# Sunday Morning Service | June 28th

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fhx-KfFNMak
Translation: ko

[00:27] [music]

[00:51] Come

[01:06] on.

[01:10] [music]

[04:19] Heat. Heat.

[04:54] Good morning everyone. Let's all stand

[04:56] up. How y'all doing this morning? You

[04:58] guys good? You guys ready to just

[05:00] worship the Lord? Come on.

[05:04] But we're going to be in his presence

[05:05] [music] today. Let's just uh settle our

[05:07] hearts and just fix our eyes on him

[05:09] right now. I'm going to read Psalm 95.

[05:14] It says,

[05:16] "Oh come, let us sing to the Lord. Let

[05:20] us shout joyfully to the rock of our

[05:23] salvation.

[05:24] Let us come into his presence with

[05:27] thanksgiving.

[05:29] Let us shout joyfully with him with

[05:32] psalms. For the Lord is the great God

[05:36] and the great king above all gods. In

[05:39] his hand are the deep places of the

[05:41] earth. The heights of the hills are also

[05:44] his. The sea is his for he made it and

[05:48] his [music] hands form the dry land. Oh

[05:52] come, let us worship and bow down. Let

[05:56] us kneel before the Lord our maker. For

[05:59] he is our God and we are the people

[06:02] [music] of his pasture and the sheep of

[06:05] his hand. Today if you hear his voice,

[06:09] do not harden your hearts as in

[06:12] rebellion.

[06:16] Lord, we just give you today, Lord. We

[06:18] give you this day. [music]

[06:21] Thank you, God, for inviting us into

[06:23] your presence. We dedicate

[06:25] this time to you, Lord. We give you our

[06:28] attention, [music]

[06:28] our exclusive attention. Lord, we give

[06:32] you all of our hearts, all of our minds,

[06:36] all of [music] our souls, Lord. We say,

[06:38] Lord, we are here for you, Jesus. We are

[06:41] here for literally for you, God, and no

[06:45] one else, Lord. Nothing else.

[06:48] And we come in, Lord. We come [music]

[06:50] into your house, Lord, with praise, with

[06:53] thanksgiving

[06:54] with gratitude, Lord. Thank you, Jesus,

[06:58] for your blood. Thank you, Jesus,

[07:02] for the cross. Thank you, Jesus,

[07:06] for the life, the breath in our lungs.

[07:08] Lord,

[07:10] [music] we are alive to bring you glory,

[07:13] Lord. We're alive to know you, Jesus.

[07:15] We're alive. We're here this morning,

[07:17] Lord. We want to know you. We ask that

[07:20] you would give us the knowledge of you

[07:22] today. That you [music] would help us

[07:24] know you today, Lord.

[07:30] I pray that you would help us come

[07:32] [music]

[07:33] worship and bow down today. Lord, help

[07:35] us to take that posture

[07:41] and teach us, Lord. Teach us your ways,

[07:43] God.

[07:44] We love you.

[08:37] You

[08:43] Oh,

[09:07] [music] please.

[09:18] Thou, oh Lord,

[09:23] are high

[09:25] above [music and singing] all the earth.

[09:33] Thou [singing] art exalted

[09:38] far above.

[09:41] Oh [singing]

[09:43] God,

[09:50] oh Lord

[09:54] are [music and singing] on high

[09:56] above all the earth.

[10:04] Thou [singing] art [music]

[10:06] exalted

[10:09] far [singing] above [music]

[10:12] all

[10:14] God. [music]

[10:20] I exalt

[10:24] thee.

[10:25] Come on, sing.

[10:28] I

[10:29] Exalt

[10:31] thee.

[10:33] Oh, we do.

[10:35] I exalt.

[10:40] Exalt your name, oh Lord. [music]

[10:43] Oh,

[10:45] Lord.

[10:47] Lord, [music]

[10:51] I exalt [music]

[10:55] thee.

[10:56] You alone. alone. I

[11:02] thee.

[11:03] I exalt your name, Lord.

[11:06] I exalt

[11:10] thee.

[11:14] Oh,

[11:16] [music]

[11:19] for thou, oh Lord.

[11:22] Thou

[11:23] [music] Lord.

[11:27] on high [singing]

[11:29] above [music] all the earth.

[11:34] [music]

[11:37] Thou [singing] art exalted [music]

[11:42] far above

[11:45] all. [music]

[11:48] Thou Lord, [singing]

[11:52] for thou [music and singing] are

[11:59] high [singing and music]

[12:00] above all the earth.

[12:08] [music] Thou [singing] art exalted

[12:13] far. [music]

[12:16] Oh,

[12:18] [music]

[12:24] and I [music]

[12:33] exalt

[12:34] [music]

[12:35] the

[12:39] IO.

[12:41] Oh, [music]

[12:55] I

[12:56] [music]

[13:03] I [music]

[13:04] exalt

[13:10] I [music and singing]

[13:17] [music]

[13:23] think without

[13:31] high [music and singing]

[13:33] above all the earth.

[13:38] [music]

[13:41] Thou [singing] are exalted.

[13:49] [music] Heat. Heat.

[13:57] [music and singing]

[14:05] [music]

[14:06] [singing]

[14:12] Now [music]

[14:14] [singing]

[14:18] [music]

[14:22] Oh,

[14:26] [music]

[14:28] [singing]

[14:35] [music]

[14:35] I [singing]

[14:39] love you.

[14:43] [music]

[14:47] Yeah.

[14:51] [music]

[14:53] Heat.

[14:58] [music]

[15:03] Heat. Heat.

[15:07] [music]

[15:16] Oh, [music]

[15:24] I know

[15:27] [music] I know

[15:27] that you

[15:30] [music]

[15:35] exalt [music] your name.

[15:38] I

[15:41] love you. [music]

[15:45] But we exalt you. [music] We exalt you.

[15:51] Oh Lord,

[15:56] [music] we exalt.

[16:01] [music]

[16:05] Oh, we come into your presence, Lord. I

[16:12] love [music] you, Lord.

[16:16] [singing]

[16:16] I

[16:24] [music]

[16:33] blessed be the name of the Lord.

[16:40] He [music] is [singing] worthy to be

[16:43] praised and adored.

[16:48] So [music] we lift up holy [singing]

[16:51] hands in one accord. [music]

[16:56] Sing [singing] blessed be the name.

[16:59] [music]

[17:00] singing, [music] "Blessed [singing]

[17:04] Blessed [music]

[17:05] be the name [singing] of the Lord.

[17:13] be the name of the Lord. [chanting]

[17:17] You're worthy [music] to

[17:19] He is [singing] worthy to be praised

[17:22] [music]

[17:23] and adore."

[17:26] And so we lift up [music] holy

[17:30] one accord [singing]

[17:34] singless [music]

[17:36] Blessed [music] be the name.

[17:43] Blessed be the name of the

[17:47] [music and singing] Lord.

[17:50] Sing.

[17:52] be [singing] the name of the Lord.

[17:56] Blessed be your [music] name.

[17:58] He is worthy to be.

[18:00] Come on, worship him.

[18:02] Oh, you're worthy to be praised.

[18:06] Oh, [music] we lift the holy answer.

[18:13] Sing blessed [music] be the name.

[18:18] Sing it again. Blessed be the name.

[18:29] [music]

[18:29] Oh, blessed be the name of the Lord.

[18:35] [music]

[18:36] He is worthy to be praised. [music]

[18:42] Yes, you are Lord. So we lift the holy

[18:48] one [music and singing] of God.

[18:52] Sing blessed be [music] the name.

[18:57] Blessed be your name.

[19:04] [music]

[19:05] Blessed be

[19:08] blessed be your [singing] name.

[19:14] [music]

[19:15] You're worthy to be praised.

[19:20] You're [music] worthy to be

[19:23] so

[19:25] [music]

[19:31] blessed.

[19:35] Blessed be the name.

[19:39] Blessed [music] be the name.

[19:43] Bless.

[19:45] [music]

[19:51] [music]

[19:52] You're worthy to be praised.

[19:58] [music] Lord,

[20:09] [music]

[20:10] Blessed be the name. [music]

[20:18] Blessed be the name [music]

[20:21] of the Lord.

[20:24] I exalt

[20:27] [music] thee.

[20:32] I exalt [music]

[20:35] thee.

[20:37] Oh, we do.

[20:39] I [music] am so

[20:48] oh

[20:51] sing you are worthy.

[20:55] You are [singing] worthy.

[21:10] You [music]

[21:11] are worthy.

[21:18] Oh,

[21:25] you're worthy to be praised.

[21:29] You're worthy to be [music] praised.

[21:32] Come on, from your heart, just lift

[21:34] praise. You're [music] worthy to be

[21:36] praised.

[21:38] worthy of our praise, our highest

[21:44] praise. [music]

[21:46] We come into your presence with

[21:49] thanksgiving and praise.

[21:53] Oh, worthy to be praised. Oh, worthy to

[21:58] be praised. You are.

[22:02] Oh, [singing] you're worthy to be

[22:04] praised, Lord.

[22:09] Jesus.

[23:17] I cast [music] my mind

[23:20] to Calary

[23:23] where Jesus bled

[23:27] and died for me.

[23:30] I see his wis

[23:37] my savior on

[23:40] that cursed tree.

[23:44] His body,

[23:47] his body bound [music]

[23:50] and drenched in tears. [music] They laid

[23:55] him down [singing]

[23:57] in chose to

[24:01] be the entrance sea.

[24:04] My heavy stone. [music]

[24:07] Messiah

[24:09] still

[24:11] and [music] all [singing]

[24:15] praise you.

[24:18] Oh, praise the name [music] of the Lord

[24:22] [singing]

[24:23] our God. Oh, praise his [music] name

[24:29] forever

[24:30] more. [singing]

[24:32] Foreless [music]

[24:34] days we will sing your praise.

[24:39] Oh Lord. [singing]

[24:40] Oh [music] Lord our God.

[24:45] And oh praise the [music and singing]

[24:47] name of the Lord our God. Oh praise

[24:53] [music and singing] his name forever

[24:56] [screaming]

[24:57] more.

[24:59] Foreless [singing]

[25:01] [music] days we will sing your praise.

[25:05] [music] Oh Lord.

[25:07] Oh,

[25:13] [music]

[25:15] and on the third

[25:18] [music] break [singing] of dawn,

[25:22] the son of hell

[25:25] and rose again. [music]

[25:28] Oh trample,

[25:32] where is your [music] sing?

[25:35] The angels are [music]

[25:39] for Christ. Oh, sing on the third. Sing

[25:42] on the third.

[25:46] [music]

[25:49] I bring my [music]

[25:52] Heat. Heat. Heat.

[25:55] [music]

[26:02] Heat. Heat. Heat. [music]

[26:12] Heat.

[26:16] [music]

[26:20] [singing]

[26:25] [music]

[26:26] Yeah. Heat.

[26:31] [music]

[26:32] [singing]

[26:35] [music]

[26:37] Oh,

[26:40] [music]

[26:43] heat, heat.

[26:46] [music]

[26:53] Heat. Heat.

[26:57] [music]

[27:04] Oh,

[27:09] [music]

[27:13] Lord.

[27:16] Oh, he's coming.

[27:20] He shall return

[27:23] in the rose of one.

[27:27] The blazing sun

[27:30] shall pierce the night

[27:34] and I will rise

[27:37] among the saints seeking

[27:40] my gay rest

[27:44] on [singing] Jesus face.

[27:47] He's coming back again.

[27:50] He shall return. He shall return in

[27:54] [music] robes of white.

[27:57] the blazing sun.

[28:00] Oh, he shall [music] pierce the night

[28:04] and I will [singing] rise [music]

[28:07] among the saints.

[28:11] My gay strength fixed

[28:14] on Jesus face. [music]

[28:17] Oh, praise to you Jesus. He shall come.

[28:21] He shall [music]

[28:22] return

[28:24] in robes of white.

[28:28] The [music] rising [singing] sun

[28:31] shall fe

[28:33] [singing]

[28:37] [music]

[28:56] Heat. Heat. Heat. [music]

[29:06] [singing]

[29:09] We will [music] sing your praise.

[29:14] [music]

[29:17] [singing]

[29:21] [music]

[29:24] our

[29:26] praise

[29:29] forever.

[29:31] [music]

[29:36] We will see.

[29:40] Oh

[29:42] [music]

[29:46] sh [music]

[30:01] [music and singing]

[30:02] and I will rise

[30:06] above the seas. [music]

[30:09] My days

[30:13] [music]

[30:19] shall [music] return.

[30:26] The blazing [music]

[30:27] sun [singing]

[30:29] shall be tonight

[30:33] and [music] I will rise

[30:36] among the sea.

[30:39] [music]

[30:39] My

[30:41] face

[30:43] on Jesus

[30:46] behold [music]

[30:50] shall return

[30:54] [music]

[30:56] the sun [singing]

[31:00] shall be [music]

[31:04] [singing]

[31:06] [music]

[31:08] Heat. Heat. Heat.

[31:13] [music]

[31:18] Heat. [music]

[31:28] Heat.

[31:30] [music]

[31:39] Heat.

[31:42] [music]

[31:47] Heat.

[31:49] [music]

[31:57] Yeah. Heat.

[32:07] [music]

[32:08] Oh

[32:13] [music]

[32:14] sh

[32:19] [music]

[32:28] and I [music] will rise

[32:31] among the se

[32:34] [music]

[32:44] He shall return

[32:48] in ros [music and singing] of wine.

[32:51] The blazing sun

[32:54] [music] shall be the night

[32:58] and I will rise [singing]

[33:02] above [music]

[33:02] the sea.

[33:05] My days

[33:08] on Jesus. [music]

[33:14] Come on. [music] He shall return

[33:18] in rose of white. [music]

[33:22] The blazing sun

[33:25] shall fe

[33:27] [singing]

[33:29] [music]

[33:35] my

[33:40] [music]

[33:43] praise.

[33:45] [music]

[33:46] Oh, praise the name of [music] the Lord

[33:51] our God. Oh, praise [music]

[33:56] forever

[34:00] .

[34:02] forever.

[34:02] [music]

[34:07] Oh Lord, oh [music]

[34:09] God.

[34:13] And oh, praise [music]

[34:14] the name of the [singing] Lord our God.

