Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Welcome to the World Changers Church Gold Coast Podcast. Join us as we listen to today's message.
[00:00:06] Amen.
[00:00:10] You know, there's a funny thing about
[00:00:11] getting up to minister the word of God in a place where they have lights like these.
If your glasses aren't clean, the world is foggy.
It just such a rhema word just then. Amen.
Amen.
I know you came here for the Lord. Amen.
I know that you came here not to be entertained. Amen.
[00:00:41] You know what I'm looking around this
[00:00:42] morning for October or October coming and the end of September, and.
It is getting warm outside.
[00:00:58] And this morning I had a thought, man.
[00:01:00] It'd be a nice day to go down to the beach and just sit and stick my feet in the sand.
And then I was like, I gotta go to church and preach.
I really thank you for coming here this morning and choosing to come hear the word and knowing that you could be at the beach somewhere, at a cafe, chilling. You are here this morning to receive from God. I really want to just give the Lord a hand clap of praise for that.
[00:01:28] You know, that really is to be honored.
[00:01:33] Because in the world we live in, we're choosing self. The Bible says that in the last days that we'll be lovers of self than we more are of God.
[00:01:40] And I'm really beginning to see what
[00:01:41] God was saying with that scripture. Church has become an elective, not a lifestyle.
[00:01:46] Now, that's not what I'm preaching this morning, but I want to show you why church should be a priority and why giving to the house of God is more than just money.
[00:01:58] Okay?
[00:01:59] Now, I'm not.
[00:01:59] I don't have an offering message, Okay? I do not have a tithe message. I do not have a servant message. What I have this morning is we're talking and starting a series called In Christ, Amen. And we're gonna go through Ephesians to do this. We're gonna be doing a Bible study on Wednesday mornings on Facebook Live or whatever platform we choose. I'm doing it myself. It's not a church thing. I'm not organizing it. It's gonna be about as organized as everything.
Amen. Off the hip and following Jesus.
[00:02:30] But we're gonna be doing that Bible
[00:02:31] study on Wednesday morning. So if you're a friend of mine on Facebook, you can see that. If you're not a friend of mine, that's okay. You can become my friend. Facebook's really easy.
But we'll be doing that. I'll be doing it on my personal or some other Platform. We'll see where God lands with that. Now, where I want to start with is we're in week one of four, and we're starting right now. I think Jeremy's gonna finish off this series again.
Jeremy. I'm doing two. You're doing two. You're doing October. Correct. And then you're starting a new series of your own. Give the Lord a hand clap of praise.
We're cutting Jeremy loose for a whole
[00:03:10] month, so you better be here.
I think he's gonna preach the paint off the walls.
[00:03:15] Amen.
[00:03:16] You better tell somebody. Amen.
All right, let me get started.
[00:03:20] That's enough of getting settled in the spirit and hearing what God has to say. So back home, I built my first house when I was 24.
I didn't buy. I built.
[00:03:34] And that's God did an amazing thing. He took a drug addict and a
[00:03:39] drug dealer and a gun runner, gave him a job, made him a project manager of company, and then a developer. God really just turned my life around within two years, put me in places Glenn would know I didn't know what I was doing. Amen, Glenn. You know what I'm talking about. Like,
[00:03:59] and the rules change all the time, but I built my house. And how many know that a house that you build new doesn't stay new?
Yeah. And so back home, we have something
[00:04:09] called gables or a frames. We don't have these nice little hips. You know, y' all have, like, a gutter all the way around your house. I don't envy your gutters. Amen.
[00:04:18] But back home, we have pine needles, we have maple leaves, we have oak leaves. We have every type of leaves. And every autumn and winter, it is
[00:04:27] your responsibility to get your ladder out. And two meters at a time with a bucket, go down that line and clean your gutters.
[00:04:38] And the sun is not forgiving, just
[00:04:41] like it is here.
[00:04:42] By the time you get done, you
[00:04:43] got sweat on your brow, the back
[00:04:45] of your neck's burnt, your arms are shaking, and that ladder as heavy as anything.
[00:04:50] I mean, you feel like you're toting a car around on your shoulders by the end.
[00:04:55] And you step back and you look at it. After you've gotten to the other side and you've finished and you're thinking, wow, that's done.
[00:05:01] Just two more days, I'll have to do it again. Because the leaves just fill them up.
[00:05:07] And like anyone else, you step back, you wipe the sweat off your brow, and you go through your front door,
[00:05:14] sit down, and have a glass of tea.
[00:05:17] What you don't do is put that ladder up at your bedroom window and
[00:05:22] climb in through the window like you're breaking in.
[00:05:24] You own the house.
You have a place in the house. You do not sleep in the garage. You're not a servant. You're not entering in through the servant entrance, Right? Even though you worked hard and you felt like a slave for the day, you have access to the kitchen, the bedroom, the en suite, and everything good in that home. There is no reason for you to
[00:05:43] put your ladder up and break in, is there?
Unless you locked it like me, a multitude of times. You lost your keys or left them
[00:05:51] in the house, but you own the house.
What I want to tell you this morning is most Christians live in a mansion and they're still trying to pay for the receipt with shame of shame and guilt and sin and try and earn that position that they don't even live in the full benefit of where they've been placed in Christ.
They feel like the servant, they feel like the groundskeeper. They don't actually feel like they own the house that it's been paid for, right?
