A Spiritual Checkup | Pastor William McDowell

if you are able to would you stand if you're not already standing maybe some of you decided to stand in worship i want to encourage you not to [Music] be passive in your [Music] interaction with worship i know it may seem weird to you to be home and not together and things of that nature but we're not naive and thinking that all of you are standing lifting your hands and singing and all that stuff but i do at least want to encourage you to not become passive to the point where your worship life becomes dull because you are watching worship instead of worshiping [Music] because he's worthy to be praised he's worthy to be praised he's worthy to be praised he's worthy to be praised you know what i'm doing right now i'm not only giving him the worship that he's due but the one of the other things i know is that because we are created to worship when a worshiper comes into the context of worship something happens on the inside it just wants to start to come out and when you start to hear somebody say hallelujah thank you jesus you're worthy to be praised there's nobody like you you are holy there's something on starts to rise up on the inside he says i want to join in on that because because he is worthy he's he's been too good for me to be silent he's he's been too good for me not to give him glory he's been too good for me to stay silent and to to not lift up my hands and to not lift up my voice and to not tell of his goodness and to not tell of his mercy and to not tell of his grace so i just want to give you a moment right there in your house i know that pastor caleb had a shout earlier but i just want to give you a moment to release the words of worship into the atmosphere wherever you are come on let's do it hallelujah lord we bless your name we give you glory we give you honor we love you with everything in us we love you more than anything we love you more than life itself you alone are worthy you alone are holy you alone are great you are great and greatly to be praised there is nobody like you you are what nothing else is we honor you we extol you we exalt you we lift you because you alone are god beside you there is no other no one else has been as good to us in fact you've been better to us than we've been to ourselves we thank you for the cross we thank you for dying and raising again we thank you for resurrection power which lives on the inside of us we thank you god that you presented us faultless before the throne we thank you that you've allowed us to enter in boldly we thank you for the blood of jesus we thank you for your washing we thank you for your covering we thank you for your cleansing we thank you for your grace we thank you for your mercy we thank you for your sacrifice we thank you lord hallelujah [Music] hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah thank you jesus thank you jesus thank you lord thank you lord thank you lord hallelujah hallelujah [Music] thank you jesus [Music] hallelujah oh this is for you jesus thank you lord colossians chapter two verse six and seven colossians chapter two verse six and seven i want us to read this together colossians chapter two verse six and seven and now just as you accepted christ jesus as your lord you must continue to follow him let your roots grow down into him and let your lives be built on him then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught and you will overflow with thankfulness we'll stop right there and we'll pray together father i thank you for your word i thank you for the truth i pray that in these next few moments together you would speak to us powerfully let your word examine us may we be changed by the declaration the proclamation the reality and the truth of your word there is no one like you we are being formed into your image let everything else fade away may we be pleasing to you i pray father for the hearer of the word that the hearts of all who are hearing would be fertile ground but the seed would take root and bear fruit lord i pray as always that you would anoint me to proclaim your word go beyond my preparation speak through me and let the holy spirit interpret to each individual hero exactly what you want them to hear and take away my ability is limited your ability is limitless so i submit to you always as your son and your servant i want to make you proud and i pray as always that the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart will be acceptable in thy sight o lord my strength and my redeemer and because you are so gracious and so merciful and so loving and so kind would you draw the hearts of those who are far from you near cause them to come to the saving knowledge of christ and into saving faith save people in jesus name amen you can be seated you can be seated i never know why i say that twice it's so churchy i guess it's better than some of the other christianese that it's used out there but [Music] i um actually um i've been meditating on a concept of thought a a direction for the last few weeks um pastor caleb preached a couple of weeks ago and pastor matt last week and i just want to say i appreciate deeply both of them they are amazing communicators and they live what they preach and i'm so grateful for them and i get ministered to uh when they speak like you do and um but it is it's a real blessing uh to be a lead pastor but be surrounded by so many strong communicators of the word um they blessed me tremendously and i just wanted to appreciate them um i was taking some time to to really um think about the direction of the lord for for this coming time and it's been really really interesting i think um as i've been looking at the arc of where the lord has had us um in this year we know that we're um still enduring the same season but we are in a new calendar year and i've been looking at even the difference of of where the lord has had us uh over this last over this last time and it's been really interesting and the lord is leading me in a particular direction and i thought okay um i know exactly where we're gonna go how we're