When God Leaves the Group Chat I Manny Arango I Social Dallas

Summary

Social Dallas Podcast Episode Summary

Episode Title: When God Leaves the Group Chat
Speaker: Pastor Manny Arango
Date: July 19, 2026

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Episode Overview

This episode features guest speaker Pastor Manny Arango, who delivers a transformative sermon at Social Dallas Church. Manny, a former team member at Social Dallas and now the lead pastor of Garden Church in Houston, explores the story of Noah and the flood through a fresh, Eastern lens. Drawing from Genesis, he challenges listeners to view their lives not merely as practical “boats” but as sacred “temples”—places for God’s presence, order, and rest. The core message is a passionate call to steward God-given responsibilities with honor, vision, and obedience, transforming the mundane into the holy.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. God’s Presence: From Chaos to Order

• Genesis Creation Narrative (19:07–21:09)
  • God does not create something out of nothing; He brings order out of chaos (“tohu va vohu” in Hebrew).
  • The Spirit hovers over chaotic waters until order is established, symbolizing how God enters our messy lives not to rest but to bring order and wholeness.
  • Quote: “God’s primary mode of creating is not to create something out of nothing… It’s to create order out of chaos.” — Pastor Manny Arango (20:07)

2. God’s Rest Requires Our Order

• Genesis & Noah’s Story (22:13–24:02)
  • God only rests in what is ordered; when chaos persists, He hovers and commands change.
  • Many crave God’s peace without embracing His order—true peace is a byproduct of God’s divine order.
  • Quote: “We have an expectation that God is going to rest in our mess.” — Pastor Manny Arango (23:02)

3. The Flood as Divine Reversal, Not Punishment

• Reinterpreting the Flood (25:05–31:04)
  • The flood is portrayed not as God’s wrath but as a passive reversal: God withdraws His order, returning creation to chaos.
  • Chaos reigns not because God is destructive, but because He respects human choice—a sobering warning about taking His presence for granted.
  • Quote: “If chaos is what they want, then I am going to remove myself… when God takes His hands off the wheel, everything in your life unravels.” — Pastor Manny Arango (25:31, 25:40)

4. Stewardship: The Gift and Responsibility of Order

• The Cost of God’s Order (31:04–32:34)
  • Order is a delicate, stewarded gift, not an entitlement. Ungrateful or entitled attitudes often sabotage the blessings we’re called to manage.
  • Application: Don’t see giving, serving, or any kingdom investment as a “have to”—see it as a “get to.”
  • Quote: “Order is not something you’re entitled to. It’s something that you get to steward as a gift from God.” — Pastor Manny Arango (31:23)

5. From Boat to Temple: Rethinking Noah’s Ark

• Eastern Perspective on the Ark (41:11–46:59)
  • The Ark isn’t just a survival vessel—it’s a symbol, a proto-temple. Its detailed instructions, dimensions, and structure are echoed later in the Tabernacle and Solomon’s Temple.
  • Key Parallels:
    • Ark built by God’s exact command, like the Tabernacle and Temple.
    • Dimensions are “box-like,” not boat-shaped—requiring faith over logic.
    • Three decks mirror temple courts (outer, inner, holy of holies).
    • Coated inside and out (as with the Ark of the Covenant).
    • Only one door: foreshadowing Christ as the only way.
    • Noah acts as priest, sacrificing after the flood.
    • Noah’s name means “rest”—God’s ultimate goal for His people.
  • Quote: “He found you as this dysfunctional… He found you as confused. He found you as chaotic… but he rolled up his sleeves and got to work ordering your life.” — Pastor Manny Arango (20:45)

6. Obedience Over Understanding

• Building by God’s Blueprints (35:58–40:49)
  • God’s instructions are often sparse or seemingly illogical—faith is required to follow through without clarity.
  • Leadership means following God’s details even when others demand more explanation.
  • Quote: “You just don’t know how—and not knowing how keeps you from doing the what. But God is saying, ‘I don’t need your understanding, I need your obedience.’” — Pastor Manny Arango (36:43)

7. Application: Transforming the Mundane into the Holy

• Seeing Life as Sacred Space (52:57–55:46)
  • Listeners are challenged to reframe their work, family, business, and possessions as temples for God’s presence, not just functional spaces.
  • Quote: “You can turn anything into a boat, but you can turn any boat into a temple if you are mindful about what God would have you use it for.” — Pastor Manny Arango (55:02)

8. Practical Invitation: Be a “Temple Builder”

• Attitude & Action (52:54–54:47)
  • Don’t just “save your seat”; hold the door for others—be about bringing others into God’s presence.
  • Church isn’t a self-serving vessel but a temple—make space for more to experience God.
  • Quote: “Boat builders save seats. Temple builders hold doors.” — Pastor Manny Arango (52:54)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Victory in Christ:
  “We’re fighting from victory, not for victory.” — Pastor Robert (01:19)
• Faith for Miracles:
  “Doctors only know the facts; they don’t know the truth. The truth is God can defy all the odds.” — Pastor Manny Arango (10:10)
• Vision & Sacrifice:
  “It’s never been about a building… it's always been about the who.” — Pastor Manny Arango (16:19)
• The Only Door:
  “If Jesus is not the way, then I don’t know what to tell you. There’s one door.” — Pastor Robert (48:58)
• Sacrificial Stewardship:
  “I got free—let me go back into bondage and get some people out of bondage. I’m addicted to getting people free!” — Pastor Manny Arango (17:18)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• [04:18] — Introduction to Noah’s story; “God remembered Noah.”
• [19:07] — Creation, chaos, and God’s ordering work.
• [25:05] — Reframing the Flood: Reversal vs. Wrath.
• [31:04] — Stewarding order as God’s gift.
• [41:11] — The Ark as a Temple: Clues & theological parallels.
• [52:54] — “Boat builders save seats. Temple builders hold doors.”
• [55:02] — Transforming ordinary life into sacred space.
• [57:50] — Invitation to salvation and call for new spiritual starts.

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Final Takeaways

This episode urges believers not to settle for mere survival or function (“boats”) in their spiritual journeys. Instead, Pastor Manny calls the church to build “temples”—homes, businesses, and churches that prioritize the living presence of God, extend His order, and become places of rest and transformation for themselves and others. Steward what God gives you with vision, obedience, and a heart to let His presence dwell—and never take the sacred for granted.

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For Further Reflection:

• Are there areas of your life you’ve viewed as “boats” that God wants to turn into “temples”?
• How can you introduce more of God’s order, presence, and rest into your daily routines, relationships, and work?
• Are you building just for practicality, or are you building to host the presence of God and bless others?

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This summary captures the heart, pivotal moments, and transformational teaching of Pastor Manny Arango’s sermon, providing both deep theological insight and practical application for listeners and leaders alike.

Transcript

[Social Dallas Host 1]

Hey, everyone. Before we jump into today's message, we wanted to take just a moment and personally thank you for being a part of our social global family.