[34:20] Oh, praise [music] his name

[34:23] forever

[34:25] more. Forever endless saints [music]

[34:30] we will sing your praise, oh Lord.

[34:34] [music]

[34:35] Glor

[35:04] and He shall reign

[35:08] ever.

[35:11] He lift you

[35:14] like never before

[35:17] and he [music and singing] shall reign

[35:21] ever.

[35:25] lift you up like never before. [music]

[35:31] And he shall

[35:35] ever [music]

[35:36] and ever.

[35:44] And [music] he [singing] shall reign

[35:47] forever

[35:50] and ever [music]

[35:52] and ever and ever. Hallelujah.

[35:58] [music] And he shall [singing] reign for

[36:02] ever and ever [music]

[36:06] and [singing] ever and ever. Hallelujah.

[36:10] [music]

[36:11] And he shall reign [music] forever

[36:17] and ever

[36:19] [singing]

[36:20] [music]

[36:21] and ever. Hallelujah. Praise be. And he

[36:25] [music and singing]

[36:26] shall reign forever

[36:30] and ever

[36:33] and ever and [music] ever. Hallelujah.

[36:38] And he shall [music and singing] wait

[36:41] forever

[36:44] and ever

[36:46] and ever and ever. Hallelujah. [music]

[36:52] And he shall reign forever [music]

[36:57] [singing] and ever

[37:02] [music]

[37:03] forever.

[37:05] when he shall [singing] reign for

[37:10] heaven. [music]

[37:11] Oh, we lift you high and ever and

[37:15] [music] ever. Hallelujah.

[37:19] And [singing]

[37:20] he shall reign

[37:28] and

[37:30] hallelujah. [music] Oh, and he shall

[37:34] [singing]

[37:35] reign forever. [music]

[37:46] Oh, praise the name of the Lord

[37:50] [singing] our God. Oh, praise him

[37:56] forever.

[37:58] [music]

[38:00] Forever

[38:02] we will sing your praise. Oh Lord,

[38:08] oh Lord our God.

[38:13] Oh [singing] praise the name of the Lord

[38:18] our God.

[38:20] Praise his [music]

[38:22] name forever

[38:25] more.

[38:27] For endless [music] days we must sing

[38:31] your praise.

[38:37] For endless

[38:40] for [singing] endless

[38:42] days we will sing your praise. Ohord.

[39:24] Heat. Heat.

[39:54] [music]

[40:14] Can you hear

[40:16] the sound [music and singing] of heaven?

[40:21] Can you hear

[40:23] the angels

[40:28] calling us into his presence,

[40:34] drawing us

[40:36] to sing [music] along?

[40:53] [music]

[41:07] Can you hear the sound of heaven?

[41:14] Can you hear the [music] angel song

[41:21] calling [singing] us into his presence?

[41:25] [music]

[41:27] He's drawing us to see [music] the Lord.

[41:35] Holy,

[41:38] holy, [music]

[41:42] holy

[41:43] are you king [music] of kings.

[41:48] Holy,

[41:52] holy,

[41:55] [music] holy

[41:57] are you Lord our lord. [music]

[42:02] Holy

[42:05] ,

[42:07] Holy,

[42:07] [music]

[42:08] welcome me your majesty.

[42:15] Holy,

[42:18] holy,

[42:22] holy

[42:23] are [music and singing] you Jesus.

[42:28] [music]

[42:34] We've [music and singing] gatherred here

[42:36] to bring you on earth,

[42:41] our blessed [music and singing] hope,

[42:43] just to see your face.

[42:47] Oh spirit, son and holy

[42:52] father,

[42:54] come make [music] us now your resting

[42:58] place

[43:01] [music] and holy,

[43:05] [music]

[43:08] holy [singing]

[43:10] are you king of kings.

[43:15] Holy, [music]

[43:18] holy,

[43:22] holy

[43:24] are [music and singing] you Lord our

[43:27] Lord.

[43:28] Holy, [music]

[43:32] holy,

[43:35] welcome [music]

[43:36] [singing] me your majesty.

[43:42] Holy,

[43:45] holy,

[43:48] holy [music and singing]

[43:50] are you Jesus.

[43:55] [music]

[43:56] [singing]

[43:58] Oh,

[44:00] holy are [music] you Lord.

[44:04] Holy, holy,

[44:07] oh, holy [music]

[44:08] are you, oh God.

[44:19] [music]

[44:21] He is wonderful. [singing]

[44:24] He is [music] wonderful.

[44:28] He is wonderful.

[44:31] He is wonderful.

[44:34] He is [music]

[44:35] wonderful.

[44:38] He is wonderful.

[44:41] He [music] is wonderful.

[44:44] He is wonderful. [singing]

[44:48] He is wonderful. [music]

[44:51] He is wonderful.

[44:54] He is [music] wonderful. [singing]

[44:58] He is wonderful.

[45:01] He is wonderful. [music]

[45:04] He's wonderful. [singing]

[45:08] He's [music] wonderful.

[45:11] He's [singing]

[45:12] wonderful.

[45:14] He [music] is wonderful.

[45:18] He's wonderful.

[45:21] He [music] is wonderful. [singing]

[45:24] He is wonderful. [music]

[45:28] He is wonderful.

[45:31] He is the wonderful.

[45:34] He wonderful. [music]

[45:38] Oh, he's the wonderful.

[45:44] He wonderful. [music]

[45:48] He is who he is.

[45:51] [music]

[45:52] Oh, who is this?

[45:56] Oh, he's wonderful.

[45:59] Oh,

[46:01] he [music] is the wonderful.

[46:04] He is the wonderful. [singing]

[46:08] [music]

[46:14] Oh, who is this man?

[46:17] Oh, with fire in his eyes.

[46:20] Oh, who is this man?

[46:34] [music]

[46:36] Can you hear the sound of the heavens?

[46:41] [music]

[46:42] He is wonderful.

[46:45] He is [music] wonderful.

[46:49] Elers, angels [singing]

[46:51] bow at his majesty. [music]

[46:55] He is wonderful.

[46:59] He is wonderful. [music]

[47:02] Can you hear the sound of the [music]

[47:09] He is wonderful. He is wonderful.

[47:14] He is wonderful. [music]

[47:18] How the angels bow him. Oh, [music] how

[47:21] majestic is our king.

[47:24] Oh, he's the one.

[47:29] Can you [music]

[47:30] hear the sound of the

[47:35] peace? He is wonderful.

[47:43] [music]

[47:43] Heat. Heat. Heat.

[47:48] [music]

[47:56] Can you hear the [singing] sound of the

[48:00] [music]

[48:04] wonderful

[48:07] [music] wonder?

[48:15] [music]

[48:22] Heat. Heat. Heat.

[48:26] [singing]

[48:29] [music]

[48:32] Yeah. Heat.

[48:37] [music]

[48:49] Heat. Heat.

[48:51] [music]

[49:00] Hey,

[49:01] [music]

[49:17] heat.

[49:21] Hey. [music]

[49:29] Heat. Heat.

[49:34] [music]

[49:41] Heat.

[49:42] [music]

[49:51] Heat.

[49:55] [music]

[50:07] Heat.

[50:11] [music]

[50:14] Heat.

[50:20] [music]

[50:22] Heat.

[50:28] [music]

[50:34] Heat. [music]

[50:47] Heat. Heat.

[50:51] [music]

[50:58] Yeah.

[51:01] Heat.

[51:02] [music]

[51:11] Heat.

[51:17] [music]

[51:28] Oh, he's wonderful.

[51:31] Oh, he's wonderful. [music]

[51:35] Oh, it's his nameus.

[51:39] He is wonderful.

[51:41] He is [music] wonderful.

[51:44] He is wonderful.

[51:48] He wonderful

[51:50] like you. He is wonderful.

[51:53] Oh, there's no one like him. He is

[51:55] wonderful.

[51:58] He is wonderful.

[52:01] He is [music]

[52:02] wonderful.

[52:04] He is wonderful.

[52:07] Myior,

[52:14] you're so wonderful.

[52:17] You're so wonderful.

[52:20] You're our healer.

[52:23] You're our deliverer.

[52:26] Lifter.

[52:31] You're wonderful.

[52:36] So beautiful.

[52:41] Thank you, Jesus.

[52:43] Thank you, [music] Jesus. Can we just

[52:45] thank the Lord all across this room?

[52:47] Lord, thank you, Jesus. Lord, you are

[52:50] wonderful. You are majestic and you are

[52:52] holy. God, we lift your name. Can we

[52:55] just lift the name of Jesus? We lift

[52:57] your name on high, Lord. [music]

[53:00] We love you, Jesus. You guys can do

[53:02] better than that. Come on, you guys.

[53:05] Thank you, Jesus.

[53:07] [music]

[53:08] Thank you, Lord Jesus.

[53:14] May you be glorified this morning.

[53:17] We honor you. We [music] bless your

[53:19] name. In your precious name we pray.

[53:23] Amen.

[53:24] Well, good morning. You guys can make

[53:26] your way back to your [music] seats.

[53:29] Today's just going to be such a

[53:30] beautiful day in the presence of the

[53:32] Lord. Uh before we get into tithes and

[53:35] offering, um we have a couple of

[53:37] announcements,

[53:39] so they're going to be so good. So bear

[53:42] with me, okay?

[53:44] I need to look at my list. So, okay.

[53:49] Well, directly after service, we have

[53:52] our connect class.

[53:55] [cheering]

[53:55] For those who have been a part of our

[53:57] connect class before, but for those who

[53:58] are new, if you just want to hear the

[54:00] heart of the house, um the vision of the

[54:02] church, you can come to our connect

[54:04] class. It's free. Uh we do have

[54:06] refreshments in the back, but I believe

[54:09] it is where's it going to be? The lake

[54:12] room. So, if you make your way back um

[54:15] at the end of service um it will be in

[54:17] the lake room in the lobby next week

[54:23] for the July weekend. Yeah, we love

[54:28] celebrating America. Okay, so next week

[54:31] Sunday night we will not be gathering um

[54:34] in person. We will be online only. But

[54:37] after next Sunday morning, we will be

[54:40] having our church gathering. And so we

[54:42] want you guys to come celebrate. Um we

[54:45] do this

[54:47] kind of few but but it's really fun to

[54:49] gather with our church get together. Um

[54:51] it's a beautiful time and like Jose said

[54:54] the youth have games but the adults can

[54:57] play games as well. So come and bring

[55:00] your game face. It's going to be great.

[55:03] Okay. Next we do have our Jesus 26 which

[55:07] is at the end of the year. It's coming

[55:08] up.

[55:10] [screaming]

[55:11] [cheering]

[55:13] Um, it's incredible. We're so excited.

[55:15] But we did just want to let you guys

[55:16] know, I believe today is the last day

[55:18] for the sale. So, after tonight, it will

[55:21] go back to regular price. So, if you are

[55:24] interested in coming to Jesus 26, you

[55:27] have been just praying about it. We

[55:29] encourage you get your tickets today,

[55:31] get your tickets tonight because they

[55:32] will go up tomorrow. So, you can scan

[55:35] the QR code for more information. Um,

[55:37] but yeah, that's all the announcements

[55:39] today. And if we could welcome up Gunnar

[55:41] as he goes into tithes and offering.

[55:46] [applause]

[55:53] Amen. Worship was incredible and I am so

[55:58] grateful that there is a house for each

[56:01] and every one of us to gather in. And so

[56:04] thank God for the house of God and for

[56:05] the people of God.

[56:08] Um, if you guys want, you can turn with

[56:10] me to Psalm 37, uh, verse 21.

[56:15] I've actually shared this verse before,

[56:16] uh, doing tithes and offering, but um,

[56:19] last night it came back to me. And so,

[56:22] as I was reading over it again, I feel

[56:24] like the Lord revealed a different kind

[56:26] of element of it. So verse 21 says, "The

[56:29] wicked borrows but does not pay back,

[56:32] but the righteous is generous and

[56:36] gives." And so I was reading it as I

[56:39] think last time I shared as well, I

[56:41] talked about how more than ever now as

[56:43] I'm reading scripture, Old Testament,

[56:46] New Testament, anywhere I find myself,

[56:48] I'm looking to find God as well. And

[56:51] when we find God, we find who he is and

[56:53] not just what he does. And so I'm really

[56:55] trying to get to the heart of who God is

[56:58] and therefore I'll find the heart of why

[56:59] he does what he does. And so in here I

[57:02] found there's two identities and there's

[57:05] two actions. We have the wicked who

[57:09] borrow but do not pay back and then we

[57:12] have the righteous who are generous and

[57:14] give. So we have two identities and I've

[57:17] taken a poll before but raise your hand

[57:20] if you are in Christ the new creation.

[57:24] Okay, I like the numbers. That's a lot

[57:25] of hands. Okay, that means that if you

[57:29] believe that, you are the righteousness

[57:31] of God in Christ Jesus. And it says here

[57:35] in this verse that the righteous is or

[57:38] are generous. And so what I want, what

[57:41] I'm asking God for myself is as much as

[57:44] I believe one thing of who God is, I

[57:46] believe that he is this. And because of

[57:48] that, I believe that I am as well. that

[57:51] if I'm in Christ Jesus, I am to partake

[57:54] of and exemplify who he is as well. And

[57:57] so I I thought of the verse also. Um,

[58:01] freely you have received, freely you

[58:03] give.

[58:05] That's that's who we are. That's what

[58:06] we've become. That's what we've received

[58:08] and who we are becoming. And lastly, I

[58:11] what I was confronted with it just it

[58:13] got me and I was like, "Oh my gosh,

[58:15] Lord." Wow. Just like any portion of

[58:16] scripture, we nitpick our favorite

[58:18] verses and we're like, "I believe that.

[58:19] I don't know about anything else, but I

[58:21] believe this. But what I was confronted

[58:23] with and challenged with is that I want

[58:25] to believe the entirety of scripture

[58:27] because I find who God is in it. And I

[58:30] don't want to just believe that as as

[58:32] much as I am righteous, I want to I want

[58:35] to start believing that as much as I am

[58:36] righteous, I am generous. That as in

[58:39] right standing as I am with God, I am

[58:42] also generous. And that's what his word

[58:44] says. Amen. It's a gift to give. It's a

[58:46] gift to partake of God and to share God.

