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Amen and amen. If you got your Bibles, I hope you do. We're gonna be in Matthew chapter 17. You could tell by the weightiness of that testimony video that today's just gonna be a little bit different. And if you're still coming in, welcome. Glad you're here. And if you're thinking, are we running extra late? Yeah, we start at 9:22. But I'm glad you're here. So glad you're here. But the reason that we shorten up the front end is. Cause what we wanna do on the back end, if you've been around for a minute, you'll see we got anointing oil here. And I know that the text that we're gonna look at is, what do you do when you're living out the story that you would not have written for yourself? What do you do when your circumstances seem to be out of control? And Ben and Katie, who are in that video, they were here with us at 7:22 on Thursday night. I got to spend some time with them. And they just talked about the faithfulness of God even when their prayers aren't answered the way they wanted it to be. And so what we're going to do, we're gonna walk through the text. This is actually, I think the fourth time that I've taught through this. And so if you're an OG, if you've been around here for 10 years or so, we've heard this over and over and over. However, you've never heard this sermon today. And one of the incredible things about the Word of God is that it's living and active. And you could come back to the same text over and over and over. Cause you're not just reading it, it's reading you. And listen, man, praise God. In my family right now, things are really good. I got a wife that loves me, two healthy kids that are walking with the Lord. Praise God. And maybe the last time we walked through this text, you were in a different season. But I know, I believe that every single time we come to this text, and that's what we do, we just walk through the word that God is going to meet you right where you are, right when you are. And so what's going to begin to happen now in Matthew 7? And if you'll notice, you're like, hey, we skipped over some sections. What we're gonna do is there's a bunch of sections in Matthew that I'm gonna clump together in the fall as we launch Neighbors to Nations. It'll make a Ton of sense then. But one of the things that you'll see is that, remember in Matthew chapter four, when Jesus kicked his whole teaching ministry off, it said this. And from that day forward, he began to teach, repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. And what we're gonna see today is that the kingdom of heaven has invaded the earth. Because wherever the king rules and reigns, then things are just different. In the kingdom of Heaven, there's no sickness and depression and tears. And he's gonna begin to give us glimpses of that. And In Matthew chapter 10, if you'll remember, a few weeks ago, Jesus commissions his disciples to heal the sick and to cast out demons and to cleanse the lepers and to raise the dead. Matthew, chapter 17. It's gonna start out awesome, and then it's gonna get real serious. And then in about 47 minutes and 16 seconds, we're gonna say, if there's anybody here that needs prayer, we're gonna do what the Bible says to do. And In James chapter 5, the Bible says this. Is anyone among you sick or suffering? Then you should call the elders of the church and you should pray and anoint with oil. Confess your sins to one another, that you may be healed. And we're gonna pray for healing. We're gonna pray that bodies will be healed, that minds will be healed, that marriages will be healed, that. That prodigals will come home, that demons will be cast out, that addictions will be broken. So just let me warn you, that's what we're gonna do. Okay? And I know you charismatics, you love it. You love a good anointing Baptist. Relax. I know the only thing you've ever anointed is biscuits with gravy, but we're just gonna. We're gonna just do what the Bible says. Catholics, you don't even have a category for this, but it's gonna be awesome. Matthew 17 starts out great, says this. And after six days, Jesus took with him Peter and James and John his brother, and led them up to a high mountain by themselves. Now, if you remember, what we've been talking about all throughout the Gospel of Matthew is that Matthew, he was born an insider, he becomes an outsider. He works for the Roman government. He exacts taxes from his own people to give them to Rome. And then Rome tyrannizes his own people. And then Jesus meets this outsider who they called Levi. But Jesus calls him Matthew and says, come and follow me. And so when Matthew, post resurrection, begins to write his gospel, he's trying to explain it to his Jewish brothers and sisters in such a way that the people would know that Jesus is the greater Israel, that Israel was chosen in order that the whole world would be blessed, that, that the whole world would know that the one true God sent his only begotten son, Jesus Christ. The problem is, is that Israel, like almost every organization, turns inward and they thought that they were just blessed to be blessed. And so a part of what Matthew wants us to do, like if I've got an impossible task, I've got to try to get your mindset into a first century orthodox Jewish mindset as you see this stuff. So the moment Matthew says after six days, Jesus took with him three named dudes up on a mountain to meet with God. If you grew up in like 1st century Hebrew school, like everybody that heard this, you would have understood that Moses took a few named guys up onto a mountain, Mount Sinai, and God showed up in a cloud. And this is what's happening, that Jesus is the greater Moses. Now I know if you're brand new to Bible study and you've been studying the book of Matthew with us, you'll notice that oftentimes what Jesus does is he picks these three people to do all the cool stuff. Peter, James and John. Like when we get to the garden of Gethsemane in a couple of months, that Jesus goes to pray and he asks Peter, James and John to come a little further with him to pray. When Jesus raises this dead little girl, he asks Peter, James and John to come inside the room so they get to see it. And especially if you're kinda young, you're gonna think that's not fair. You wanna jot this down? Fair is not a biblical value. God does what he wants with who he wants, when he wants. And he