So in Christ. What I'm trying to tell you this morning is when I'm cleaning my house, when I bought that house, everything I did on that property was from a position of ownership, not slavery.
It was mine.
And what Christ has purchased for you is a place that you've been placed in that you didn't buy, that you didn't earn wells you didn't dig, land you did not purchase. But it is yours. And we're still operating like slaves.
We have a mansion and we're sleeping in the garage. We're asking permission to come in through the mudroom instead of the front door.
God is wanting me to teach you this morning that one of the things we have to look at as we hold this picture is that six weeks ago we started saying one word in this room and it stuck.
[00:07:09] Finished.
[00:07:09] We were on that series.
[00:07:10] Finished for six weeks.
[00:07:11] Was it six weeks, I think.
And when we look at finished, it talks about what is done. John 19:30. So when Jesus had received sour wine, he said, it is finished. And bowing his head, he gave up his spirit.
Finished. Paid in full.
Some of you walked outta here lighter than you walked in. You felt better, you saw it, it became a word on your mouth. But finished turned quietly into something that became a buzzword instead of an action.
Your life.
If we're not careful, the things we hear about on Sunday don't stick. And they become something we'll defend and argue with. Coworkers about, but it does not stay in the front of our mind.
[00:08:00] Okay, you don't believe me.
[00:08:01] All right, well, hold on.
When something didn't work out, what was your first prayer? God, why?
Am I right?
When something didn't go your way. Not all of you, some of you are super saints. Y' all got your little super saint T shirt on. Y' all got this all figured out.
But for the rest of us, can you pray for us?
[00:08:19] All right.
[00:08:21] But you go, God, why are you letting this happen to me? God, why did this happen? God, what do I need to do? Is that not everybody's response? God, what do I need to do to make this right? How do I fix this?
Or you go, or you do the Christian cliches of, I know that all his works for me are finished. This is not God's best for me, and his promises are yes and amen. And then privately, you cussing at the ants.
You just mad at everything. You become a little bulldog. Well, God, why you become undone? Because it's not working out your way, right?
That's because you're focused on what he's done, not where you've been placed.
You are in him. And you have been placed and positioned and seated in heavenly places. You've been given authority. You've been given position in heaven. You've been given joint heirship, and you're operating like a slave.
Amen.
I don't agree with that.
Well, Jesus tells us what he did. He does not tell you where that
[00:09:25] leaves you in that first sentence until
[00:09:28] you know where you are.
You keep climbing that ladder, you keep cleaning those gutters, you keep coming in through the back door, sleeping in the
[00:09:38] servants quarters in the kingdom of heaven, when you don't realize you've been given keys to the master chamber.
Amen.
[00:09:46] Look at this.
[00:09:46] In Ephesians 1:3,
[00:09:51] Paul wants to answer
[00:09:53] this with two words.
[00:09:54] Blessed be the God, our Father of
[00:09:56] our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. In Christ?
[00:10:03] In Christ. Every spiritual blessing. Not some.
[00:10:07] Everyone at one address.
[00:10:09] Well, I'm God's favorite.
[00:10:10] No, you're not. You got pride and you need to repent.
[00:10:16] I'm sorry, you are not God's favorite.
None of you are above one another. I'm not above you. I've just been given a mantle and a mandate to fulfill in my life. That means I have a vision to pursue. And you choose to fulfill that vision with me. Amen.
But I'm not better than you.
You have the same authority That I have. I'm just responsible for more people and bigger bills. Amen. So that makes my faith a little bit. Mm.
You know, so in Christ, every spiritual blessing. Look at this.
And in case you missed it, Paul says it again in Him. In the beloved.
In him 11 times between verse 3 and verse 14.
Eleven times, Paul says, between this verse and verse 11, he says in him.
When somebody emphasizes something that much, you should probably pay attention.
Amen. In him you can do all things
[00:11:21] through Christ Jesus who strengthens you, he
[00:11:24] shall supply all your needs according to
[00:11:27] his riches in glory later on.
[00:11:29] You understand? Philippians 4:19.
In him, if you're trying to do it in your strength, it is not possible.
You cannot do it. It has to be in and through Him. You cannot believe more. Well, I gotta have more fai. It says he gave you your measure of faith. You just have to access that faith.
Your faith is inconsistent. Your faith is hard at work. His faith rests in the promises of God, because they are. Yes and amen.
Amen.
[00:12:01] Come on, somebody.
So look at this.
[00:12:12] So what's the point of saying in him 11 times?
So before we go anywhere else, I
[00:12:17] want you to sit inside this one verse, because if you hear Ephesians 1:3 properly, the rest of the month, we're
[00:12:24] gonna be unpacking it.
[00:12:26] The smallest word in it carries the most weight.
[00:12:29] So that word N I, N is
[00:12:32] spelled en well, in the way we transliterate it in the Greek.
Right.
[00:12:38] I want to focus on that word in blessings in heavenly places. You've been placed in heavenly places.
[00:12:46] I want to break the Greek word down for you a moment.
[00:12:49] The Greek word in it is a location. It tells you where something is, not how hard you tried to get there, not how you were going there, just where.
Every spiritual blessing in location, not effort in Christ is not a place you have to go in Christ, is a location you've been placed.