[58:49] And that's what giving is. That's what

[58:51] giving. You're giving of yourself to

[58:53] God. And it's he's distributing it all

[58:55] over the nations, all over the world. I

[58:57] mean, this house has impacted nations

[58:59] truly. We are partaking of something far

[59:01] greater than money going into a bucket.

[59:04] Amen.

[59:05] That's exciting. Praise the Lord. All

[59:07] right, let's pray.

[59:10] Lord, I thank you that your word is

[59:12] revealing who you are, not just what you

[59:14] do. And as we see who you are, perfect

[59:18] in all of your ways, we desire to become

[59:20] like you. And so we want to become a

[59:23] people that are generous, that are

[59:25] giving, that are selfless and

[59:27] sacrificial in all that we do, Jesus. So

[59:30] help us, Holy Spirit, this morning to

[59:32] become more like you in this way, that

[59:34] we would be a generous, loving,

[59:36] sacrificial, selfless people

[59:39] in Jesus' name. Amen. As always, we have

[59:43] the QR code you can scan or the text to

[59:46] give always works as well. And then if

[59:48] you're in the room, we have the Old

[59:49] Faithful uh buckets with the envelopes.

[59:52] That always works as well. We love you

[59:54] guys. We'll be right back.

[01:00:09] [music]

[01:00:14] Jesus,

[01:00:17] lover of my soul.

[01:00:22] Jesus,

[01:00:24] I will never let you go.

[01:00:29] You've taken me

[01:00:32] from the myy

[01:00:37] set [music] my feet upon the rock. And

[01:00:41] now I know

[01:00:45] I love you.

[01:00:49] I need you.

[01:00:53] Though my world may fall, I'll never

[01:00:56] [music] let you go.

[01:01:00] My savior,

[01:01:04] my closest friend,

[01:01:08] I will worship you until the very

[01:01:13] [music] end.

[01:01:16] Jesus,

[01:01:19] lover of my soul. [music]

[01:01:24] Jesus,

[01:01:26] I will never let [music] you go.

[01:01:31] You've taken me

[01:01:35] from the myy.

[01:01:39] You set my [music] feet upon the rock.

[01:01:44] Now I know

[01:01:48] I love you.

[01:01:52] I need you.

[01:01:56] Though my [music and singing] world may

[01:01:58] fall, I'll never let you go.

[01:02:04] My savior,

[01:02:08] my closest friend.

[01:02:13] I will worship you.

[01:02:17] Let's sing that again.

[01:02:21] Jesus, [singing]

[01:02:24] lover of my soul.

[01:02:30] Jesus,

[01:02:32] I will never let you go.

[01:02:38] You've taken [music] me

[01:02:41] from the myy

[01:02:46] [music]

[01:02:47] feet upon the rock. Now I will.

[01:02:55] I love

[01:02:59] I need [music]

[01:03:01] you.

[01:03:03] Though [singing] my world may fall, I'll

[01:03:06] never [music] let you glow.

[01:03:12] My savior,

[01:03:15] my closest friend.

[01:03:20] I will worship you until the very end.

[01:03:29] I love you.

[01:03:32] I need you.

[01:03:36] And though my world [singing]

[01:03:38] may fall, I'll never let you go.

[01:03:45] My [music and singing]

[01:03:46] savior,

[01:03:49] my closest friend.

[01:03:54] I will worship you until the

[01:03:59] end. singing my

[01:04:05] trusty [music]

[01:04:14] justice.

[01:04:19] Your grace [music] has found me just as

[01:04:22] [singing] I am.

[01:04:27] Emptyhanded

[01:04:29] [music]

[01:04:30] alive in your hand.

[01:04:37] My

[01:04:45] majesty.

[01:04:49] [music]

[01:04:54] Forever I am changed by your love.

[01:05:02] In the presence [music] of your majesty.

[01:05:07] Let's sing [music] that again. We sing.

[01:05:16] Um I do just want to let you guys know

[01:05:18] how many of you guys have been coming to

[01:05:20] our Sunday nights.

[01:05:22] Okay, that's a lot of you guys in the

[01:05:23] room. Well, you know, the Lord has been

[01:05:26] coming so close and so tangible. Pastor

[01:05:29] Michael has shared with our team and

[01:05:31] with you guys that he's believing that

[01:05:33] this is a summer of encounter. And so,

[01:05:34] we just want to invite you guys again.

[01:05:37] Tonight is going to be so special. So,

[01:05:39] for those of you watching online, for

[01:05:41] those of you in the room, we invite you

[01:05:42] to tonight. It's going to be amazing.

[01:05:45] And we just ask you to come with a

[01:05:47] posture of seeking the Lord. Just come

[01:05:49] for him. Come for his face. come to

[01:05:51] worship the Lord. And so we just want to

[01:05:53] invite you tonight. It's going to be

[01:05:54] super special. So we did want to let you

[01:05:56] guys know about that. Um but this

[01:05:58] morning we have an incredible special

[01:06:00] guest with us this morning. Dean Becker

[01:06:02] is with us. So can you guys stand and

[01:06:05] welcome Dean Becker this morning.

[01:06:08] [cheering]

[01:06:09] [applause]

[01:06:11] Praise the Lord.

[01:06:14] Amen. [applause]

[01:06:18] What a glorious holy presence of the

[01:06:21] Lord is here this morning. Please take

[01:06:23] your seats. Um

[01:06:26] I am so grateful for Pastor Michael and

[01:06:28] Jessica, the opportunity to walk with

[01:06:31] them

[01:06:33] and I am so humbled by the privilege of

[01:06:36] being here with you this morning to

[01:06:39] worship.

[01:06:41] And I'm going to say to you that worship

[01:06:42] has not ended.

[01:06:45] Every single time that Pastor Michael

[01:06:47] asked me if I would come and preach, I

[01:06:49] remind him of this all the time. And I

[01:06:53] said, "Pastor Michael, I don't have to

[01:06:54] preach here. It's enough to come and

[01:06:57] worship. It's enough just to be in the

[01:07:00] room and worship our glorious Lord and

[01:07:04] Savior."

[01:07:05] And this morning for a few moments, I

[01:07:07] wonder if we can just return to that

[01:07:10] heart posture of worship. One of the

[01:07:14] highest ways that we worship God is by

[01:07:18] receiving his word.

[01:07:21] His word is holy. His word is pure. His

[01:07:25] word is perfect. His word is eternal. Do

[01:07:31] you know that for all of eternity we

[01:07:34] will be receiving his holy word?

[01:07:38] It is forever set in the heavens. The

[01:07:41] scripture says this is worth more than

[01:07:44] all the gold combined in the universe.

[01:07:49] This is a treasure that we have

[01:07:51] received.

[01:07:54] And the way that we receive his most

[01:07:56] holy word today is a way of posturing

[01:08:00] ourselves before him.

[01:08:03] So let's go ahead and just prepare our

[01:08:05] hearts just for a moment. Before we do

[01:08:08] that, well done, Gunner. right there. I

[01:08:11] would tell you, did did you hear that

[01:08:13] voice? It's it's quite something. Praise

[01:08:17] the Lord. Uh all done by the Lord.

[01:08:20] Glorious. Let us pray.

[01:08:23] Glorious holy father.

[01:08:26] We come to you in the name of our Lord

[01:08:29] and our Savior, your eternal son, true

[01:08:34] light from true light, true God from

[01:08:37] true God.

[01:08:39] And Lord, we come to you united in the

[01:08:43] power of your spirit. And Father, we

[01:08:46] pray that this morning you would prepare

[01:08:50] our hearts to receive your holy word,

[01:08:54] which you open our eyes so that we might

[01:08:57] see you. which you open our ears so that

[01:08:59] we might hear the divine whisper of your

[01:09:04] spirit.

[01:09:06] Would you open our hearts, enlarge our

[01:09:09] hearts that we might receive more of

[01:09:11] you? And in doing so, Lord, would you

[01:09:14] strengthen our hands to do right things

[01:09:17] and holy things? And would you

[01:09:20] strengthen our feet to walk in to your

[01:09:23] presence?

[01:09:26] This we pray in the matchless and holy

[01:09:28] name of Jesus whom we declare to be our

[01:09:31] joy and our peace and our hope and our

[01:09:34] rest eternal.

[01:09:36] You are holiness.

[01:09:39] You are love. You are peace. You are

[01:09:43] grace. You are humility. You are joy.

[01:09:48] You are life eternal. You are all in

[01:09:53] all. Precious Jesus.

[01:09:56] and prepare us today.

[01:10:00] We pray this in the holy name of Jesus.

[01:10:05] Amen.

[01:10:08] Sometimes I think we are back in the

[01:10:12] fourth and the fifth centuries.

[01:10:15] And the reason why I think that is that

[01:10:18] we are living in a world that has wholly

[01:10:22] gone mad.

[01:10:25] And the question is, how do we return

[01:10:28] back to sanity?

[01:10:31] This morning, the Lord asks me to share

[01:10:35] somewhat of a difficult message to you.

[01:10:38] But I want to say to you that I am not

[01:10:41] proclaiming this message saying that

[01:10:44] I've got it all figured out. I don't.

[01:10:49] A minister, a preacher, teacher is

[01:10:52] always the first recipient of the word.

[01:10:56] So I'm here freshly cut by the word of

[01:11:00] the Lord. I'm here fresh in repentance

[01:11:05] before you. And this morning I want to

[01:11:09] speak to you about how to combat pride.

[01:11:15] I'm going to speak to you about how do

[01:11:18] we grow in humility.

[01:11:23] This morning when Joe picked me up, he

[01:11:26] said, "Did you sleep well?" And I said,

[01:11:28] "I didn't because I dreamed the whole

[01:11:30] night of something that happened in the

[01:11:33] fifth century, the entire night." And I

[01:11:36] thought, "Lord in the world, why am I

[01:11:37] dreaming that?" Um, but let me just

[01:11:40] share with you the story.

[01:11:43] The year is 500 after Christ.

[01:11:47] A young man by the name of Benedict goes

[01:11:49] to Rome. He goes to study to become a

[01:11:53] philosopher.

[01:11:55] He is somebody that has encountered

[01:11:57] Jesus. And he goes to Rome thinking that

[01:12:01] the church there will be pure and holy

[01:12:05] and right.

[01:12:07] But it's about 80 years since the fall

[01:12:09] of Rome.

[01:12:11] And the church that was once pure

[01:12:13] because of persecution,

[01:12:15] the church is now a church obsessed

[01:12:20] with privilege and power and prestige

[01:12:24] and fame.

[01:12:27] Benedict is in Rome and he is disgusted

[01:12:31] with what he has seen.

[01:12:34] He flees Rome

[01:12:37] and by the power of the Holy Spirit goes

[01:12:40] to a mountain called Subiaako. He enters

[01:12:44] a cave there and he and he studies the

[01:12:48] scriptures

[01:12:50] and as he studies the scriptures he

[01:12:53] discovers the way of Christ, the way of

[01:12:57] humility.

[01:12:59] In no time, people looked at him and

[01:13:01] said, "This man is holy. I want to be

[01:13:04] like him." And in no time, he has a

[01:13:07] group of disciples that gather around

[01:13:10] him.

[01:13:13] Benedict starts to teach them what I'm

[01:13:15] going to speak about this morning. He

[01:13:18] teaches from the first book in the New

[01:13:22] Testament, the letter of James.

[01:13:26] And the message and the teaching is so

[01:13:28] provocative

[01:13:32] that his disciples

[01:13:34] decide to kill him.

[01:13:38] That happens today not not physically

[01:13:41] but sometimes people get offended by the

[01:13:43] gospel message

[01:13:46] and then they feel they cannot be angry

[01:13:48] with God. So they go after the servant

[01:13:51] of the Lord.

[01:13:55] The road is narrow.

[01:13:58] The gate is small.

[01:14:00] The way of the Lord is a narrow road.

[01:14:05] And so this what they decide to do. They

[01:14:08] poison his wine. So they bring him a

[01:14:12] cup. This is what I dreamt about, this

[01:14:14] cup the whole night.

[01:14:17] And so they brought him this cup and the

[01:14:18] cup is full of wine and it's poisoned.

[01:14:21] And Benedict

[01:14:23] through the gift of the uh the gift of

[01:14:28] discerning of spirits understands that

[01:14:31] the cup is poisoned. As the cup came, he

[01:14:35] made the sign of the cross and the cup

[01:14:38] exploded and the disciples ran away.

[01:14:40] Good for them. They came back though.

[01:14:44] They came back and said, "We repent. We

[01:14:48] are sorry." say, "Would you write this

[01:14:51] down?"

[01:14:53] Benedict would write then what would

[01:14:55] become known as the rule of Benedict. He

[01:14:58] didn't call it that. Do you know what he

[01:15:00] called it? He said the rule of following

[01:15:04] Jesus.

[01:15:06] And in that rule in chapter in one of

[01:15:09] the chapters he gives 12 steps towards

[01:15:15] humility.

[01:15:18] I have taught from those 12 steps in the

[01:15:21] last 10 years or so.

[01:15:24] 12 steps against pride. I call this aa

[01:15:28] for pride.

[01:15:31] My name is Cornelius.

[01:15:35] I am a proudful man. I need Jesus.

[01:15:41] This morning I want to speak to you

[01:15:42] about pride and tell you what James

[01:15:46] the early apostle said about this. And

[01:15:50] James gives us some curriculum in how to

[01:15:53] develop humility.

[01:15:55] It's an extraordinary text.

[01:16:00] Pride

[01:16:02] is the fruit of the first sin.

[01:16:06] You might have heard that often people

[01:16:09] say pride is the original sin. The

[01:16:12] scriptures do not say that nor did the

[01:16:15] rabbi say that nor did the early church

[01:16:19] said that.

[01:16:21] Everybody agreed that the original sin

[01:16:23] was not pride but envy. [clears throat]

[01:16:29] Satan looked at God and said, "I want

[01:16:33] what he has."

[01:16:36] And out of envy came

[01:16:39] pride.

[01:16:42] Envy is the prime sin.

[01:16:45] Now the problem is that envy is

[01:16:47] difficult for us to define today because

[01:16:50] our entire world functions by envy.