picks Peter, James and John. And a lot of commentators, you've heard me say this before, a lot of commentators will say, well that's because Jesus picked favorites and these were his three favorites. I don't agree with that. And here's why I don't agree with that. Cause Peter, James and John are the biggest screw ups of all the screw ups. Now again, if you've been around Bible study, like if you grew up in Sunday school, you're like, wait a minute, Pastor. But John is the disciple that Jesus loved most. And the Bible does say that, but only in the book of John written by John. Yeah. So according to me, I'm his favorite too. We'll see when we get to heaven. Here's why I think they're the biggest screw ups. If you just back up to Matthew chapter 16, I'll preach it later this fall. They're coming fresh off of Peter rebuking Jesus. And Jesus looks at Peter and calls him Satan. So listen, I know you still have trauma in your life because your kindergarten teacher told you you weren't that smart. You got to go to therapy and all that. I understand. When the second person of the Trinity, God the Son, calls you the devil, that's gonna leave a mark. You understand what I mean? By the time we get to Matthew chapter 20, James and John are going to send their mom to Jesus to make a power play so they can be the Senior VP of Jesus Incorporated. These are the three biggest screw ups of the bunch, which. 1122, that's some really good news, is it not? That God is in the habit of using the most screwed up people to turn the whole world upside down. And so I think these are the three that just can't be trusted alone. Jesus is at the bottom of the mountain. He's like, I'm about to go up here on the mountain of transfiguration. It's gonna be super awesome. Why don't you guys just sit around the campfire and write worship songs, whatever you're gonna do. He's like, on second thought, Peter, James, John, get in the truck, come with me. That's what's happening. Verse 2. So get to the top of the mountain. And he, Jesus was transfigured before them. We don't even know fully what this means, man. This is a metaphysical reality where Jesus puts on display his glory. I've got a friend of mine named Chris Brown, not the R and B artist back in the day that used to go to jail every other weekend, but he's a pastor over on the left coast at a great church called North Coast. Chris Brown says this, that the transfiguration is his divinity bursting forth through his humanity. That the actual miracle is not that Jesus is gonna put on display his glory on top of the mountain. The real miracle is that for 33 years the glory of God has been shrouded in humanity and Jesus is transfigured before them. And then Matthew is gonna try to describe what this was like. And his face shone like the sun and his clothes became white as light. Luke says that his face was like lightning. You see, the Bible says in Psalm 104 that God clothes himself in light. When you read the description of the ascended Christ in heaven, he's described as the brilliance of light. In fact, the book of Revelation says That in heaven you don't even need the sun because Jesus is the Son, source of light. And so there he is on the top of the mountain of transfiguration and there's some sort of metaphysical thing where he, he begins to glow. He begins to shine as bright as light. Verse 3. And behold, there appeared to them Moses and Elijah talking with him. Now here's why I have to explain these things. Because as 21st century evangelical Floridians and Jessup Georgians, we hear Moses and Elijah and you just stare at me. And I get it, I'm used to it. I do this every week. I'm a professional. But if you were a first century Jewish boy, like Matthew and James and John, and you saw Moses just pop up out of nowhere. Moses has been dead for 1300 years and he shows up on the scene and then next to him you see Elijah, who's been gone for 850 years. He didn't even die. He just got this fire Uber and just took a chariot up to heaven. And now he's sitting there, you would lose your ever loving mind. Because these are like the superheroes of the Old Testament. I mean this would be like if you're an 8 year old boy and there's Jesus talking to Batman and Spider man, you'd be like, what? And so there you are. The Bible doesn't say how it happens, but I don't know, like out of the ground, just here comes Moses with like a beard and staff and tablets, like, I'm Moses, like that's Moses. And then next to him, out of the ground, it's like. And there's a guy with a beard and a name tag says Elijah, I don't know fire from heaven. And they're talking with Jesus. This is a really, really big deal. In fact, Luke lets us know that what they're talking about, the Bible says that Moses and Elijah were talking to Jesus about his departure to heaven. Literally in Greek, the word is Exodus. About Jesus. Exodus. Well, if you know what the Exodus is, if you're kind of in the gifted class, if you go all the way back to the book of Exodus, Moses receives this call from God to go to the Pharaoh and say, let my people go. And 10 plagues come. And the last plague is called the plague of the firstborn. And Moses tells the people of God, I want you to take a perfect spotless lamb and shed his blood and put the blood of a lamb on the doorpost of the house. Because the angel of death is coming and he is going to pass over whoever has the blood of the Lamb on the doorpost of their house. And then what God does through this miraculous event is he transfers the people of God who were slaves in Egypt, and then he transfers them into the promised land. And that is what they are talking about, that Jesus is the Exodus. And not only this. If you still got hair left, this ought to blow it back. In Romans, chapter three, Paul says, by works of the law, no one will be justified in his sight, although the law and the prophets bear witness to it. And the it that they bear witness to is this righteousness where somebody came to do for us what we could not do for ourselves. What's happening on the mountain of transfiguration is the writer of the law, Moses, and the greatest of all the prophets, Elijah, are bearing witness to this alien righteousness that came to do for us what we could not do for ourselves. The personification of the whole Bible is standing there on the top of the mountain. And Jesus is as bright as the sun. And the law and