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Red Rock Sheriffs. How you doing? You look fantastic. Hey, can you help me say hi to everybody. What's up? All the Denver locations, we love you. Austin, Texas. Brussels, Belgium. Men and women at our correctional facility locations, we love you so much. And everybody watching online. Hey, if it's your first time, and we just want you to. We want you to know we're just really glad you're here. Thanks for joining us. If you're in a building or you're watching online, on a computer, on a phone, whatever the case may be, no matter what you've been through, no matter what you might be going through, no matter what you believe right now, whatever doubts you may have, issues you may have in the past right now, whatever. Like in this place, we say it all the time. We're just imperfect, broken people, but we like to get together like this and pursue a perfect God. So no matter what is going on in your life, we're glad you're here. We want you to feel loved and welcomed and valued. So welcome home. Welcome to Red Rocks Church. High five. Somebody have a seat. We'll get this party started. Thank you, band. Can you guys make some noise for the band at every location? I taught them everything they know, but they're good kids, you know? Well, welcome to Red Rocks Church. You happy? You guys look happy. You look good. I'll start off with a question today, by a show of hands, nowhere in church, can't lie. How many of you? You really like being told what to do? There's a couple of you. Okay, There's a prayer team right over here before you leave and help you guys out. I don't know what room you're in, but I think I saw two hands out of a whole bunch. How many of you know somebody who really likes to tell people what to do? Don't you hit your spouse's knee right now. Don't you do that. I don't like being told what to do. And honestly, by show of hands, neither do you. And I think we come by it honestly, right? I mean, we talked about it a couple weeks ago at Easter. Adam and Eve in the garden. God said, you can have all of it. It's all yours, just not that one. So which one do they want? Don't tell me what to do. I'm a grown man. I'm a grown woman. Don't tell me what to do. Don't clip that wrong. That'd be weird. We don't. We don't. We don't like to be told what to do. I have not been liked to be told what to do ever since I can remember. One of my first memories is, like, at 6. And maybe you're supposed to have memories before that. I'll ask my counselor. But one of my first memories is, like, at 6. And I remember my mom started making a real big deal out of not leaving our neighborhood, going behind a row of trees, and crossing that freeway. Don't you ever do that? I was thinking about it this week. I was like, why did you even tell me about that? Like, I didn't even know that freeway was there. But now that you mention it, doesn't sound like a bad idea. I was 6 at the time. I lived in a trailer. My. My. My cousin lived in a trailer next to me. Moms were twins, and they lived right next to each other. And my cousin Gina, she was a year younger. She's my best friend. So I went and got my cousin Gina one day when all the parents were gone. And you might go, but you were 5 and 6. Why were all the parents gone? Kansas, I don't know what to tell you. Like, so. So I go get Gina, and I said, hey, we gotta go do something. She said, what's up? I said. I said, we gotta go behind those trees and cross that freeway. She said, really? I was, yeah, yeah. I couldn't remember all the details. It's true. I started text. I was texting my cousin yesterday, and I was like, hey, I want to tell that story when we were little. Do you remember all the details? Because what I remember is I talked to you about it. And she goes, yeah. You told me that if I went with you, there was candy on the other side of that freeway. And I'm like, well, there was a gas station over there, and I'm sure they sold candy. We might not have had money for it, but technically not a lie. And I said, gina, I said, again, it's a little blurry. I feel like I remember, like, traffic was stopped, and there was, like. We were in a police car. And I said. I said, did you get hit by a car or something that day? She goes, yes, Shawn, I did. Don't worry. She walks fine today. I asked her. I apologize. I was like, my bad. That is my bad, Gina. I am sorry. But sure enough, I was six. She was five. We went across the. And then she texted me back. She goes, don't you remember? She goes, I got hit by the guy in the white van. And he was real mad because he got out and he had a neck brace on. I Was like, I do remember that. That's right. Tell me what to do. Parents told us not to play with matches. Honestly. Same like it hadn't even occurred to me. But now that you bring it up, not a bad idea. Gina and I played with matches. It was my trailer, her trailer, her grandma's trailer. We caught that one on fire one day. Fire department came. They did a fantastic job, I thought. But the point is, is I've just never really enjoyed people telling me what to do. And neither have you. It's why Jesus said this in Luke 6. He knows us. He knows we come by it honestly, but it's real. We all got this little rebel spirit inside of us. And he said, hey, he said, let me talk to you about that little rebel spirit that you got inside you. He said, why do you call me Lord, Lord? And yet you keep telling me, don't tell me what to do. Why do you call me Lord, Lord, and do not do what I say. As for everyone here, he's going to explain something that could be life changing, but he's gonna delineate that there's two different ways to approach life. He says, for everyone. Here's one group. Everyone who comes to me, hears my words and actually puts them into practice. He said, there'll be some of you who will come to me. You'll want to know what I say about life, and you'll want to