Listen Up I Robert Madu I Social Dallas

Summary

Episode Overview

Podcast: Social Dallas Podcast
Episode: Listen Up | Robert Madu | Social Dallas
Date: September 21, 2025
Host: Pastor Robert Madu

This episode centers on the theme of "Listen Up,” emphasizing the critical importance of tuning into the voice of God amid the overwhelming noise and distraction of everyday life. Drawing from Matthew 17 (the Transfiguration), Pastor Robert unpacks what it means to truly listen "up" rather than merely "around," and explores how both ancient disciples and modern Christians struggle with distraction, misdirected priorities, and spiritual dullness. The message challenges listeners to position themselves to hear from God, resist impulsive reactions, and recognize the dangers of spiritual echo chambers.

---

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Theme for the Year: “Planted”

• Opens with the 2025 church theme of being “planted in the house of God” (Psalms 92:13-15) for spiritual flourishing ([00:00]).
• Pastor Robert encourages memorization and reflection on the annual Scripture, tying it to spiritual growth and stability.

2. Illustration: Hearing Test & Spiritual Dullness

• Pastor Robert conducts a humorous live “hearing test,” making the point that aging dulls our ability to hear certain frequencies ([05:24]).
• Key Insight: Just as physical hearing can grow dull, our spiritual ears can lose sensitivity over time—not because God stops speaking, but because the noise around us drowns Him out.
  • Quote: “The years affect your ears.” ([05:24])
  • Many voices, opinions, and information overload compete with God's voice.

3. The Fight to Listen Up vs. Listening Around

• Jesus’ refrain: “He who has an ear, let him hear,” underscores the personal responsibility to discern and hear God’s unique voice ([10:20]).
• The modern life analogy: Social media “feeds” are named that for a reason—we are constantly "fed" information, for better or worse.
• Quote: “It’s hard to listen up when the majority of your time is spent on your timeline. You think you’re scrolling; you’re actually eating." ([10:27])

4. Distraction as the Enemy’s Tool

• Pastor Robert shares a real-life illustration of chaos at DFW airport caused by a single fiber optic cable being cut—paralleling how the enemy subtly disrupts our spiritual communication ([12:29]).
  • Quote: “If I was the enemy, I would cut off your connection to hearing. Not through overt destruction, but through covert distraction.” ([12:29])

5. Context and Build-up to the Mountaintop Moment (Matthew 17)

• Recap of recent sermons: The identity of Christ, temptation in the wilderness, and the continuous scriptural thread from Matthew 3 → 16 → 17 ([13:59]).
• Jesus, aware of His imminent death, focuses on clarity and intimacy with His core disciples.
  • Quote: “A consciousness of death will clarify what’s really important in your life.” ([15:54])
• Jesus leads the disciples not to the temple, but to Caesarea Philippi, a center of idolatry, to ask:
  • Who do people say I am? vs. Who do you say I am? ([17:45])

6. Revelation Doesn’t Come from "Around"—But from "Up"

• Disciples quickly repeat what culture says about Jesus, but struggle to articulate their own conviction ([19:11]).
• Peter is praised for revelation that comes, “not by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven” ([21:35]).
  • Quote: “If you really want to know who you are, don’t look to you, look to Him.” ([22:02])

7. Danger of Impulse and the Echo Chamber

• After Peter's moment of revelation, he immediately stumbles, rebuking Jesus about the cross and is himself rebuked (“Get behind me, Satan!”) ([24:01]).
  • Insight: Sometimes well-meaning people—even those closest to us—can urge choices contrary to God's will.
• Pastor Robert: “Be careful for people…they’re actually telling you something that’s contradictory to what God is telling you.” ([25:52])

8. Climbing the Mountain: Proximity and Effort

• Jesus selectively brings Peter, James, and John up the mountain ([26:59]).
  • Not everyone gets the same level of access or proximity.
• The climb is arduous and the summit—prayer, not comfort.
• The disciples, exhausted, nearly miss the miraculous moment as they fall asleep ([29:15]).

9. The Transfiguration: Glory Revealed

• Jesus is transfigured: “Not what He was becoming, but what He had always been.” ([32:16])
  • The divinity of Christ is not newly acquired at this moment but eternally inherent.
  • Miracles point to the glory—they are not the glory.
  • Quote: “The real miracle was that for 30 plus years, He hid His glory in His humanity.” ([32:43])

10. Moses and Elijah Appear

• Moses (the Law) and Elijah (the Prophets) manifest alongside Jesus—symbolizing the fulfillment and unity of the entire Old Testament narrative in Christ. ([36:39])
  • Quote: “Jesus is the greater Moses. Jesus is the greater Elijah. How he gonna be on the same level?” ([44:19])
• God’s past promises and prayers are fulfilled in this climactic, supernatural meeting.

11. Peter’s Impulsive Suggestion & Correction from Heaven

• Peter, overwhelmed, wants to build three tents: one for Jesus, one for Moses, one for Elijah ([41:38]).

  • Insight: This attempt to "box in" the glory reflects heritage—Feast of Tabernacles—but misses the magnitude and transcendence of Christ.
  • Quote: “You can’t box Jesus in. He’s bigger than any box you want to put Him in.” ([46:18])

• Heaven interrupts: God the Father overrides Peter ([43:53]):

  • “This is my beloved Son…Listen to Him!” ([48:42])
    • The central instruction: Listen up—don't just speak up, act impulsively, or equate tradition and past revelation to the unique lordship of Christ.

12. Application: Listening Up before Speaking or Reacting

• The challenge is to be a person marked by first listening to God—before reacting, speaking, or allowing cultural noise to define action. ([47:07])
  • Quote: “My primary responsibility as your pastor is to listen up. And then after I listen up, then open up my mouth and speak out, but I stay on my face to listen up before I speak.” ([47:07])
• Dangers of echo chambers: Seeking only affirmation, never challenge ([48:05]).
  • “Rarely am I changed by a truth that doesn’t challenge me.” ([48:14])

13. Posture of Humility and Worship

• The disciples’ response to God’s voice is to fall on their face in awe ([48:42]).
• Christ’s gentle touch reassures and restores them—even in their fear or failure.
  • Quote: “We have a Savior who can be touched. We have a Savior that touches you.” ([48:42])

14. Altar Call & Closing Challenge

• Pastor Robert calls listeners to assess whether they’ve been listening more to the world “around” or up to God.
• Emphasizes the privilege (and necessity) of hearing God's voice:
  • “The day you hear His voice, don’t harden your heart…”
  • “God often whispers.” ([48:42])