[01:16:56] Think about marketing. All marketing

[01:16:59] functions on envy.

[01:17:04] When I saw watch television commercials

[01:17:06] and ads, I would remember some of those

[01:17:10] silly, crazy commercials.

[01:17:14] You would have a man dressed

[01:17:17] beautifully, very swavel looking and he

[01:17:21] would be driving this car and he would

[01:17:23] get the girl and everybody would look at

[01:17:26] him and say, "I want to be like that."

[01:17:29] All marketing functions on envy. So envy

[01:17:34] is normal for us today.

[01:17:38] But I want to say to you, envy

[01:17:41] is the origin of all sin.

[01:17:46] James, we're not going to go there, but

[01:17:48] James 3:16, James identifies this. And

[01:17:52] he says, where there's envy and selfish

[01:17:55] ambition.

[01:17:57] He goes on, he says there is confusion.

[01:18:00] actual fact, the Greek here suggests

[01:18:04] that it's the chaos before God recreated

[01:18:08] the world.

[01:18:10] The literal word chaos here that is used

[01:18:13] in Greek is the same word that used

[01:18:16] that's used for the abyss

[01:18:19] where evil dwells.

[01:18:22] And James says, "Where there is envy

[01:18:26] and self-seeking," he says there's

[01:18:29] chaos, there's confusion. And folks,

[01:18:32] I've met people that are confused by

[01:18:36] envy.

[01:18:38] And then the Greek says, not only every

[01:18:41] evil thing is there, it says every demon

[01:18:45] is there.

[01:18:47] Envy attracts demons

[01:18:50] because envy is [clears throat] the

[01:18:51] original power of Satan.

[01:18:55] It's no, it's no accident that the final

[01:18:58] commandment in the Ten Commandments,

[01:19:01] thou shalt not covet. Thou shalt not

[01:19:04] have envy.

[01:19:08] Pride flows out of envy. Do you know the

[01:19:11] early church say this of envy? Gregory

[01:19:13] of Nissa says, "Envy is an ulcer of the

[01:19:17] soul."

[01:19:18] Wow, what a great description.

[01:19:21] And I will tell you, when you have envy,

[01:19:24] when somebody else will do better than

[01:19:27] what you do, something painful inside.

[01:19:31] Well, this morning we're going to talk

[01:19:33] about how to heal the ulcer.

[01:19:36] How do we get to that place? Well, the

[01:19:39] fruit of envy is pride. And what's the

[01:19:41] problem with pride? Pride makes you the

[01:19:46] enemy of everyone.

[01:19:50] When you have pride, you hate the person

[01:19:54] below you from the fear that they may

[01:19:57] equal you.

[01:19:59] When you have pride, you hate those that

[01:20:01] you consider as equal to you from the

[01:20:04] fear that they may go above you.

[01:20:08] And when you have pride, you hate those

[01:20:10] who are above you because they are above

[01:20:13] you and you don't believe that they

[01:20:14] should be.

[01:20:17] Pride makes you the enemy of all people.

[01:20:24] And the question this morning is how do

[01:20:28] we learn humility? Now a couple of quick

[01:20:30] observations here. Humility is not a

[01:20:34] gift. You are not born humble.

[01:20:37] If anybody has had children, you know

[01:20:40] this

[01:20:42] from the beginning.

[01:20:44] One of my son's first words that he

[01:20:47] said, words that he loved was, "No."

[01:20:52] Still there by the way. [laughter]

[01:20:54] Would you do that? No.

[01:20:58] Right.

[01:20:59] It's an extraordinary. And he is a young

[01:21:01] man filled with the spirit, very very

[01:21:05] committed to the Lord. We are so

[01:21:06] incredibly proud

[01:21:08] of him. But the question is how do we

[01:21:11] grow in humility? Humility is not a

[01:21:14] gift. Do you know that I can actually

[01:21:16] not pray for you and instantaneously you

[01:21:19] are humble? I cannot line you up this

[01:21:21] morning and say be humble in the name of

[01:21:23] Jesus.

[01:21:25] We walk away and say wow look at this.

[01:21:29] Humility is learned.

[01:21:33] Humility is something that the Lord

[01:21:36] schools us in.

[01:21:40] So this morning I want to make the most

[01:21:42] countercultural

[01:21:44] claim and the claim is that the

[01:21:46] Christian faith

[01:21:48] is a

[01:21:51] the Christian faith is so radically

[01:21:54] different from anything that we

[01:21:56] encounter in this world. And here's the

[01:21:59] claim that the path to greatness runs

[01:22:02] downward.

[01:22:05] not upward, not forward,

[01:22:08] not through the accumulation of

[01:22:09] credentials, platforms, influence or

[01:22:12] recognition.

[01:22:15] But at Christianity runs downward

[01:22:19] into smallalness, into dependence,

[01:22:22] [snorts] into the posture of a person

[01:22:23] who has nothing to prove and nothing to

[01:22:26] protect because everything they are and

[01:22:28] everything they have been received comes

[01:22:31] from the hand of God.

[01:22:35] But church, we live in a world

[01:22:37] intoxicated

[01:22:39] with selfpromotion.

[01:22:43] I wrote in my notes, social media has

[01:22:46] made personal branding a daily spiritual

[01:22:50] discipline for millions.

[01:22:54] We curate our image.

[01:22:57] We manage our reputation.

[01:23:01] We position ourselves carefully so that

[01:23:03] the right people notice us

[01:23:06] and the church. Let us be radically

[01:23:08] honest this morning.

[01:23:11] We are not hum immune to this.

[01:23:15] Ministry can become a theater of self-d

[01:23:17] display.

[01:23:22] Theological knowledge and expertise can

[01:23:24] become a weapon of status.

[01:23:28] Even worship can become a performance of

[01:23:30] spiritual achievement.

[01:23:35] It's in this context that James speaks

[01:23:37] to us.

[01:23:40] If you brought your Bibles, if you would

[01:23:42] go to the letter of James and we're

[01:23:44] going to go to chapter 4.

[01:23:47] Couple of things that I want to say

[01:23:49] about James before we get to this.

[01:23:52] There are two traditions in the church.

[01:23:55] The one tradition and we get this very

[01:23:59] importantly from the apostle Paul is

[01:24:02] that James was the brother of Jesus.

[01:24:07] Another tradition says that word

[01:24:08] brothers the word could also be the word

[01:24:10] for cousin and maybe he's not the

[01:24:13] brother of Jesus but maybe he's a

[01:24:15] cousin.

[01:24:17] Whatever the truth is

[01:24:20] the truth is that he's a family member

[01:24:23] of Jesus.

[01:24:26] James becomes the overseer in Jerusalem,

[01:24:31] one of the earliest Christian leaders.

[01:24:34] And what is James known for?

[01:24:38] The Jewish historian Josephus calls

[01:24:42] James the just or James the righteous.

[01:24:47] He was the man that was known for his

[01:24:50] holiness.

[01:24:52] And whether he was the brother of Jesus

[01:24:55] or the cousin, he was a family member.

[01:24:59] And what's amazing is when you read his

[01:25:02] letter, when you look at the opening

[01:25:03] line, he doesn't say that.

[01:25:08] By the way, where do we get this

[01:25:10] reference that perhaps he's the brother

[01:25:11] or the cousin? We get this from Paul in

[01:25:14] his letter to the churches in Galatia in

[01:25:17] chapter one. He says, "Listen, I went to

[01:25:19] Jerusalem. I spent a whole bunch of time

[01:25:22] with Peter and I met with James the

[01:25:25] overseer. He says the brother of Jesus.

[01:25:28] So we get this from Paul.

[01:25:31] But you know how James introduces

[01:25:34] himself

[01:25:36] says James

[01:25:38] the servant.

[01:25:41] And in actual fact that word servant is

[01:25:43] a softened English word. Uh the word

[01:25:46] here in Greek is the word dulos which

[01:25:48] means slave

[01:25:50] and he says whatever I am I am here to

[01:25:53] serve Jesus Christ and him alone.

[01:25:58] It's a second letter that possibly was

[01:26:00] written by either another brother or the

[01:26:03] cousin of Jesus. And the reason why I

[01:26:06] mention both traditions is that I don't

[01:26:08] want to ostracize anybody. Do I have an

[01:26:11] opinion? Of course I do. But I'm not

[01:26:13] going to share it this morning. I just

[01:26:15] want to gather as many people. And do

[01:26:18] you know that Jude says the same thing?

[01:26:21] Jude, that little book right before the

[01:26:23] book of Revelation that nobody reads,

[01:26:25] that that little book. Jude, this is

[01:26:28] what Jude says. Jude says, "I'm a

[01:26:30] servant of Jesus Christ and a brother of

[01:26:34] James."

[01:26:37] And you see this radical humility. James

[01:26:41] the just.

[01:26:43] Josephus also tells us that he had

[01:26:45] another nickname.

[01:26:47] It's not a great nickname as nicknames

[01:26:50] go. And the nickname was James with the

[01:26:54] camel knees.

[01:26:56] Right? What in the world does that mean?

[01:26:59] Right? James with the camel knees. I

[01:27:03] sometimes have students that come to

[01:27:06] class in shorts. This is very upsetting

[01:27:09] to me.

[01:27:11] And I often remind them of that text in

[01:27:14] the Psalms that God has no delights in

[01:27:17] the legs of a man. And I say to him,

[01:27:20] wear your pants, right? Come to class

[01:27:23] appropriately.

[01:27:26] But what's the thing with the camel

[01:27:28] knees? Josephus tells us

[01:27:31] James would go to the temple every day

[01:27:35] and he would be on his knees praying for

[01:27:38] Israel to the place that his knees

[01:27:42] became so deformed from being on hard

[01:27:45] granite that they looked like camel

[01:27:49] knees.

[01:27:51] This morning I looked at my knees and

[01:27:52] they do not look like camel knees.

[01:27:55] [laughter]

[01:27:55] And I'm thinking maybe I'm not praying

[01:27:57] enough on my knees.

[01:28:01] James also died as a martyr.

[01:28:05] Josephus again tells us this. This is a

[01:28:07] Jewish author. The year 62 after Christ

[01:28:12] and um

[01:28:16] the high priest Aninus II

[01:28:19] decides that James must be killed

[01:28:23] and he pulls together an illegal

[01:28:25] gathering of the Sanhedrin

[01:28:28] and he is

[01:28:32] then sentenced to death.

[01:28:35] And what they do when he was sentenced

[01:28:37] to be stoned to death, Josephus tells us

[01:28:40] that they took James the just or James

[01:28:44] with the camel knees and they took him

[01:28:46] to the highest pinnacle of the temple.

[01:28:51] Of course, you read that and you have to

[01:28:54] wonder when he got there, did he did he

[01:28:56] remember that Satan took Jesus to the

[01:28:59] pinnacle of the temple? You have to

[01:29:01] wonder if he was thinking about that and

[01:29:04] that temptation, that temptation for

[01:29:06] greatness.

[01:29:08] And the story was that they threw him

[01:29:11] down

[01:29:13] and as he fell, he broke almost all of

[01:29:15] his bones. But this is what Josephus

[01:29:17] says.

[01:29:19] The moment that he fell and his legs

[01:29:21] were broken, he gathered himself and his

[01:29:24] broken legs and he went back on his

[01:29:26] camel knees

[01:29:28] and he prayed

[01:29:30] and this is how he died.

[01:29:34] James gives us some extraordinary

[01:29:38] information in how to combat pride. So,

[01:29:44] we're going to start in James 4 and

[01:29:46] we're going to read 10 verses. I'm going

[01:29:48] to give you some ample warning.

[01:29:51] The first few of these verses are pretty

[01:29:53] rough

[01:29:55] because what James is telling us is what

[01:29:58] is happening in the church because of

[01:30:01] the sins of pride and envy.

[01:30:06] And he writes, "Folks, let me let me

[01:30:08] just say this to you. The reason why I'm

[01:30:10] telling you the story of James is that

[01:30:13] you need to understand if if James was a

[01:30:16] brother or a cousin. Can you imagine

[01:30:18] that he looked at Jesus and said okay

[01:30:21] what about me?

[01:30:25] He could have said people worship him.

[01:30:30] James understood who Christ was.

[01:30:33] He calls him Lord and he says, "I am the

[01:30:37] only way that I can be identified by you

[01:30:41] is to be your servant."

[01:30:45] And here's James 4:E1. I'm reading from

[01:30:48] the ESV.

[01:30:50] He said, "What causes quarrels

[01:30:52] and what causes fights among you? Is it

[01:30:56] not this that your passions are at war

[01:31:00] within you?

[01:31:03] How many of you have realized

[01:31:06] I I used to think if I could just find a

[01:31:08] church that loves Jesus, all my problems

[01:31:11] would be over. [laughter]

[01:31:14] How many of you've realized church is a

[01:31:16] collection of people

[01:31:18] and these people bring all kinds of

[01:31:20] things including me

[01:31:24] and often it's a bit surprising

[01:31:27] at how Christians can bite at one

[01:31:29] another.

[01:31:30] Gossip has become acceptable sin.

[01:31:35] The Lord rebuked me years ago about

[01:31:38] gossip. And I remember the text that he

[01:31:41] gave me. He gave me a text out of

[01:31:42] Leviticus 19. And Leviticus 19 says,

[01:31:46] "You shall not be a slanderer among your

[01:31:49] people." And then he gives the reason

[01:31:50] for I am the Lord. Oh wow.

[01:31:56] Jesus said, "For every idle word that

[01:32:00] you speak, you will stand before God." I

[01:32:03] pray that none of you will stand behind

[01:32:05] me.

[01:32:07] You're going to stand for a long time

[01:32:10] because I've said a lot of nonsense in

[01:32:12] my life. A lot of idol words, right? And

[01:32:16] the Lord said to me, "You shall not

[01:32:18] gossip. You shall not slander because I

[01:32:20] am present.

[01:32:23] I hear every single word.

[01:32:27] How often have I been in church where

[01:32:29] somebody says, "I'm just telling you

[01:32:32] this so that you can pray."

[01:32:35] Well, stop speaking and pray then,

[01:32:38] right?