the prophets are bearing witness to the Messiah who's come to save us. This is a really big deal. This is a really, really big deal. And I can tell by your golf clap you don't get it. That's fine. This is the biggest of all big deals. And so Peter, I love Peter so much. Sometimes people say, why you make fun of Peter so much? I'm not making fun of him. I love him. Cause he's me. So Peter's standing back here, he's watching Jesus face flash like lightning. He's watching Moses and Elijah bear witness to this alien righteousness. And then Peter's like, this might be a good opportunity for me to say a couple words. And Peter said, of course he did. And Peter says to Jesus, it is good that we are here. You know what main character syndrome is? You ever meet somebody that puts themself in the center of every story? You ever meet somebody. You know what these are called? These are called podcasters anyway, where everything in the world has to revolve around them. This is what Peter does. Peter is there with Moses and Elijah, talking to the glorified Jesus. And he thinks, you know what? I wanna let everybody know that I approve of the situation going on here. Lord, it is good that we are here. And then he keeps going and he says, if you wish, I will make three tents here. One for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah. In fact, Mark, we're gonna jump over to Mark here, Mark nine in just a little while. And Mark records these words that Peter says. Rabbi, it is good that we are here. Let us make three tents, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah. Verse 6. For he did not know what to say, for they were terrified. Hey, listen, even if you don't wanna. Even if you don't know Jesus, you should write this down. When you don't know what to say, just don't. Just don't. Fellas, did you ever say something dumb? No amens from any of the wives, please. Okay, don't listen to this part, guys. You ever say something dumb? Like, you open your mouth and as it comes, as the dumb leaves your head, you're like, oh, no. Like, I've been sitting in this meeting and I know everybody thinks I'm an idiot, and I have confirmed all of their suspicions by the words that I just said. And so what do we do, boys? Oh, I said dumb words. I know it will work. More words. It's not a good idea. It's not a good idea. Verse 5 says he was still speaking. Like, Peter just can't shut up. He's like, no, seriously, I can make tents. Who wants a tent? You want a tent? I mean, serious. What's your favorite color? Mo. I can put like a tarp over it. A little rain guard. It's gonna be awesome. We can stay here forever. Now. I think what's happening here, if I give Peter just a little bit of the benefit of the doubt, is Peter finds himself in this incredible moment, this experience with the glorified Christ. And he's like, this is awesome. I want to stay here forever. And listen, I get it, man. He's in this, literally this mountaintop moment. And I'm going to confess I love the mountaintop moment. And I hope and pray. You have all kind of mountaintop moments. I hope and pray when you show up here on a weekend that you experience the living, resurrected Jesus Christ. I hope you've had those moments. A whole bunch of us work really, really hard to try to remove all the distractions of the world so that when we gather here in the name of Jesus and make much of the name of Jesus by word and worship, I hope you experience the living Christ. And I know some of you do, some of you will come up to me after saturated. You'll be like, oh, Pastor, saturated was so good. I was here every night, pastor, let's do 40 days of saturated. I'm like, no, you're gonna kill us. No. Because moments matter, man. Moments matter. And shame on those people that try to diminish what the Bible calls the gathering of the saints. Because, listen, man, at all of our campuses and watching online, when we gather together as the body of Christ to make much of Christ in worship and word, then God manifests himself in a unique way. This is why we end the services the way we do. So you can come down here and get on your face before holy God. Because what you need is not more information. For me, what you need, and what I need is a fresh encounter with the living God. Cause it changes everything, man. Everything. But here's the thing. We were not created to just sit and soak up on the mountain. Cause Jesus ain't gonna stay on the mountain. He's gonna go down into the valley where the real ministry is. And in fact, man, if you love those kind of moments, I've got some really good news. This fall, beginning on August 3rd, we're gonna start this thing called Neighborhood Nights. And me and a team of worship leaders and a couple of the campus pastors, I'm gonna come preach live at every single campus. Everyone from Orlando to Jessup and everyone in between. And what we're doing in these Neighborhood nights, man, we're working really, really hard to help us have that kind of clarity of vision, that mountaintop moment where we can encounter the living God. Because those moments change everything. And. And we'll be laying out the direction of our church for the next two and a half years. And so check with your campus pastor and be there. I want to meet you. I want to pray for you. And these moments matter. But the reality is we don't stay in that moment forever. We meet with Jesus, we get all filled up so that we can go out into our regular lives, down into the valleys that we live in, so that we can be poured out for the sake of the gospel. Verse 5. And Peter is still speaking. When, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them. And the voice of the cloud said, this is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased. Listen to him. That's Greek for Peter. Shut up. That's what that means. I don't know if you've ever realized this, but it's really hard to listen, especially to God when you're doing all the talking. You ever notice that? You ever pray like a dummy? I know you have. Cause I've been in group with you. And we pray like dummies. We'll have this situation in our life where we're like, oh, we need to go to the Lord in prayer. And then our entire prayer time is zero. Hearing from God and it's 100% filling God in on all the details just in case he doesn't know. And we talk and we talk and we talk and we talk. And we don't spend any time listening. And this