Okay, let's compare it to a sheep's den in Africa. Some of you have heard this story before. In a sheep's den in Africa. At night, they'll build these tall wall. There'll be a way in through the day. They'll get all the sheep gathered in there, and they shut it. The shepherds go in. There's a light pole in the middle. It shines down, it shines out. And there's only a little bit at the bottom to allow dust and breathing room. So everybody survives, including the shepherds. What lions will do is they'll begin to surround that in the dark, and they'll begin to grumble and growl and roar and get the sheep unsettled. And every once in a while, there'll be a sheep that says, I'm not safe, and climbs out from underneath there and go and gets devoured. It is safe where it's been placed. It has to believe and be overpowered by the noise and leave where it's been placed to be overcome. You have to actually believe the lies of the enemy to be attacked.
Amen.
The enemy has no power. Peter said. He as a roaring lion seeking out who he may devour. May is a positional, permissional word. The enemy's tactics. He has no power to produce sickness on you. He has no power to affect your finances. He has no power to affect your mind. But what he can do is create enough noise and influence around you to depress and oppress what's in you and make you stop believing what you have.
Remember that you are in Christ.
Amen.
[00:15:01] Y' all must be listening. Amen.
Hmm.
[00:15:06] Now watch.
[00:15:09] Now watch when the place was made.
[00:15:11] I'm gonna settle a theological debate today.
[00:15:14] Okay.
[00:15:15] Let's go to Ephesians 1:4:6.
Just as he chose us in him before the foundations of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love, having predestinated us to adoption as sons of Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, to praise the Glo by which he has made accepted in the Beloved before the foundations of the world.
Hear me carefully because it's easy to hear.
[00:15:48] This wrong.
[00:15:50] Paul is not saying God looked down years before and picked favorites.
[00:15:56] That is not what he's saying.
Look where the choosing sits.
[00:16:02] He chose us in Him.
When you're in Christ, think of it like this way. How many were alive when they first cut the M1?
[00:16:14] When they started building the M1? Anybody? Yep.
Yep, yep, yep. Y' all not wanting to raise your hands.
[00:16:23] How many are new to the M1? And it's tragedy right now.
[00:16:26] Amen.
[00:16:28] All right.
If I get on the M1 and head to Brisbane, will I end up in Coolangatta?
I went the wrong way. So if I get on the M1, it is predestinated by my choice. When I'm on the M1 in the M1, that I will end up in Brisbane. If I'm following directions.
[00:16:48] That's what predestination is.
[00:16:49] A roadway, a road made two.
And when you get on that road,
[00:16:55] you are on the M1 going to Brisbane.
[00:16:57] In Christ, you are on the road going to heaven.
There are Detours. There are delays, there are wrecks.
[00:17:05] Yes, there are.
Let's take a moment of silence.
[00:17:10] There are distractions, there is road rage. There's everything available on the M1. But if you stay on the M1,
[00:17:18] you are going to end up in Brisbane. Guess what?
[00:17:21] Stay in Christ.
[00:17:23] You're going to end up in heaven.
[00:17:26] Don't let the enemy make you believe that where you're going is not the right direction.
Every spiritual blessing, a place which you've been placed, get it right.
[00:17:37] It's not a place you're going.
[00:17:39] It's not a position you strive for. When you accepted Jesus Christ, you are in Christ.
[00:17:44] Amen. Am I making sense to everybody?
All right, all right, all right.
So the choice was a person and
[00:17:53] a place in that person.
When God made this distinct reality, the choice was a person and the place is a person. Before there was a world to make a mess in, God settled where the
[00:18:07] blessing would be in Christ and who would have it. And everyone would find it or found it in Christ.
Amen.
[00:18:15] Before the foundations of the world, God said, I see that man is gonna need a savior.
Therefore I give my son the Lamb that was chosen before the foundations of the world, slain before the foundations of the world was given long before you ever needed. That's just how good God is.
So when you're asking God why God already has a plan for what surprised you when something's not working out. Now, God has already put a place that was fixed before you were born.
[00:18:48] Amen.
[00:18:50] God is not surprised by your life.
[00:18:52] We are surprised by life.
[00:18:54] And he has a solution in Christ.
Your name went on the book of
[00:19:02] life
[00:19:05] the day you believed in Jesus
[00:19:08] and were covered by the blood.
[00:19:11] Paul tells you how and it's not a mystery.
[00:19:13] Let's look at Romans 10, 9, 10.
[00:19:18] That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus Christ and believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you will be saved. Two requirements to salvation, confession and belief.
[00:19:33] That's it.
[00:19:34] Confession and belief.
Guess what, evangelists, you can't control the second part.
Guess what, pastors, you can't control the second part.
Guess what, teachers, Christians, believers, you cannot control the second part. The second part is personal.
[00:19:57] Yeah, but let's look at this.
Look at verse 10.
[00:20:02] For with the heart, one believes unto
[00:20:05] righteousness, and with the mouth, confession is made unto salvation.
The place was chosen before time, both halves.
You entered it by repentance and faith.
Now, what does repentance look like?
[00:20:20] Repentance is a change of heart and
[00:20:22] mind towards something A turnaround and choosing a different direction.
[00:20:26] Faith is putting hope and trust in that.
It's just that simple.
Repentance is a change of heart and mind, a turnaround to choose a different direction.
Faith is putting trust and hope in that.
Does that make sense?
[00:20:43] All right. Is this good?
[00:20:47] All right.
So God put you where he always
[00:20:50] had planned to put those who believe.
Verse 13 of this chapter says it in one line.