---

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “The years affect your ears.” ([05:24]) — Illustrating spiritual and physical hearing loss.
• “It’s hard to listen up when the majority of your time is spent on your timeline. You think you’re scrolling; you’re actually eating.” ([10:27])
• “If I was the enemy, I would cut off your connection to hearing. Not through overt destruction, but through covert distraction.” ([12:29])
• “A consciousness of death will clarify what’s really important in your life.” ([15:54])
• “If you really want to know who you are, don’t look to you, look to Him.” ([22:02])
• On impulsive culture: “You’ve got to be careful when you immediately go from feeling it to posting it... Be careful with telling all these people, speak up. Say something and say it quick. Have you noticed sometimes your first thought is not your best thought? Impulse says, say it. Wisdom says, wait a minute.” ([40:24]-[41:20])
• On boxing God in: “You can’t box Jesus in. He’s bigger than any box you want to put Him in.” ([46:18])
• “Rarely am I changed by a truth that doesn’t challenge me.” ([48:14])
• “We have a Savior that can be touched. We have a Savior that touches you.” ([48:42])

---

Timestamps for Important Segments

• 00:00 – Word for the year; “planted in the house of the Lord.”
• 05:24 – Live hearing test & spiritual analogy: dullness of hearing.
• 10:20 – Jesus’ recurring instruction: “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”
• 12:29 – Cable outage at DFW: Illustration of enemy tactics via distraction.
• 17:45 – Caesarea Philippi: The context for “Who do you say I am?”
• 21:35 – Peter’s revelation, name change, and how revelation comes “from the Father.”
• 24:01 – Peter rebuked: "Get behind me, Satan!" — dangers of (misguided) good intentions.
• 26:59 – Proximity and the climb: Jesus selects Peter, James, and John.
• 32:16 – The Transfiguration: Jesus reveals His intrinsic glory.
• 36:39 – Moses and Elijah appear; the law, prophets, and Christ unified.
• 41:38 – Peter’s impulse: “Let’s build three shelters.”
• 43:53 – God interrupts: “This is my beloved Son…Listen to Him!”
• 48:05–48:14 – Echo chambers; importance of being challenged.
• 48:42 – Posture before God: Worship, humility, and Christ’s touch.
• Closing – Altar call; challenge to “listen up” before speaking or acting.

---

Tone and Language

Pastor Robert’s style is energetic, humorous, and deeply pastoral. He skillfully uses cultural references, relatable stories, and biblical exposition, oscillating between urgent challenge, loving rebuke, and encouragement. His language is both practical and spiritually weighty; his delivery is punchy, full of call-and-response, and welcoming for listeners of all backgrounds.

---

Summary for Listeners

This episode challenges us to cut through the static of our noisy world and cultivate spiritual receptivity. “Listen Up” is not just about hearing, but posturing ourselves—through intentional quiet, humility, and obedience—to actually receive, discern, and act on what God is saying. Instead of being impulsive or seeking affirmation from echo chambers, Pastor Robert calls us to prioritize the voice above all other voices. The mountain isn't just a place for a select few—God's glory is for the whole world, and He's calling each of us to listen…and then respond.

Transcript

[Pastor]

God's gonna do something awesome in here today. You look good. You look planted in the house of the Lord. And that's our word for 20, 25. If you're new here, we always have a word for the year. And our word this year is planted. We believe that we're gonna flourish because we're planted in God's house. So we remind ourselves every single Sunday by reading our verse of the year. It's found in Psalms 92, verses 13 through 15. And how many already got it memorized? Can I say, have you got it memorized? Good job. How many are still working on it? Okay, time is running out. Come on. The year is almost over. We about to be in a new word in a new year. No, but you got time. You got time. Come on, let's read it together as a family with uplifted, caffeinated voices. Come on. One, two, three. Those who are planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God. They shall still bear fruit in old age. They shall be fresh and flourishing to declare that the Lord is upright. He is my rock. There is no unrighteousness in him. Y' all sound good. Sound good.

[Assistant]

1245.

[Pastor]

And then our scripture for today, for the last seven weeks, remain standing. We're going to read God's word for the last seven weeks, y'. All. Can you believe it? We have been in a series called Mountains. Mountains. We have been on a journey through scripture looking at different mountain moments, understanding that mountains in the Bible were more than just geographical locations. They were sacred spaces and places where God's presence showed up. And I've been telling you this whole series, you might feel like you're in a valley, but you were made for the mountain. You were made for God's presence. And so we're gonna look at another mountain today. This is, without a doubt, one of the most mysterious and powerful experiences that Jesus has on a mountain. We're gonna look at Matthew 17, 1:9, the gospel according to Matthew, chapter 17. We'll start at verse one and land at verse nine. When you're ready to read it, say, yeah. If you need a little time, say, hold up, I hear you. I'll wait. Matthew 17, starting at verse number one. And it says, after six days, Jesus took with him Peter, James, and John, the brother of James, and led them up a high a. What was it?

[Assistant]

A small mountain.

[Pastor]

It was a high mountain by themselves. And there he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light. Just then, there appeared before them Moses and Elijah talking with Jesus. And Peter said to Jesus, lord, it is good for us to be here. If you wish, I will put up three shelters. One for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah. Verse 5, while he was still speaking. That made me laugh that he is Peter and he is talking. Because he don't have a problem talking. This is the dude that talks before he thinks. And as he's talking, watch what happens. It says a bright cloud covered them. And a voice from the cloud said, this is my son, whom I love. With him I am well pleased. Listen to him. Did you hear what I just read?

[Assistant]

The voice of.

[Pastor]

Of God the Father interrupted Peter while he was talking.

[Assistant]

You know you saying something stupid when.

[Pastor]

Heaven has to interrupt you in the middle of you talking. And when the disciples heard this, they fell face down to the ground. I bet they did, terrified. But Jesus came and touched them. Get up, he said. Don't be afraid. And when they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus. As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus instructed them, don't tell anyone what you have seen until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead. Can you say amen? Oh, so much to unpack in this text today, but I want to put a title to this message and just speak to you from this thought. Listen up. Listen up. We are living in a society where there's a whole lot of noise, and it is so easy to listen around. But the challenge in charge I have for you today is to listen. Listen up. I need you to help me preach. Before I preach, I want you to look at your neighbor, but don't look at them regular. Look at them like a mama who's in the choir who sees her child in the pew acting a fool, and she gonna kill him after the service. That's how I want you to look at your neighbor. Look at them like that and just say, neighbor. Y' all ain't looking at them like that. Come on, look at them. Say, neighbor. You better listen up. Find another neighbor. Find another neighbor. Look at them, too. Say, ooh, neighbor. I'm telling you now, you better listen up. If you believe God's gonna speak today, give him some praise up in here. Father. Have your way. Amen. You may be seated in the presence of the Lord.