[Social Dallas Host 2]

Yes, we are standing in the future home of Social Dallas. Demolition has officially started and every day we're getting closer to making the space a place where thousands of people will encounter Jesus for years to come.

[Social Dallas Host 1]

And if these messages have encouraged you, strengthened your faith, or helped you grow in any way, would you partner with us? Your generosity helps us continue sharing messages like the one you're about to watch and helps us build a permanent home where lives will be changed forever.

[Social Dallas Host 2]

To support the Almost home campaign, visit socialdallas.com give and select almost Home in the giving options or you can text the word give to 469-715, 3755.

[Social Dallas Host 1]

Whether it's a one time gift or becoming a recurring partner, every gift makes impact and every dollar moves dirt.

[Social Dallas Host 2]

Thank you for believing in what God is doing through Social Dallas.

[Social Dallas Host 1]

Here's today's message.

[Worship Leader]

Can we give the king one more shot of praise this morning? Come on. Can we really give the king of kings and the Lord of Lords one more shot of praise this morning, no

[Pastor Robert]

matter where we find ourselves? Because we know he's already worth. Because we know he's already done it. Because we know in the end that we win, that he's already done it. That we're fighting from victory, not for victory.

[Worship Leader]

Amen. We thank you, Jesus, for your presence this morning. Thank you, God. Is anybody glad they came to church this morning? Y', all, that is just the beginning. God is not done. Amen. One more time. How many new? First time. First time in a long time. We got in the room. Can you lift up your hand? Just wave at us.

[Pastor Manny Arango]

Come on, social.

[Worship Leader]

You can do much better than that. So glad to have you with us today. And if you're new to the journey, you might not know, but every single year, our church comes around a word. And this year that word is. But not just any trust. This year we've got confident. Trust. And that's not just a word that we pull out of the atmosphere. It actually comes From Hebrews chapter 10, verses 35 to 37. In every single Sunday, we declare it together with unified and uplifted voices. And we're gonna do that now. But remember, like Pastor Robert always says, you don't go until I say so. Do not remember the great reward. Patient endurance is what you need now then, for in just a little while, the coming one will come and not delay.

[Pastor Robert]

Yeah.

[Pastor Manny Arango]

You sound good.

[Worship Leader]

Social. Well, hey, our pastors are away this morning, but they have left us in incredible hands. And the voice that you are about to hear from. He's not a guest here. He's actually family here. And I am so grateful for the ministry of. He and his wife Tia. They. They.

[Pastor Robert]

Come on.

[Worship Leader]

You know, they and their amazing son Theo have planted a church in Houston called Garden Church.

[Pastor Robert]

He is an author. He is a doctor. Social Dallas, would you help me welcome the wonderful, amazing Dr. Mandy Arang?

[Pastor Manny Arango]

I'm so glad that you would honor me. But come on. How many people know that it is

[Pastor Robert]

only by the grace of God that we are standing in his presence? Oh, can you give God some praise today? Your alarm clock didn't wake you up this morning. Oh, no. The breath of the living God woke you up this morning. God, I don't know where I would be if it had not been for your goodness and your mercy and your grace. Hallelujah. Hallelujah.

[Pastor Manny Arango]

I'm gonna preach. I'm gonna preach today from the story of Noah.

[Pastor Robert]

But can I preach before I preach?

[Pastor Manny Arango]

I'm gonna preach from the story of Noah and the flood. There's this little verse, it says this that God remembered Noah. Oh, that'll preach right there. God remembered Noah. I gotta be a little nerdy just for a second, because God. Oh, doesn't forget. So how does a God who's not able to forget remember anything? God remembered Noah. As soon as you read that, you should do a double take. Which then means that for our human minds, for us, because we forget, we think that the opposite of remembering is forgetting. But for a God who's omniscient, for a God who knows everything, who has never forgotten anything, the opposite of remembering is not forgetting. Oh, no, not for God. The opposite of remembering is dismembering. Which means when the Bible says that God remembers Noah, it means that although

[Pastor Robert]

you've been through a flood, although you've been through hell and high water, although you've been through brokenness, although the things of this world have ripped you limb from limb, there is a God that is able to put the broken pieces of your life back together. He is the God who can remember you. Oh, God, let us not forget the one that has remembered us. There have been seasons that have broken you, but there's a God who knows how to put you back together. Oh, God. We believe that the divorce may have broken us, but you remember us. Oh, God. The baby bankruptcy may have dismembered us, but you, you remember us.

[Pastor Manny Arango]

And although we're not doing communion today, this is why Jesus can say, when you take the cup, you take the bread, do this in remembrance of me.

[Pastor Robert]

Why?

[Pastor Manny Arango]

Because the one who was hung high and stretched wide, the one who was broken, was broken so that you could be whole. Oh, Lord God, we thank you today that you remember us. We're not forgotten and we've never been left broken by you. So here we go. Let's pray to the living God. God, we ask that as we've worshiped you and as we've praised you that, Lord God, that your spirit would be the X factor in the room today. Lord God, I've got two fish and five loaves. I've got some notes, I've got some ideas that I jotted down in my private time. But, God, it's not enough to feed the multitudes. But if you take the notes that I've got, if you break it and you bless it, then, Lord God, the thousands gathered today will all eat not just from the mouth of a man, but from the table of heaven. So, Lord God, we put a demand on your supply. We don't want anybody to leave church today saying, man, Pastor Manny Orango did such a great job. No, no, we want everyone to leave church today saying, the Holy Spirit spoke to me. The Holy Spirit brought clarity to me in my precise circumstance. God, I don't know every single need in the room, but you do. You are the I am that I am. So, Lord God, would you help me preach and would you help us listen? Lord God, would you help me scream in public the things that you've whispered to me in private? Lord God, we love you so much. And Lord God, we pray that the worship we've offered up was a pleasing aroma in your nostrils. God, we ask that as you breathe in worship now, God, breathe out revelation. And Lord God, breathe on us again. Remember your people. In Jesus name we pray. Come on. And we all said together, amen. Oh, come on.

[Pastor Robert]

Amen. Can you say amen like you got some victory today? Come on. Can you say amen like you got some expectation today? Amen. Amen. Amen. Hey, high five your neighbor. Tell them they look good even if

[Pastor Manny Arango]

they don't, and you can grab a seat.

[Pastor Robert]

Come on.

[Pastor Manny Arango]

We speak those things that be not as though they were social. Grab a seat. Grab a seat. High five your neighbor. Especially if you're single and ready to mingle. Come on. Just tell them they look good. This is a great time.

[Pastor Robert]

You look good.