[01:32:41] Often I will have somebody come into my

[01:32:43] office and I adopted a practice about

[01:32:47] eight years ago and this put a stop to

[01:32:50] it. somebody would come and say, "I I I

[01:32:54] just want to tell you about this

[01:32:56] brother."

[01:32:58] And I said, "Okay, hang on a moment.

[01:33:02] Let me get him on the phone.

[01:33:04] Why don't we include the brother in this

[01:33:06] conversation and you can tell the

[01:33:08] brother what you were going to tell me

[01:33:10] right now and then we can all pray

[01:33:12] together." Oh, no, no, not that

[01:33:15] important any longer. [laughter]

[01:33:17] very very quickly.

[01:33:21] But James says it's because of passions

[01:33:24] within us.

[01:33:26] Is it not this that your passions are at

[01:33:28] war with you within you? You desire do

[01:33:31] not have so you murder. I just want to

[01:33:36] stop here for a moment. The church

[01:33:39] father Clement of Rome, Clement is very

[01:33:41] early in Rome. We're speaking about 90

[01:33:44] after Christ. He's ordained by Peter.

[01:33:47] Peter ordains this chap

[01:33:50] and he writes a letter in which he

[01:33:53] comments on this particular verse.

[01:33:56] He speaks about envy and he said the

[01:33:59] first murder that occurred in the world

[01:34:02] was because of spiritual envy. Cain

[01:34:06] looked at the worship of of his brother

[01:34:10] and said I can not bear with this. There

[01:34:14] was an ulcer in his soul and he killed

[01:34:18] his brother. And this is what Clement

[01:34:20] says. He says, "We maybe not murder

[01:34:22] people, but we murder with gossip."

[01:34:27] And we murder with slander.

[01:34:31] How do you know if somebody really

[01:34:33] spends time in prayer? They don't

[01:34:36] gossip.

[01:34:39] Let me tell you what I've learned as

[01:34:40] well. When somebody speaks ill of

[01:34:42] somebody else to you, they are speaking

[01:34:44] ill of you.

[01:34:48] Every single time.

[01:34:52] James continues on. It's getting super

[01:34:54] quiet. I love it. And and let me tell

[01:34:57] you, since uh I'm a pastor,

[01:34:59] uncomfortable silences really energizes

[01:35:02] me. You know, all my pastoral instincts

[01:35:05] kind of just kick in. I say, "Okay,

[01:35:07] let's go there. [laughter]

[01:35:09] There's a little bit of silence there.

[01:35:11] Did we touch a nerve? Let's go deeper.

[01:35:13] [laughter]

[01:35:14] Is there a little pain there? Let me put

[01:35:15] my finger right there and let you see

[01:35:18] where that goes.

[01:35:21] You coveret and cannot obtain. So you

[01:35:24] fight and quarrel. You coveret. You

[01:35:27] coveret.

[01:35:29] James is saying the problem here is

[01:35:31] envy.

[01:35:33] You cannot obtain. So you fight and you

[01:35:35] quarrel. He says, "But you do not have

[01:35:37] because you do not ask. You ask and do

[01:35:39] not receive because you ask wrongly to

[01:35:42] spend it on your passions." Here's the

[01:35:44] hard part.

[01:35:46] You adulterous people, do you not know

[01:35:49] that friendship of the world is emnity

[01:35:51] with God?

[01:35:54] This is very hard.

[01:35:57] Therefore, whoever wishes to be a friend

[01:35:59] of the world makes himself an enemy of

[01:36:03] God. Pride makes you an enemy of God.

[01:36:10] Or do you suppose that it's to no

[01:36:13] purpose that the scripture says he

[01:36:16] yearns jealously over the spirit he has

[01:36:18] made to dwell in us? Let me just stop

[01:36:22] for a moment. What's the difference

[01:36:23] between envy and jealousy?

[01:36:27] This is one of the first things that God

[01:36:28] says about himself. He says, "I am a

[01:36:30] jealous God. You shall not serve other

[01:36:32] gods before me.

[01:36:36] Jealousy is a rightful action. There is

[01:36:38] a pure jealousy that can happen based on

[01:36:42] something that belongs to you.

[01:36:45] Envious when you desire something that

[01:36:47] does not belong to you.

[01:36:50] Here's the difference. And that's what

[01:36:53] James says. James says, "God yearns

[01:36:56] jealously for the spirit that he placed

[01:36:59] within you."

[01:37:02] By the way, what is humility? Humility

[01:37:04] is a posture.

[01:37:06] What does that posture look like?

[01:37:10] Humility is to be who God created us to

[01:37:12] be. Genesis 2 tells us three things

[01:37:16] about our creation. Firstly, Genesis

[01:37:19] says, "God formed man from the dust of

[01:37:23] the ground." Here's the truth. Do you

[01:37:26] know that God formed you with his hands?

[01:37:31] All throughout scripture, Isaiah says

[01:37:34] this. He says, "Uh, Jacob, do not fear.

[01:37:37] Don't you know that I formed you? You

[01:37:40] are mine."

[01:37:42] Let me quickly just stop here for a

[01:37:44] moment. Have you noticed that one of the

[01:37:47] ways that the enemy works is through

[01:37:49] selfhatred?

[01:37:52] People don't like their noses. They

[01:37:54] don't like their ears. They don't like

[01:37:55] this. They don't like that. They don't

[01:37:57] like the fact that they've lost all of

[01:37:59] their hair perhaps, you know, uh many,

[01:38:01] many, many different things. But let me

[01:38:04] just stop for a moment. Think how stupid

[01:38:06] this is.

[01:38:08] And then we hold up certain standards.

[01:38:11] Here's the truth.

[01:38:12] Whatever I am, he formed me.

[01:38:18] And because he formed me, I am perfectly

[01:38:21] made for him.

[01:38:24] Do I want to be taller? Yes.

[01:38:28] Desperately.

[01:38:31] Yes. Desperately.

[01:38:31] It doesn't help that my son is s

[01:38:34] significantly taller than me. This is a

[01:38:37] problem. When I take pictures, I go like

[01:38:40] that and he says, "Down, Hobbit."

[01:38:42] [laughter]

[01:38:45] He teases me ever so often. Right? But

[01:38:48] here's the thing,

[01:38:51] right? He formed us. That means he made

[01:38:54] choices with each and every one of us.

[01:38:58] And humility starts by saying, "Thank

[01:39:00] you, Lord, for who you've made me. I

[01:39:03] accept it all."

[01:39:06] This is not arrogance but that's

[01:39:08] humility.

[01:39:10] Secondly, it says that God breathed into

[01:39:14] the nostrils of Adam the breath of life.

[01:39:19] Humility is to go back to a posture of

[01:39:23] receptivity.

[01:39:26] I need God as much as I need breath.

[01:39:30] You know, you don't know how much you

[01:39:32] need oxygen until you cannot breathe.

[01:39:37] And that's truly what humility is. And

[01:39:39] thirdly, I love this. It said that God

[01:39:43] formed man from the dust of the earth

[01:39:46] and breathed into his nostrils the

[01:39:48] breath of life. And it says, "And man

[01:39:50] became a living being." And you know

[01:39:53] what? What it communicates this picture

[01:39:55] that when Adam woke up, when his eyes

[01:40:00] opened, what was the first thing that he

[01:40:03] saw?

[01:40:04] God right there breathing into his

[01:40:07] nostrils. We were created to have our

[01:40:10] eyes fixed on him. Humility is to be at

[01:40:17] that place of absolute receptivity.

[01:40:23] It says he yearns jealously over the

[01:40:25] spirit he has made to dwell in us. But

[01:40:27] he gives more grace.

[01:40:29] Therefore, it says, "God opposes the

[01:40:32] proud but gives grace to the humble."

[01:40:35] Just want to stop here for a moment. Do

[01:40:37] you know the Greek word that's used here

[01:40:39] of opposing is a military term? Do you

[01:40:42] know that God actively resists pride?

[01:40:47] You want to make yourself the enemy of

[01:40:50] God,

[01:40:52] allow pride to have its way.

[01:40:55] Pride makes you the enemy of all people

[01:40:59] and of God. God actively works against

[01:41:05] pride. All right, that's a lot of tough

[01:41:08] things to say. Now, the question is,

[01:41:10] thank you for allowing me. I just got

[01:41:12] through the introduction, so

[01:41:14] I am doing phenomenally well. Page one

[01:41:17] of 12. All right, we're not going to go

[01:41:20] through all of them. The question that

[01:41:22] now we need to ask is how do we combat

[01:41:25] pride

[01:41:29] James then says this

[01:41:32] and here is the curriculum.

[01:41:35] Submit yourselves therefore to God.

[01:41:39] Resist the devil and he will flee from

[01:41:42] you.

[01:41:44] Draw near to God and he will draw near

[01:41:46] to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners,

[01:41:49] and purify your hearts. you

[01:41:50] doubleminded. Be wretched and mourn and

[01:41:52] weep. Let your laughter be turned to

[01:41:54] mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble

[01:41:57] yourselves before the Lord and he will

[01:42:00] lift you up.

[01:42:02] I'm going to give you five steps in how

[01:42:05] to grow in humility.

[01:42:08] And once again folks, let me just give

[01:42:09] you my definition of humility.

[01:42:12] Humility is the accurate knowledge of

[01:42:14] who you are before God.

[01:42:18] That's it.

[01:42:20] It's expressed in the willing

[01:42:21] subordination of your desires, your

[01:42:24] agenda, and your reputation to his will

[01:42:27] and to the good of others.

[01:42:30] But humility is rooted in the knowledge

[01:42:33] of who he is and who we are.

[01:42:38] So, and once again, as I give you these

[01:42:40] steps, and I'm going to run through them

[01:42:42] fairly quickly, church, I am not

[01:42:45] standing here saying I've got it figured

[01:42:48] out.

[01:42:49] I'm not at the place that I live such a

[01:42:51] holy life like Benedict that all my

[01:42:53] students want to kill me. Not there yet.

[01:42:57] But I am deeply desirous

[01:43:00] for the Lord to deal with this.

[01:43:03] So how do we deal with pride? Step one,

[01:43:07] submit yourself to God. James 4:7 begins

[01:43:13] with the most foundational imperative in

[01:43:16] the passage. Submit yourselves therefore

[01:43:18] to God. Submission to God is the first

[01:43:22] act of humility because it's the act by

[01:43:25] which we acknowledge the most basic

[01:43:27] truth of our existence. We are creatures

[01:43:32] not the creator.

[01:43:34] We are recipients not the originators.

[01:43:39] Acts 17 says in him we live and move and

[01:43:43] have our being. Submission is the most

[01:43:47] honest honest acknowledgment of that

[01:43:51] reality.

[01:43:54] This is very difficult for most of us to

[01:43:57] do.

[01:43:59] This is by the way particularly

[01:44:01] difficult for leaders and scholars.

[01:44:04] I happen to be both.

[01:44:06] The more expertise you accumulate, the

[01:44:09] harder submission becomes because you

[01:44:11] have more to learn to lean on.

[01:44:14] Accumulated knowledge. I wrote this

[01:44:16] down. Accumulated knowledge can become a

[01:44:18] subtle fortress of self-sufficiency.

[01:44:22] But James has this answer.

[01:44:25] Submit.

[01:44:27] Submit.

[01:44:29] There's a beautiful narrative in John's

[01:44:31] gospel where people come to John the

[01:44:34] Baptist and they asking this question.

[01:44:37] There's a a a big debate going on about

[01:44:40] purity and and [clears throat] the

[01:44:42] people step in and they want to create

[01:44:44] some rivalry between Jesus and John and

[01:44:47] they say John your cousin he's baptizing

[01:44:52] more people than what you are right now.

[01:44:54] What do you say about that?

[01:44:57] You see that envy? [clears throat]

[01:44:59] You see that pride? By the way, Satan

[01:45:02] really just has one weapon.

[01:45:05] send me

[01:45:07] every single time,

[01:45:10] folks. And I've seen it in church over

[01:45:11] and over again. Let me quickly give you

[01:45:13] a couple of examples, but let me first

[01:45:16] deal with what happens to John. And so

[01:45:19] John is here and people say, "Look, look

[01:45:23] at your cousin. Look, he's got a bigger

[01:45:25] crowd. He's baptizing more people." And

[01:45:28] they're trying to kind of stoke that

[01:45:29] ulcer of the soul, that envy to go up.

[01:45:32] Do you know what John the Baptist says?

[01:45:35] No man can receive anything unless it's

[01:45:38] given to him by God.

[01:45:41] Amen.

[01:45:45] The church that my wife and I served

[01:45:47] [snorts] at in South Africa was a church

[01:45:50] that had a sovereign call on it.

[01:45:54] And by the way, when people say to me,

[01:45:56] "Where should I go to church?" This is

[01:45:59] always I always have the same answer.

[01:46:01] find out where God is working and join

[01:46:04] that.

[01:46:06] Simple as it. And we were at that church

[01:46:09] and I joined it as a young man. And when

[01:46:11] I joined it, it was already exploding in

[01:46:14] growth and it was roughly about 9,000

[01:46:17] members at that time. By the time that

[01:46:20] we left, it was over 55,000 members. And

[01:46:23] so the auditorium was large.

[01:46:28] And I would sometimes watch people

[01:46:31] get confused.

[01:46:35] So we had 70 odd pastors

[01:46:38] and sometimes pastors would stand up

[01:46:42] and do offerings. Not as nice as gunners

[01:46:44] offering

[01:46:46] but they would do an offering and I

[01:46:48] would see them. I would literally see in

[01:46:50] their eyes the confusion

[01:46:53] and they would stand in front of 10,000

[01:46:55] people

[01:46:57] and they would think I gathered those

[01:46:59] people.

[01:47:02] I should have this.

[01:47:05] I shared this with Pastor Michael this

[01:47:06] week and I'm going to be transparent

[01:47:09] here.

[01:47:11] My spiritual director taught me this

[01:47:13] years ago.

[01:47:15] He said, "Whenever you preach or

[01:47:17] whenever you're invited to be anywhere,

[01:47:21] always make the decision this is the

[01:47:23] last time

[01:47:26] so that you never feel an entitlement.

[01:47:32] This is not mine.

[01:47:34] Lord has not given this to me.

[01:47:38] I am here by the grace of another man

[01:47:40] and I am serving the Lord and I'm

[01:47:41] serving him.