is what's key. God says, listen to him. I know some of you are walking through it right now. And a part of the reason you're walking through it is cause you're listening to the wrong voices. You gotta listen to Jesus. Too many of us listen to the world. Do not listen to the world. Cause you know what the world is trying to do. The world spends billions of dollars a day to bait you down a road that's gonna lead to only disappointment and then laugh at you when you walk down that road. I mean, seriously, some of you thought you bought a Buick cause you were gonna be cool as Matthew McConaughey and you ain't. You buy in to what this world sells us. And then some of us listen to the enemy. Please don't listen to the enemy. Why? Because he is a liar and all he speaks is lies. Cause fear is a liar. And his native language is fear and condemnation. Because every single time you listen to the voice of the enemy, he always wants you to question at least three things in your life. The word of God, the worth of God, and the work of God. Like you'll be reading the Bible and then God would have the audacity to. To say something that's a little offensive to you. And then here comes the enemy, and he's like, did God really say, oh, I know that's what that word says, but that's not what it means. You do. You boo. That's a lie. He wants you to question the word of God, and he wants you to question the worth of God. You ever get that voice that says, well, God, if you really love me, you take better care of me. Are you really worthy of my praise? And the biggest one of all, he wants you to question the work of God. And you know what the finished work of God is? Is that Jesus died on the cross for you. And then the enemy wants you to be condemned. And he wants you to think that Jesus may have died on the cross for all those good church folk that you're sitting next to, but that didn't count for you. That is a lie of the enemy. And another voice that you listen to all the time, which is terrible, is quit listening to you. You're the worst prophet in your own life. Has anybody lied to you more than you? Has anybody broken more promises to you than you. You gotta quit listening to you. Because here's the problem, man. When you just have some serious negative talk that does not align with the word of God, if your mouth says it and your ears hear it, your brain is gonna believe it and your heart's gonna feel it. And that's dangerous. You gotta quit listening to you and you gotta start preaching to you. And what you gotta start preaching is the word of God. Listen to Jesus. Let me ask you this. Are you more discipled by the world or the Word? And if you spend all of your time. Listen, man. If you spend 20, 30 hours a week listening to your favorite paid for news, there is no such thing as a free press anymore. It's all paid for. And you spend all your time listening to those conspiracy theory podcasts which listen, they're probably right, they're just early. And you spend all of your time listening to your little political echo chamber and you give one hour a week to listening to the word. No wonder you're all jacked up. Cause you're listening to the wrong voice. He says, this is my son, whom I love. Listen to him. Now when the disciples heard this, they fell on their faces and they were terrified. You know why they're terrified? Exodus 19. That they look around and they're like, hey, wait a minute, we have seen this before. That God called Moses to consecrate himself. It took six days and for all the people to consecrate themselves. And then God tells Moses in Exodus 19, don't let anybody come up on this mountain or touch this mountain, for I am holy. And if you haven't been invited, I'm gonna kill you. And I don't care if it's you or your wife or your servant or your parakeet. If you touch the mountain, it's over for you. And then Moses goes up on Mount Sinai and the Bible says that a big cloud, see cloud, a big cloud descends. And God begins to speak out loud and give Moses the ten commandments. And now there's Peter and James and John. And James and John are looking at Peter and be like, what have you done? You have screwed this whole thing up. Cause this big cloud descends on them and says, shut up. Behold my son, in whom I am pleased. Listen to him. And they think we're dead men. And they fall on their faces thinking that they're about to get taken out. When the disciples heard this, they fell on their faces and they were terrified. Verse 7. But Jesus came and he touched them, saying, rise and have no fear. The most commanding thing in the Bible is that fear. Not in the King James version of the Bible. At least 366 times there's some version. Do not be afraid. Be anxious for nothing. Be strong and courageous. Have no fear. Why? I don't know about you, but I need every single day of my life, including leap year, to hear this. Don't be afraid. Why? Because perfect love casts out fear first. John 4:10 says this. And this is love. Not that we love him, but he first loved us and he sent his son as the propitiation for our sin. Propitiation means a payment that satisfies, which means this. If you put your faith in Jesus Christ, he has paid the full penalty to satisfy the justice of God, the law of God, the holiness of God, which means that God cannot be dissatisfied in you. That's really, really good news. Really good news. And your sin doesn't define you. Jesus does. And so Jesus touches them and he says, rise and have no fear. Verse 8. And when they lifted their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus alone. They this is how you overcome fear, is you fix your eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of your faith. Listen, I know some of you are walking through some terrible situations. I get it. We're gonna spend a lot of time on it here in a second. But the difference between fear and faith is when you look into the future, who do you see has control. If you fix your eyes on Jesus, the author and the perfecter, that means the beginner and the finisher of our faith, then that's what will happen. You will begin to to have faith because you'll know he's in control. If you look into the future and you think your circumstances are in charge, then you better tremble. When they lifted their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only. Listen, man, Jesus is the one that when the wind and the waves are