actually go do that. You'll put it into practice. He said, I'll show you what life's like for these guys. They're like a man building a house who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it because it was built well. But the one who hears my words and does not put them into practice, it's like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. The moment the torrent struck that house, it collapsed and its destruction was complete. Jesus says, hey, look, there's two ways that you can approach this life, either your way or God's way. He said, and if it's your way, you'll hold on to that phrase, don't tell me what to do. In fact, if you're taking notes today, that's the title of today's message. And you're going to want to take notes, I promise you. Jesus said, listen, you can live this way and you can kind of have that approach towards God. And honestly, I did. For the first 24, 25 years of my life, I blamed him for the life that I had been through, I blamed him for the things that I had experienced. I remember thinking, there is no God or I wouldn't have went through this. Or if there is a God, he doesn't love me because look what I've been through. So no thanks. I don't need another father figure in my life telling me what to do if he's there. Don't tell me what to do. That was my take. Jesus said, you can live that way, he said, or you can live God's way. And this was Jesus point of telling us what he told us in Luke 6. He said, if I could just get you to cross out that don't. If I could just get you to come to God and say, you know, I've been the. Don't tell me what to do. And my way has not worked. And so God, how about from now on, would you tell me what to do? What if. What if I came to you, God, and I actually said, would you tell me what to do? And what if you spoke to me and I could actually go put that into practice? And according to Jesus, your life looks entirely different. He said, the person who actually makes it a habit to go, hey, God, what do you want? I'm going to try the best I can to do that and go put that into practice. He said, that person, it's like they built their house on the rock and life comes and storms hit your house, but that house is built on something different. That house has got a different foundation. So that house does not collapse in the middle of a storm because it's built on the rock. See, I've just done this long enough. I've watched a lot of people go through a lot of really tough things because life happens, and we all know that. And when you do things your way and life happens, Jesus said it himself. He said, it's not going to go good for you. It's going to be really, really difficult, like you're going to collapse. He said, the reason he said, I'm not trying to control you. I'm not trying to manipulate you. I'm not trying to get something from you. I'm trying to tell you there's a better way to live. And if you could make it a habit to go to him, try to hear his word, try to put that into practice, life's still going to happen. Storms are still going to come your way, but you're going to be attached to a different foundation. And when those storms come, that foundation is going to rise up inside of You. And you're going to be able to say with some conviction, greater is he that is in me than he that is in the world. I got a different foundation. This house was built different because I'm attached to something that's different. See, that's what Jesus is saying. He says this. If you decide to be one of those people that would obey. And I know that. Obey, obedience, that's almost like a cuss word today. Tell me. Tell me what to do. Tell me to obey. Jesus said, if you will. He said, this is what's going to describe your life when the storms come. Psalm 18:2, you'll be able to say this and mean it. The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my strength, in whom I will trust. Cause I've just made it a habit to go to him and say, what do you want? And I'm not perfect, but I'll do my best to put your words into practice in my life. And because of that, he's my rock, he's my fortress, he's my deliverer. God is my strength, my shield, the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. That house is built different. Jesus didn't try to make anybody feel guilty. And look, I know the deal. Nobody drove to church today going, I hope they talk about obedience. Isn't that stupid? Nobody came. Nobody popped open their laptop today or put this message on the phone, on the treadmill and said, I hope somebody challenges me in some areas in my life. Some ways, I might be being disobedient. See, I've been doing this for a while. I didn't start the message telling you that's what we were talking about because those of you online would have already turned me off. Those of you in the room, you're kind of stuck. According to Jesus, obedience. Write this down. According to Jesus, obedience brings strength to get through storms. And that's what we want. That's what we need. And he said, it's not about, I know God's up there, and I know God's powerful, and I'd sure like to have his power in my life. Jesus said, that's not it. He said, there's one way that you attach yourself to the rock if you really want a different kind of outcome in the middle of a storm. He said, it's through obedience. That's it. It's going to God, hearing his word, putting it into practice. That's how we attach ourself to the rock. And God's word says, listen, it's not just about surviving it's not just like, oh, my gosh, a storm has come. I better hold on for dear life. No, God said it's way more than that. Listen to this. May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace. Look at this phrase. This phrase right here is what this whole verse hinges on, saying the same thing as you trust in him so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. That word trust that I did a lot of research on that