[01:47:45] But I have no right to say I should be

[01:47:47] here.

[01:47:49] And folks, the moment that and and I've

[01:47:52] been in ministry for over 30 years now,

[01:47:55] but the moment that you have a singer or

[01:47:57] a worship leader or a preacher or a

[01:47:59] teacher say, "I'm not getting enough

[01:48:01] time on stage

[01:48:05] and you know something has changed,

[01:48:09] that's the time to really pray." So, how

[01:48:11] do you how do you safeguard yourself?

[01:48:14] James says, "Submit to the Lord."

[01:48:18] Here's the thing.

[01:48:20] Ultimately, there's only one head of the

[01:48:22] church. It's Jesus.

[01:48:25] Submit all that you do to him. Ask,

[01:48:27] "What is he asking you to do?" And you

[01:48:32] know what? The moment that you submit,

[01:48:33] all comparison leaves the building

[01:48:37] because then you cannot be compared. All

[01:48:38] that I'm here to do is to be obedient.

[01:48:41] Right, folks? Let me say to you, heaven

[01:48:44] is going to be shocking because we're

[01:48:46] going to find out who's really famous.

[01:48:50] And it might not be people that we've

[01:48:51] ever heard from ever at all.

[01:48:57] It's an incredible thing. But the first

[01:49:00] step is to submit. So here's some

[01:49:02] practical lessons for that first step.

[01:49:04] Begin each day with an explicit act of

[01:49:07] submission.

[01:49:09] That's the first thing that I do in the

[01:49:10] morning. Lord, I am here. I am bowing my

[01:49:14] knee. You are the Lord.

[01:49:16] Do with me what you want.

[01:49:21] So last week I was in a meeting with

[01:49:23] some of my colleagues and at the end of

[01:49:26] the meeting I was rebuked by one of my

[01:49:28] colleagues. So I'm sharing that publicly

[01:49:31] [laughter]

[01:49:32] but it was a good it was a good

[01:49:33] experience. And here was the reason for

[01:49:36] the rebuke. We were at a table with

[01:49:39] folks from other university and we were

[01:49:41] asked to introduce ourselves and this is

[01:49:43] how I always introduce this doesn't come

[01:49:45] naturally. I learned this and I said my

[01:49:48] name is such and such and I said I am

[01:49:53] serving as the dean for this time.

[01:49:58] So one of my colleagues took me aside

[01:50:00] and said what is this nonsense?

[01:50:02] Be confident. What is wrong with you?

[01:50:05] stand up and say I am the dean and then

[01:50:09] say I am the dean of the largest

[01:50:10] charismatic seminary in the world which

[01:50:12] happens to be true

[01:50:15] and I said absolutely not. I said, ' Let

[01:50:19] me tell you this. Nothing is eternal but

[01:50:21] Jesus.

[01:50:24] And if I find my identity in this little

[01:50:27] area that I'm serving right now, I

[01:50:29] somehow think I did all of this, right?

[01:50:34] Remember, open hands.

[01:50:39] Two months before this, two months ago,

[01:50:42] um one of my students called me, came to

[01:50:45] my office to rebuke me.

[01:50:48] um and to rebuke me about the car that

[01:50:51] I'm driving.

[01:50:53] And uh the person came in and said, "You

[01:50:56] can't drive this car." And I said,

[01:50:57] "What's wrong with my car? It's a Camry,

[01:50:59] right?" And he said, "A dean of this

[01:51:03] should not drive this car. You need a

[01:51:06] bigger car." And then he says, "You are

[01:51:08] not using the opportunities that the

[01:51:11] Lord has given to you." He says, "It's

[01:51:13] time to build your brand.

[01:51:19] Let me tell you what I said to him and

[01:51:21] then I confessed. I said, "My brother,

[01:51:26] if I wondered if the devil existed, I no

[01:51:29] longer wonder because I feel him in this

[01:51:32] room."

[01:51:33] I said, "Let us kneel down and pray and

[01:51:36] ask Jesus to protect us from the devil."

[01:51:41] But the first step is submit everything

[01:51:44] to God. I know. Secondly,

[01:51:47] step two, I'm going to run through these

[01:51:49] steps, folks. I want to encourage you,

[01:51:52] go through James 4 1-10. There's a

[01:51:55] curriculum against pride. Step two,

[01:51:58] resist the pride within you.

[01:52:02] James 4:7 continues, "Resist the devil

[01:52:04] and he will flee from you." In this

[01:52:07] context, the imperative is specifically

[01:52:09] connected to the battle against pride.

[01:52:12] The devil's primary strategy here is not

[01:52:15] obvious grotesque arrogance.

[01:52:18] It is more subtle.

[01:52:20] He tempts us with what the early church

[01:52:22] called vain glory. The craving for

[01:52:25] recognition, the need to be noticed, the

[01:52:28] addiction to approval. He whispers, "You

[01:52:31] deserve credit for this. You have worked

[01:52:33] harder than anyone else. Why has no one

[01:52:36] acknowledged what you have sacrificed?

[01:52:41] So the second step is after you've

[01:52:43] submitted to God, resist

[01:52:46] those thoughts of pride.

[01:52:50] Peter in his first letter says it as

[01:52:53] well. He says, "Your adversary, the

[01:52:55] devil, prowls around like a roaring

[01:52:57] lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist

[01:53:00] him firm in your faith."

[01:53:04] Now, how do you resist pride when it

[01:53:06] arises? Name it.

[01:53:09] You expose it. You bring it to the

[01:53:12] light.

[01:53:14] The moment that you catch that, here's a

[01:53:17] temptation. I preach at a place and it

[01:53:20] streamed and here's my temptation. Let

[01:53:22] me see how many people watched it.

[01:53:25] Who cares? Were you obedient to Jesus?

[01:53:30] Right?

[01:53:33] Sometimes you record something

[01:53:36] and then the place that you did it for

[01:53:38] decide not to show it.

[01:53:42] You're crushed.

[01:53:44] You're broken.

[01:53:47] But the question is, were you obedient?

[01:53:49] Did you serve?

[01:53:52] So I want to encourage you. How do you

[01:53:54] resist it? Name it. Here's some

[01:53:56] practical lessons. When you notice pride

[01:53:59] rising, the desire for recognition, the

[01:54:01] resentment for someone else's success,

[01:54:03] name it specifically and bring it before

[01:54:06] God in confession.

[01:54:08] What you name you can resist.

[01:54:12] Can I say that again?

[01:54:14] What you name, you can resist. What you

[01:54:17] leave unnamed grows in the dark and it

[01:54:21] fers.

[01:54:24] Call it out.

[01:54:26] Step three.

[01:54:28] Draw near to God in honest prayer.

[01:54:32] James 4:8 says, "Draw near to God and he

[01:54:35] will draw near to you. Cleanse your

[01:54:37] hands, you sinners, and purify your

[01:54:39] hearts, you doubleminded."

[01:54:44] But we're double-minded in Greek. I can

[01:54:46] spend hours speaking about it. It's dsy

[01:54:50] in Greek. It means to have two spirits.

[01:54:55] And what happens

[01:54:57] when let me tell you what the church

[01:54:58] father says. The church father says the

[01:55:00] moment you have pride your spirit splits

[01:55:05] because the breath that God puts inside

[01:55:08] of you comes from him. It is pure. It is

[01:55:11] holy. It doesn't want to have any of

[01:55:14] that part. A false image is created.

[01:55:19] James earlier says if you are

[01:55:21] doubleminded what do you get from God?

[01:55:25] nothing.

[01:55:27] You can pray and pray and pray. And he

[01:55:28] says, "If your heart is not pure and

[01:55:30] holy before the Lord, the remedy to

[01:55:33] pride is breathtaking in its simplicity.

[01:55:38] Draw near to God."

[01:55:42] Jesus in Luke's gospel chapter 18 tells

[01:55:45] the story of a Pharisee and a tax

[01:55:48] collector that comes together in prayer.

[01:55:51] And the one tells God how great he is.

[01:55:55] Not how great God is, how great the

[01:55:57] Pharisee is. And the other one beats his

[01:56:00] breast. Jesus says didn't even look up

[01:56:04] to the Lord. Just beats his breast

[01:56:07] saying, "God be merciful upon me a

[01:56:12] sinner." And Jesus says, "Only he is

[01:56:14] justified."

[01:56:18] You know, from that came the very famous

[01:56:20] Jesus prayer. the curriculum in the

[01:56:22] early church. In the early church, this

[01:56:23] is the prayer that people would pray

[01:56:25] thousands of times a day. Jesus, savior,

[01:56:28] son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.

[01:56:33] We have theologies now telling people

[01:56:35] that they're not.

[01:56:38] And it's one thing to acknowledge who

[01:56:40] you are in Christ, but folks, go before

[01:56:42] the Lord. Draw close to him.

[01:56:50] I call the stripped prayer. You go

[01:56:52] before him with no agenda, no request,

[01:56:55] no intercession.

[01:56:57] Simply come before God and tell him the

[01:56:59] truth about your interior condition.

[01:57:03] It's amazing what he will do.

[01:57:06] Step four, this is the hard one. It will

[01:57:10] get better. Mourn your pride.

[01:57:15] Mourn it.

[01:57:18] This is what James 4:9-10

[01:57:20] says. Be wretched and mourn and weep.

[01:57:24] Let your laughter be turned to mourning

[01:57:26] and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves

[01:57:28] before the Lord and he will lift you up.

[01:57:31] James is not speaking about spiritual

[01:57:33] depression. But let me quickly tell you

[01:57:35] this folks. This is tremendously

[01:57:37] important. We'll be done in about five

[01:57:38] minutes here.

[01:57:40] Tremendously important. Sometimes we

[01:57:43] move too quickly to joy.

[01:57:50] This is how we do repentance. I'm so

[01:57:51] sorry that I've done this, but thank

[01:57:52] you, Lord, that you have forgiven me and

[01:57:54] everything is great and I am the

[01:57:56] righteousness of God in Christ. There's

[01:57:57] no condemnation for me anymore. Stop.

[01:58:04] You've actually not had any godly sorrow

[01:58:06] yet.

[01:58:08] Sometimes our altter calls are too

[01:58:10] quick.

[01:58:12] There's value in staying there.

[01:58:17] My spiritual director when he would pray

[01:58:19] for people and they would cry, I I I saw

[01:58:22] this so radically different. This is

[01:58:23] what most of us will do when people are

[01:58:25] crying. We go, "Oh, don't cry. No, no,

[01:58:27] no, no. Jesus is with you. Everything is

[01:58:29] okay. You don't have to cry. You can be

[01:58:31] happy right now. My spiritual director,

[01:58:34] really, really tough guy, he died, he

[01:58:37] was 104 when he died, right? He still

[01:58:40] taught university courses until he was

[01:58:42] 103, right? He had a radio program until

[01:58:46] a week before he died.

[01:58:50] Gonna hear that same deep voice, you

[01:58:52] know, that kind of John Wayne thing. And

[01:58:54] um it's amazing, beautiful. I mean, a

[01:58:57] voice right there. And and he would go

[01:59:00] up to people and he would say, "Cry

[01:59:02] more. [laughter]

[01:59:05] You don't understand yet what you've

[01:59:08] done. Stay there a little bit."

[01:59:12] And

[01:59:12] folks, I want to encourage you. There's

[01:59:14] no change until you really recognize

[01:59:17] what's happened.

[01:59:20] You know,

[01:59:22] Paul wrote two letters to the church in

[01:59:24] Corenth that we have based on the

[01:59:26] letters we think they were four,

[01:59:29] but two the Lord wisely said should not

[01:59:33] be scripture. [laughter] But I love it.

[01:59:35] Paul in the second letter said, "Okay,

[01:59:38] so I I wrote you a letter that made you

[01:59:41] sad." Then he starts off. He says, "I'm

[01:59:44] sorry I made you sad." And then he

[01:59:45] corrects himself. He says, "Actually,

[01:59:47] I'm not sorry at all." He says, "Godly

[01:59:50] sorrow produces repentance."

[01:59:54] And if there's one takeaway today, when

[01:59:56] you submit to the Lord and you resist

[02:00:01] the pride and you draw close to him,

[02:00:05] sit a little bit.

[02:00:08] Sit in that morning. Why?

[02:00:12] because allow that morning to wash over

[02:00:14] you and the blood of Christ washes over

[02:00:17] you and there's a transformation

[02:00:20] that happens. Do you remember what David

[02:00:22] said in Psalms 51? My sin is ever before

[02:00:26] me.

[02:00:28] And then finally, I'm going to end with

[02:00:30] this step five. Trust God alone for your

[02:00:34] promotion.

[02:00:37] This is what the text says. Humble

[02:00:39] yourselves before the Lord and he will

[02:00:43] lift you up. Here's the extraordinary

[02:00:47] thing. How do you deal with pride?

[02:00:51] Actively humble yourself before the

[02:00:53] Lord. I have young men and young women

[02:00:56] all the time come to me and say, "I want

[02:00:57] to do great things for God. How do I get

[02:00:59] there?" Easy. Humble.

[02:01:02] Humble yourself. You know that Paul,

[02:01:05] excuse me, Peter said exactly the same

[02:01:07] thing. Peter said this. He said, "If you

[02:01:10] humble yourself before the Lord in due

[02:01:12] time," that's the phrase in God's time,

[02:01:16] he will lift you up. If you want to be

[02:01:18] great in the kingdom of Jesus, humble

[02:01:22] yourself before him. And let me say to

[02:01:25] you,

[02:01:27] every single time with the time is

[02:01:29] right, he will lift you up.

[02:01:32] What I'm speaking about here really

[02:01:34] today is the curriculum of Jesus.

[02:01:38] Jesus

[02:01:40] Paul writes in the letter to the church

[02:01:43] in Philippi said he humbled himself

[02:01:48] became obedient to the point of death

[02:01:50] and therefore God has exalted him.

[02:01:55] Church,

[02:01:56] let us return back

[02:01:59] to the state that God has created us in

[02:02:02] dependent on him for every breath that

[02:02:05] we take. And as we grow within this,

[02:02:10] something extraordinary will happen to

[02:02:14] us.

[02:02:16] So let me bring this home today.