[Pastor Manny Arango]

You look good. And I am so honored. I'M beyond honored to be in the room with you today. Hey, if you. If you're like, hey, that's a familiar face. I know that short black man. And my name is Pastor Manny Arango. I was on the team here for three years, all of 2022, 2023, and 2024. Me and my awesome wife. Her name is Tia. She's my hot chocolate mamacita. Me and my awesome wife, we were a part of this church, and we have a son named Theo. I think there's a picture maybe. Maybe there's a picture. Maybe. I don't know. There we go. That's my beautiful bride, Tia. And that's me when I had wild hair. And back when Pastor Robert was trying to get me to work out. Jesus. I've listened. I'm a little less Manny than I was back then. And that's my. That's my awesome son. Doctor said we would never get pregnant, but doctors only know the facts. They don't know the truth. Come on. The truth is that God can defy all the odds. And so that boy is about to turn five years old this week coming up. And so we planted a church recently in Houston, Texas. And I just want to say thank you to social. The first Sunday that we kind of announced that we were going to plant a church, Pastor Robert and Pastor Taylor blessed us with a $25,000 check from you guys on behalf of this church. And then just two months ago, we launched a campaign called Sponsor a Sunday. We launched a church at the House of Blues in Houston. Had to get in there every morning and remove all the alcohol. Okay. Church planting man and Pastor Robert surprised me. And not only did you guys sponsor a Sunday, you guys sponsored a month of Sundays for us for the month of May. And we're just eternally grateful. Love this church. And we were here all of 20, 22, 23, and 24. And so, hey, if you're new, you may not know who I am, but I'm a friend of the house. And I.

[Pastor Robert]

We're just.

[Pastor Manny Arango]

We're church cousins. You know, our church in Houston and this church in Dallas for church cousins. Hey, can we honor Pastor Robert and Pastor Taylor? I love your pastors. I love your pastors. Pastor Robert may be the most humble, gifted human being I've ever met in my entire life. And Pastor Taylor is the sweetest, kindest person that I know. And I love your pastors to death. I hope you love them as well. And it's funny. Before I jump into the. I'm gonna read The Bible, I promise. But I remember in the summer of 2022, to prove to you that I've been around for a while. In the summer 2022, Social didn't have a venue for about three straight weeks. And so we were filming content at a studio. And I just so happened to be one of the speakers that went to the studio to film content. I filmed my sermon to a studio audience. It was awesome. And how many people know? Come on, everybody got a plan until you get punched in the face.

[Pastor Robert]

Hello.

[Pastor Manny Arango]

That's Mike Tyson. Hello. And then you gotta learn how to pivot. And I'm so glad that I learned the art of the pivot while I was here in my season at Social. And I remember one day, three weeks, no venue. And I remember Pastor Robert, we're in the studio, we're filming all these sermons. And he said, you want to see a building I found? Think the Holy Spirit's telling me this is going to be Social's home. And I said, yeah, sure. This is the summer of 2022. We go to the Look Cinema while it was still in operation. And me and your pastor went around to the back, tried to break in.

[Pastor Robert]

Hello.

[Pastor Manny Arango]

At that time, the Look Cinema was still operating, but the space to the left was vacant. And so me, Frank, and Pastor Robert were in the back trying to shimmy our way into. Don't police. Okay? Never mind. We own it now, so it's okay. It's okay. And I remember being in the parking lot and Pastor Robert just saying, can you imagine having conferences here? There's a hotel right here. There's restaurants over here. Think about how many parking spots there are. Your pastor saw what you're currently walking in. Before we ever actually saw it, I was just in the parking lot, like, I think we're trespassing, Pastor Robert, you know, and that Look Cinema was still in operation. And I remember Pastor Robert saying this. All we need, Manny, and just wide eyes, full of faith. All we need, Manny, is for this Look Cinema to shut down. That's what your pastor said. I remember his words like it was yesterday. All we need is for this Look Cinema to go out of business. And you know how you when you

[Pastor Robert]

know that, that crazy look when you

[Pastor Manny Arango]

looking at somebody and you're like, man, I don't know that I got the faith you got, but if I stay around you long enough, it'll be contagious. Oh, man, I'm glad I stuck around Pastor Robert long enough because it's gotten contagious, and I just want to Remind you, man, we've raised over $4 million at this point, and we got a ways to go. And can I tell you something? You're. Your pastor has a prophetic vision for that property. And property's not just property. And I know, okay, I'm running out of time, okay? As a church planner, I got hit with a $100,000 bill. I know y'. All. Y' all are big balling out six million, okay? I'm six months in, Frank. Okay? And right before we launched the church, we launched on February 1st. So, like, in January, we needed to make $100,000 worth of. Of production equipment or children's ministry equipment. And, you know, our. Our team is like, hey, we're gonna swipe the card for $100,000. I'm thinking to myself, is there even $100,000 on the card? Okay? And so I said, what are we buying for $100,000? And they showed me a spreadsheet of, like, some rugs and, like, some TVs. And I'm like, guys, we. I'm sure we can get that for less than a hundred thousand dollars. And they're like, no, no, no, no, no. We're getting it from a company that does children's ministry, and it's a hundred grand. And as long as I focused on the what, I was tempted to be stingy. But then I remembered that three months prior, we had met with a woman named Talia, and she had a four year old son named Kennedy. And all she said was, I'm joining this launch team. I'm joining this church because I need my son to have spiritual uncles and spiritual family, and I need my son. She's a single mom. I need my son to be raised around the people of God and the things of God. And as long as I wanted to know the what the hundred thousand dollars was gonna buy, I was always gonna be stingy. But in the middle of making a decision, the Holy Spirit reminded me not

[Pastor Robert]

of a what, but a who.

[Pastor Manny Arango]

That I'm not spending $100,000 on rugs and TVs. I'm spending 100 grand on Kennedy's future.

[Pastor Robert]

That we are going to create an environment so that this boy who's got a single mom can raise him in the presence of God and learn the

[Pastor Manny Arango]

Bible and the word of God.

[Pastor Robert]

And as soon as I remembered who we were doing it for, I swiped the card for 100 grand. And guess what? Every week at church, we've got hundreds of Kennedys now. And I want to remind you, social, we're not buying a building. We're purchasing the future of who's, of people, of stories, of souls, of individuals who need hope and who need healing, who need the resurrection power of the Almighty God. It's never been about a building. It's never been about a what. It's always been about the who that the king of kings is trying to reach. And if he's reached me, how dare I be stingy. I need to pay it forward. Oh, God. I'll be like Harriet Tubman. I got free. Let me go back into bondage and get some people and bring more people out of bondage. I'm addicted to getting people free. And I'll do whatever I need to do. I'll pay the cost for other people's freedom.

[Pastor Manny Arango]

So I'm so grateful to this church. We're spiritual cousins. And don't get weary and well doing. I know. Maybe it can feel like, oh, man. We talk about the building every week.

[Pastor Robert]

Yeah.

[Pastor Manny Arango]

Because we're passionate about people and we're on mission to rescue as many people as we can from darkness and bring them into God's marvelous light.

[Pastor Robert]

Come on, let's read the Bible.