word trust and a lot of reading on that word trust. That is not. I believe there's a God out there. I believe he's up there. Yeah, I think so. That word trust is. It's. No, no. Everything about my life, I lean on him. I commit to him. He says, jump. I say, how high? I trust him with such a conviction that I actually try to put into practice the things he tells me to do. That's the level at which I trust him. And God says, if you can get there, he knows we're not perfect, but he says, if you'll get there and give me that effort of, I'm trying to please you, God. I'm trying to do what you want. He said, let me tell you the byproducts of that peace, joy. And that word hope is how we refer to the word confidence, that word hope. Here's what that word hope means. My situation is real rough right now. But you know what? It's. I'm not going to crumble. There might be days when I feel like crumbling, but I'll get back up the next day because his mercies are new every morning. So yesterday my emotions got the best of me. But that's okay. This house isn't getting destroyed by this storm because I built my life on the rock. So I'm going to get back up and I'm going to go. I know even though I can't see it right now, God is with me. God is working. God has a plan. He's with me now. He's with me. Where I'm going, that's hope. That's confidence. And that comes from a life of. I've been. I've been. I've been hitting God up and saying, hey, what do you want? Would you tell me what to do? And then I've been trying to do it, and because of that, time has taken place. And I can now look back and I can see it. I didn't feel it every time I read the Bible. I didn't feel it every time I said yes to God. I didn't feel it every time I made that tough decision to obey. But now I'm looking back and I realize I'm a heck of a lot stronger than I used to be. I can withstand a lot more storms than I used to be able to. Why? Because I've been doing exactly what Jesus says, been trying to obey him. So with those two verses, we got. Obedience brings strength to get through storms. Peace, joy, confidence. Let me give you one more. Deuteronomy 11:27. You will be blessed. That word means happy, fortunate to be envied. You will be blessed if you obey the commands of the Lord your God. Now, we could spend a month and do a sermon series on each one of those. And there's a lot more that the Bible talks about. Here's five. We can get strength to go through things we never thought we could go through on our own. And he says, in fact, you can go through some things, some really, really difficult things where the rest of the world's like, they're going to crumble, they're going to break. This is going to be the end of them. And then they're going to look at you and go, how is that person walking with some joy today? How is that person walking with a peace today? How is that person walking with confidence today after everything they've been through? Because I've been spending time with God, because my life is attached to that rock, See? And now I got the spirit that raised Jesus up out of the grave living in me. And my obedience has allowed me to start to experience that strength from heaven, that peace that passes all understanding, that joy that lasts, that confidence that won't let me quit, and that blessing that I've never deserved. Let me talk about one of them for time's sake. Just one. Jesus said this. When you obey my commands, he's saying basically the same thing. He's just highlighting one of them. When you obey my commands, when you remain in my love, just as I obey in my Father's commands and I remain in his love, here it is. I've told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow, according to Jesus, if I'll try to obey him. There's going to be a day when I turn around and go, I didn't see that coming. But I've got some joy that lasts. It's not joy that leaves in a minute, it's joy that lasts. It started to overflow. And look, I know some of you, you may be hearing me Talk right now. And you're like, come on, bro, expect me to believe this. Like, I'm out here in the real world, I got real issues. You don't know what we've been through. You don't know what we're going through. You're telling me I start saying yes to God and all of a sudden I'm gonna wind up one day with some joy? Prove it. I know what you're thinking. I can't prove it. God doesn't need me to defend him. But I can testify. I can tell you that there was a time in my life where the first 25 years of my life, every relationship I had was I grew up in a tough situation and I just didn't have a lot of security. I dealt with a lot of insecurity and I didn't feel real valuable. And so because I was real insecure and dealing with a real low self esteem and not much self worth, I would always try to be in a relationship. Because if I was in a relationship, then somehow in the back of my head that just meant, I guess I have value to somebody. And I wasn't a Christian, I didn't go to church. I didn't have the Bible in my life. I didn't have God in my life. So I just did what everybody else did. I lied to girls and cheated on girls and had sex with girls and was hurt by girls and was lied. Some of them lied to me and some of them cheated on me and some of them hurt me. And it was just this whole cycle. And no matter how many girlfriends I had or no matter what we did that we weren't supposed to do, for me it was all a hope that I'm going to feel some value. And if there was one word I could describe my life through all that stage of my life, it would be empty. I was empty. No matter how many relationships I had or who would say they loved me. And I was empty. And then I gave my life to God. And I really wanted to go like all in, but I didn't really know what all in meant, right? Because I didn't grow up going to church. I went a few times and so this is, this is hilarious. And I know you're like