[02:02:20] Pride is not an occasional bad habit.

[02:02:24] It is the deep default of the fallen

[02:02:27] human heart. And it's costing us our

[02:02:29] relationships.

[02:02:31] It's costing us our churches, our

[02:02:33] ministries, and our walk with God.

[02:02:37] James says that God actively resists

[02:02:39] those who are proud.

[02:02:45] But this condition has an answer.

[02:02:48] The answer is not a program. The answer

[02:02:51] is a person, Jesus.

[02:02:54] Gentle and lowly in heart. And this

[02:02:56] morning, he invites you to walk the

[02:02:58] downward path with him.

[02:03:01] Submit to God.

[02:03:03] Resist the pride that rises in you

[02:03:04] daily. Draw near to God and honor

[02:03:06] stripped down prayer. Mourn your

[02:03:09] self-centeredness long enough to

[02:03:11] actually receive his grace.

[02:03:13] Trust God alone with your promotion.

[02:03:18] Then watch what only God can do.

[02:03:22] He will lift you up. Not on your

[02:03:27] timetable, not in the form you expected,

[02:03:30] but he will do it because he gives grace

[02:03:32] to the humble. And his grace is always

[02:03:38] and always more than enough. He will

[02:03:43] lift you up. Let us pray. Glorious holy

[02:03:47] father,

[02:03:49] your word cuts us to the heart.

[02:03:53] And this morning, Lord, as a proudful

[02:03:55] people, we go before you and we say,

[02:03:58] strip us from our pride.

[02:04:02] Lord, we submit our lives to you fully.

[02:04:05] And as we submit our lives to you,

[02:04:11] we resist the pride that often rises up

[02:04:13] within us. And Lord, we draw near to you

[02:04:16] and we ask that you would cleanse us.

[02:04:19] Produce within us truly godly sorrow

[02:04:23] and help us to humble ourselves so that

[02:04:25] you might lift us up.

[02:04:29] Teach us,

[02:04:31] Jesus, that you are true humility.

[02:04:36] And help us take your yoke upon us so

[02:04:39] that we might walk with you now and

[02:04:42] forever.

[02:04:45] While every head is bowed and every eye

[02:04:47] closed,

[02:04:50] maybe you've come into this church today

[02:04:54] and you've realized that your life is

[02:04:56] not right with God.

[02:05:01] This is a gift that God gives to every

[02:05:03] human being. You know whether you're

[02:05:05] right with him or not. You don't have to

[02:05:07] wonder. You know

[02:05:10] the Holy Spirit hovers over each of us

[02:05:13] to produce that kind of truth within us.

[02:05:18] The question is how

[02:05:21] can you be made right with God?

[02:05:24] Actually, what James said this morning

[02:05:27] is exactly the way.

[02:05:30] You have to submit yourself to God.

[02:05:34] You've got to name the fact that you are

[02:05:37] a sinner in need of a savior.

[02:05:40] You have to name the fact that you

[02:05:42] cannot help yourself.

[02:05:47] And then you have to

[02:05:51] believe in your heart

[02:05:54] that Jesus died for your sins. That you

[02:05:56] cannot save yourself. That only he can.

[02:06:00] And that God raised him from the dead.

[02:06:06] And in response to that, you acknowledge

[02:06:08] that he is Lord. That means you really

[02:06:10] bow the knee of your life to him. The

[02:06:14] scripture says you are saved.

[02:06:17] And at that moment as you humble

[02:06:19] yourself and saying I'm a sinner in need

[02:06:21] of a savior. I am unholy. You are holy.

[02:06:25] Save me. He lifts you up with with him

[02:06:29] for all eternity.

[02:06:32] This morning, if there's anybody like

[02:06:35] that, I'm not going to call you forward

[02:06:37] this morning, but I would like to pray

[02:06:38] with you. Well, every head is bowed and

[02:06:42] every eye closed. If you would quickly

[02:06:43] raise your hand up high if you want to

[02:06:45] be included in the prayer. Thank you. I

[02:06:46] see that hand right in front. I see lots

[02:06:49] of hands being raised. Thank you. Thank

[02:06:50] you. I see hands being raised.

[02:06:53] Wonderful. Once you've raised it, you

[02:06:55] can put it down. That's great. I'm going

[02:06:57] to go one more time through this

[02:06:59] beautiful auditorium and people. And if

[02:07:02] you want to be included in this prayer,

[02:07:04] we're going to pray in a moment.

[02:07:07] Would you quickly just raise your hand

[02:07:10] while every head is bowed and every eye

[02:07:12] closed? I see this hands. I see hands

[02:07:14] everywhere. Praise the Lord. This is

[02:07:16] glorious.

[02:07:20] Every time I'm here, I see such an

[02:07:22] increase in harvest that's coming to

[02:07:24] this house.

[02:07:26] See many, many, many salvations. All

[02:07:28] right, you can put down your hand once

[02:07:30] you've raised it. Choir, you're welcome

[02:07:33] to come up.

[02:07:35] May I just commend the choir for

[02:07:37] waiting?

[02:07:39] Beautiful. There's nothing more

[02:07:41] important than the work we're doing

[02:07:42] right now. Folks, you can open your eyes

[02:07:45] and I'm going to ask if you raised your

[02:07:47] hand and want to be included in this

[02:07:48] prayer. We all going to pray it

[02:07:50] together.

[02:07:52] Jesus is going to meet you right where

[02:07:54] you at. So would can we all pray this

[02:07:58] together? Let's pray. Dear father,

[02:08:01] here I am.

[02:08:02] Here I am. I come to you in the name of

[02:08:04] Jesus.

[02:08:05] I come to you in the name of Jesus.

[02:08:07] I am a sinner.

[02:08:09] I am a sior.

[02:08:10] I need a savior.

[02:08:11] I need a savior.

[02:08:12] I am unholy.

[02:08:14] I am unholy.

[02:08:15] You are holy.

[02:08:18] I cannot save myself.

[02:08:20] I cannot save myself.

[02:08:22] I believe

[02:08:23] I believe

[02:08:24] that you sent Jesus

[02:08:27] Jesus

[02:08:28] to die for my sins.

[02:08:31] that you raised him from the dead.

[02:08:36] Therefore, I proclaim

[02:08:40] the presence of these people.

[02:08:44] Jesus is Lord.

[02:08:46] Jesus is Lord.

[02:08:48] Save me, Jesus.

[02:08:49] Save me, Jesus.

[02:08:50] Wash me from my sins.

[02:08:52] Wash me from my s

[02:08:54] and return my heart to you.

[02:08:58] I submit to you.

[02:09:00] I submit to you.

[02:09:01] I bow my knee.

[02:09:03] I bow my knee.

[02:09:04] And with my tongue I confess.

[02:09:07] I confess.

[02:09:09] Jesus is Lord.

[02:09:10] Jesus.

[02:09:12] You are Lord.

[02:09:13] You are Lord.

[02:09:13] You are my Savior.

[02:09:15] Savior.

[02:09:16] And from now on

[02:09:20] I will

[02:09:22] forever

[02:09:24] and ever. serve you.

[02:09:27] Thank you for saving me.

[02:09:30] I am yours.

[02:09:32] Amen.

[02:09:34] If you prayed this prayer, I'm going to

[02:09:36] ask there'll be folks here in the front

[02:09:38] after the service. Please come to them,

[02:09:40] chat to them, tell them about this

[02:09:42] prayer. They will give you some material

[02:09:44] and they will tell you what are some

[02:09:46] next steps.

[02:09:48] Church, what an opportunity we have now

[02:09:50] to partake of the Lord's supper. I want

[02:09:53] you to prepare yourself and I'm going to

[02:09:56] ask the folks that are preparing the

[02:09:58] elements if they can bring it forward.

[02:10:03] Communion is more than just a ritual

[02:10:07] that we do.

[02:10:10] Communion is a holy expression

[02:10:14] of who Christ is.

[02:10:17] And as we do this, and by the way, the

[02:10:19] folks that have prayed this prayer, you

[02:10:21] are welcome to partake right now.

[02:10:25] Right now, you are part of the body of

[02:10:29] Christ forever. Now,

[02:10:32] what I would like for us to do,

[02:10:37] first and foremostly,

[02:10:39] I want us to confess the creed.

[02:10:44] Historically, Christians have confessed

[02:10:47] what we believe.

[02:10:50] And I'm going to ask if you would stand,

[02:10:52] please. This is part of our worship. And

[02:10:55] with one voice, this will be on there.

[02:11:00] We are going to confess this.

[02:11:03] Um, let's just give a moment for the

[02:11:05] choir. I am so impressed with them.

[02:11:09] They're so sensitive to the presence of

[02:11:11] the Lord. And how beautiful this is.

[02:11:17] So the scripture says we have to wait

[02:11:19] for one another when we partake. And

[02:11:21] there's something holy in that waiting

[02:11:24] that we're going to receive.

[02:11:27] Let us confess our faith together. I

[02:11:31] believe in one God, Father Almighty,

[02:11:36] creator of heaven and earth. and of all

[02:11:39] things visible and invisible.

[02:11:42] I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, the

[02:11:46] only begotten Son of God, begotten of

[02:11:49] the Father before all ages, light of

[02:11:53] light, true God of true God, begotten

[02:11:57] not created, of one substance with the

[02:12:01] Father, through whom all things were

[02:12:04] made, who for us men and for our

[02:12:07] salvation, came down from heaven, and

[02:12:11] was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the

[02:12:14] Virgin Mary became man. He was crucified

[02:12:19] for us and the Ponteus Pilate and

[02:12:22] suffered and was buried and he rose on

[02:12:25] the third day according to the

[02:12:27] scriptures. He ascended into heaven and

[02:12:30] is seated at the right hand of the

[02:12:32] father. And he will come again with

[02:12:35] glory to judge the living and dead. His

[02:12:38] kingdom shall have no end.

[02:12:42] I believe your spirit. The Lord and the

[02:12:45] giver of life who proceeds from the

[02:12:48] father who together with the father and

[02:12:51] the son is worshiped and glorified who

[02:12:55] spoke through the prophets. I believe in

[02:12:58] one holy catholic and apostolic church.

[02:13:02] I confess one baptism for the

[02:13:04] forgiveness of sins. I look for the

[02:13:07] resurrection of the dead and the life of

[02:13:10] the age to come. Amen. Amen. And amen.

[02:13:15] Folks, would you join me in praying the

[02:13:18] prayer that Jesus taught us to pray?

[02:13:22] This is from Matthew

[02:13:25] chapter 6.

[02:13:28] And here it is.

[02:13:30] Pray with me. Our Father in heaven,

[02:13:34] hallowed be your name. Thy kingdom come,

[02:13:39] thy will be done on earth as it is in

[02:13:42] heaven. Give us this day our daily

[02:13:46] bread. And forgive us our trespasses

[02:13:49] [music]

[02:13:50] as we have offered

[02:13:52] of others. And lead us not into

[02:13:55] temptation, but deliver us from evil.

[02:13:59] for yours is the kingdom and the power

[02:14:02] and the glory forever.

[02:14:05] Amen.

[02:14:07] Let us prepare our hearts now to receive

[02:14:13] these glorious

[02:14:16] elements

[02:14:18] of grace.

[02:14:24] Praise the Lord.

[02:14:39] What a holy moment this is.

[02:14:45] For I received from the Lord what I also

[02:14:48] delivered to you.

[02:14:51] But the Lord Jesus on the night when he

[02:14:53] was betrayed,

[02:14:55] took bread,

[02:14:58] and when he had given thanks, he broke

[02:15:00] it and said, "This is my body which is

[02:15:03] for you.

[02:15:05] Do this in remembrance of me."

[02:15:10] In the same way also he took the cup

[02:15:12] after supper, saying, "This cup is the

[02:15:15] new covenant in my blood. Do this as

[02:15:18] often as you drink it in remembrance

[02:15:22] of me. For as often as you eat this

[02:15:25] bread and drink the cup, you proclaim

[02:15:27] the Lord's death until he comes.

[02:15:33] How glorious Jesus.

[02:15:36] We lift up this bread

[02:15:40] and this wine

[02:15:42] and we pray that you sanctify it

[02:15:47] and Lord that you use this for your

[02:15:49] glory.

[02:15:53] Glorious Jesus, as we receive this, your

[02:15:56] body broken for us,

[02:15:59] this your blood, the blood of the new

[02:16:01] [music] covenant,

[02:16:04] that we receive all of who you are,

[02:16:09] and that we feast upon you.

[02:16:15] We thank you for these your holy gifts.

[02:16:21] We receive this in the name of the

[02:16:23] father, son, and holy spirit.

[02:16:30] Amen.

[02:16:34] Folks, in a moment, we're going to

[02:16:35] receive. It is the practice of this

[02:16:37] house to come forward. Ushers will come

[02:16:41] and help you,

[02:16:43] direct you. But as you receive this

[02:16:46] bread,

[02:16:49] hear the words of the Lord. This is my

[02:16:51] body broken for you. As you receive the

[02:16:55] cup, hear these words. This is my blood

[02:16:58] shed for you.

[02:17:02] And as we take [music] it, we proclaim

[02:17:04] the mystery of faith.

[02:17:10] Christ was born. Christ has died. Christ

[02:17:14] is risen. Christ shall come again.

[02:17:19] Let us receive.

[02:17:44] Hallelujah.

[02:17:52] Hallelu

[02:18:18] jah.

[02:18:26] Hallelujah.

[02:19:11] [music]

[02:19:13] are

[02:19:35] hallelujah.

[02:19:38] Hallelujah.

[02:20:00] Glor

[02:20:05] you.

[02:20:09] Glory

[02:20:11] praise

[02:20:13] you.

[02:20:18] Glor [music] we praise

[02:20:22] you.

[02:20:26] Glor we praise

[02:20:30] you.

[02:20:35] Lord we praise [music]

[02:20:39] you.

[02:20:43] [music] Lord we praise

[02:20:47] you.

[02:20:52] Lord we praise

[02:20:56] you.

[02:21:01] Lord, we praise

[02:21:04] [music] you.