overtaking, he can say, peace, be still. And they have to listen. Jesus is the one that takes care of the birds. And if he can take care of the birds, don't tell PETA, but you're way more valuable than the birds. And he's got you. Verse 9. And as they were coming down the mountain, Jesus commanded them, tell no one the vision until the Son of man is raised from the dead. Basically what Jesus says is, hey man, keep this to yourself until I pull off Easter. Cause nobody's gonna believe this anyway. And then the whole way down the rest of the mountain, he basically just explains gospel verses 10 and following, just he lets them know that the Old Testament said Elijah was gonna precede the Lord. And they're like, when's that gonna happen? They're like, hey, that's already happened. He was John the Baptist. And then what I wanna do is I wanna hop over to Mark. Chapter nine. It's the same event. It's the same event, but Mark is just gonna share some different details. Okay? I don't call these things stories. These are not stories. And the reason I don't like to say Bible story is I don't want you to think flannelgraph or veggietales, depending on. Depending on your age group. This is an actual event. And sometimes Matthew and Mark and Luke and John, they'll share different details, but these are just different angles on the same event. It's like if you watch a football game, and then later you see the highlights. Fox News or Fox Sports might show one set of highlights, and ESPN might show a different set of highlights, but the game was the game. And so he's describing the same thing, same account, different details. And what's gonna happen is they have this mountaintop experience where Peter just wants to stay. And then they're gonna walk down into the valley, and they're gonna walk into a mess. Pay attention to this. Often the mess comes right after the mountaintop, not just in our lives, in Jesus life. Do you know when Jesus got tempted by the devil for 40 days and 40 nights in the desert? It was right on the heels of his baptism. So the reason that you should pay attention to this, you might be on the mountaintop right now. Praise God. You should give him glory for that. But the valley's coming. And here's what happens in Mark, chapter nine, beginning in verse 14. And when they. That's Jesus, Peter, James and John. And when they came to the disciples, they were at the bottom of the mountain. And when they came to the disciples, they saw a great crowd around them. And the scribes arguing with them with the disciples. And immediately all the crowd, when they saw Jesus, they were greatly amazed. And they ran up to him and they greeted him. And Jesus asked them, what are you arguing with them? What are you guys arguing about with them? And nobody's gonna answer. It's like this. Parents, you ever hear your kids, like, fighting in the playroom? They're screaming and yelling and be like, what are y' all fighting about? Like, nothing. We're just sharing prayer requests, you little liars. That's what's happening here. They know they're in trouble, man. They know they're in trouble, verse 17. And someone from the crowd. Matthew lets us know that it's a dad. And someone from the crowd, this dad answers, jesus, teacher, I brought my son to you. For he has a spirit that makes him mute. And whenever it seizes him, it throws him down and he foams and he grinds his teeth and he becomes rigid. And so I ask your disciples to cast it out. And they were not able. Don't run by this too quick. And here's the thing. Here's the thing. Those of you that grew up, you already know how it ends. So don't jump to the end. I want you to sit in the dad's seat for just a second. Cause here's the thing. This isn't a story, man. This is a real dad. This is a real guy, man. He's got a wife, got a kid, got a job, got a permanent address. His friends call him some nickname, like, this is a real dad, just like you. Just like me. And he finds himself in a desperate situation because this kid is possessed and oppressed by the demonic, and he doesn't know what to do. And he's willing to do whatever it takes. Let me ask you, what would you do for your kid if they needed help? You would do whatever it takes, right? Whatever it takes. And then the dad begins to hear the miracle workers in Galilee. The miracle workers hanging out by the Sea of Tiberias. And so maybe, what if the stories are true? I mean, what if he really can walk on water and feed 20,000 people with a little lunchable? What if he really did resurrect a girl from the dead? Maybe if I can just get my boy to him, maybe he can do something. And here's how you know that he's in a desperate situation. I've said it 10,000 times. Cause ain't no pain like kid pain. Amen. Mamas and daddies. Ain't no pain like kid pain, man. And I get it. Like, if you're a kid, you're young, you just gotta trust me on this one, all right? I mean, you just are. Listen, I get it. If you're a teenager. Listen, I know you think you're awesome. You're not awesome. I know you think your parents are dumb. And the reason you think that is. Cause you're dumb. That's why it's not your fault. You can't help it. You can't help. You're just young. And one day when you get to be, like, 24, you're gonna be like, my parents are really smart. They've always been smart. You're finally catching up. That's what's happening. The reason that there's no pain like kid pain. Cause there's no love like kid love, man. I mean, I love my wife. We've been married 26 years. I'm into her. If I told you more, Nette, it'd make you uncomfortable. All right? I mean, I'm really into her. And I thought I had maxed out the credit card of love that I have. And then we started having babies, mostly her. But I was there. I was involved. And when JP shows up on the scene, I'm like, what? There's, like, a new gear, you know? My whole Bible began to change all of a sudden. The prodigal son story ain't about the son anymore. It's about the father in the heart of a father for his lost kid. Amen. Everything begins to change all of a sudden. John 3:16 means something different. For God so loved the world, he gave his only begotten son. I would give anything for my children. And then. I've told you this before, and then we have the second one again. Mostly Gretchen, but I was there, and I remember thinking, I couldn't ask anybody this, but I was like, oh, am I gonna be able