gonna do it and everything else and i began to put it together um you know over the course of the week and i i came to the realization this is way too much for one message and so i decided um with the help of the holy spirit to slow down for just a moment to take it a little bit slower so that we could really uh have benefit from what the holy spirit is saying to us in this moment um my my story here um to start seems kind of morbid but but i i need us to to pay attention ultimately to to to why um i'm i'm saying this i was actually doing some reading um i read a lot and um so i was i read a lot in both scripture and news and a number of other things and i was doing some reading and i came across a pretty tragic story actually in newsweek um that that talked about a woman who lost her entire family to covet 19 and it was really sad but but but what was really sad was how it happened and i was reading this and and and just stay with me for a moment it's not a covet 19 message i just want you to understand um she tested positive but she didn't tell anyone in her family that she did um what she did instead was she opted to tell them that she had the flu and unfortunately a long story short her entire family husband and children everybody ended up contracting covey and passed away unfortunately now i know that that's a morbid story and you're like okay you're starting the word this way um just bear with me for a moment um it's a morbid story and i thought to be honest to use a different example because of the terrible tragedy and that that is and the emotional nature attached to it however i wanted to highlight it for for various reasons because we at times and we're to be honest it may not be covered um but we at times also choose not to be truthful about what's really going on inside of us and because we don't choose choose to be truthful about what's going on inside of us at times even with those closest to us um we don't recognize that our individual decisions have effects whether positive or negative every individual decision has a positive or negative effect on family one of the biggest lies that the enemy tells us is that our decisions only affect us that is one of the biggest lies the enemy tells us particularly the lie that sin is isolated sin has consequences beyond you and so a lot of times we we tend to live lives thinking that if we live secretive and if nobody knows and nobody really knows what we are and we can just put on a good face for each other and every time we run into each other we run into another believer run into another member of the community or whatever we put on our best christian airs face and we say i'm blessed and i'm doing great and i'm doing whatever even though things may be falling apart on the inside or not necessarily even just with your circumstances but even with your spiritual walk and instead of being honest and saying hey i'm really struggling right now a lot of times not only do we lie to others but we also lie to ourselves we don't recognize that there are consequences to that it's important that we be honest about where we are um we are a connected not only community but also a collective body of christ this is how this is how the scripture uh defines us and describes us as the reality of our connection and that is that we are connected um allow me to pose a question for you and i'm going to pose this question for you um if you stub your toe does the body respond or just the toe does your finger say to the toe man you need to be more careful that's that's not what happens is it just the entire body if you stub your toe your entire body responds to that if you if you were hammering a nail and you hit your finger your entire body responds to that somehow or another i think we've convinced ourselves that if i'm not a certain part of the body or if i'm not at a certain level or if i don't have a certain position then it doesn't matter how i'm doing that's how we've we've done this and it's important that we be honest about where we are and to not hide as the scripture says to us in psalm 139 we know this very well the scripture says to us in psalm 139 verse 23 it says search me o god and know my heart test me and know my anxious thoughts point out anything in me that offends you and lead me along the path of everlasting life psalm 51 says this behold you desire truth and the inward parts and in the hidden part you will make me to know wisdom it's important family that we would be honest now now interestingly enough um this local community as you know has been in a scattered state since last march now i'll be the first to admit to you that's not easy it's not easy to be this way i miss almost everything about us gathering together i was laughing with pastor caleb because i was like well the one thing about doing the stream is i don't have to cast out devils on a regular basis but other than that i don't miss that i don't mind it but i don't miss it [Laughter] so i miss almost everything i'm recognizing not every church deals with that but like we literally have people that come up and tell you i have devils it literally has happened um hey how are you doing i'm i'm i'm good how can i how can i pray for you i have demons oh okay great so i know that for most people they just get to say hi god bless you how you doing whatever but here it is a little bit different story so i miss almost [Laughter] i miss almost everything about us gathering together that's a little levity i just told you a morbid story i had to give you some levity um it's not easy what makes it even harder is the fact that we're still in this state while a number of other ministries around the country are gathering together um at their their discretion at this point we get the emails every week daily are you guys meeting and then the the emails that say why aren't you guys meeting and even the emails that say i thought you guys had faith we get all of it we get them all i thought you guys were an atmosphere of the miraculous and why are we not meeting for a virus that has a 99.4 recovery rate because i'm not