[02:21:09] Gracious

[02:21:11] father, [music]

[02:21:18] gracious [music]

[02:21:20] father,

[02:21:26] gracious

[02:21:28] father,

[02:21:35] gracious [music]

[02:21:43] Gracious

[02:21:45] father, [music]

[02:21:52] gracious [music]

[02:21:54] father,

[02:22:00] gracious [music]

[02:22:09] Gracious.

[02:22:18] Holy

[02:22:20] Spirit.

[02:22:26] Holy [music]

[02:22:28] Spirit.

[02:22:35] Holy [music]

[02:22:37] Spirit.

[02:22:40] [music]

[02:22:43] Holy

[02:22:45] Spirit.

[02:22:52] Holy

[02:22:54] Spirit.

[02:22:57] [music]

[02:23:00] God is

[02:23:09] holy

[02:23:11] spirit.

[02:23:26] Hallelujah.

[02:23:43] [music]

[02:23:52] Hallelujah.

[02:25:32] Hi everyone. and we just wanted to say

[02:25:34] thank you so much for tuning in. For

[02:25:36] those who don't know me, my name is

[02:25:37] Jose. I'm the youth director here at

[02:25:38] Jesus [music] Image. And this is Tiara.

[02:25:40] Hi guys. I'm Tiara. I'm one of the

[02:25:42] presence group leaders here.

[02:25:44] We are so thankful for all who are

[02:25:46] tuning in. Um wherever you're tuning in

[02:25:48] from, we encourage you drop [music] um

[02:25:50] where you're tuning in from right there.

[02:25:51] Um right there in the comment section.

[02:25:53] And whether you are at a college campus,

[02:25:55] in your dorm room, in a car, maybe not

[02:25:57] while you're driving, but wherever

[02:25:59] you're at, homes, uh, apartment, just

[02:26:02] [music] around the world, we are so

[02:26:03] honored that you would choose, um, to

[02:26:05] tune in to what the Lord is doing here

[02:26:07] in service today. And my goodness,

[02:26:08] Tiara, what a service. I'm going to be

[02:26:11] processing this for probably weeks. I

[02:26:14] mean, I have notes and notes. It was

[02:26:16] such an empowerful message. So, if

[02:26:18] you're tuning in late, I encourage you

[02:26:20] to go back and listen to it. It was a

[02:26:22] phenomenal word from Dean Becker um the

[02:26:24] dean of divinity at Regent University.

[02:26:26] But again, just want to say thank you so

[02:26:28] much for tuning in. You guys are so much

[02:26:30] a part of this family here uh in

[02:26:33] Orlando. Wherever you're tuning in from,

[02:26:35] you are a part of it and we are so

[02:26:36] grateful that you get to be with us. But

[02:26:38] yeah, I would love TR for you to just

[02:26:40] talk about also what the Lord is doing

[02:26:41] here in Orlando outside of the Sundays,

[02:26:44] maybe like our school and stuff like

[02:26:45] that. I know you just recently graduated

[02:26:47] from your third year. um I graduated a

[02:26:49] few years ago, but you're in the thick

[02:26:51] of it as a presence group there. So, why

[02:26:52] don't you talk about it?

[02:26:53] Yeah, it's been um it's been really

[02:26:55] special to see the Jesus School students

[02:26:58] that have come from all over the world.

[02:26:59] They're coming. Um I'm part of the

[02:27:01] online family as well, so there's people

[02:27:03] joining in from Jesus School's online

[02:27:06] students and we're just seeing the way

[02:27:07] that the Lord is moving in a radical way

[02:27:10] and in just transformation. So you're

[02:27:13] coming here [music] giving your life to

[02:27:15] Jesus for nine months and um what I've

[02:27:18] seen is just transformation of students.

[02:27:20] Their lives are changing. Their families

[02:27:22] are changing. The Lord is not just

[02:27:23] meeting them but their families. We've

[02:27:26] seen um so many healings happen. I have

[02:27:29] had a student I was just thinking about

[02:27:31] this yesterday genuinely and her she had

[02:27:35] a heart arhythmia and her heart

[02:27:37] arhythmia got completely healed. And

[02:27:39] again, it's just it's just us going

[02:27:41] after Jesus. It's the one thing that

[02:27:43] we're after. And it's [music] just that

[02:27:45] and we're seeing such transformation

[02:27:47] happen in bodies, in soul, and in their

[02:27:50] mind. And um it's one of the greatest

[02:27:52] joys to see the students graduate at the

[02:27:55] end of 9 months. And they're not the

[02:27:56] same. I wasn't the same at all. So, it's

[02:27:59] been powerful.

[02:27:59] Yeah. And and just to correct me if I'm

[02:28:01] wrong, Jesus School is for anyone within

[02:28:03] the ages of 18 and up. I mean, this is

[02:28:06] all ages. I mean, when I came, I was 20.

[02:28:08] [music] Um, and there were so many ages

[02:28:11] from around the world. So, yeah. So, we

[02:28:13] encourage you sign up for it. But I love

[02:28:15] that you talked a little bit about um

[02:28:17] just some answered prayers and some

[02:28:19] testimonies because I would love for you

[02:28:20] to share with our online audience just

[02:28:22] um how they can um be just sending in

[02:28:24] [music] their their prayer requests and

[02:28:26] also sharing testimonies as well. Why

[02:28:27] don't you share about that? Yeah.

[02:28:28] So, you should be able to see a prompt

[02:28:30] at the [music] bottom of the screen and

[02:28:31] you should be able to send your prayer

[02:28:32] requests in and nothing is too small or

[02:28:35] too big, literally like a headache, a

[02:28:38] fever, anything. And the Lord sees you

[02:28:40] all and you're part of our family. I was

[02:28:42] joining for years online and I felt

[02:28:44] absolutely no distance in the spirit.

[02:28:46] There is no distance. The Lord is so

[02:28:49] preeminent. He's so there. Um, and maybe

[02:28:51] we can even pray.

[02:28:52] Yeah, I would love to pray. Yeah. So,

[02:28:54] wherever we are right now, I would

[02:28:56] encourage you. You can put it in the

[02:28:57] chat right now, your prayer request.

[02:28:58] We'd also encourage you, just like Tiara

[02:29:00] said, um, to put those prayer requests

[02:29:02] [music] in. Um, follow that prompt, send

[02:29:04] them in. We have a team that is praying

[02:29:06] and interceding, but I would love Tiara,

[02:29:07] would you just lead us in a quick

[02:29:08] prayer? Um, pray for those online. You

[02:29:10] can stretch your hand toward the screen.

[02:29:12] You can just sit there and receive

[02:29:13] wherever you're at.

[02:29:14] Yes, Lord. We just thank you, Father.

[02:29:15] [music]

[02:29:16] We thank you, Jesus, that you are

[02:29:18] touching every life tonight, Lord. that

[02:29:21] even through the message that was shared

[02:29:23] today, Lord, that there is a work that

[02:29:25] is happening in our hearts, Lord. And I

[02:29:27] just pray [music] John 17, Lord, that

[02:29:30] you would sanctify us by the truth,

[02:29:32] Lord. And that you would keep us, Lord.

[02:29:34] And I just pray [music] that truly,

[02:29:36] Father, that there would be a greater

[02:29:38] hunger and desire and purity in each

[02:29:41] heart, Lord, in our hearts, Father, that

[02:29:43] you would keep us by your name. I plead

[02:29:46] the blood [music] of Jesus Christ upon

[02:29:48] each one that is watching. Lord, that

[02:29:50] there would be complete restoration in

[02:29:52] body, in mind, in soul. Lord, I [music]

[02:29:56] thank you, Lord, that we will know you

[02:29:58] more and love you more in the days ahead

[02:30:01] than before, [music] Lord. I thank you.

[02:30:03] I thank you for taking us glory to

[02:30:05] glory, Lord, and keep us, Father. I just

[02:30:08] pray that you would keep us in your

[02:30:10] name. I pray in Jesus mighty name. Amen.

[02:30:14] Amen. Yes. I encourage you, again, I

[02:30:16] know we've said it multiple times, but

[02:30:17] please send in your prayer requests as

[02:30:19] well as your testimonies. Follow the

[02:30:21] link right there on your screen, right

[02:30:22] there on that lower third. You'll be

[02:30:24] able to see it. Follow it. We en

[02:30:26] encourage you guys to I also [music]

[02:30:28] wanted to just thank all of our partners

[02:30:30] around the world. Um you who have swn um

[02:30:32] and partnered with the ministry of Jesus

[02:30:34] Image through prayer and resource

[02:30:36] finance. We are so grateful for all of

[02:30:38] the support to the building, to

[02:30:40] missions, everything, every arm of Jesus

[02:30:42] Image. We just want to say thank you so

[02:30:44] much for sewing and I want to be able to

[02:30:46] pray just a blessing over each and every

[02:30:48] partner just saying to thank you from

[02:30:50] the bottom of our hearts. I mean what we

[02:30:52] are being able to like stand in the

[02:30:54] building we're able to stand in [music]

[02:30:55] the the services we're able to be a part

[02:30:57] of are because of your faithfulness and

[02:30:59] obedience to the Lord. So I just want to

[02:31:01] pray for you guys. Um Lord we thank you

[02:31:03] for uh every partner Lord that is

[02:31:05] watching Lord wherever they're watching

[02:31:07] from. God we just ask Lord you know no

[02:31:10] time or distance or space God. So we

[02:31:11] just ask the same spirit, God, that we

[02:31:13] are experiencing this moment now would

[02:31:15] flood those rooms, those those living

[02:31:17] rooms, those apartments, God, those

[02:31:19] cars, wherever they're watching from,

[02:31:20] Lord, we just ask that you would

[02:31:22] continue to bless those that have swn um

[02:31:25] both in prayer and resource, God. Um

[02:31:27] that have swn into your work, into your

[02:31:30] doing, that [music] your kingdom would

[02:31:32] be advanced in every place where your

[02:31:34] gospel is being preached, God. they they

[02:31:36] are just as much a part of it, God, as

[02:31:38] we are in in the standing in this

[02:31:40] building, wherever they're standing,

[02:31:41] God, wherever they're interceding from,

[02:31:42] God, that they are just as much a part

[02:31:44] of this. Um they are in it with us. So,

[02:31:46] we just thank you for every partner,

[02:31:48] every one that's swn, whether it be a

[02:31:50] dollar or more, God. We just thank you,

[02:31:51] Lord. We're just asking, Lord, that you

[02:31:53] would pour your spirit out upon their

[02:31:54] families, [music]

[02:31:55] Lord. May your face shine bright upon

[02:31:57] their lives, God. And may they never

[02:31:59] ever ever recover, God, from the

[02:32:01] glorious presence that you are sending

[02:32:03] right now into their houses, into their

[02:32:05] apartments, God, their cars. May [music]

[02:32:07] they always be with you. In Jesus name

[02:32:09] we pray. Amen.

[02:32:10] Amen.

[02:32:10] Yeah. So, we just want to say thank you.

[02:32:12] Um and we cannot wait to for you guys to

[02:32:15] join us tonight at 6 p.m. We uh are

[02:32:18] going to have an amazing time of both

[02:32:20] prayer, worship, and the word. So, don't

[02:32:22] miss it. 6 p.m. tonight. We will see you

[02:32:24] then.

[02:32:25] Bye-bye. Bless you guys.

[02:32:27] You desire a more intimate walk with

[02:32:29] Jesus and to go deeper into the word of

[02:32:31] God.

[02:32:32] I want our ministry school students to

[02:32:33] have longevity and know the Lord and

[02:32:35] have a solid foundation.

[02:32:37] Nothing you ever do won't matter more

[02:32:39] than just loving Jesus.

[02:32:41] Pause. Be still. Know that God is God.

[02:32:45] Just be near him. Trust him.

[02:32:47] Let him do his job.

[02:32:49] It's about knowing him.

[02:32:51] The Lord preaches the gospel through the

[02:32:54] life rhythm of his people.

[02:32:58] I pray [music] you can come here with

[02:33:00] your victories and your wounds and just

[02:33:02] sit in the presence of the Lord and feel

[02:33:04] [music] like a child again.

[02:33:07] You were created for this moment in

[02:33:10] history.

[02:33:10] There is no other preparation than a

[02:33:13] relational [music] preparation that

[02:33:15] comes through servantthood where you

[02:33:17] have proximity to anointing and to

[02:33:19] people.

[02:33:21] That's what school is about. For your

[02:33:24] eyes to be opened so that you can

[02:33:28] understand the rule of God.

[02:33:31] The kingdom on earth as it is in heaven

[02:33:33] looks like something. It has to look

[02:33:36] like Jesus.

[02:33:37] If you want to be like Jesus, he is the

[02:33:39] word. I've truly found the purpose to

[02:33:42] which I've been created. And that is to

[02:33:44] know the man Christ Jesus who has been

[02:33:46] crucified for me. that I would live in

[02:33:48] him and he in me for all eternity.

[02:33:51] We want to see a Jesus people raised up

[02:33:54] that will shake the earth for the glory

[02:33:56] of God. The Jesus people are emerging

[02:33:59] and we have one ambition, Jesus himself.

[02:34:04] Will you join us?

[02:34:09] [singing]

[02:34:13] the flame again.

[02:34:16] I want to burn.

[02:34:24] Bethany, you sit at his feet and hear

[02:34:26] his word.

[02:34:26] There's no other place to go but to be

[02:34:28] at his pierce feet and love him forever

[02:34:30] more.

[02:34:31] We need people that understand the

[02:34:33] authority they have in the spirit when

[02:34:35] they take their post [music] and

[02:34:36] minister to the Lord.

[02:34:38] He has amazing ways of growing us,

[02:34:41] preparing us, readying us, and filling

[02:34:44] us [music] out past our talent.

[02:34:47] The gospel's not complicated, but it is

[02:34:51] costly.

[02:34:52] Is needed. Jesus.

[02:34:55] May [music] Jesus be pleased with all

[02:34:57] that takes place here. May he be adored

[02:35:00] and worshiped [music] here. May his word

[02:35:02] be taught in clarity and love here. As

[02:35:05] we tell the [music] generations to come

[02:35:07] the praises of the Lord and his strength

[02:35:10] and his wonderful works he has done.

[02:35:13] May the generations come to find him

[02:35:14] here to find Jesus here. here.

[02:35:19] Together [music] we will build the house

[02:35:21] of God and a home for his people.