[Assistant]

Listen.

[Pastor]

Listen up, social fam. It is my earnest prayer and desire that you would prosper and be in good health even as your soul prospers. In other words, I want you to not just be good in your soul. I want you to be good, actually, in your physical body. And so I'm gonna start this message a little bit different. Today. I am going to do an in person, in sermon, live hearing test today. Yes, I know it's been a while since some of you had your ears checked. Don't worry, we got you. I'm doing a free hearing test today. Don't say we never gave you anything. Okay, say free in person, in sermon hearing test today. Today. Here's how it's gonna go. In a moment, I'm going to count to three. And after I count to three, you are going to hear a sound, hopefully. And when and if you hear that sound, it's safe. Don't worry. We checked it. All you gotta do is just lift up one hand. If you hear the sound, lift up one hand. Okay. If you don't hear the sound, just sit there and smile awkwardly. Okay? Now, before we do this test, I just have to say this. I have to say, please don't lie in church. Okay? If you don't hear anything, don't lift up your hand. Okay, are y' all ready for the free in person, in sermon, live hearing test? Okay, y' all ready? Hello. Are y' all ready? Okay, here we go. One, two, three. All right, that was everybody. Don't get too excited. We got two more. All right. One, two, three. Okay, y' all good. One more. One, two, three. Now, let me explain what just happened, because some of y' all are like, wait, did it even start yet? Yes, it did. If you didn't lift up your hand, if you didn't hear anything that third time, congratulations, you are officially old. Yep. Get your affairs in order. Matter of fact, we're gonna pray for your ears after service. Let me explain what happened. Here's what happened. That last tone, that third tone that was played, and yes, it was played, was at a very high frequency. So high that younger ears can usually pick it up. But as we get older, you naturally lose the ability to hear it. It's not that the sound wasn't there. It's just that over time and over the years, your ears become dull to hear it. In other words, the years affect your ears. If you were younger, you could hear it, but over the years, your ears become dull to it. And I was thinking about that, and I wonder if, as it is in the natural, so it is in the supernatural. Sometimes you would think that the longer you walk with the Lord and the more you spend time with him, the more you grow in your faith. You would think that Your ears would get sharper and better to hear his voice that you would hear it with clarity and precision. And maybe that's you today. You say, hey, P.R. i don't have any. Any problems hearing the voice of God. I hear him all the time. He told me what breakfast to have this morning. He told me what socks to put on. If that's you, then just leave and I'll catch you next Sunday for another message. But for most of us, for most of us, if we're honest, God's voice feels like it's gotten duller. Not because he stopped speaking, but because there are so many other voices that are speaking into our lives. Social fam that's why today's message is critical. That's why today's message is so important. Because how many know we live in a world full of so much noise, countless opinions, endless voices, and because we are constantly being inundated with the cacophony of sounds. Sometimes the fight of your life is not to listen to what's around you. The fight of your life is to listen up. The fight of your life is to tune into the frequency of your Father and not just hear what's going on around you, but to hear what your heavenly Father, who is above you, is saying, saying, ooh. This is why every time Jesus closed the message, he did not say, if you keep showing up. No, that's what I say. When Jesus would close out a message, he would say, he who has an ear, let him hear. Why in the world would you close a message out like that?

[Assistant]

Because Jesus knows over time, sometimes our.

[Pastor]

Ears get so dull to his frequency.

[Assistant]

And we don't hear what he's actually saying.

[Pastor]

He would always say, he who has an ear, let him hear. In essence, he's saying, listen up.

[Assistant]

Don't just listen around you.

[Pastor]

Don't just listen. Listen down. Listen up. And it is hard to listen up when you're only listening around you. It's hard to listen up, hear me, when the majority of your time is spent on your timeline. You know, language matters. That's why they call it a feed. You think you're scrolling, you're actually eating. It's a feed. And no wonder you feel sick. Could it be the information that you are constantly ingesting that is making you feel sick? Because you've got the wrong stuff on your feed. That's why this message is called listen up. Listen up.

[Assistant]

Did you notice that before I did.

[Pastor]

Your free hearing test again? You're welcome. I noticed something. I had to get the room Quiet first. There wasn't other noises playing. Also, notice something else you prepared yourself to hear. You can't see you, but I can see you.

[Assistant]

But as soon As I said, 1.

[Pastor]

2, 3, some of y' all tilted your head like you were getting ready. You were preparing yourself to hear.

[Assistant]

Why do you think it's any different in your spirit? How many know to hear God speak? You gotta quiet your soul. You gotta get alone in his presence. You gotta get away from the distractions.

[Pastor]

You gotta posture and position yourself to hear from him.

[Assistant]

Ooh.

[Pastor]

The reason why is because every day there's a new voice demanding our attention. Every day there's a breaking news alert. Have you noticed there used to be a time in the history of the world where, like, breaking news was, like, for real breaking news. Something like, around the world today, breaking news is like, Cardi B won her lawsuit. That's breaking news in our world today. Every single day, there's someone that has a political hot take. Every day, there's somebody at work that's giving you their opinion. Your family member in a group text giving you their opinion. Even the algorithm is designed to keep you stuck in a loop, feeding you exactly what you already think and what you already believe. Everybody's talking. Everybody has a podcast. Everybody's saying something.

[Assistant]

And I want to know, are you only listening to what's around you? Are you actually listening up to what your father is saying?

[Pastor]

Hear me today. Listen up. Listen up. If I was the enemy, I would cut off your connection to hearing. Not through overt destruction, but through covert distraction. In other words, I would secretly have you so distracted that you never listen up to hear what your father is saying. It's amazing this week, as if the Holy Spirit knew that I was preaching this message and just seeing set up serendipitously and sovereignly a beautiful illustration that happened at Dallas Fort Worth Airport and Love Field this week. Did y' all see what happened? All these flights were shut down. All these flights were canceled. Not because the planes were broken, not because the pilots didn't have the strength to fly it, simply because the communication system was out. All of a sudden, people were grounded. People couldn't take off. People had to go to other airports because something happened with the communication. Here's what they found out. They found out that somebody had cut a fiber optic cable in construct, and it messed up the complete connection system. Oh, isn't that just like the enemy?

[Assistant]

All he has to do is cut.

[Pastor]

Off your connection, and he'll keep you grounded.

[Assistant]

All he has to do is cut off your communion with the Father and all of a sudden he'll keep you stuck in things that you have no business being stuck in. Because you're listening around you and not listening up to what the Father is saying to you.