this, you're really taking a tangent. Trust me, I'll get back. But I got invited right after I gave my life to God, I got invited to a. It was a youth and young adult, youth and young adult meeting. And they had this like traveling speaker who came through town and his whole thing was Talking about, like, purity before marriage. Okay, so I'm listening. And I did not know this was part of the deal. True story. Like, I had heard some of the Ten Commandments, you know, I figured lying, cheating, murdering is wrong. I honestly did not know this was part of the deal. And at the end of his talk, his, like, altar call was. He passed out these papers, and they went down every row. And it was a purity contract. And it was, God, I promised, you know, that I won't before marriage. And I read it, and I'm sitting between the pastor's wife and my friend who brought me. And I read it, and I went. I laughed out loud. And my friend goes, bro, stop it. You gotta sign that. And I go, I ain't signing that. And the pastor's wife next to me just goes, oh, my. Too sorry. I looked at my friend, I go, you mean you don't kick the tires before you buy the vehicle? Like, what? I don't. I wouldn't. I thought it was crazy talk. True story. You didn't expect to hear this in church today, did you? Welcome to Red Rocks. So I went and I started reading some of these verses on my own. I was like, man, it's a deal. Like, God clearly says that sexual immorality is any. Any of that stuff out of. Outside of a one man, one woman marriage. And I was like, I didn't. I didn't realize that was in there. So anyways, I said, okay, God, from now on, I'm gonna do the best I can. Like, I'm gonna do it all different from now on. I'll be a different person. So that was my thing. And then I met this girl named Jill, and I convinced her to go out with me. And I'm about to go to go meet her for our first date. And the young adult pastor had given me some advice. And so I was like, all right, good call. Good call. So I get in the car with Jill and I go, before we go any further, I'd like to pray. She knew I was fairly new to this stuff. I don't know what she thought was going on. I'm sure she was like, great. But I think part of her was like, I bet you do. And so we prayed. And then it wasn't long into this little one or two dates, and I was like, hey, look, I made a lot of mistakes in my past, but I just want you to know, like, I know it's gonna be tough for you, but you're gonna need to keep your hands off me, because I'M trying to stay pure until marriage again. My wife's gotta be like, going, because that's how she lived her whole life. And. But I was thinking back on that this week, and I thought, you know, if. If I hadn't made that decision, Jill wouldn't have went out with me, definitely wouldn't have went out with me a second time. In fact, she often tells me, the thing that drew me to you was that I could tell you were sold out for God, even though you were fairly new to all of it. And so we date, we fall in love, we get engaged, we go through this whole process. And I remember one of the nights right before my wedding, I remember talking to the pastor's wife again. I said, hey, I'm really, really nervous about something. She said, what's going on? I said, every girl I've ever dated, I've cheated on, I've lied to. Like, I don't want to screw this up. I don't know if I could do this. And I just want you to know, single people again. I just want to testify. It is possible, no matter how what has happened in your past, to decide. I'm going to make a change today. And you can date, you can get fall in love, get engaged, and you can stay pure until your wedding night. Because by God's grace, we were able to do that. Now, here's why I tell that whole story. I was looking through pictures on my phone this week and I came across this. Gonna put that picture up. This is me and Jill and our boys. This is us renewing our vows for our 25th wedding anniversary. And I saw the picture. Now zoom in, if you would. Here's what I want to point out. Every relationship I had, everything I had done pre Christ and pre decision to try to do things his way. Empty. I'm not very expressive when it comes to joy. That is me. That is joy overwhelmed. That is joy overflowing right there on my face. See, I thought when God was asking me to be pure and wait till marriage, I thought he was trying to take something from me. I thought he was trying to take away my fun. I thought it was just church games, just religious do's and don'ts. But I was trying to figure it out. So I was like, if you said it, I'll try to do it. What I didn't realize is he wasn't trying to take my fun in the moment. He was trying to give me lasting joy and a different life. That's what obedience brings. Church. But I love Jesus analogy. Of the, of the, of the foundation. This was called. I was like, basement, no foundation. Because I built a couple houses. And listen, listen, here's. Here's what I was thinking about when I was reading this. Even, Even yesterday. The guy who built the better foundation, he didn't experience anything different in that moment. In fact, in that moment, it cost him more time, cost him more resources, had to put off what he really wanted. It wasn't going to be a while until a storm would come. But later in life, when the storm would come, that's when he would look back and say, thank God I took the time to build my house on the rock. And Jesus is saying, that's going to be your story. You're going to look back someday and you're going to go, yeah, it's hard in the moment to make some of these decisions. It feels like sacrifice in the moment. But, but, but Jesus is saying, I promise you there's gonna be a time when you will turn around if you'll start saying yes, in these moments, you're gonna turn around and go, look at the joy I got that I never even deserved. Like, look at. Look at the storms he brought me