willing to lose 0.6 of you haven't decided which ones of you are worth dying so we can meet so as a pastor we carry the weight that not everyone carries factors range widely from spiritual well-being to emotional well-being to physical well-being of the people that we serve and that weighs on us daily bishop jakes eloquently stated something on social media and i just like literally i just wanted to like if on instagram it doesn't allow you to put like a gift but if it did i would have put a slow clap or whatever because somebody was chiding him about having a forum on vaccinations and stuff like that and you know i find it interesting that that sometimes i've learned and actually i'm not as bold as bishop jake's but i've actually learned that i enjoy the fact that he claps back for people who come for him so just just understand that if you're going to do that he sees and he's going to come back for you there's a couple of other well-known pastors that do it as well and um but but i loved a particular response because it spoke to the pastoral nature of what all of us bear because someone was asking him why are you doing this and we don't need vaccines and blah blah blah and all that kind of stuff and i know that the the thoughts are all over the map i'm not about to wait into that in this moment but i did appreciate something that he said in the moment he said now this is a pastoral heart here he said i'm not an epidemiologist but i am a eulogist think about that for a moment i i i don't have the the responsibility of epidemiology and the study of pandemics and virology but i do have the the the responsibility of the impacts of preaching the eulogies of those so i'm not an epidemiologist but i'm a eulogist i want you to understand that there is a pastoral way that while there are certain things that we don't understand and there's a wide range of conversations among the pastoral community and among the faith community about what our posture should be and all that kind of stuff and i don't want to weigh too much into that in this moment but i want you to understand that that there are a number of things that weigh on the pastoral heart now that's just the physical nature of things and our prayerful spirit-led decisions carry much weight to them because we do recognize here's the other part of it we do recognize then that that while in a scattered state um it's very very difficult to gauge the spiritual wellness of your people while trying to protect the physical wellness of your people that that also has an effect on the emotional which is the soul and the spiritual wellness of people now doctors suggest that all of us should get an annual physical or checkup that's what they suggest some do it some don't these checkups allow them to ask us questions to make sure that we are where we're supposed to be and to suggest any changes that might make us healthier or to course correct where we may be trending in the wrong direction now this is what's interesting about this season i've shared with a few friends that it's interesting as much as we've leaned into scripture for prophetic insight and interpretation for what was happening in the earth for most of 2020 um what i felt for 2021 is a real pastoral weight so where there was a prophetic emphasis for the balance of 2020 there has been a pastoral emphasis for 2021. so far i'm not saying that there won't be a prophetic insight and things like that things of that nature but there's been a real pastoral focus because um there is a real pastoral concern the manner of physical checkup in the same manner of physical checkup there is a sense and i feel the need for a spiritual checkup and a spiritual check-in this is this is where we are in this moment we began this year in the book of james as a letter to the scattered church and we leaned into a number of things but but specifically we kept coming back to a particular theme in james chapter one which was the word opportunity or the phrase consider it an opportunity if y'all remember that it was just a month ago consider it an opportunity i just want us to look at james chapter one uh verse two uh through four one more time you can put that in the nlt i forgot to put it in my notes but but you got it good job um it says dear brothers and sisters when troubles of any kind come your way consider it an opportunity for great joy when troubles of any kind come your way consider an opportunity for great joy for you know that when your faith is tested your endurance has a chance to grow so let it grow for when your endurance is fully developed you will be perfect and complete needing nothing these trials this moment is an opportunity remember this it's an opportunity it's an opportunity why because god is using it to do something in us and for us ephesians chapter 5 goes on to to make this statement ephesians chapter 5 goes on to make the statement verse 15 ephesians chapter 5 verse 15 so be careful how you live don't live like fools but like those who are wise make the most of every there's that word again opportunity in these evil days don't act thoughtlessly but understand what the lord wants you to do i know family that most dislike this season and cannot wait for it to end and to get back to a sense of normalcy i completely understand just a few moments ago when we were in worship i went and told my best friend caleb i said man i wish the people were here i get it i understand i really do however i cannot escape the sense that our next is directly tied to our now i can't get away from it it's not just a prophetic sense it's scriptural principle our next is directly connected to our now this season while uncomfortable remains an opportunity this season while uncomfortable is an opportunity hear me family what we do with this moment will impact what we're trusted with in the future can i say it again i want you to get it i want it to sit on you i want you to realize it i don't just want you to hear me i want you to ingest it i want you to internalize it i want you to take stock of where you are because i don't want you to