[Pastor Manny Arango]

Come on, let's read the Bible. I'm, I'm. I need to behave because Pastor Robert's probably streaming. Okay. Come on, come on, come on. Let me behave. Let's go to Genesis. Let's go to Genesis. I'm going to give you two verses of scripture and I'm going to try to offer you an Eastern worldview on one story in the Bible. This is the story of the flood. How many people know that? It's so easy if you don't have context to come to the Bible with a Western perspective. And so we start asking very Western questions. And you don't even realize that because we just live in the Western world, in Western civilization, and we don't. You don't even realize how Western your questions really are. But the Bible was written for you, but it wasn't written to you. And the Bible was written from an Eastern perspective. And which. I'm just going to introduce you to an Eastern perspective today. And I hope you got your thinking caps on. I'm gonna preach, but we're gonna think a little. Is that. Okay. Genesis chapter one. We're gonna just start reading a verse that we're all familiar with. Genesis chapter one, verse one. It says this. If there's a word that I don't say, you can say the word that I don't say. Genesis 1. 1. It says this in The God created

[Pastor Robert]

the heavens and the.

[Pastor Manny Arango]

Now the earth was formless and empty. Here we go. I gotta interject because empty doesn't mean that it was nothing. Actually, the next words will show us that empty doesn't mean nothing. In Hebrew, the words here would be tohu va vohu. Everybody say tohu. That's like Mufasa. You just want to say it again, you know, tohu vavohu. That, that the, the, the. It was formless and empty. It doesn't mean nothing. It actually means chaotic and wild. And we're gonna see it in the next verse. It says this darkness was over the surface of. Okay, so it's either nothing or it's the deep. Remember a couple summers ago all those billionaires tried to go see the Titanic and their little vessel got crunched up like a soda can? Sorry. They went into the deep. You know, 95% of the ocean is undiscovered. The deep. The deep. And if it's unclear the Bible then gonna say that the spirit of God was hovering over the waters. So we don't have nothing. You tracking with me? We've got the deep, we've got waters and we've got darkness. Which means that God's primary mode of creating is not to create something out of nothing. Oh, I'm about to preach this. It's to create order out of chaos. I wonder if that's anybody's testimony today

[Pastor Robert]

that when God found you, he didn't

[Pastor Manny Arango]

find you as nothing.

[Pastor Robert]

Oh, no.

[Pastor Manny Arango]

He found you as this dysfunctional.

[Pastor Robert]

He found you as confused. He found you as chaotic. You had a baby daddy when God found you. You had an alcohol problem when God found you. And God was not intimidated by the chaos of your life. But he rolled up his sleeves and got to work ordering your life, organizing your life, getting rid of some things that didn't need to be there and

[Pastor Manny Arango]

bringing order to your chaos. Let me give me Genesis chapter seven. It says this in the 600th year of whose life? Noah's life. On the 17th day of the second month, on that day, all the springs of the great. That the deep. Didn't we just read about the deep in Genesis chapter one? Yeah. So the springs of the great deep burst forth. Here we go. And the floodgates of the heavens were opened. I want to preach. I've got about 20ish minutes. And God's gonna do a lot in the next 20 minutes. It's gonna be great. Here we go. I want to preach just real quick. When God leaves the group chat. When God leaves The group chat. There's some of y' all need to leave some group chats. But anyway. Anyway, we're not going to talk about that. When God leaves the group chat. Let's pray again. Holy Spirit, thank you for adding a blessing to the reading of your word. Lord God, do what only you can do. In Jesus name we pray. Come on.

[Worship Leader]

Amen.

[Pastor Manny Arango]

Amen. Amen. Amen. God moves the creation from chaos to order in how many days? Seven days. We know that God moves the creation from chaos to order because in the beginning of the creation narrative in Genesis chapter one, it says that the Spirit of God is hovering over the waters. Hovering over the waters.

[Pastor Robert]

Everybody say, hovering over the. So as long as creation is chaotic, God will not rest. God hovers when there's chaos. And over the next seven days, we know that creation has been properly, what? Ordered. Because by the time Adam and Eve

[Pastor Manny Arango]

are in the garden, it says that God is doing what? Walking with them in the cool of the day.

[Pastor Robert]

I think a lot of us need

[Pastor Manny Arango]

that word right there because we have an expectation that God's gonna rest in our mess.

[Pastor Robert]

We have this expectation that God, I want your presence. I want your power. But as long as there's chaos, God does not rest. When there's chaos, he hovers and he

[Pastor Manny Arango]

speaks and commands it to take shape.

[Pastor Robert]

Oh, there's some of us in the room.

[Pastor Manny Arango]

You haven't experienced the resting power of

[Pastor Robert]

God yet because there's still chaos in your life. And God is gracious and merciful enough to hover above your chaos and.

[Pastor Manny Arango]

And start to speak things into order.

[Pastor Robert]

He hovers above the chaos and he starts saying things like, be generous. He hovers above the chaos and says, break up with them. He hovers above the chaos and says, stop lying. He hovers above the chaos and says,

[Pastor Manny Arango]

start being honest and vulnerable.

[Pastor Robert]

He hovers above the chaos in the same way that he hovered above the

[Pastor Manny Arango]

chaos and said, let's see, separate waters from waters.

[Pastor Robert]

And he hovered above the chaos and

[Pastor Manny Arango]

said, let there be light. Oh, there's many of us today. I wonder if maybe it's your today or your past where God was gracious enough to hover above your chaos and roll up his sleeves and speak words to you that begin to organize and order your life. We know that God then rests. Once the creation gets to a place where it's been properly ordered, where the waters have been separated from the dry ground, where the heavens have been separated from the earth, where things are in their proper place once it's been ordered, then God, what He inserts himself as the final ingredient in the creation. Because God knows that if his presence is not in it, that the order that he has created will not be sustained without his power. So God begins to walk in the garden in the cool of the day. This is where I'm gonna throw you a curve ball. I need you to put your thinking caps on. Which means that the original state of creation is what?

[Pastor Robert]

Chaos.

[Pastor Manny Arango]

God moves it into order. Which means in the story of the flood. The story of the flood is not a story of God's wrath. It is a story of reversal. Because the only thing that actually happens in the story of the flood is not an angry, wrathful God sending thunderbolts and lightning and rain, but a God that says, if chaos is what they want, then I am gonna remove myself from the situation and chaos is what they are gonna get.

[Pastor Robert]

Ain't it crazy that when God takes

[Pastor Manny Arango]

his hands off the wheel, everything in your life unravels?

[Pastor Robert]

Isn't it wild that God does not have to use his active wrath, but his passive wrath? This is why Romans says he gave

[Pastor Manny Arango]

them over to their sinful lust.

[Pastor Robert]

The only thing God has to do to shipwreck your life is to remove himself from the situation. I wonder, is there anybody that can testify that God, I didn't realize that you were the one keeping me from danger. Seen and unseen. I did not realize there was a hedge of protection around my life until I lost the hedge of protection. I didn't even appreciate what you were doing in my life until you stopped doing the stuff that you was doing. It's funny. It's funny.

