and serve you. Thank you for changing my life today. In Jesus name I pray. Amen and amen. Why don't you help me celebrate those that just made the best decision of their life?