to love the second one like I love the first one? Because I did not withhold any of the love. I gave all that I had to the first one. Am I gonna have anything left for the second one? And then when Reagan Capri was born, seven pounds on the dot, the number of perfection according to the scriptures. And I held that little thing. And then I began to realize, even though I gave all the love that I have to give to my boy, I still have all the love to give to my girl. Because love is an inexhaustible resource. Because God is love. There ain't no pain like kid pain. Cause there ain't no love like kid love. And this dad has tried everything, and he finds himself in an utterly desperate situation. It's a powerless feeling to not be able to help your kids. Like in that video, the dad Ben says this. I remember feeling hopeless sometimes. There's nothing I can do to help Ansley with this. I'm completely powerless for a dad. That's just the toughest thing. The Bible says hope deferred makes the heart sick when you find yourself in a hopeless situation. And so this dad hears the miracle workers coming to town, and he thinks, just maybe, just, what if. What if he can actually do what I've heard he can Do. What if it's true? What if he really can cast out demons and calm the winds and the waves? And he shows up with his boy and he's like, can I see Jesus? And the disciples are like, well, he's not here right now. See the shiny thing up on the mountain? He's up there. He'll be back in a minute. And so he assumes, well, well, you're his disciples. You're the Talmudine. You follow in his footsteps, so maybe you can help. And the man's testimony is, but they were not able. And by the time Jesus comes out of the mountain, what happens is, instead of helping this man and his son in a desperate situation, they get into some kind of theological, religious, denominational fight with the other church leaders. And let me tell you, you. It's such a sad picture of today's church. Listen, you've heard me say this before, man. I ain't got time to play church. I just ain't got time to play church. And so for all you keyboard warriors and Instagram grifters out there that want to just sit behind your desk and just be critical of every other church and how they're not doing it right, I ain't got time to fight with you. Because I'm here to preach the gospel and serve you, the people of 1122. And so I ain't got time to fight with people online. Daddy always says, this, man, fighting online is like wrestling a pig. Everybody gets dirty and the pig likes it. I ain't got time for that, man. And this is what happens in the church. Everybody's so critical of what everybody else is doing. Listen, man, I did a video about this the other day. I'm just Team Jesus. If you're on Team Jesus, I'm with you. And I wanna celebrate everything that God is doing at your church. And I hope you would pray and celebrate what God is doing in this church. But not the disciples, man. They missed the whole mark. And Jesus is angry. Verse 19. And he answered them. O faithless generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you? Matthew says. He says, o faithless generation. O twisted generation. In Greek, that word twisted is where we get the word perverted. You have perverted the mission of God. He's like, boys, what are you doing? Don't you remember In Matthew chapter 10, I commissioned you to heal the sick, cast out demons, cleanse the lepers, and raise the dead. Well, here it is. What are you doing? And yet you have taken a good gift of God and you have perverted it. And now this boy and this dad is the one that are dealing with the pain. So Jesus says, bring him to me. He's talking to the disciples. He ain't mad at the boy and the dad. They're just collateral damage of the church not doing what it's supposed to do. He says, bring him to me. And they brought the boy to him. And when the spirit saw Jesus, immediately it convulsed the boy. He fell on the ground and he rolled about foaming at the mouth by the one way. One of the things I find incredibly interesting in the scriptures is that the demons are always the first ones to recognize Jesus, and the religious are the last. You know why? Because the demons see him for who he actually is, the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords. And the religious people can't see past their own traditions. And it's the tradition of man that nullifies the word of God. You know, one of the biggest criticisms that Jesus will get in the Gospels is this. The religious people go, why are you hanging out with those people? And he said, what you mean those people? Those people are why I came. And so listen, man, you show up to 11:22 and it ain't quite as buttoned up as your last church. And like, a little grimy. It's always going to be grimy. If you're looking for country club church, you in the wrong place, you're going to be highly disappointed. This thing is an ER for the sick. It is not a cruise liner to just try to entertain people, okay? And so we got all kind of different people with all kind of different junk. And it's led by somebody with all kind of junk in his life. And Jesus asks his Father, how long has this been happening to him? And the dad says, from childhood, not birth. He didn't say from birth. There's Greek words for birth. He didn't say that. You know what this means? This mom and dad are just like you. If you got kids, you bring them home from the hospital and you look at them and everything's going good. They got all their fingers and their toes and their little, you know, little hair sticks up. And you smell them little baby man, right? And you got hopes and you got dreams, and they begin to progress and they begin to recognize you and make little words. And no matter what you ask them to say, they say dada first. Cause it's creation order. Then they begin to crawl, they begin to walk, right? And then one day in the life of this little boy, someone right Someone, right? And you know how it goes. Anytime there's two parents, there's always one that's a hypochondriac. And every time the kid does something, oh, he blinked, and you're on WebMD, and you're like, ah, you. You know. And then the other parent is, like, hopelessly optimistic. It's like, there's nothing. No, it's nothing. Don't worry about it. And then one day, it's undeniable. And then it gets to the place where he says in verse 