[Pastor]

I'm preaching better than y' all are talking in here today. Would you wake up your neighbor and say, listen up, listen up, listen up, listen up.

[Assistant]

This is the fight of your life.

[Pastor]

To not just listen around you, but to listen up.

[Assistant]

This fight to not just listen around.

[Pastor]

But to listen up is not new to us current day disciples. It happened to Jesus disciples in his day too. It's in our text today in Matthew chapter 17. But before I jump in Matthew chapter 17, let me back that thing up biblically, really to Matthew chapter 16. In fact, let me go back even further. How many of you were here last Sunday? You were here last Sunday. Oh, come on. Great. And you came back. Hallelujah. Last Sunday I preached a message. If you missed it, go back and watch it. It was called Prove it. Prove it. And we talked about how Satan led Jesus up on a high mountain, the mountain of temptation. And he was tempting him. And every single time he tempted him, he said, if you are the Son of God. If you are the Son of God. And I told you that Jesus temptation was connected to his baptism in Matthew chapter three. Because in Matthew chapter three, the Father already spoke over him and said, you are my beloved Son, in whom I'm. Well, please. The enemy strategically attacked exactly what the Father said. And I told you last week, those chapter divisions and those verse numbers will mess you up.

[Assistant]

I know you love the chapter divisions.

[Pastor]

And you love the verse numbers. Cause you're like, woo, I got five verses in today. But the original manuscript did not have chapter divisions. So sometimes when you're reading a scripture, you gotta ask yourself, what happened before this? So you're reading it in its context. It is the same with Matthew chapter 17. Did you notice in our text it began by saying after six days, Jesus led them up on a high mountain. After six days. So when you read that, you should ask yourself what happened six days ago? If after six days he led up on a high mountain, I'll tell you what happened. Jesus is in year three of his ministry. He's with his disciples. He's in year three, not in year one. That means that the cross is imminent. He is about to go to the cross and die for the sins of the world. He is running out of time. He knows that he doesn't have much time left. So he has shifted.

[Assistant]

He's not spending so much time with.

[Pastor]

The crowds doing miracles. He is spending time with his 12, his inner core. He has laser sharp focus in this season. Why? Because he's running out of time. How many of you know there's something about a consciousness of death that will clarify what's really important in your life? If I told you Today you got 24 hours to live. How many know watching some Netflix and getting some chicken after service wouldn't be that important to you. All of a sudden you would change who you talk to.

[Assistant]

All of a sudden you would have.

[Pastor]

A situation seriousness about you because you would be aware of the fact you are running out of time. That is the Jesus that is in Matthew chapter 17. He is running out of time. He's not playing games. This is clear the temple Jesus. This is Jesus who sees a fig tree that don't got no fruit on it and curses the fig tree, saying, I'm tired of you pretending you got.

[Assistant]

Leaves and you pretending like you got.

[Pastor]

Fruit and you shouldn't have fruit. Forget you.

[Assistant]

I mean, this is that type of Jesus.

[Pastor]

He's not playing games. And so he calls his disciples together and takes them on a field trip to an interesting place, a peculiar place, y'.

[Assistant]

All.

[Pastor]

He takes them to Caesarea Philippi. Caesarea. Let the church say Caesarea Philippi. You said it like you're a Bible scholar. That's so good. I don't want to flex, but your boy has been to Israel. I've been to Caesarea Philippi. This is an interesting place. It's about 25 miles north of Galilee. It's at the base of Mount Hermon. And Caesarea Philippi is a weird place to take your disciples because it was the place where there was so much idolatry. Caesarea Philippi was a place where there was so much pagan worship. They worshiped BAAL there. They had a temple for the God Pan there. And Jesus takes his disciples to this place to ask them two critical questions. Who do people say that I am? And who do you say that I am?

[Assistant]

I'm cool with the questions, Jesus.

[Pastor]

But why would you take them to.

[Assistant]

A place that has so much idolatry to ask this question that seems messed up?

[Pastor]

Jesus.

[Assistant]

This is equivalent to Jesus being around.

[Pastor]

Today and saying, hey, I'm going to take you to the Vegas strip real quick because I got to ask you two questions.

[Assistant]

Why would you take them to Caesarea Philippi? Why not take them to the temple that's holier? Take them there.

[Pastor]

But this Is like, no, this is year number three. And Jesus is like, you have been with me long enough. So I'm going to take you right here to the epicenter of idolatry. Because I want to know, in this climate of confusion, do you, as my disciples, have clarity about who I really am?

[Assistant]

He says, I want to take you in the middle of an environment where.

[Pastor]

People are worshiping all kinds of gods.

[Assistant]

I want to know by now, you have been with me, you have walked with me. Do you know who I really am? And he's doing the same thing today. Anybody can declare who Jesus is in church, but I want to know, can you declare it out there? Can you declare it at your job? Can you declare it in a culture that is completely antithetical to his kingdom? Or do you get nervous and shy and then all of a sudden you're reading your Bible in the closet?

[Pastor]

Cause you don't want anybody to know that you're really a disciple. So look at Jesus. He sets up the atmosphere for these two powerful questions. Question number one. Who do people say that I am? In other words, are you listening around? Who do people say, I've been in these streets.

[Assistant]

I've been doing stuff.

[Pastor]

Who do they say that I am? Here's what blows my mind. The disciples were ready to answer this question. Oh, they were quick with it. It was like they were fighting. You know how it was when you were in school and you actually knew the an?

[Assistant]

They're like, okay. Who do people say to you? Oh, Jesus, we've been listening.

[Pastor]

We've been listening around. Hey, people have been talking. Some people think you're John the Baptist. Some people think that you're Elijah. Some people think that you're Jeremiah. They knew what everybody was saying about Jesus. He's like, okay, cool. I can see that you're listening around. Question number two. Who do you say that I am? And all of a sudden, the very disciples who were lifting up their hands to answer are quiet. They have nothing to say. When he said, who do you say that I am? He wasn't pointing out one of them. He was asking them collectively. And how is it that the disciples who knew everything that was going on around did not know the most critical answer to the most critical question, who do you say that I am? They went, oh, that blessed my soul right there.

[Assistant]

Because, you know, I live in a climate where some people are like, can we get more classes? Could we get some more discipleship classes? I feel like I would grow if we had more classes. You don't get A better class than walking with the Son of the living God for three years. This is the greatest discipleship class. And even after three years, who do.