[00:20:57] After you heard the word of truth, having believed, you were sealed, heard, believed, placed.
Now, we got to tear down some theology here.
[00:21:05] Well, can you lose your salvation?
[00:21:10] How are we made righteous?
God's blood is strong enough, and he is God that the moment you choose what he supplied, you are placed in position, sealed and redeemed. The only way to lose it is by the same way.
[00:21:27] The same way you gained it is to denounce it.
[00:21:31] That's the only way.
And how could you taste and see how good God is and do that? People say, I believe I blasphemed against God. I've done the unpardonable sin. I'm gonna go to hell. The fact that you're saying that out of your mouth means that ain't happened. Because if you have been turned over to Satan, you don't give one iota about how God feels about you.
Amen. So quit letting people shame, guilt and everything else tell you that. Quit letting the devil have room in your faith. Kick him out the door, honey. He doesn't belong in your ear. Amen.
So look at what the Word says in verse five.
[00:22:16] I guess we're running a gambit today, Timmy.
[00:22:19] Adoption in the Greek is hyolasia, a
[00:22:26] placing of a son.
[00:22:27] In Paul's world, a Roman adoption could not be undone.
In Roman culture, where this word was written and preached in, when Jesus was crucified, died and rose again, they used the word adoption in that world, in that known terminology, in that tradition. It. It cannot be undone.
Can you act like a fool on a Saturday night and still be saved?
Yeah. You can. You shouldn't.
Let me ask you something. Were you perfect growing up in your mama and daddy's house?
Somebody better not lie. The answer is no. Did your mama and daddy make requirements on your behavior when you mess up?
Yes.
Did you have curfew change and less access to things? Yes. Were you as blessed when you were acting up in your mama and daddy's house? No.
You know what the problem is with Christians today? The lack of spiritual maturity.
You stop sinning when sinning no longer has an attraction because you've Grown out of it.
When I was a child, I did childish things. But as I became a man, I put off childish things. Sin is a childish thing.
It is a self advocating, self choosing, selfish choice.
Amen.
When sin, when you grow up in God and become mature in God, sin is no longer an option.
Amen. It has no attraction.
So Paul is saying that you've been adopted. It cannot be done. That's a part of your salvation. And that a son had every right of a son born of the house.
Well, you know, I'm just a sinner saved by grace. Hogwash.
Get that out of your mouth.
You are not a sinner saved by grace. You were a sinner, you're now a saint. A joint heir with Jesus Christ, an ambassador of heaven. You are the righteousness of God. You are well able to have been placed in a position of royalty. You are no longer a slave. You are no longer a peasant. You are no longer a second class citizen. Quit acting like one. Honey, this is the one time you can walk in a room and say, I got first class.
Amen. Were you sitting in economy? I still got first class.
Were you driving a Swift?
[00:24:51] If you're driving a Swift, I'm sorry,
[00:24:52] I still got first class.
Amen.
I'm a first class citizen of heaven.
[00:25:00] Huh?
Come on, somebody.
[00:25:07] Verse 6. I'm accepted in the beloved, not tolerated.
Accepted for one reason.
[00:25:13] Verse 5. The good pleasure of his will. He wanted to make you adopted, having predestinated adoption as sons of Jesus Christ himself according to his good pleasure and his will up to here. It sounds simple.
[00:25:27] Its end is a location word.
[00:25:29] A place made before the world.
[00:25:30] A door you walk through by faith.
[00:25:34] Amen.
[00:25:34] By grace. Through faith, by grace, through faith, by grace. What he did, we walk through. But what he did, we walk through. We walk in by grace.
[00:25:44] I mean by grace, through faith. Amen. Get it locked in, lock it in.
[00:25:50] People but a lot of us have been living in Christ the way a
[00:25:54] bloke that lives in a mansion and
[00:25:55] sleeps in the garage.
[00:25:57] Amen.
[00:25:59] We have the address. We have never opened the doors.
So what is in the house you've been placed in?
What's in the house?
Do you know
[00:26:12] God? I'm believing for a bigger building that's in the house,
[00:26:18] you know. Can I tell you something?
[00:26:19] Jeremy said something during Offering. I'm gonna be real transparent for a second because the Lord's allowing me to. Y' all heard that offering message about
[00:26:25] $10,000 needed by next month. You know who's gonna be responsible and Whose weight that falls on, whose shoulders that falls on to believe for when you just.
Mine.
[00:26:35] My wife's.
[00:26:37] Do you think it's easy to believe for a $27,000 month?
[00:26:42] That's why I'm the pastor.
[00:26:44] Because I have that much faith in Christ. Cause I know he will supply all our needs according to his riches and glory. I don't know how it's going to come. I don't know where it's going to come through. I don't know what, when and where. But I'm sure not going to walk right along. God,
[00:27:01] oh God.
[00:27:02] I'm in Christ.
You know why they ain't choosing Christianity? Because every time you got a problem. Oh God. Why would I want to come to your Savior when you look so beat up all the time?
Amen.
I want to roll with some people that know how to get round 30 with some things. Amen. I mean, get down, roll up the sleeves, dig some trenches. Know how to believe when nobody else is believing. Know how to smile when nobody else smiles. Now that's what we need back in this world.
Not risk mitigation, not SWOT analysis. No. Not new ideas. No. No. We need to know what God is doing and believe in it. Amen.
[00:27:39] Come on, somebody.