22, and it has often cast him into the fire and into the water to destroy him. Let me put this into context. If you ever come to Israel with me, I'm gonna take you to the Sea of Galilee. And guess what? In the first century would be everywhere. The. They live on. They live by the Sea of Galilee. There's water everywhere. And they don't have microwaves and convection ovens. That means there's open flames all day, every day. So as soon as you finish cooking breakfast, you cook lunch, then you cook dinner. And so here's what he's saying. Every step of my boy's life, the enemy has only been trying to steal, kill, and destroy my son. Every step he takes, he's either trying to throw him into the water or throw him into the fire. And so in this place of utter desperation, I need you to hear the desperation in the voice of the dad. And then he says, but if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us. Why? Cause if it's your kid, it's us. But if. If you can do anything. The dad is just simply asking for a favor. He's not trying to make a deal. There's no quid pro quo here. He doesn't come to us and say, all right, Jesus, if I do my part, will you pay me back? Like if I support your ministry? How about that? If I make a large donation, then will you bless me? Or maybe if I show up the church three times in a row, maybe then will I be able to be blessed? That's not what he says. He says, I got nothing to offer but the desperation that I'm in. And Jesus, if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us. And Jesus said to him, I don't think he's being snarky. He's just telling him the truth. If you can. All things are possible for the one who believes the way we say it around here, because we have an advantage over this man. If the tomb is empty, anything is possible. Verse 24. And immediately the father of the child cried out. Jesus says, out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks. So the first thing that comes out of his mouth is this prayer. I believe. Help my unbelief. I believe. I want to believe. I'm here. I think maybe you can. I'm kind of not sure. I believe and I want to believe. And at the same time, as I look around at my circumstances, if I'm honest, and I also got doubts and I also don't believe, and I'm also not sure. Let me ask you, you ever been there? You ever have a prodigal kid and you're like, what the heck, God? I know you're not supposed to preach like this. It makes you uncomfortable. That's all right. I don't care. I ain't got time to play church. You're like, come on, Lord, what the heck? I raised them in church and I prayed the prayers over them and now they're gone. You ever go through an unwanted divorce? You're like, I stood in an altar and I promised and I kept my part and they didn't. What the heck? You ever have a loved one get cancer? I mean, explain that one to me, man. When good godly people get cancer, that'll make no sense to me. I get it. We live in a broken world and God's in charge. I understand all that, but you ever having that place in your heart, I mean, you know, when Ben Williams, our OG worship pastor, goes down with brain cancer, I'm like, what are you doing? How are you going to give Christians cancer if you let me be in charge? No. Christians would get cancer. Terrorists would get cancer. That's just how I would wire it, you know, you'd be like, I got a plan. I don't feel good. It's cause you're a terrorist and you got cancer. That's how I would do it. That makes sense. You ever have your prayers not answered? Listen, man, sometimes I pray and see miracles. I mean, in the past few years, I pray for Ben and Petey and Elizabeth and Amy and Tina and. And every single one of them were healed. Praise God for that. In fact, recently there were two couples at our church that were struggling with infertility. And I prayed for Steph and Jeremiah and Danielle and Scotty, and the wives are sisters. And you know what? I'm praying that God would make a baby. And then about a few months later, 10 months or whatever, they show up and they go, here's what you prayed for. And I'm telling me I'm getting old. So like, I get all weepy and put the men in menopause and I'm like, oh my God, it's a baby. You know, I love it so much, man. And then sometimes you pray and then feels like crickets. Ever do that? Cause listen, man, sometimes, sometimes I got it all figured out for the Lord. You ever got it figured out for him? I got it figured out. I'm like, lord, say yes to this one. I know you can heal. I'm believing that you are. So come on through, Lord. I mean, let me walk into the hospital room and anoint with oil and say, in the name of Jesus, rise up and walk. And we'll walk through Wolfson's Children's Hospital and give testimony to Jesus. And people come to you. Why won't you answer that prayer? I mean, one time in Capernaum, you accidentally healed a lady like who touched me. So if you can do that one on accident, surely you can do this one on purpose. Come on, Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief. This might be the most honest prayer in the whole Bible. Here's the one I want you to see. This man brings his true self to Jesus. I believe kinda sometimes. And I also don't believe at the same time. Can you help me? And here's how Jesus responds. He does not say, depart from me, O faithless one. And when you get your faith level up to being miracle level, then come back and see me. That's not what he does. He's going to hear the man's prayer. It says, and when Jesus saw that a crowd came running together, he rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, you mute and deaf spirit, I command you, come out of him and, and never enter him again. And after crying out and convulsing him terribly, it came out and the boy was like a corpse. So that most of them said, he's dead. But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up and he arose. This is the foreshadowing of what's gonna happen at Easter. And when he had entered the house, the disciples come up to him privately. And I would even say sheepishly, I say, hey boss, why couldn't we cast it out? Now, the Bible wouldn't say this, but I'll say this. Jesus is gonna say, this kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer. I didn't even see you praying. You didn't even try it. In Matthew, chapter 10, I gave you authority to heal the sick, cleanse the leper, Cast out demons and