[Pastor]

People say that I. Who do you say that I am? You mean you were around me and you still missed it? You mean me? You're in close proximity and you still don't know. And all of a sudden the silence is finally broken by the one dude who always got something to say. He goes, you are the Christ, the son of the living God. And I can see the other disciples probably looking like, that ain't it. That ain't it. And Jesus looks at Peter and says, blessed are you, Simon, son of Jonah, for flesh and blood did not reveal this to you. But my Father in heaven revealed this to you. Ooh, Peter, you have tapped into something before the Holy Spirit even comes. Flesh and blood, in other words, logic scrolling information around you did not reveal this to you. My Father in heaven revealed this to you.

[Assistant]

Peter, you have tapped in to the power of a believer to not just.

[Pastor]

Listen around, but to listen up. My Father in heaven revealed this to you. And watch this. He says, now I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church. And the gates of hell will not prevail against it.

[Assistant]

Ooh, that blessed my soul. Did you notice what happened as soon.

[Pastor]

As Peter listened up and got a revelation of who Jesus was? Jesus then in turn tells him who he is. Peter got a name change.

[Assistant]

Because if you really want to know who you are, don't look to you, look to him. And when you look to him, he will reveal to you who you are. This is blessing me. I'm going to watch this later. I want to help some of you who are trying to find yourself. And you're on a journey trying to find you. Can I cut that journey short? You don't look to you to find you. You look to the One that made you. You look to the one that created you. You look to the one that knew you before you were ever formed in your mother's womb. And when you look up to him, he will reveal to you who you are. He said, peter, you got the right answer.

[Pastor]

You know who I am. So I'm gonna tell you who you are. He says, upon this rock, I will build my church. What's the rock? Peter's not the rock. Although Peter means rock, Peter is not the rock. Because we gonna find out in a minute. He's about to jack that up. The rock is the revelation that you got, Peter. A revelation that can only Come not by listening around, but by listening. Are you listening up? Are you just listening around to what everybody else is saying? And once this confession from Peter happened, Jesus begins to tell his disciples that he must suffer. That the only way I'm going to experience the fullness of my glory is I have to go to the cross. I have to go through this. There are some things you cannot pray away. You have to go through it, he says. I gotta go through suffering. He said, but don't cry too long. Cause after three days, I'm gonna get up again. I have to go through the cross. When Jesus starts talking like that, Peter.

[Assistant]

Says, uh, same Peter, no, we won't let that happen, Lord. We're not gonna let you go through that. In fact, the Greek is strong. Peter starts rebuking Jesus, saying, there's no.

[Pastor]

Way we'll let that happen. And look at what Jesus said to Peter. Let's look at it in Matthew chapter 16. Look at what he says. Matthew, chapter 16. Hello. Jesus turned.

[Assistant]

He turned and said to Peter, get behind me, Satan. You are a stumbling block to me. And you do not have in mind.

[Pastor]

The concerns of God, but merely human concerns.

[Assistant]

Ooh, wait a minute. The very same one who was a vessel for the frequency of the confirmation of who Christ was is now the very same one who is a vessel that is saying something that is contradictory to Jesus purpose. He's not saying that you are Satan, but you are aligning with his agenda right now because you are telling me something that is contrary to what I already know that I came to do. He said, I gotta go through the cross. Peter, you just focused on what's going on right here. I'm listening up to the will of my Father. And it is the will of my Father that I go through this.

[Pastor]

So get behind me, Satan. Ooh, this is going to mess some of y' all up because you think that the enemy only speaks to your enemies. I came to tell you that sometimes the enemy will speak through people who actually care for you.

[Assistant]

And they will tell you something out of care and love. But the thing that they're telling you is contradictory to what God is telling you to do. And that's why you got to say, get behind me.

[Pastor]

I'm not saying call him Satan, but.

[Assistant]

Say get behind me because I know you care for me, but you telling me something that's contradictory to what God called me to do. Oh, that don't make no sense for you to be sowing like that. No, God told me to sow this because he's trying to show me how to live by faith. Oh, that don't make no sense. You should go get a better job. You should go get this. No, God's telling me to serve right now because there's something in the servant that's going to open up a door later. I got to trust what he's telling me to do right now. You need to go to college and get a degree now. That might rework for you, but he's calling me to the mission field and I got to listen up.

[Pastor]

Be careful for people that mean well and they care for you, but they're actually telling you something that's contradictory to what God is telling you. Do you see how critical it is for you to have your ears up?

[Assistant]

Otherwise, if Jesus ears are not up.

[Pastor]

He'S looking at Peter. He's like, you know that's right. I don't want to go to that cross anyway. Thanks for looking out for me. No, get behind me because I have a future and I'm listening up. If I was Jesus, after I said get behind me, I would have probably been done with him saying, no, don't say nothing else, but look at the grace of God. He then takes Peter, James, and John. These core. This won't be the last time, and it's not the first time that within the 12, for whatever reason, Jesus had this core of three that got exclusive opportunities. I love that because Jesus is clear about who should have proximity to him. He loved everybody. He is love. But just because I love you doesn't mean you get proximity.

[Assistant]

He's about to go on a mountain climbing trip and does not take all 12. In front of the 12 goes Peter.

[Pastor]

James, John, come on.

[Assistant]

And leaves the line looking like, oh, that's cool. We don't want to go up the mountain anyway. Jesus, we good. Have you gotten that type of wisdom.

[Pastor]

Yet to know who should have proximity to you in this season of your life or does everybody get access to you? Jesus says, come on, Peter. Come on, James. Come on, John. Lace up your boots, put on your backpack. It's time to climb. Climb, not ride. We climbing. I love this because we've looked at a lot of mountains in this series, but this is the first time in the series that we actually see the savior of the world climbing.

[Assistant]

Ooh.

[Pastor]

If I had the budget, I would have put a mountain on this stage and would have just shown you what it looks like to watch. The one who spoke the mountain into existence climbed the very mountain he's spoken to. I love it because he led them up the high mountain. This is scriptural evidence that Jesus was in shape. Come on, somebody. He's climbing the mountain. He's leading them. And I can see Peter, James, and.

[Assistant]

John going, hold on, Jesus, you're going too fast. Lord. Yeshua, can you hold on? They're trying to follow him. Climbing up a mountain.

[Pastor]

Has your walk with the Lord just ever felt like a climb?

[Assistant]

Just like I'm trying to go where.

[Pastor]

You lead me to go.

[Assistant]

But I don't know why we own.

[Pastor]

This mountain in the first place.

[Assistant]

It seems like I should be excited that I'm a part of the three, but right now my feet are telling me, I wish he would have let.