[00:27:43] So what's in the house? Paul does not make you guess. In Ephesians 1:7, he puts first thing on the table.
[00:27:49] And it is the thing most of us are still trying to pay off.
[00:27:52] In him we have redemption through his
[00:27:54] blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of his grace. Now this is where it's gonna mess most people.
[00:28:00] I've already had a couple people leave this morning.
[00:28:02] That's all right.
Amen. I ain't trying to catch here to convince you what to believe. I'm just gonna tell you what we believe in this house.
Amen.
[00:28:10] I'm not here to build a big
[00:28:11] church and make everybody happy. I'm here to preach the word of God and see you find freedom in Christ.
And if you wanna come be locked
[00:28:18] down in the boo hoo, I gotta do this. And you know I tithe I did this.
And to feel good about your Christianity, go somewhere else.
[00:28:26] I don't even care anymore.
I'm gonna preach the word of God.
[00:28:30] I'm building a house off the word of God.
[00:28:32] And if you don't like what I'm
[00:28:34] saying, if you don't like me there
[00:28:36] at the door, there is a church
[00:28:38] somewhere for you, but it ain't here.
[00:28:40] I am so sick and tired of seeker friendly Christianity.
Amen.
Feel Good Ministry and Ted Talk and TikTok Ministries, y' all can quote more
[00:28:50] one sentence lines than you can Scriptures.
[00:28:54] Amen. Somebody pray for me.
[00:28:56] In him we have redemption through his blood, forgiveness of sins according to his riches of grace.
[00:29:01] Two words.
[00:29:02] We have not, will have.
Somebody say, we have, we have not, will have not, we might have. Or if we hold on tight enough, we have right now in the chair that you've been seated at with Christ, we have redemption.
[00:29:19] Now, most people don't understand that word. Cause we don't talk about it enough.
[00:29:24] We've made discipleship, mentoring, we've made pastoring, coaching, we made speakers, artists.
We have diluted ourselves to make ourselves fit in.
Did it say fit into the world as you're passing through or be pilgrims
[00:29:43] in a strange land?
[00:29:43] Which one did it say? Do you?
[00:29:46] Amen.
[00:29:46] Quit fitting in, be the oddball.
I mean, any Muslims in the room?
No?
[00:29:57] Okay.
[00:29:58] If they can get down and pray to the east when they want to, or the west or whichever direction, why are you praying like, oh, Lord, thank
[00:30:06] you so much for this meal and, you know, thank you for everything that you've done today. I don't want to offend anybody with my prayer. I just, you know, I just want to, you know, Lord, just bless me. You know, I'm just gonna act like I got a headache and you know, oh, yeah, Or I'm stressed out. You know, don't want to offend anybody.
[00:30:23] You're in Christ.
You're in Christ, the universe. I mean, come on. The one that flung the stars from his fingertips, formed the mountains with his finger and spoke a fireball out of his mouth and it became the sun. And you're praying to him like, lord,
[00:30:39] I don't want to offend anybody.
[00:30:41] Sounded like Cat Williams on a bad joke.
[00:30:43] Lord, I just don't want to offend anybody.
[00:30:46] What are you doing?
You're talking to a king.
Quit letting peasants tell you how to talk.
I had to think about what I
[00:30:57] was going to say.
[00:30:58] I was like, lord, what are we saying here?
So in the Greek, redemption means for those of you that don't know. And that's okay.
I didn't either. Redemption means Jesus went into the slave market and bought you.
[00:31:16] That's offensive.
[00:31:17] I know it's not politically correct.
[00:31:18] I'm sorry.
[00:31:20] Then he bought you. He bought and then he brought you out so you could never be sold again.
He took your chains off, he took your brand off, he wiped away your family history and he set you completely free.
[00:31:47] Alright, for those of you that Are offended.
[00:31:50] I am a Jewish Irish German.
That means I eat potatoes. I'm at war with myself, and I could get offended with any joke out there right now.
Don't make it about your skin color.
Don't make it about the country you're from. Don't make it about your accent. Make it about, we are one in Christ.
We are one in Christ.
[00:32:16] Amen. Quit calling Catholics the devil. Not all of them are.
[00:32:22] Some of you have been. You know what.
[00:32:23] What it means is when I say
[00:32:25] this is that he sets you free. And some of you got a paid receipt in your pocket and are trying to pay it every week.
But what can I do for this gift? You're letting guilt and effort with promising God you'll be better and his standing and holding that receipt saying. And he's sitting there going, but I already did this. It's paid in full. Why are you trying to pay me back?
You know what I love doing when I take people out to eat?
[00:32:52] Because they know pastors get paid so. Well, this is slipping through the cracks today.
Tina's not here. You know, that's what it is.
[00:33:03] She's not here to say honey, right? I love doing it. Cause people don't let me pay for anything.
[00:33:10] Pastor, let me get your coffee.
[00:33:11] Pastor, let me get. I love paying for people's meals. So when I go pay for it, and they go, you know how many people stand there and go, no, you let him pay for that.
Nobody does that.
No, let me pay for someone else's meal. Nobody does that. You know what my wife did yesterday?
We're in Aldi. Anybody ever been in Aldi? Great place.
I'm in Aldi, and we're shopping, and we start seeing this person just. I mean, she's being really careful about what she's purchasing.
[00:33:40] I mean, she's taking a long time, right?