get to the future and wonder why you are where you are you will be where you are in the future based on what you do now and when you get there let's let's talk about principle when you get there your next will be dependent on what you do with that now and when you get to that next your next next will depend on what you did with that now it is a principle of scripture it is an outline of scripture and i want us to understand because my great fear that i have in this moment is that this season is coming to some level of an end and the thing that is amazing to me is that when it comes to an end we're going to see a repositioning of sorts there are going to be those who god trusts with more and there are going to be those who what they had will be taken what we do with this moment what we do with this season is and remains an opportunity it is an opportunity you you say okay you're you're leaning into prophetic sensing now i'm actually leaning into matthew 25. i'm leaning into the principle of matthew 25 which is a very well known parable the parable of the talents the parable of the talents we see uh i could read the whole thing all 15 verses but to summarize it for you really quickly the parable of the talents essentially says that the master went away for quite some time they knew he was going to return he gave to each according to their ability talents to one he gave five to one he gave two to the other he gave one to the one who had five uh he mult he he doubled that into another five to the one who had two he doubled that into another two to the one who had one he buried it and the response of the master to the one who had five is well done good and faithful servant contextually of course we're talking about the return of the lord and the ultimate in judgment contextually when we're talking about principle here to the one who had five who also produced another five his response was well done to the one who had two and produced another two the response of the master to him was well done good and faithful servant to the one who buried the response was you wicked and lazy servant this is what matthew chapter 25 verse 29 says us here's a principle listen carefully to those who use well what they are given even more will be given and they will have an abundance but from those who do nothing even what little they have will be taken away somebody put opportunity this is an opportunity and we are going to have to give an account to what we did with this season we are going to have to give an account for what we did with this season i have a theory i have a theory family there there are a number of questions about the prophetic community people are asking quite a bit in this moment and really casting doubt upon prophetic movements and all that kind of stuff but i do have a theory i shared it with a friend my theory is this because understand that prophets prophetic people prophetic insight whatever is connected directly to what god reveals it's directly connected to what god reveals so you can't say what he hasn't shown now i find it interesting because what we have in this moment is globally it seemed like no one saw it which is to say that perhaps globally god didn't reveal it when everyone says how come nobody saw the virus everybody talk about 20 20 vision in 2020 it is in the year of that and the year this but nobody saw this how come nobody saw it here's a pretty clear answer because he chose not to reveal it prophetically stay with me my theory is that what god wanted to do or what god intended for us to do with this moment is to ask him through the scripture what is it that you are saying what kind of scriptural precedent is there and if we would have searched the scripture and come across the word pestilence we would have discovered that this is a divine instrument of god's judgment for the purpose of turning people's hearts back to him which is to say that the other side of study would have led you to repentance god didn't reveal it in an ethereal way because he wanted us to see it in a written way he presented us an opportunity to build on his word he presented us an opportunity to see his heart in his word because perhaps he knew that if he had shown it to people by revelation they might have interpreted it wrong and called this a season of blessing when he wanted us to see it as a season of repentance the scripture throughout history points to repentance to those who use well what they are given even more will be given and they will have an abundance but from those who do nothing even what little they have will be taken away if you want to talk about a divine or strategic repositioning it has everything to do with what we do with this opportunity if we misuse this opportunity we have forfeited our right to complain about our future oh i want you to hear it i want you to get it because this is this is my concern we are ending or coming into or we can see the light at the end of a tunnel of this season it hasn't fully arrived yet but we see the light at the end of the tunnel of this season and it's amazing to me because a lot of the the the talk and the chatter and everything else months and months ago it's all man when we get back together it's gonna be this and it's gonna be that and now everybody else is back together and there's nothing where i'mma get in so much trouble where is the revival y'all said was gonna happen when you came back together is it possible that it didn't come because you skipped a step you skipped repentance and you said you were going to have revival instead you decided to be defiant and say we're not going to let anything stop us including god i'm outside of my notes lord help me get [Laughter] back this is a time for you and i through the scripture to take stock of where we are what are you doing with this opportunity what the lord wants to invite us into is a spiritual checkup this is this is the pastoral moment here this is this is a moment for you to to um walk circumspectly which is what ephesians 5 uh were to say in the king james and new king james i read it to you and nlt