[Pastor Manny Arango]

It's funny. You know, I hire people now. Wasn't on my bingo card to hire people. You know what I'm saying? I hire people now. And so, you know, sometimes when you

[Pastor Robert]

hire people, you can just start doing math.

[Pastor Manny Arango]

Like, we pay them this amount of money, and what do they do? And Pastor Elijah, he runs the operations, you know, for Arma and Manny, Wrangle Ministries and the garden. And so one day I was frustrated at a certain employee, and I was like, but what did they even do? You know what I'm saying? We pay them X amount of money.

[Pastor Robert]

What?

[Pastor Manny Arango]

What do they do? And I was like, I sat down with Pastor Lodge, like, we need to fire this person. Cause what do they do? And Pastor Lodge is like, well, Pastor Manny, with all due Respect, you did 75 speaking engagements last year. You're not really in the office day to day.

[Pastor Robert]

Would you like me to tell you what they do? Because I'm in the office with them day to day. I know what they do. Would you like a list of what they do?

[Pastor Manny Arango]

And he said, they do email support. They answer people in your DMs. They do customer service service. And I said, oh, I didn't know that they did all that.

[Pastor Robert]

We shouldn't fire them. We need them. Ain't it crazy how you can assume that God is up to nothing and then you come into a room like this and we start singing stuff like,

[Pastor Manny Arango]

even when you don't feel it, I'm working.

[Pastor Robert]

And then you begin to realize the God that I took for granted is actually working behind the scenes doing stuff that I don't even appreciate. Oh, God, we're sorry that you've been ordering our steps and ordering our lives, and you've been keeping chaos at bay.

[Pastor Manny Arango]

So God moves the creation here.

[Pastor Robert]

We go from what?

[Pastor Manny Arango]

From chaos to order. He then inserts himself. He goes, without my presence, humans are not going to be able to sustain order. And then there's a generation, Noah's generation, that says these rules, these regulations that God's put in place, we don't like God's order. Ain't it crazy how we all want peace but hate order? Ain't it crazy how we all want the benefits of order but don't like order? Ain't it crazy how everybody wants peace, but peace is a byproduct of God's order in your life? There's a lot of us in this room. You may not like this. You don't have an anxiety problem. You have an order problem. And you can come down here at the front and we pray for people at the garden, too. I was telling jp who's traveling with me, he said everything about our church in Houston makes sense. Now that I've seen social, I was like, yeah. In our huddle, guess what we say we get to do this in our services. Guess what we do? We pray for people at the front. We do everything y' all do. We church cousins, okay? And it's funny, because I believe in the altar ministry. I believe in prayer teams, but I believe in it, and we can clap for that. I believe in the power of God to do miracles in your life when you bring your burdens down to the front. But can I be honest with you? I'm a little hood. I'm sorry. I'm the hood cousin. We could pray for you and you can have peace for a week, or you can stop letting your baby daddy hit and you can have peace for a lifetime. At some point,

[Pastor Robert]

you're gonna have to

[Pastor Manny Arango]

stop sabotaging your peace by allowing chaos to rule and reign in your life. Order, order, order. That God brings order into your life. But for so many of us, order doesn't feel like freedom. And I want to help you today because here's the truth. A train is the most free when it's on the tracks. Discipline is freedom. Order is freedom. And the Christian does not define freedom the same way that the world defines freedom. The world defines freedom as what I'm free to do, but the Christian defines freedom as what I'm free from doing.

[Pastor Robert]

I'm not free to drink. I'm free from drinking. I'm not free to smoke. I'm free from smoking. I'm not free to hook up. I'm free from hooking up. I'm not free to buy whatever I want. I'm free from the need to buy stuff for affirmation and validation from people who don't even know me. I'm not free too. I'm free from. Free from.

[Pastor Manny Arango]

So here we go. God simply. Here we go. The story of Noah and the flood. God simply removes himself. Removes himself. If you want chaos, I'm gonna give you what you want. You want chaos. You don't like my rules. You don't like the regulations.

[Pastor Robert]

You don't like order. Okay, cool.

[Pastor Manny Arango]

Let's see if you like it when the fabric of the universe unravels. So if you have this image of this angry God who's raining down wrath on Noah's generation, you actually have it twisted, because this is not a story of wrath. It's a story of reversal. Here's what happens. The creation goes right back to tohu, va vahu, it's original state. Because order is not something you're entitled to. It's something that you get to steward as a gift from God. Isn't it wild how the very thing we're called to steward can be the very thing that we have an attitude about? Can't believe I got to tithe. No, no, no, you don't got to tithe. You get to tithe. You don't have to. I can't believe I gotta serve. No, no, no, you don't gotta serve. You get to serve. None of us deserve to serve God's great kingdom in his church. None of us do. But God gives us the privilege to. Because order is not something we're entitled to. It's something that we get to steward. And it's delicate. And here we go. We're going to do a praise break here we go. Here we go. Here we go. Because the story of the flood is simply God.

[Pastor Robert]

Here we go.

[Pastor Manny Arango]

Leaving the group chat, God leaves and what happens Tohu va vohu. Everything returns to its original state because the original state of creation is what? Chaotic. I want to do a praise break right here because I wonder, is there anybody in the room who. When your sin and your rebellion gave God a reason to leave, somewhere in

[Pastor Robert]

his grace, he stayed anyway and held it all together. I don't know about you, but that's the testimony of my life. I have not always been perfect. There are times that my disobedience and my sin warranted God's departure. But instead of him leaving and allowing chaos to have its way with me, the grace of God simply held it all together. God, thank you for not leaving me or forsaking me. Thank you for being like a friend who sticks closer than a brother. Thank you. Thank you. Even when I didn't have the wherewithal to thank you. While you were holding it together, you held my business together, you held my family together, you held my marriage together, you held the money together. While I was in rebellion and sin, you were holding it down. Oh, somebody give God a shout of praise. God, thank you. Thank you. There was a bright exit sign that God could have used, but he didn't.

[Pastor Manny Arango]

Here we go. Now God is gonna give Noah a heads up. Can you imagine being the guy who, no pressure. Everybody gonna die. Can you imagine being Noah, God being like, hey, Noah, heads up, brother. Everybody gonna die. But if you build this boat just right, then everybody won't die. No pressure.

[Pastor Robert]

You would think that if God is

[Pastor Manny Arango]

gonna have a boat,

[Pastor Robert]

that is gonna

[Pastor Manny Arango]

be the thing that's a stopgap between everybody dying and humanity being able to recreate itself, reorder itself. Then you would think that we would have extensive instructions from God to Noah. This is laughable because if Noah don't get this right, everybody die. Everybody die. Here's the verses that God is going to give Noah for instructions on how to build the ark. This gave me tons of peace in the church planting phase. Here we go. Because not y'. All. Y' all aren't like this at all. Only the people in Houston. Pastor Manny. But like, what's the plan? And I'm like, do you know what

[Pastor Robert]

kind of God is talking to me? Has he ever given you plans? What made you think that the God that speaks obscurely to you is speaking clearly to me?