[00:33:43] And she just so happens to get
[00:33:44] next to us when we're paying for our food.
Please hear me that we're not puffing up. Kyle and Tina.
I become oblivious when it comes to paying for stuff. I'm focusing on what's leaving my account,
[00:33:56] and
[00:33:58] that's the Jewish side. And so Tina's sensing the Lord, and I look up because she's standing there, and she goes, she does this. Now everybody can see me, right? Everybody can see me.
[00:34:07] She's looking at me. I'm here.
[00:34:08] And she goes.
I'm like, what? We gotta go get something else.
I'm like, what, is something on sale behind you?
[00:34:16] I was like, and me being a man, she had to make it very clear.
[00:34:20] She goes, honey, the lady behind us is struggling to pay.
[00:34:24] Can we pay for it?
[00:34:26] I'm like, yeah, go ahead. Let me get the stuff. Let me get out of here. I don't want it to be embarrassing. So what does Tina do? She walks over. Lady's fumbling about. Cashier's giving her a hard time. She doesn't look like she needs money.
My wife just taps. Lady goes, oh, you didn't have to do that.
I'm just struggling with my bank, but thank you.
[00:34:46] Did she ask the cashier to refund
[00:34:50] my wife the money and then pay for it herself?
She said, thank you,
[00:34:57] folks.
[00:34:58] Receiving your blessing from Christ and being in Christ first starts with a position of gratitude.
Just say thank you.
Amen.
Say it with me. Thank you.
No, no, no. Try it again. Thank you. Cause some of y' all thinking about that, thinking about something else. Say thank you. Amen. Thank you, Christ, for what you've done for me. That's the word that needs to be in your mouth.
[00:35:24] This is where finished and in Christ shake hands.
[00:35:27] He finished it.
[00:35:28] That was the last six weeks.
[00:35:30] Now you are standing inside what he finished, that is this month. And Paul tells Colossians where the whole of your life is kept. Colossians 3 and 3.
For you died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
[00:35:48] Well, you don't know what I did. You don't know who I was. You don't know what I've done.
You don't know what they did to me.
[00:35:55] That life's gone.
[00:35:57] You are dead in Christ.
[00:35:58] And you have a new life in him.
[00:36:00] If you're still trying to pay for the last life, that's like visiting a
[00:36:04] grave and throwing money in a hole.
[00:36:08] It's going to go nowhere.
It's going to go nowhere. You have a new life, a new name.
[00:36:15] You are a new creation in Christ.
[00:36:18] You are hidden in God. You know where the enemy wants you to be. Remember that sheep's den? They were hidden inside of there. The enemy knows they're in there. He don't know who's in there, but he knows they're in there. The only way he knows how to get them is to get them scared enough to leave where they're hidden. Why do I say visit the secret place daily? Die to self daily. Because if you learn how to be in the shadow of his wings, you're outside of the will of God. And the enemy can devour you by
[00:36:44] your own fruition, by your own permission, by your own fear.
Is this Good.
Amen.
[00:36:53] Hidden in Christ, in God. Your life is not up on the roof where you can slip.
It is inside the house, and the house is inside God.
[00:37:03] Somebody say it with me.
[00:37:04] I'm in Christ.
[00:37:07] Amen.
[00:37:08] Two weeks ago.
A few weeks ago, Tina and I sent you Philippians 4:13. I can do all things through Christ. The strength was never in you trying harder. It was in Christ and you are in him.
[00:37:21] Amen.
It is in Christ is where strength is and you are in him.
[00:37:26] It is writtenly available to you. Stop thinking with here. Start believing with here.
This is trying to figure it out. God says, let. When there is no understanding, let peace pass understanding. Stop trying to figure it out. Believe with your heart. Know it's gonna be okay.
[00:37:45] Amen.
[00:37:47] Pastor, do you practice this? I sure do.
Religion says climb, and maybe one day
[00:37:55] we'll be in tradition. Man's tradition.
[00:37:59] The gospel says you are in.
[00:38:00] So stop climbing.
[00:38:01] The Christian life is not a ladder you go up.
[00:38:03] It is a house you live in.
Amen.
[00:38:08] Stop trying to earn your way in Christ. You know, that's the world competition. It's all about who you know. Business is all about who you know. I mean, they'll sell you some lie. It's all about who you are. No, no, no.
[00:38:20] It's all about who you know.
You gotta work very hard in the political world, the business world and everywhere else.
[00:38:27] Have one place in your life that
[00:38:29] you don't have to do that.
[00:38:32] Just, please. God's given you that place.
Have that one place placed by faith, paid in full. Your life is kept inside of God himself.
[00:38:43] Amen.
[00:38:45] Oh, Lord.
That is what I felt every time
[00:38:49] I put the ladder away in the garage.
[00:38:53] It was a sense of good pride.
[00:38:56] I own this. This is mine.
The ladder goes where it belongs.
But I get to go in the house, in the kitchen, in the bedroom, in my shower. Not the guest bathroom. Not the guest shower. No. That nice bubbly bath shower.
[00:39:12] Amen.
[00:39:13] I don't get some little corner shower.
[00:39:15] No, no, no, no.
[00:39:15] I'm talking about that one. I can move and wiggle in.
[00:39:18] Amen.
[00:39:20] Something feels good. Amen. Y' all like, huh? It's not. You know what I'm talking about.
The ladder.
Here's my honest read on us, and I include myself. We believe in grace and we live on a ladder.