through. Look at the peace I'm able to have in the middle of some rough situations. Jesus said it all hinges on would you or would you not come to him, hear his word, and go put in practice? How do we do that? See, here's what I thought this week. I was like, I know how long it's going to take me to tell that much of this message and story, and it'd be a little bit of a short week, but, well, that's a good ending. That's a good preach right there. Three points. So clear. My gosh. Jesus said it himself. Come to me, hear my words, put it into practice. Let's close that bad boy in prayer. I had some pastor friends, bro. So good. I started thinking about you and before you. If you're in one of our buildings before you got here today, you should have seen this place. Staff and volunteers all throughout this room praying before you ever showed up that when you showed up that God would get ahold of your mind, get a hold of your heart, and something would change. Today, I believe that's what's going to happen. I really do. I don't think you're here by accident, but I was thinking this. I can't leave you with three points that you don't know how to do anything about on Monday. What are you gonna do on Monday? Okay, let's do what? He said, I'm gonna come to God. What? Oh, he said, I'm gonna hear his voice. Go ahead. He said, listen to his words. I what? You see what I'm saying? Like, we need some handles for this, right? We could talk about a million different ways to approach this. Okay? I want to give you three things that I feel like are super practical. And I'm telling you, for some of you. Excuse me, you've never thought of at least two of these before. The first one would be like, yeah, of course. But I want you to write these down. Three very practical ways that we can go. You know what, I'm not going to play games. I want this different life that Jesus is talking about. God knows I need his strength for what we're dealing with. God knows I need peace and joy and confidence. And of course I want blessing. I want to know how I can come to him and hear his voice and go put it into practice. Let me give you three ways. Number one, you got to be in the word, okay? Psalm 119, 105. Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light from my path. Now listen, you can't obey God if you don't know what he is saying. And unless you got the whole thing memorized, you have to get in that thing daily. What he's saying to me today, His Word is alive and active. Sharper than any double edged sword able to penetrate right to our heart, right to our issues. God says every single word of this thing is inspired by me to equip you, to prepare you for what I'm calling you to do. Let me speak, let me guide. Let me show you the way to go. You can't obey if you don't know what's being said. We got to get in his word and no one can do that for you but you. So I'm not even gonna spend any more time on that. We have to decide for ourselves. Do I actually want to hear from God or do I just want to complain that I'm waiting to hear from God? If we do, we got to get in that thing. It's not a spiritual chore. It's not a religious duty. It's an opportunity for you and me to get with our Heavenly Father. And he doesn't want you to feel guilty. We talked about it two weeks ago. There's no condemnation for those who are in Christ. He just says, if you let me, would you come hang out with me? I talked to my son Ethan this week. I said, next Week, man, would you just come hang? I'm not trying to make you feel guilty if you can't. I'm just telling you the invite's there. I just want to be with you. So God's saying, I'm not trying to make you feel guilty. I'm just telling you there's a different kind of life you can experience. Would you come hang? Can I talk to you? Got to be in the word number two. And this one. This one will be, I think, new for a lot of you. Pray the David prayer. This is a gutsy prayer. For those of you who know my wife, you know that it's not a stretch for me to at least say this. She's. She's one of the kindest, most. Show you what the fruit of the spirit looks like people I've ever met in my life. And, and I, I, I was talking to her a couple of days ago, and she said, what do you, what are you going to talk about? And I told her about this point. I said, I'm gonna encourage our church to pray the David prayer. And, and if there's anyone, like, in this room who hadn't sinned in four days, it's her. Okay? You know what she said to me? She goes, oh, that's, that's interesting. I just prayed that today. Of course you did. That's why you're so good. Here it is. I dare you to pray this one. Search me, God, and know my heart. Test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me and lead me into the way everlasting. Oh, that's a gutsy prayer. But it'll change the game, if you would. It's the opposite of don't tell me what to do. It's God. I'm giving you full permission. Tell me what to do. In every area, God, in every area of my life, is there anything offensive in me? It's just, do I have a blind spot? And for most of us, it won't be a blind spot. It'll be God, remind me of what I've swept under the rug because I didn't want to do it last time you talked to me about it. And if you're going, hey, I want to try this, man. I want this kind of life. I want to know what God wants me to do. I want to try to walk in his. In his plans for my life. Let me give you a hint. Here's three places to start. If you don't have a clue where to pray the David prayer, say God, search me and let me know if there's anything offensive in me, anything I'm not doing that's obedient to your will or to your word. And start with three areas. Money, relationships, and career. And for the career, you could also put school. Because what I mean there is, what are the motives and the aspirations and. And the goal of the schooling or the career that I'm chasing? That's a big three