[Pastor Manny Arango]

I'm on a roller coaster, baby.

[Pastor Robert]

Buckle up, let's go. Either you Want to be on the roller coaster or not? Because this is the kind of God that says to Abraham, hey, leave and go to a place.

[Pastor Manny Arango]

I will show you. But how about you show me so I can go? And God's like, mm, mm, you go first, then I show. But that don't make no sense. Should I start walking this way or that way? What way should I walk? Guess if you go the wrong way, I guess I'll turn you around. And there's so many of us. You know what? You just don't know how. And not knowing how keeps you from doing the what. But God is saying, I don't need your understanding. I need your obedience.

[Pastor Robert]

Just have some faith and go. And then I'll show. God's no different.

[Pastor Manny Arango]

Give me Genesis, chapter six.

[Pastor Robert]

This is God telling Noah how to build a boat. And no one's ever built a boat. This is worse than Ikea.

[Pastor Manny Arango]

Instructions. Don't anybody else got a wife who

[Pastor Robert]

buys stuff from this place called Ikea?

[Pastor Manny Arango]

You know what I do? See, don't tell my wife. Don't tell her. It's our secret. She drops stuff out. I'll be like, girl, here's some money. Go get a manny. Go get a petty. And then while she's gone, I hire someone on TaskRabbit to come to the house and build this stuff. Cause I'm like, I'm not doing this. Here we go.

[Pastor Robert]

So make yourself an ar. Of what? Cypress wood. Make rooms in it. How? We jump to rooms. Wait, hey, God, back up. What's an ark? God. Like, it's gonna rain. What's that? Make yourself an ark of cypress wood. Make rooms in it. Coat it with pitch, inside and out. Okay.

[Pastor Manny Arango]

If you're Noah, you're like, okay, cool, cool, cool, cool. I'm taking notes. Okay, okay, okay. What else you got?

[Pastor Robert]

God.

[Pastor Manny Arango]

Okay, God hits you with the next thing.

[Pastor Robert]

The ark is to be 300 cubits long, 50 cubits wide, 30 cubits high.

[Pastor Manny Arango]

Okay, God's into cubits. Okay, cool. I got it. God. K. Cubits.

[Pastor Robert]

Here we go. Make a roof for it.

[Pastor Manny Arango]

So we got rooms. We got cubits, and now we have a roof. Sounds like we're jumping around a little bit. Okay, make a roof.

[Pastor Robert]

Leaving below the roof.

[Pastor Manny Arango]

Here we go. Some more cubits. And opening one cubit high,

[Pastor Robert]

all around. Oh, yeah. Noah. Put a door. Put a door in the side of the ark. Here we go. And make lower, middle, and upper decks.

[Pastor Manny Arango]

If you're Noah, you're like, okay, cool. All right, Cubits, okay. Rooms. Pitch. Lower middle. Okay. So we got decks. I need to go to Home Depot. What is it? Okay, God, what's next? And God's like,

[Pastor Robert]

Can you imagine me? No. Hey, God, just to remind you, everybody's gonna die. It's kind of important that you give me some more instructions. Cause if I don't build it right, your people are gonna die. These are your people.

[Pastor Manny Arango]

Oh, can you tell this is talk therapy for a church planner?

[Pastor Robert]

Hello, God, how you got me out here planting a church? And all my volunteers like, so what's

[Pastor Manny Arango]

the plan for children's ministry? And I'm like, God hasn't gotten to that part yet.

[Pastor Robert]

All he said was cupids

[Pastor Manny Arango]

and roof and rooms. And it's funny how it doesn't matter how much you as a leader, tell

[Pastor Robert]

your team what God said.

[Pastor Manny Arango]

The team is like, but give us more clarity.

[Pastor Robert]

I'm like, I wish I had clarity. The guy that I be talking to, he just be talking about cubits in rooms, in roofs, in decks. I'm so sorry. I'm now apologizing for God.

[Pastor Manny Arango]

Pastor, what the service time's gonna be, I don't know. Asia, our children's director, she was like, well, Pastor Manny, I've never been a children's director. And I was like, I've never been a senior pastor.

[Pastor Robert]

Sweetheart, we both out here giving it our best shot. You don't know what you're doing. I don't know what I'm doing. Roof, rooms, decks, cubits. And if we don't do it right, people die. No pressure.

[Pastor Manny Arango]

Here we go. Here we go. Can I be nerdy? Can I be nerdy? Can I be nerdy? Happy Nerdy. There are seven clues that this is more than a boat. Because what we just read is confusing to the Western eye. But to the Eastern person, they are going to see all the breadcrumbs that this is more than a boat. Give me the first clue. We're going to go through these clues pretty fast. Here we go. Number one. The instructions for building the ark are completely dictated by God, the voice of God, to the ears of Noah. There are only three times in the entire Bible where the building or the construction of something are dictated by God directly to the person who's in charge of building it. Do you want to know what the next time is? The tabernacle of Moses, which is going to be a dwelling place for the most high God. And the next place after that is the Temple of Solomon, which means that

[Pastor Robert]

maybe, just maybe, this is a boat

[Pastor Manny Arango]

or it's more than a boat, because

[Pastor Robert]

the thing that the people lost was

[Pastor Manny Arango]

the presence of God.

[Pastor Robert]

And if we need to get order back, then maybe we don't just need a boat. Maybe we need a place for the presence of God to dwell with people again. So that's the first clue. Give me the second clue. Clue number two. Let's look at the cubits.

[Pastor Manny Arango]

Can we compare the cubits? Do we have that slide? Here we go.

[Pastor Robert]

This is Genesis 6:15.

[Pastor Manny Arango]

This is how you ought to build it. 300 cubits is the okay.

[Pastor Robert]

Next. 50 cubits. It's 30 cubits. It's okay. So cubits, Cubits. Cubits.

[Pastor Manny Arango]

Oh, oh, oh. Can I throw a curveball? I got three yeses. Okay, never mind. Can I throw a curveball? Can I throw a curveball? The ark that God tells Noah to build. Oh.

[Pastor Robert]

Is a box.

[Pastor Manny Arango]

I'm not trying to trick y'.

[Social Dallas Host 1]

All.

[Pastor Manny Arango]

We all know how to read dimensions. Oh, I'm gonna get in trouble because, you know, there's the people in Kentucky that have built this ark, but they made one mistake. This doesn't say to curve the bottom. This is a box. Oh, I'm about to preach this. Like, I feel it.

[Pastor Robert]

Because it does not take faith to

[Pastor Manny Arango]

build a boat and then get in it and think it's going to save you from the rain.