We believe in grace and we live on a ladder.
We're constantly trying to earn it, constantly trying to pay for it. We're constantly trying to figure it out.
Nobody else told them they could stop, so they kept Climbing. That's the thing.
We don't need to be like the Israelites.
Read the Bible this week.
Read it.
[00:40:09] Read the Bible.
[00:40:10] Up a rung, Ms. Church. Down a rung.
[00:40:12] Is that how you live your life?
[00:40:15] Paul saw in Galatia, having begun in the spirit, are you now being made perfect in the flesh? You began by faith. Now you're trying to finish with your own arms.
God said, I will complete in you
[00:40:31] the work I started.
[00:40:34] Okay?
[00:40:35] He did not say, we will complete the work in you that we do together.
He said, I will complete in you the work I started.
[00:40:44] God is with you for every mistake. God is with you for every fall on the rung. God is with you through every fear and every worry. God is with you.
So let me be gentle with one more reason why people stay on the ladder.
Because some of you weren't wanted.
I'm not going to pretend otherwise. Because some of you have told me somebody who should have wanted you did not. And you've carried that in every room you walk into and every church you walk into. If you've been in church long enough, you had pastors that didn't want you there because you're too fruity, you're too different.
I don't know why I tolerate with you either. No, I'm kidding.
You know why? Because I don't really care how you are.
I care who you know.
Come in like purple people eaters. I don't really care.
That was not a strike against anyone's hair color.
I saw Glenn look at Jules and know I love your hair color, sis.
[00:41:47] Do it.
[00:41:49] You better.
And I want a full knitted robe of many colors. Let me preach in that one day and see how many views we get online.
I'd be sweating right now.
I don't care what you look like.
I'm not going to get involved in your personal business. That's not my job.
[00:42:09] My job is.
[00:42:10] Do you know what to believe?
My job is to preach the word without my opinion, without my denominational borders.
I wasn't born into Christianity. I was born into Christ.
And because I hadn't been to church my whole life, I don't have some of the things that most of us have. I don't have some of the church borders that most of us have. I have a faith that's not restricted by the denomination I grew up in. Or what my grandma used to say. Romans 8:1 says this about that there is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit, here's where it lands. Not in guilt, not in one more thing on your list to do. The diagnosis was the ladder. Get off the ladder. You're not trying to crawl your way to heaven. The gift is the address. And the address comes with something and someone at the door. And he's welcoming you in.
He's asking you to come in and sit at his table. Now when you first met him, he wants to come in and sit at your table. Table. But he's now invited you to his table.
He came where you were. He came where you are and sat with you. An 8. Now he's saying, there's somewhere else we can sit down. And it's at my table. It's at the wedding supper.
Because somebody is thinking right now, pastor, that's beautiful. But I know me, and I will find a way to fall out of this one too.
That self profession is the reason you keep falling.
You know, I used to say I don't trust people until someone challenged me on that.
They said, you keep professing that it's always gonna bring untrustworthy people into your life.
What you profess and confess is what you draw on your life. And that's not manifestation. That's not the law of attraction. You know where they got that from? They got that from us.
They just took God out of it. So think of it in reverse.
What words you speak over your life is what seeds you sow and what you will harvest from.
Stop saying, I don't trust people. Stop saying, I don't trust pastors. Stop saying, I don't trust church, but I don't give to the church because I don't know what they do with the money.
Cool.
Never be a part of the unity that commands a blessing. Then.
Amen.
God said give to the local storehouse, not every online pastor.
Whatever.
I'm not trying to push the tide. This just seems to be the thing that gets everybody as far as giving.
[00:44:51] Okay, well, don't give here.
[00:44:53] And the unity that God commands on
[00:44:55] this house, you just won't be a part of.
[00:44:57] It's just that simple.
Don't serve here.
[00:45:00] You just will live on the outside of what we do here. Always looking in. But I want to welcome you to this house just as much as God has his house. I'm not saying that that's how you get in. I'm just saying stop. Stop ostracizing yourself out of the work of God throughout the city.
So no matter where you choose to be, no matter where you choose to give, do it with unity. Do it with love. Do it because you're in Christ and everyone is in Christ. Guess what? I got some good Catholic brothers. I sat down with a caustic priest
[00:45:26] the other day and you're like, who's that?
[00:45:28] What is that? That sounds Satanistic.
[00:45:29] No, it's just Egyptian Christians, Orthodox Christians, they wear big crosses and a big suit and a little cap and they're
[00:45:37] gonna do that all summer and I'm
[00:45:38] gonna pray for them.
Father Abraham, I'm praying for you, brother. I know you listen to my podcast. Guess what? He listens to my podcast.
So here's the take home in him you also trusted Ephesians 1, 13, 14, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, in whom also having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is guaranteed of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession to the praise of his glory.
Sealed sounds like an Italian word in the Greek, spherozizo.
It just sounds Italian. I feel like I just spoke Italian. What a king did to a document sealed it ring into wax and from that moment it was settled. And whatever was in that letter was of the king's authority. That is what Christ did to your life.
He sealed you in him.
And now you are a letter to be revealed, to be read of all men because you were in Christ. Is that good?
Amen.
Does it mean I can live however I like? No.
[00:46:56] It means
[00:46:58] every ground I stand on is solid. I'm not climbing. I'm not seeking approval, I'm not seeking man's approval. There's nothing declined. Stand where you are.