raise the dead. And yet when you got right there, you didn't even pray. Let me ask you this, is prayer for you a first response or a last response? Like if the Holy Spirit left your house, how long would it take you to notice? You just trying to raise your family on good, moral, conservative principles without the power of the Spirit of God. You see, I think the point of the passage is this, that God doesn't reveal himself to us so that we can just sit and soak in the mountaintop experience, but he fills us up so that we can be sent and served down in the valleys where people need the help the most. And so maybe I know with the amount of people that show up here and listen, I know some of you are right where the dad is right now. You got a serious need. You got a prodigal kid, you got a financial situation, you're struggling with infertility. Oh, I hate that one, man. And I get it, I get it, we live in a broken world and all that stuff, but I just. It's such a head scratcher for me. I don't understand. I know this is politically incorrect, but welcome to 1122. I'm like, Lord, please help me understand this. The most unqualified humans can't stop making babies. And this sweet Christian couple over here just wants to make a little disciple. What are we doing? The this is a good desire. Maybe some of you are lonely and you know that Jesus is enough, but you just wanna share your life with somebody. You wanna join together in marriage to the glory of God. And you don't seem to be answering that one. Or you got a health issue and you believe, but that scan's coming up and you're waiting for the results. And the circumstances kinda make you not believe too. Or you're gripped with fear. You got an unbreakable addiction. So what do you do about this? Man? Got a besetting sin. You don't want to do the thing anymore on a Sunday morning at church, but Tuesday night by yourself is the only thing you could think about. You're like, lord, I believe, but help my unbelief. So what do you do? Jesus says, this kind can only be cast out in prayer. What's really cool is the way Matthew ends it. As Matthew records, the disciples say, hey, boss, how come we couldn't cast it out? And Jesus says, because of your little faith. And you might think, well, that's all I got, is just a little bit of faith. And Jesus is going to say, perfect. That's all I need. He says, because of your little faith. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like the grain of a mustard seed, you'll say to this mountain, move from here to there, and nothing will be impossible for you. Because it is not the amount of faith. See the dad in Mark 9. It is the object of your faith that matters. So a tiny little bit of itsy bitsy, teeny weeny, I believe. Help me overcome my unbelief. And the almighty, all powerful, infinite God is infinitely more powerful than putting all of your hopes and dreams and faith in the temporary circumstances of this world. So maybe that's you. Maybe you have a need. God already knows it. So what are we going to do? We're going to pray and we're going to praise James, Chapter five. James, the brother of Jesus. James, don't play no games, man. I think it's because he grew up with Jesus, you know what I mean? When people ask Jesus a question, he'd be like, well, it's like a story of a farmer and some birds and you know, like what? So James is like, I'm just going to put this on the bottom shelf. James says, is anyone among you suffering? Some of you are suffering, man. With physical issues, relational issues, mental issues, spiritual issues. Is there anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. So I'm going to ask for our prayer and anointers to come forward right now, because this is what James says to do. Then he also says this. Anyone cheerful? Because, listen, man, some of you are crushing it right now. Praise God. You don't have to come in here and be miserable just because other people are going through pain. Then he's got a word for us, too. Let him sing praise. So as we close this service, we're gonna have prayers and praisers. That's what we're gonna have. And everybody in the seats, we're gonna lift our hands and we're gonna sing praises of prayer over all of the people that are being prayed for. Then he says, is anyone among you sick? And again, that could be physically, spiritually, relationally. Financially. So let him call for the elders of the church to let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. That's why we do this. I'm not a faith healer. I'm just a Bible believer. And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick. And the Lord will raise him up, and if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another. That you may be healed. And that's what we're going to pray for. We're going to pray for healing heart, soul, mind and strength. So I would invite you to stand up. And if you know that, you know that you're like the dad, regardless of your situation and the temptation of the enemy is to think your deal is not a big deal as compared to somebody else's deal, your deal is a big, big deal to God because you're a big deal to God. Anyone among you sick, anyone among you suffering, financially, relationally, physically, mentally, spiritually, then we are going to pray. And if you would have the faith of this dad, if you would have the faith the size of a mustard seed to come to Jesus and say, if you can, will you help us? Then I'm going to invite you to pray. You can go ahead and start moving right now. And if you're not gonna come forward, then you better sing with both hands up and tell your face to look like you're saved. And you better sing every single word of this with all that you've got. Cause it matters more than anything. Our good and gracious heavenly Father, God, we love you more than anything. And God, I thank you that you are the God that heals. And God, we're not chasing miracles. We're chasing the maker of the miracles. And Lord, may we be able to say it is well with my soul and God, I pray that demons will be cast out. I pray that prodigals would be coming home. I pray that bodies would be healed. I pray that peace would rule and reign and fear and anxiety would flee. Lord, the enemy has no stake in this game because you rule and you reign. And I pray that we would experience the kingdom of heaven in this moment. And I pray it in Jesus name, Amen. Won't you come.