[Pastor Robert]

What takes faith is for God to tell you to build a box. And this makes no logical sense. Why would a box be able to keep me safe from the storm? But God says it's not the structure that keeps you safe. It is obedience and my word that keeps you safe. You better build it like I told you to build it. If I said to build a box, your faith is not in what you built. Your faith is in the one who told you how to build it. And if God told you to build your business a certain way, you better build that business the way that he told you to. If he told you to build your family a certain way, you better build it the way he told you to. If he told you. Church planter, to build that church a certain way.

[Pastor Manny Arango]

There are so many church conferences where you can learn. Learn all the systems, but sometimes you can come to a temple and be upset that it's not the boat you came from. And as a church planter, I've had to set everyone's expectations. There are lots of churches in Houston, but there are not lots of gardens in Houston. And you've got somebody who heard some obstruct, weird signals from heaven. And I'm just trying to build it the way God told me to. Build it. And I remember being here at social and man, at the time I was doing boat math. Pastor Robert, Based on the attendance, I think we should do a third service. And I'm so glad I sat under a pastor who wasn't trying to build a boat, but trying to build a temple for the Holy Spirit. A place where God can dwell. And him looking at me and saying, I know we can do a Thursday service, but that doesn't mean we should do a third service. Cuz Manny. And this isn't the language he used, but man, it's the language I've adopted. I'm not building a boat. God's asked us to build an ark.

[Pastor Robert]

Here we go.

[Pastor Manny Arango]

Give me the, give me the cubits for the temple.

[Pastor Robert]

Oh, you're gonna love this.

[Pastor Manny Arango]

I'm just on clue number two. I need to move faster first. Kings 60:2. The Bible tells us that the house, this is the temple that King Solomon built for Yahweh was 60 cubits in

[Pastor Robert]

it,

[Pastor Manny Arango]

20 cubits in it, and 30 cubits in it. You see the same pattern, height, length, width. Because the clue in the story in Genesis is that Noah is not just building a boat, but Noah's building a temple for the living God. Here we go. Give me clue number three. We're gonna move quick.

[Pastor Robert]

Lower, middle, upper decks. Lower, middle, upper decks.

[Pastor Manny Arango]

That the ark that Noah builds is three in one.

[Pastor Robert]

Three in one. Kind of like an outer court, an inner court, and a holy of holies. Because the boat ain't just a boat. The boat is actually a type and shadow of the temple that Moses is going to build. Give me the next clue. Give me the next clue. Pitch inside and out.

[Pastor Manny Arango]

When God tells Moses how to build the ark, the ark of the Covenant, that's going to dwell where in the tabernacle, he says, get acacia wood and pitch it with gold inside and out. Which means that the boat that Noah is making is pitched with tar inside and out. The very same way that the Ark of the Covenant is going to be pitched with gold inside and out.

[Pastor Robert]

Give me the next clue. Only one door. One door. Hold up. This is where I gotta talk to all the boat builders, all the people, all the accountants.

[Pastor Manny Arango]

We have a fractional CFO at the garden. And there are times where I say to the CFO, hey, we're gonna give away $15,000. And he goes, well, that's not wise. And I'm like, it's not wise if you're building a boat. I'm not building a boat. I'm building a temple. For the Holy Ghost. And I'm sorry that I'm not going to do math the way you do math. And I'm not saying that systems don't matter. We love systems. We got to have systems. But systems don't grow a church. The spirit of the living God grows a church. And I've had to put my foot

[Pastor Robert]

down as a leader and just say, we're always gonna do stuff that doesn't make sense. And what we don't need is everybody

[Pastor Manny Arango]

gossiping about the decisions that are being made. Maybe, just maybe, I've got instructions you have not heard yet.

[Pastor Robert]

The most honoring thing to do for

[Pastor Manny Arango]

the leader is to say, I cannot bring boat expectations when the leader has heard from God about a temple that they're building. And I should just be happy that we're getting the presence of God back instead of nitpicking about all the details that don't math for me. Just because the math don't math for you does not mean the math don't math for Noah.

[Pastor Robert]

One door. Come on. If it's me, I'm saying to God, can we at least get four doors?

[Pastor Manny Arango]

Come on, let's get giraffes through one door. Come on, let's get the amphibious animals through one door. How are we gonna have one door? But here we go. Here we go. There's only one door because the ark that Noah built was a type and shadow of the temple, and the temple only had one door.

[Pastor Robert]

Why? Because the temple was a type and shadow to Jesus. And Jesus is gonna say, I am

[Pastor Manny Arango]

the way, I am the truth, and

[Pastor Robert]

I am the light. I'm not a way. Oh, no. I'm the gate for the sheep. And anybody who enters through any other way is a thief and a robber. Let me make it very clear. Buddhism is not a door to God. Hinduism is not a door to God. Your humanistic intellect is not a door to God. There's one door to the Father, and it is the shed blood of his son, Jesus. Jesus. If Jesus is not the way, then I don't know what to tell you. There's one door. Your own righteousness is not a door. What you can understand is not a door. I don't know if people have lied to you and told you, well, all religions are essentially the same. No, no, no. Allah is not God. Buddha is not God. No, no. He is the king of kings. He is the lord of lords. There's only one door. Next clue.

[Pastor Manny Arango]

Noah gets out the boat, box, temple. Boat, box, temple. A boat. That's more than A boat, a temple, Hiding in plain sight. And Noah performs one of the largest whole burnt animal sacrifices in the entire Bible. You realize he brings two of every animal to preserve animal life. But then he brings seven of all the clean animals and he gets out of the boat and performs what? One of the largest whole burnt animal sacrifices in the entire Bible.

[Pastor Robert]

Why?

[Pastor Manny Arango]

Who performs whole burnt animal sacrifice? Come on, Bible nerds. Who perform forms whole burnt animal sacrifice in the Bible? Priests. Why is Noah operating as a priest? Because he's managing a temple. That is why Noah is operating as a priest. Because this is not just a boat. It's a boat box temple. Give me the last clue and then we're gonna end service and everybody can go eat fried chicken. Let's go. Noah's name. Everybody say Noah. You gotta say it like a good Hebrew, like Noah. There you go. Noah. His name means rest.

[Pastor Robert]

Rest.

[Pastor Manny Arango]

You remember that the God who was hovering above chaos went from hovering above the chaos to resting in the creation once it was ordered. And Noah's name actually signifies his very purpose is to get the rest of God back. The very thing that chaos cost you is the very thing that the temple of the living God wants to bring you. Why should I come to church every Sunday? I think every other week is enough. No, no, no, no, no. You need the presence of God.

[Pastor Robert]

You need the of presence power of God.

[Pastor Manny Arango]

You need the manifest glory of God.

[Pastor Robert]

It is not just enough to have a relationship with God. And my relationship with God is my relationship with God. And yours is your. No, no, no, no, no.

[Pastor Manny Arango]

You need to be in God's house. This is a house of prayer, a house of presence. A house for people.