[Pastor]

Me stay down at the bottom in there, climbing. And they're climbing and they're climbing, and they get to the top. And this is where you got to not just read this text in Matthew 17, but it's also in the gospel of Mark, chapter nine, and Luke, chapter nine. And these other two gospel writers give us some other blues clues that Matthew doesn't give us. In fact, it suggests that by the time they probably got to the top of the mountain, it was getting dark. This was a high mountain. It took them a while to climb it. Luke also lets us know that they didn't go to this mountain to just relax. When they got to the top, they got to the mountain to pray. Can you imagine? You've climbed a high mountain following Jesus, your feet hurt, you finally get to the top and you want to sit down. He's like, no, stand up. We gonna pray. I can see them going, all right, let's go. And they try to pay attention and pray. They're tired. Don't act like you've never been there before. They start falling asleep. This is Luke's account. And all of a sudden, you know, it's scary when you've fallen asleep because you don't know when you're falling asleep. You don't know when you're asleep. You only know you're asleep when somebody wakes you up. Some people don't even know they're spiritually asleep until God has to wake you up. Look at how God chooses to wake them up asleep. Then all of a sudden, a bright light starts shining, and they're like, is it morning? Did I sleep that long? And they realize that the light that's shining is not the sun as you n it's the sun S O n and the face of the sun s O n is shining like the sun.

[Assistant]

S U n and glory is permeating through the pores of Jesus Christ, who is fully God and fully man. All of a sudden on this mountaintop moment, his clothes start shining like radiant light. And they're looking at it and saying, ain't no detergent can make them clothes that white. They have never seen, seen this before. Put yourself in the sandals of these disciples. You have walked with him, you have talked with him, you've been on boat trips with him, and you have never seen this facet of him. You have never seen this much glory. You have never seen this much light. And just when you thought you had seen everything that he has to show you, all of a sudden he starts revealing something that you've never seen before. I want to thank God that just when you think you've experienced all you can experience. How many are thankful that God has so much more? There is a deeper glory. There is a greater glory. Oh, I'm telling you what you experienced last week or at youth camp in the fullness of what God wants to do in your life. Come on. Is there anybody that says, God, I want to see more of your glory in my life. Can you imagine, can you imagine what this moment would have been like to be on this mountain? To see the manifested glory of the Son, of the living God? To see him reveal. Watch this.

[Pastor]

Not what he was becoming, but who he had always been. He had always been that way. The transfiguration was not a new miracle of Jesus becoming something. This was actually the cessation of an ongoing miracle. Here's the real miracle.

[Assistant]

The real miracle was that for 30 plus years, he didn't walk around the earth shining as bright as the sun. The real miracle was for. For 30 plus years, he hid his.

[Pastor]

Glory and his humanity.

[Assistant]

And your Savior walked around the earth looking just as normal as you and me. But in this one moment on the mountain, he's like, let me show you who I was when I was in eternity. Let me show you who I was when I was in the Father.

[Pastor]

Let me reveal to you my glory. Watch this. They had seen miracles, but not really glory. Miracles point to the glory of Jesus, but the miracle is not the glory. They had seen him walk on water. They had seen him take the two fish and five loaves and multiply it. They had seen him heal blinded eyes. They had seen him open deaf ears. All of those were miracles, powerful. But the miracles are just pointing to the glory of who he was. You can get the miracle and miss the glory of the person. Am I really gonna have to break it down to you? You do Realize that Jesus did not demand a confession of faith to everybody that he gave a miracle to. He's so good, he just let you get the miracle and experience a glimpse of the glory.

[Assistant]

That means he healed legs that got.

[Pastor]

Up and walked into places they shouldn't have walked into. Oh, I wouldn't have done it if.

[Assistant]

I knew your legs were gonna walk.

[Pastor]

Into a place that I didn't call you to. I said, now just chill on the ground for a minute there. He healed eyes that looked at things they weren't supposed to look at. After he healed them, he allowed them to. He let people eat the bread and the fish that he multiplied. No matter what they had done, and no matter whether they called Him Lord or not, they still had bread crumbs on their mouth. Because the miracle is not the glory.

[Assistant]

It's supposed to point you to who he is. You can eat the bread and miss the bread. You supposed to eat the bread and go, oh, wait a minute. In the same way that I came out here with nothing to eat, and all of a sudden you multiplied it and you fed my flesh. This is the same Savior who. When I don't have anybody else that can feed my soul or redeem me, you must be the bread that's come down from heaven. It's supposed to reveal who he is.

[Pastor]

And it's a dangerous thing when you only want the miracles of God, but you don't want the actual God of the miracle. For a moment on this mountain, he's just revealing who he is. No healing, no come out, casting out demons. Just glory. And they're getting to watch it. What a powerful thing to just be with him and watch him. That word transfigured is a Greek word from where we get our word metamorphosis. It is the changing of something. It is the imagery of a caterpillar that becomes a butterfly. There's nothing added to the caterpillar to make it a butterfly. It becomes a butterfly. Transfigured, metamorphosis. But how many know Jesus was something different? This isn't a caterpillar becoming a butterfly. Let me try in my feeble attempt with the metaphor this. This is a butterfly who became a caterpillar to let other caterpillars know there is life beyond this level that you live in at. And then on the mountain, the caterpillar just revealed. Don't get it twisted. I've always been a butterfly. This is my glory. And they stood in awe, not just of the man that did the miracles, that pointed to the glory, but to the actual glory of who he was. If that wasn't enough.

[Assistant]

All of a sudden Moses and Elijah, two people who died, show up on the mountain with Jesus as he is glowing in the dark. What in the world? How has M. Night Shyamalan not done this movie? Can you imagine? Just bring it into modern day context. Just imagine you on a mountain with Jesus and all of a sudden two people you thought were dead show up. Tupac and Biggie.

[Pastor]

Just.

[Assistant]

Can you imagine?

[Pastor]

It's 12:45. I'm just trying to bring it to everybody. Not saying Moses and Elijah are Tupac and Biggie. I'm just saying it's a metaphor.

[Assistant]

Moses and Elijah show up on this mountain and they're talking to Jesus. What in the world? Why Moses and Elijah? Wait a minute. Back that up. How do you know it was Moses and Elijah? Do we have name tags in heaven? How did you know it was Moses and Elijah? This blows my mind. The Bible doesn't tell us how they knew. All it says is that the glory.

[Pastor]

Of the Lord was being manifested as they were listening up.

[Assistant]

That's the power of listening up. Because how many know when you listen up, God will reveal himself to you. When you listen up, God will reveal you to you. And when you listen up, God will reveal other people to you. There was something about the glory of God that let them know, oh, that's Moses and Elijah.