[00:47:09] What a great gift we have in
[00:47:12] Christ that we can be free.
I am in Christ.
Father, we thank youk for this moment of opportunity where everybody's traveling and we don't have many visitors in the house and we can be family and get real with one another.
I don't know what you're doing in the hearts of these people, God, because that's your part with them.
My part is to hear and see their confession. Their part is to believe, God. It took me 25 years to believe.
And when somebody even weaponized that a year ago, that hurt me more than the event. But you even helped me forgive them, Lord. You've taught me not to let everyone get close to my pain, but let everybody close to my promises that are yes and amen in you that I can trust you, God, with everything going on in my life. That you've made a road for me and a way for me that you've Made a way through. You took an old brawler, an old thug, an old addict, an old gun runner. You turned him into a businessman, a pastor, a book writer. You've done so much in my life.
You've made me a pastor of a 5,000 member church. You've had me run programs across the United States. You now put me over City reach as a founder. You just keep doing and doing and doing and I just don't ever know to repay you. And you told me one day, stop trying to repay me. Just receive the blessing and say thank you.
So Lord, this message today to these group of people that is in Christ, may they find freedom in him. It's in Jesus name we pray.
Amen.
Every head bowed, every eye closed.
Because I didn't come for you that are mad at me and offended.
I didn't come for you that are going to judge me and be religious. I came for the one person in the room that is trapped in guilt.
I need every head bowed and every eye closed. Except Michelle.
If you are trapped in guilt, I need you to raise your hand right now.
You cannot get. Thank you. Thank you for the hands. Thank you for the hands. Thank you for the hands. Anyone else? Put your hand down.
Well, for the four of you that raised your hands, thank you for the courage that it took to raise your hand.
And this is your turning point.
You're not at fault.
I don't know what I'm talking about. I don't know who I'm talking to out of you. For you're not at fault for the death of that person.
You're not at fault for the loss in your life.
God is wanting to change your choices. Since that event in your life, Your choices have been shaped by holding on to the guilt.
And I want you to say with me right now, not out loud, Lord, I forgive myself.
I forgive myself and find true freedom in Christ.
I'm willing to start the journey of discipleship to heal from that. In Jesus name and we all say Amen.
Can you give the Lord a hand clap of Praise for the 4?
But we're not done. Heads bowed, eye closed. If you're called to help people, to be a mentor, to be a discipler of many, can you raise your hand right now?
You got a ministry on your life. Come on, raise your hand.
Awesome.
I'm gonna pray for you.
Father, I thank you. For those that are disciplers, teachers and pastors in this place, remove judgment and criticism from their mouths.
Remove the first response. It says in Acts 6 that we give actions of Care. And it is a daily thing we do naturally before we give words. And out of our care, they ask why. And out of that why? We say, because of Jesus.
For those that are the carers and the nurturers and the mentors and disciplers of the body of Christ in this city, let us care first with actions and not just scriptures and slaps with Bibles. Remove judgment and criticism from our mouths.
And may our actions match our. May what we believe match our feet and hands in Jesus name, because we are in Christ.
We are the beloved.
We're inviting people to the table.
If you don't know Christ this morning, can you raise your hand then? For those of you listening by podcast, this is your invitation to receive him.
If you've listened to this and say, I want that in my life, or you've heard this or got it on repeat, someone sent it to you, you made it this far. Cause God was drawing you, can you simply say, lord Jesus, I believe you. And I confess you with my mouth and I believe you with my heart. Something new is changing. I felt unsettled 30 minutes ago, but now there's something different. I just want you as my friend, my master, and the lover of my soul, the bishop of my life.
In Jesus name we pray.
Amen.
Now, before we move on, I've got a lot to do spiritually today. Every head bowed, every eye closed. This is gonna be a real honest answer and it's gonna be surprising for some of you in the room.
Every head bowed, every eye closed. If you're battling suicide, raise your hand.
Anyone else, thank you for the hands.
For those that raised their hands in a room for that.
The enemy's trying to get you out of the sheepfold.
He's got a roar and a noise around your life about you and your identity, the mistakes you made, the choices you made, even where you live or the job you took. And the pressures of life are just roaring around that sheepfold. And he's trying to get you to run out from underneath that sheepfold, out into the dark. I want you to stay on. I want you to grip like with a bulldog faith and hold on to Jesus like you never have before. Cause honey, this too shall pass, brother. This too shall pass. I want you to hold onto him like you've never held onto him. Cause your life does depend on it. I rebuke the spirit of death and the spirit of suicide off your life right now in the name of Jesus. I rebuke every demonic force that's coming against you because I will not have someone on my watch be lost to pain. And for all those that raised your hands, there was over 20 that raised your hands. It is your responsibility to talk to anyone and everyone and say are you okay? Can I pray for you? How can I support you and walk alongside them?
Amen.
That is our responsibility. This isn't about teaching and getting our book out and getting our program in. No this is about lives and eternity. Lives and eternity. Lives and eternity.
The enemy came to kill, steal and destroy but he came to give you life and life more abundantly. I confess it over your mouth right over your life with my mouth right now in Jesus name.
[00:54:44] Thank you for tuning in to today's message. To connect or find out more, you can reach us online at worldchangers Life. Remember to subscribe for more uplifting messages from our pastoral team and may you continue to walk in faith and transformation until we meet again.