[Pastor Robert]

We're building a house here. It's why we would say if it

[Pastor Manny Arango]

costs 6 million to even break ground,

[Pastor Robert]

we'll give it gladly. Because we want a temple of the Holy Ghost to be in that community. God, we need a temple. We don't just need boats to save us. We need temples to honor you. We want to be the kind of people who are excited about your presence. We want to be the kind of people who gather with expectation. If you don't show up, we won't move. Cause we want you.

[Pastor Manny Arango]

Last thing I'll say and we're done. One of the rules that I've given the servant leaders at the Garden is simple. Hey, boat builders save seats. Temple builders hold doors. Your job is not to get into the service early so you can save a seat for yourself. No, no, no, no, no, no. Your job is to hold the door Let another one in. Let another one in. Let another one in. Let another one in. We trying to save as many people from the flood that is coming as humanly possible. Tomorrow is not promised. Of course I'll jump on a team. Why?

[Pastor Robert]

Because I'd rather be a door holder

[Pastor Manny Arango]

in the house of my God than dwell amongst the wicked.

[Pastor Robert]

God. Let me just hold. I'll hold the.

[Pastor Manny Arango]

The door for your lost sons and daughters who are coming back home. I want to be somebody who will build, not as a boat to save me. There's some. Some of us, even though the Bible never calls it a boat, you see a boat because the talking tomato told you there was a boat. And I hope I didn't confuse you by offering an Easter egg. In perspective, it is a boat because it served a functional purpose, but it was way more than a boat. And I get it. You're trying to build a business for a functional purpose. But could you maybe think to yourself, this isn't just a business, it's more than a business. I want this business to be a temple of the living God. Hey, this is a marriage, and it serves a functional purpose. But maybe, just maybe, it's more than a marriage.

[Pastor Robert]

Hey, we're starting a family. I get it. Functional purpose.

[Pastor Manny Arango]

But maybe it's more than a family.

[Pastor Robert]

We need to buy a house. I got you. You need to buy a house.

[Pastor Manny Arango]

But maybe it's more than just property. Maybe it's more than real estate.

[Pastor Robert]

Hey, we're praying that. Look. Cinema shuts down so that God can actually own space. Hey, we're not just praying that it would be another church building. No, no. We're praying that it be more than a building, that it be a place where God dwells.

[Pastor Manny Arango]

If you're in the room today and you're saying, you know what? I've got this practical thing that I've got. Maybe it's a business. Maybe it's my job. Maybe it's my cubicle at my job. And I need to turn that cubicle from a cubicle of gossip to a cubicle of worship. God, I need a car. Is it a car, or is it a place where the Lord can meet you while you're on your daily commute? Because you can turn anything into a boat, but you can turn any boat into a temple if you are mindful about what God would have you use it for. If you're in the room today and you're like, you know what, Pastor Manny preaching to me, the very job I complain about is actually a space I can Transform the. The very business with the employees that

[Pastor Robert]

I want to fire.

[Pastor Manny Arango]

What if it's not as a job? What if it's a place for me to disciple young men and women? What if it's a temple? If you're in the room today and you're saying, you know what, I've always seen the story of Noah as a boat, but I need to see it as a temple, and I actually need to apply that to my life. I need to stop seeing mundane things as boats and I need to see them as temples so that I can steward what God's placed in my hand properly. If that's you, just wave your hand and me. Wave your hand at me. God, I thank you right now. God, I thank you for all of the boats represented in the room that. Lord God, you are going to take the two fish and the five loaves that all of us have and you are going to transform it into something that can do way more than we ask, think or imagine. God, take our families, take our children, take our businesses, take our resources.

[Pastor Robert]

God, take the boats that we've built

[Pastor Manny Arango]

and turned them into temples of the Holy Spirit.

[Pastor Robert]

We ask, Lord God, that you would sanctify us right now, give us a renewed passion for holiness. Lord God, help us to not just be boat managers, but to be priests over the temple of the Holy Spirit that you've given us. God, we're going to pray for these kids instead of complaining about them. We're going to pray not just about our spouse, but for our spouse spouse. We declare our homes are holy ground. We declare our cubicle is holy ground. We declare our car is holy ground. Lord God, if we haven't seen it as holy, we declare right now what we have seen as mundane. Would you begin to mark again as holy as unto the Lord and God, if we've compromised and built things in a way that is based on human logic, we repent right now. And we. We ask that you would give us a heavenly blueprint again to build according to your plan and your will and your way. In Jesus name we pray. Come on. And all God's people said Amen. Amen. Did you hear a word today?

[Pastor Manny Arango]

You hear a word today?

[Pastor Robert]

Hey.

[Pastor Manny Arango]

With all heads bowed and all eyes closed, I got a question for for you. Maybe you know that you and God are not in reconciled relationship. What that means is that you need grace and forgiveness and mercy from God. And can I tell you something? You came to the right church because we want to give you an opportunity to start a new relationship with. With God, here's the gospel. It's actually pretty simple. It's this. God treated Jesus like a sinner so that he could treat sinners as if we were perfect. That's the gospel. God treated the only one who's ever been perfect like a sinner so that

[Pastor Robert]

he could treat all of us who

[Pastor Manny Arango]

are sinners as if we're perfect. It's a deal of a lifetime. If you're an entrepreneur and you were doing business, you would take that deal every time. So what's the catch? I'll tell you the catch. Although salvation is free, it will cost you your life. It's gonna cost that you repent of your sins and that you confess not just that Jesus is Savior, but that he's Lord and then give him control of your life. If you're in the room today and you know you're far from God, you've made decisions that are chaotic, that have

[Pastor Robert]

ruined

[Pastor Manny Arango]

your peace and your own life, maybe you've sabotaged your life with sin. I want to be clear today. You don't have to pay the penalty of your sin. There's a God who loves you, who didn't just die for you. He died as you. He took your place on the cross with all heads bowed and all eyes closed. If you know I'm talking to you and you know that you need to get on this boat because there's a flood coming and you want to be inside, not out. If you know I'm preaching to you today, can you just slip your hand up right where you are? I see your hand. I see your hand. I see your hand. I see your hand. There's hands going up all over the room. Can you pray this prayer with me? Actually, I don't want anybody to feel singled out. I see dozens of hands, but how about we all say this prayer together? Say, Jesus, thank you for loving me. Thank you for dying on the cross in my place. Today I confess with my mouth and I believe in my heart that you are Lord, you are king, you are boss, and I give you my life. Lord Jesus, I belong to you from this day forward. I am a new creation in Christ. The old is gone and the new has come in Jesus name. Oh, if you just prayed that prayer for the first time or the first

[Pastor Robert]

time in a long time, I think that's a good place to rejoice, because the Bible says that there's rejoicing in the presence of the angels right now. Even that one person would come home. So can you give Jesus some praise today for every person that's gave their life to Jesus. Come on, give him some praise.

[Worship Leader]

Hey, come on and stand with me one more time. Can we make some noise for those people that gave their life to Jesus today?