[Pastor]

And who else would it be but Moses and Elijah? Two people that we have already talked about in this series that had mountaintop moments in the glory of God. Look at Moses. This is the one who saw the glory of the Lord on the mountain. The glory so powerful that when he came off the mountain, his face was glowing and the people of Israel couldn't even handle it. They said, cover your face is too much glory. And that was just reflection. Reflected glory. How many know Jesus didn't have reflected glory? This was intrinsic glory.

[Assistant]

This is the same Moses that when he was on the mountain, he said.

[Pastor]

God, show me your glory.

[Assistant]

And God said, if I show you my glory, it will kill you. But I gotta hide you in the cleft of the rock and I'll pass by you and you can see my goodness pass by you. And Moses says, that's cool. But look at Jesus still answering prayer. Because Moses comes back thousands of years later and he's seeing the glory of God. God manifested on the mountain. You better keep on praying. God answers our prayers forever in eternity. Don't let the enemy stop you from praying. Look at Moses seeing the fullness of the glory of God.

[Pastor]

Of course, Moses and Elijah. Elijah encountered him on the mountain, too. When he wasn't in the earthquake, he was in the whisper. Of course, Moses and Elijah. Moses representing the law, Elijah representing the prophets, and Jesus standing in the middle, letting you know that he is the fulfillment of the law and prophecy. This is all scripture in one moment on a mountain. What a holy moment. You would think in this holy, sacred, amazing moment that impulsive. Peter, just shut up. Just don't mess. Just. There's some moments that you ain't got to say nothing. You just need to stand in it.

[Assistant]

And stand in awe. Oh, Peter, don't mess this up. Please be quiet. But this is not the dude. This is the dude that is led by his impulses. And sometimes it operates in faith and is good and he walks on water. But then sometimes it's like this and.

[Pastor]

It jacks him up.

[Assistant]

Sometimes it's great because he'll confess you're the son of the living God. But sometimes it's bad because he cuts off ears. You got to be careful when you are led by your impulses.

[Pastor]

You got to be careful when you immediately go from feeling it to posting it. Yeah, there's a lot of Peters in our generation right now because we never.

[Assistant]

Pause to actually feel something. We just go straight, oh, I feel it.

[Pastor]

Let me post it.

[Assistant]

Oh, I'm ticked off. Tick tock, let's go. Let me let the world know what I feel. But there's something about actually pausing a minute and say, before I go on social media, let me wait and listen up and see what the father is saying. And I gotta let everybody else who's mad, how come you ain't saying nothing? You should speak up. Oh, I might speak up, but I ain't gonna speak up before I listen up. Because if I speak up before I listen up, I'm gonna say my opinion. And I'm not here to give my opinion. I'm here to declare what the Lord is. Y' all be careful. Y' all be careful with telling all these people, speak up. Say something. Say something. Say something and say it quick. Have you noticed sometimes your first thought is not your best thought? Impulse says, say it.

[Pastor]

Now wisdom says, wait a minute, I'm gonna say something. But wait. And Peter can't wait. He said, oh, the glory. Oh, Moses and Elijah. Oh, I gotta say something. I gotta say something. I gotta say something. Should I say something? I gotta say. No, I gotta say, should I say something? I gotta get Peter and John. Y' all ain't gonna Say nothing. Y' all never say nothing. I'm gonna say something.

[Assistant]

Oh, Jesus. It was good for us to be here.

[Pastor]

Yeah.

[Assistant]

Here's what we should do. Let's build three shelters.

[Pastor]

Yeah.

[Assistant]

One for you, Jesus. One for Moses, and one for Elijah. That's what we should do. If you want.

[Pastor]

I don't want to get called Satan again.

[Assistant]

I'm just saying I have a suggestion in this moment that we should stay.

[Pastor]

Up here on the mountain and box in your glory to just US elite 3. He has forgotten about the 9 at the bottom. Forget them.

[Assistant]

We made it.

[Pastor]

Let's stay up here, just us, Jesus. And I want you to see how stupid his idea is.

[Assistant]

He says, jesus, I want three boxes.

[Pastor]

One for you, worship team. Join me.

[Assistant]

One for Moses.

[Pastor]

And one for Elijah. Yeah. This is a real good idea, Jesus. Let's just stay up here on the mountain. Wouldn't it be awesome? Us three, y', all three. And let's box in the glory of God to just us people that look like me, talk like me, think like me, vote like me, process like me. Yeah. The glory of God should just be limited to us up here. It's interesting because it is Peter's heritage that even gives him this idea of the three shelters. Tabernacles, you understand that Peter is fully aware of the Feast of Tabernacles where the Jewish people would celebrate the moment that they were in the wilderness and there was a tabernacle and God led them in the wilderness. And so even after they would set up the Feast of Tabernacles where they would live temporarily in tents to remind them of the provision of God in the wilderness when they were in the tabernacle.

[Assistant]

So all he's doing is bringing his.

[Pastor]

Heritage to this spiritual moment. He said that's what's always worked before. When the glory shows up, we set up three tabernacles. So, yeah, ain't that a great idea? Thank God that the voice of God interrupted Peter from talking. I wish God would do it today and interrupt. Interrupt some people before they post and before they get in the comment section.

[Assistant]

And bring some clarity from heaven. Because we got a lot of people who are speaking up before they've listened up. Thank God that the voice of heaven interrupted Peter before he said something else stupid. Can we just break down how stupid this idea is? First of all, Peter, how in the world you gonna say set up a tabernacle for Moses, Jesus and Elijah to set up three tabernacles for each one of them? You are suggesting that they are on the Same level, Peter. Don't get it twisted. You cannot give Moses and Elijah the same tabernacle that you give Jesus. You understand that? Jesus is the greater Moses. Jesus is the greater Elijah. How he gonna be on the same level? They ain't on the same level. Don't get it twisted, Peter. They're not on the same level. Devil Moses delivered the children of Israel out of Egypt, but Jesus is delivering us out of our sin. Moses said, lift up the serpent and they all got set free. Jesus said, I'm gonna be lifted up and I will set you free. Moses had the law written on stone tablets. Jesus said, the law will be written on your hearts. They not on the same level. Elijah called fire down from heaven. Jesus said, I'm gonna fill you with the Holy Spirit and fire will come down from heaven. Elijah resurrected a W boy. Jesus said, I am the resurrection and the life. We ain't on the same level. That's a bad picture. This is close. You can't give them tabernacles like Jesus. They're not on his level.

[Pastor]

But even this is an old model. Peter, you think you can box in the glory of God?

[Assistant]

Peter, you think that he just came.

[Pastor]

To reveal his glory to you and.

[Assistant]

Your two friends who look like you, think like you, vote like you, walk like you?