right there. Can you imagine what might happen in your life if you actually gave God permission to speak to you about all three of those areas? And I'm not talking, like, playing games. I'm talking, like, God, I'm ready. I'm ready to stop pretending that I know more than you do. I'm ready to stop pretending that, like, I got life whipped without doing those few things I don't want to do. I'm ready to stop taking away part of the Bible. Cause I don't like what it says. I'm ready to actually come to you and go, let's get into the whole. Let's get into my whole life. Every part. You see something, you want to talk to me about it. Help me change it, because I want you to lead and take a screenshot of this. If you would go ahead and put that up. I'm really excited about this. So even if you don't want to use it, please take a screenshot of it. It'll also be on the app this week. I was told, can you guys slide that camera over just a little bit? It's bugging me that the side of that screen's cut off. There you go. So what I did here is I put together a Bible study prayer exercise for every single one of you. And so here's what I've done. If you go, God, I'm getting brave. I want to go all in with you. Let's talk about the way I handle money. Read those three passages. Because you got to know what he says. Read those three passages. Let him talk to you about things like tithing and putting him first and generosity. And then just go sit with him and. And go, okay, God, I'm gonna pray that David. Prayer. Is there anything offensive in me about the way I'm conducting my family business when it comes to our finances? I want to live the way you tell me to. Okay, you don't want to do that. Change the game. You guys, single people gave you three passages. Just read those. Let God talk to you. He'll talk to you about, are you dating somebody who's pushing you Closer to God? Or are you dating somebody who's pulling you away from God? Are you dating somebody who's gonna compliment your calling? Or are you dating somebody who could cost you your calling? Talks about what purity until marriage looks like. I don't want you to take my word for any of that stuff. Go read those and then pray the David prayer. Single people, God, show me, is there anything I need to change about the way I'm approaching being single? Because I want to live your way. I want a different life. Married people, go read Ephesians 5 and those three passages I put under there and let God speak to you about what it looks like to put your spouse first. Put your spouse above yourself. What it looks like for a wife to say, I'm going to submit to my husband to the best of my ability. And for a husband to say, oh, I'm going to give my life for you. I like Jesus did for the church. I'm putting you above me. No, I'm putting you above me. This will change your marriage, you guys. Some verses in there that'll talk to us about forgiveness and repentance. I dare a married couple who wants to get real serious about pursuing God and closer together this week. Take some of these. Go read on your own, pray on your own. Schedule a date, take a walk and say, what'd you get from God? I'll tell you what I got. Let's take our family to another level. Wouldn't that be amazing? Same thing for the career. I'll let you guys read that. And then you just pray that David prayer over all of it. And I got a bonus. I got a bonus one for you, because those are the big three. But we got baptism in two weeks, and so I got a bonus for you. You can take that slide down. The question I want to ask all of you before we leave today is this. Have you put your faith in Jesus and have you been baptized? Because according to God's word, the very first opportunity any of us ever have to be obedient to Christ is right after we get saved, right after we put our faith in him, we go public with that faith in baptism. Acts 2:38 says this. Peter replied, repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. I say that because we got baptism coming up in two weeks. If you have put your faith in Jesus and have not gone public with your faith through baptism, you can already go. I already know the first Way I can obey God. The first thing I can do to choose to obey him. Don't leave today before you sign up for baptism, you can tap that plate on the chair in front of you. You can go to the app and go to the website. Campus pastors will give you all kinds of information. Don't leave today until you sign up. And think about this. Does somebody I love need to hear this? Is somebody in my family, in my friendship circle, have they put their faith in Jesus and not been baptized? I'm going to go get them. I'm going to go remind them. It's their first chance to be obedient. And I'm gonna bring him. I'm telling you, church in two weeks, we're gonna throw a party in every single one of these buildings. And people are gonna get baptized by the hundreds at every location. You don't want to miss it. All right, Gotta be in the Word. Pray the David prayer. You can start with money, relationships, career. And should I get baptized? God, tell me if there's something that I don't see and let me, let me fix it. And Then here's number three. Make Philippians 2:13 your prayer. God has challenged me to start studying the Bible a little bit more intensely than I have probably ever before. And so I'm in the book of Philippians right now, and I can't wait to come share some stuff with you guys that I'm experiencing. But here's what it says. It's a game changing verse right here. God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him. What if you ended your prayers? See, the reason this is so like, for a whole bunch of us is, I mean, think about how we pray almost. If all of us could, like, if any one of us, if I go, hey, you, and then all of a sudden your last four prayers would just go up on the screen. God just sends us all a little voice memo. Here's what he said. I mean, what do our prayers sound like if you're like me? It's like, oh, God, first off, I'm sorry. Secondly, here's what I need. And would you do this and build this and fix this and heal this and do that and get them and bless the food and keep them safe. And see what we're talking about today is different. It's no God, tell me what to do. I'm not gonna ask you for things today. I'm asking you for advice today. Look at my life and tell me what to do. And then and then the reason I say end this, Philippians 2:13, is because here's how I challenge you to end your prayers this week as you start doing this now, God, would you give me the desire to actually want to obey you? And would you give me the power to go put it into practice? You say, why in my prayers like that? Because we're fricking stubborn people. That's why. Right. Like we are. I am. You are. I need God to soften my heart. There's some things I know he's saying, I want you to do this. I want you to start this. Stop that. And honestly, it's like I sometimes just get numb to it because it's like I've said no to God on that for so long, I just pretend it's not even there. God, would you soften my heart? See, because my past is real. So is yours. God, our past is real. Some of us have. Some have been through some traumatic things. Our trauma is real for some of us. It's really hard to obey in certain areas. It's hard to even think that I'm going to allow a heavenly father to speak into my life, that you would actually care enough and love me enough to actually let me be a part of this relationship with you and that I could actually trust you. Because, see, I don't trust many people because I've been through some stuff. You see what I'm saying? God, give me the desire, change my heart, soften my heart. Help me to step into your presence and one of these days, like, be able to really say and mean it. Speak to me. Am I being disobedient? Coach me. Help me. Teach me. I need it and I want it. I want it. I want you in the driver's seat. I just don't always know how to put you there. And so, God, would you give me the desire to trust you? And then would you give me the power to actually put it into practice? This. And I'm telling you, Church, he will. He'll give you the desire. When, When. When you feel like you're too far gone, I promise you, you're not. And it's never too late to start. It's never. No matter what's happened, no matter how long it's happened, it's never too late to start. I grew up poor, and if this is your church, you've heard me talk about that a little bit, and not like a lot of people had it, have had it way worse than me when I talk about poor, like, we always had food I have friends who. That wasn't the case for them. Like, we had food. We were just poor. Like. Like, I could play baseball, but I couldn't eat at McDonald's with the team afterwards. It was that. And. And honestly, for most. For most people around the world, they do anything for that, right? But as a kid, I just. I only knew my experience. And so I remember, you know, we'd win a baseball tournament, and I remember we'd sit outside, and my stepdad, not because he was trying to be mean, because it was real for us, he'd go, hey, we go in here, you remember, you don't get a Happy Meal, bro. He didn't say, bro. He said, son, you don't order a Happy Meal. He didn't want me to embarrass him. Don't order a Happy Meal. And he said, we don't get a cheeseburger. We get a hamburger. Because 10 cents mattered to our family. That's real. We don't do cheeseburgers. We get a hamburger. You don't order a Coke, you get water. Yes, sir. I know. Yes, sir. Like it was that. Okay, so. So. So just growing up, I was just always feeling sorry for myself when it came to money. And so I had this real unhealthy attachment to money, honestly, or the lack of. And so when I started getting older, like, at 14, I had a job every day after school. I worked at a horse farm and in Kansas, at least when I was growing up. I don't know if it's changed. At 14, you can get a learner's permit and go to work in school. I was basically, like, living on my own at 14, driving myself to work every day. And I lived way out in the country. It was miles from my house. I'm driving myself 30 minutes to school every day and then to a job after school at 14. And because I so badly wanted some money. And then I did things I'm not proud of. I stole from people. If I thought I could sell something, I'd steal. Not a lot, but there were times when I stole from family, stole from people I loved, stole money. If I thought I could get away with it. Almost every job I had, if I could find a way to steal from it, I would. Multiple jobs. I would just take cash out of the cash registers. It's just who I was. And I'm not proud of it. I'm just telling you. And I was extremely selfish and greedy in everything about any career, dreams, any future dreams, dreams, anything going on in the present. It was all about me. I told you, I got. I got saved, and I wanted to go all in. And it wasn't long after I got saved that someone started talking to me about tithing. And if you're new, the word tithe means 10th. And in Malachi, it talks about, we're supposed to. We're supposed to bring, not give, bring back 10% of what God's given us to him through the local church. I don't know if you just heard about this today, but when I heard about it, I was mad. And I was. Honestly, it wasn't like. Like, I went and got by myself with God and I was mad at him. I was like, I don't understand. Like, you know what I've been through. You. You've seen my life. Why would you want more of. Why would you want my stuff? I don't have hardly anything. And all of a sudden, it felt like a father who wanted to hurt me again. That's what I thought. It felt like a father who wanted to manipulate things. Felt like a father who wanted to take advantage and get it. But I told God, I