[Pastor]

No.

[Assistant]

The Bible says in Isaiah that the earth is filled with the glory of the Lord. And I just came to make an announcement. The glory of the Lord cannot be contained to a denomination. The glory of the Lord can't be contained to one race.

[Pastor]

Race.

[Assistant]

The glory of the Lord can't be contained to one gender. The glory of the Lord will fill the earth. That has always been God's vision. You can't box Jesus in. He's bigger than any box you want to put him in. Somebody give him the best praise that you got in this place today. You can't box him in. You can't box them in. Stand to your feet. You can't box him in. Since I got the microphone, I'm going to tell you, you can't box me in.

[Pastor]

My primary responsibility as your pastor is to listen up. And then after I listen up, then open up my mouth and speak out, but I stay on my face to listen up before I speak. And I just say that because it's very interesting, this climate in which we live. Well, I've heard people say, if you didn't hear your pastor say blank, find another church. It's interesting we've turned pastoral leadership into a playlist. As long as I like What I'm hearing, I'm cool. If I don't skip, skip it. Which is cool. It's your prerogative.

[Assistant]

What's gonna happen when you go to.

[Pastor]

The next place and then they say something you don't agree with, and then you're like that, and then you go to the next place and you will spend your whole life going from place to place and not being planted because you just want to hear what you want to hear. We have too many echo chambers.

[Assistant]

I don't need somebody that's gonna tell me what I need to hear. I want somebody that's gonna tell me what. Thus saith the Lord.

[Pastor]

And rarely am I changed by a truth that doesn't challenge me. If I'm only listening for what I want to hear, rarely will that truth change me. I want my ears open to the thing that I might not want to hear, but when I hear it, it will transform my soul.

[Assistant]

Peter, shut up.

[Pastor]

The voice of the Father interrupted him while he was speaking. And watch the posture. This is my beloved Son in whom I'm well pleased. Listen to him. In other words, listen up. By the way, that listen is not just listen. It's listen and obey. Listen to him and look at the posture of somebody who's listened up. The posture of somebody who's listened up to the voice of the Father is not. Let me post and say something. Did you notice what they did when the Father spoke? They fell on their face. This is the posture of somebody who's listened up. They fell on their face before God when he spoke, to hear, not what he's trying to say to somebody else. What are you trying to say to me? And they were terrified when they fell because they knew that when that glory showed up, the children of Israel couldn't even get close to the mountain. They thought they were going to die. And here they are on a mountain with the cloud. I'm thinking, oh, Lord, I'm going to die. Why did I say anything? What am I doing? In the midst of even their fear, look at what Jesus does. He touches them. That we have a Savior that can be touched. We have a Savior that touches you. The same God that Moses had to hide in a rock has now allowed his glory to be manifested in a human body to the point that he can touch them. And he touched them and said, get up. Don't be afraid. And when they looked up, all they could see was Jesus. And not a Jesus that can fit in your nice, neat little box, but a Jesus who is so transcendent who is so bigger than you that his glory will fill the earth, not just on a mountain, but because he died on a mountain called Calvary. Now his glory can fill the earth as the Holy Spirit is residing in you and in me. This is why it's important to have unity in diversity. Because as I see you, I see a facet of the glory of God expressed in you. And how dare you think somebody's not a carrier of the glory because they don't look like you, think like you, walk like you, talk like you. God bigger than that. This is a message that I'm applying to my heart. First, that my knee jerk reaction in a culture that has so many voices and so many opinions that my knee jerk reaction would be to listen up before I speak up. I'm going to ask. Heads be bowed and eyes be closed today. Father. Father, thank you for your word. Thank you, Lord, for your loving kindness. And Lord, thank you for your rebukes. Thank you for interrupting us. I believe this message today is an interruption to somebody who's allowed the voices around them to shape them more than the voice above them. Father, this is critical if our choices are connected to the voice that we hear. How critical it is for us to hear you speak. Lord, open up our ears to the frequency of what you're saying. Heze about eyes are closed. But I need to know who this message is for today. I'll admit I had to respond to this message myself before I preached it to you. It's so easy to listen to everything that's in the culture and neglect the time to get along with God, to listen up. I have something that sits in my office as a reminder that says make time for quiet moments because the world is loud and God often whispers. Our world is so loud right now and God is speaking. But some of us, our ears have gotten dull to it because we've been listening around instead of listening up. So what? Heads bowed. And I suppose it would be so hard to say, hey, pr, I've. I've been doing more listening around than I've been listening up. And today I received this message as a reminder to get on my knees before God and create a space and a place to listen up before I impulsively just speak out. Stashi, would you just lift up your hand as a sign to say, this is for me today? Thank you, Lord. Yeah, yeah. God, let us be believers in this house that are marked by hearing you speak and give us the courage to obey and do what you say. Anybody else? Thank you, Lord. Heads still bowed, eyes still closed. If you're here today and you've never surrendered your life to Jesus, I'd love to give you that opportunity today. One of the most critical questions you have to answer is who do you say Jesus is? It's not enough for you to know what everybody else in the culture says or what your grandmother says. Who do you say? This is a personal relationship, and you don't have to get yourself together to come to him. Jesus means Savior. He is a savior. He will save you. But you do have to respond. So with heads bowed and eyes closed today. If you're here today and you say, hey, P.R. i need to give him my life. I love moments like that because I hear that baby crying and I don't know who the parent is, but guess what? The parent knows the voice of that child. And that don't bother me one bit because it is a reminder in this moment that your heavenly Father, he knows your voice. And when you cry out to him, I'm telling you, he will come to where you are. He knows. So that's you. You say, hey, P.R. i need to give him my life today. Would you just lift up your hand high enough and long enough to where I can see it to say, today's the day I'm coming home. Yeah, I see those hands. Anybody else? Thank you, Jesus. Bible says, the day you hear his voice, don't harden your heart. It's a privilege to hear him speak. Respond. That's all he wants is a response. Anybody else? Thank you, Lord. Those of you who lifted up your hand, I just want to lead you in this prayer. I'm going to give you the words, but you say it from your heart. In fact, we're all going to say it as one big family today. Would you say this? Say, jesus, I hear you. I hear you speaking. And Lord, I know you hear me. Even in this room with so many people, you know my voice. Voice. So, Father, today I surrender. I'm tired of running. I'm listening up, saying, save me, Jesus. I believe that you lived the life that I was supposed to live. And you died the death that I was supposed to die. You took my place. So my response is to give you everything. Forgive me of my sins, make me brand new. From this moment forward, I'm walking with you in Jesus name, Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Come on, somebody. Give Jesus the best praise that you got today.