said, I told you I'm all in. And so I went and did what you've probably heard campus pastors talking about all the time. I went and set up recurring giving, and I had the tithe taken out of my check every two weeks because I knew I can't remake this decision every two weeks. I can't take this pressure. I'll. I'll stop doing it. And so I decided this how I want to live. So I went and I had it taken out of my check. And I remember sitting in my car after I did that thinking, this is the hardest obedience decision I've ever made in my life. Like, God, you know how hard this is for me. I'm already poor and I don't want to be. I'm trying, okay? That's where it started. Over time, what I found to my surprise was that it got a little less hard. But never all fear went away. But then it was like, why don't you give to that. That guy's really hurting more than you. Why don't you give him a few bucks? Why don't you give to that thing? Why don't you. Hey, hey. The church is putting on a new welcome center, and they're raising money. Why don't you? And I started trying, okay? And I'll be honest with you, every single time I have given, from that first day even until the last time, I've given this year, okay? Every time it's like, it's exciting and for me it's scary. Still to this day that's, that's how bad money had its hooks in my heart. It's exciting but it's scary. So all that get married, have three amazing boys. When my boys turn 13, I take them all on a trip and I call it our becoming a man trip. And they have questions that they have to go through and they have to be prepared to answer on this, this trip. And on the trip I give every one of them necklace and I, I challenge him to wear the necklace until they get married because every time they see it I just, I said to all three of my boys, remember son, this, this necklace is going to remind you that you're staying pure for your, for your future wife. Until that night. And, and, and, and then in every one of those, those dinners we have a talk and I say, you tell me what kind of man you want to be. What kind of man do you want to be remembered for when you leave high school, what kind of young man do you want to be remembered as being when you leave college, what kind of young man do you want to be remembered as being? And I took my 13 year old at the time, it was Ashton, our youngest and I took him on this trip and we're sitting at dinner and I said son, what kind of man do you want to be remembered as? And he looked at me and he said, he listed off some things and then he said, he said dad, Sorry. He said dad, I want to be generous like you are. It broke me church thinking back to how selfish and greedy and self centered I was and, and I just made this decision to go. I'm just gonna try to do things your way. I'm just gonna try to try trust you. And here I am all these years later and my 13 year old son says I want to be generous like you and mom. And I remember going to bed that night going, God, I don't, I don't deserve these blessings. But thank you, thank you that you gave me the desire and the power to do what pleases you. Deuteronomy 28. You will experience all these blessings if you obey the Lord your God. And so God, I pray that you would help every single one of us. Give us the desire and the power to do what pleases you. In Jesus name, amen. Do you guys stand up with me with everyone's eyes closed and no one looking around? I want to ask two questions and I want to give you a chance to respond to what God might be doing in your life, in your mind, in your heart today. The first one is this. You say, you know what? I do think there's. There's room for me to go to God and say, God, help me obey you in some ways that I might not be. And I just want to. I want to. I'm just raising my hand to let God know, like, I'm taking this serious. And I'm gonna start praying that. And God, there's some things I want to get better at, my life at. Would you help me? If that's you, just raise your hand. We're just gonna be honest, a whole bunch of us. And the second question is this. You go, man. I haven't made the first step of obedience. I haven't made the first choice to. To be obedient, which is I haven't actually put my faith in him. I need to start there. I want this life you're talking about. I want this life where I get to experience God's presence and his strength and his peace and his confidence and his joy and his blessing. I want to go to heaven forever. I need to take advantage of what Jesus did on the cross when he. When he died for my sins. I need to first say, God, would you just forgive me of my sins? I want to say yes to you. I want to start this journey with you because I want the kind of life you have in store for me. If that's you right now, raise your hand and we're going to pray together. Beaver, put them up. Praise God. Hands all over. Praise God. God, you knew exactly why we were here. Today I pray against a spirit of condemnation for everyone who's heard this message. In Jesus name, there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ. This is not about guilt. God help us to understand. This is just you giving us an opportunity to come spend time with you, to come hear your word and to try to put it into practice and to live a different life. And a whole bunch of us are saying, today, God, speak to me. I'm ready. I know there's some things I want to make a change. Give me the desire and the power to make that change. And then, God, for everyone who just raised their hand and said they wanted to say yes to your son, Jesus and have their sins forgiven and experience your salvation, I thank you for the hands all over these buildings and what I'm believing for around this world right now. I thank you that heaven is getting more crowded right now in Jesus name, and it's our honor to worship you with music. And everybody said, I love you, Church. Let's worship Sam.