esv doesn't say it that way either um it's just one of those moments where it's it's weird to take stock of how we live and how we walk because for many of us um we're we're we're telling we're telling ourself and others lies about where we are we're not being honest about where we are and this is a moment for us to take stock of where we are so that we don't miss this opportunity because the future is great may i also give you uh a pregnant thought within every generation of futures up for grabs the future is settled in scripture but generational participation is always up for grabs who will lead the future the high capacity five talent one or what we seed our position to one talent folks who bury what god has given them but because we waste the opportunity we find ourselves as one talent folks i believe that the lord wants to challenge us with where we are i set out to communicate what the scripture says and highlights about the lifestyle and even habits of the mature in christ that's what i set out to do that's been what i've been chewing on postulating ruminating germinating pastor jason says noodling you know whatever it may be that's what i've been that's what i've been thinking about when i recognized that as i was beginning to write this out that that could not be accomplished effectively in a message so i chose to start in a peculiar beginning which is on an honest evaluation of are there any signs of immaturity in us am i resisting growth am i repelling growth in my life am i drifting without knowing it which is attempting to stay in the same place or maintain a place or am i actively growing those are the questions am i resisting or repelling growth in my life or am i drifting let me define drifting for you the attempt to maintain in god or am i actively growing in the kingdom i've said this to us before the law is this you are either growing or dying there is no maintenance in the kingdom maintenance is the attempt of the immature it is the focus it is the lifestyle of the immature the immature fall into two categories they are either resisting or repelling growth or they are trying to maintain where they are the other factor is those who are actively growing or mature either you are repelling or resisting growth i'm gonna define it for you in the scripture because most of us would never say that's what we're doing we would never be honest enough to say that's where i am until the scripture points it out and then when you see it you say oh my goodness that is where i am because if somebody said are you immature in christ but no i immature what you're talking about and showing your immaturity are you trying to maintain if you're trying to maintain i want you to know you're drifting you're being carried somewhere beyond your control or you are growing now let me say this recognition of where you are is actually a good thing provided you are willing to adjust or change as a result now i'm gonna tell you right now this is not a shouting rah-rah word that's not where i've been in this last season i have had a chief concern number one about this community and then uh by extension the body of christ but my responsibility before the lord is to you so i opened the scripture i opened with the scripture today in colossians chapter 2 that i won't actually get to fully unpack today but i'll come back to it as an overarching theme about being rooted as we move forward but today i want to actually spend the majority of my time in the latter part of hebrews chapter 5 in the beginning of hebrews chapter 6. i didn't start there because you would have been so discouraged how i started there so i decided to give you something encouraging let's read hebrews chapter 5 starting with verse 11 hebrews chapter 5 starting with verse 11. this is what the writer of hebrews says there is much more we would like to say about this but it is difficult to explain especially since you are spiritually dull and don't seem to listen you have been believers so long now that you ought to be teaching others instead you need someone to teach you again the basic things about god's word you are like babies who need milk and cannot eat solid food for someone who lives on milk is still an infant and doesn't know how to do what's right solid food is for those who are mature who through training have the skill to recognize the difference between right and wrong moving forward to chapter six verse one through 3 moving forward so let us stop going over the basic teachings about christ again and again let us go on instead and become mature in our understanding so we don't need to start again with the fundamental importance of repenting from evil deeds and placing our faith in god you don't need further instruction about baptisms the laying on of hands the resurrection of the dead and eternal judgment and so god willing we will move forward to further understanding family the expectation of god is that we are to grow the expectation of god is that we are to grow there are too many trying to maintain their walk but not intentional about growing in their walk that qualifies you as immature the mentality we've we hear it quite a bit maybe not among this community as much but maybe as you talk to other people who profess christ along the way whether your co-workers or someone in your family or someone you talk to randomly this mentality if i'm just trying to make it in i'm just trying to make it in that's hell by many there are many too many who go to church every week and that's their mentality i'm just trying to make it in i just want to get to heaven like i don't really care about deeper spiritual things i just want to get to heaven i live good and i come to church and i profess christ and you know i'm maintained and if something happens i'll be good in the end and we have way too many people this way but i want you to know that the expectation of god is that you grow that is his heart that is his expectation if no one ever told you before i need you to hear it god expects you to grow god expects you to grow god expects you to grow it is not optional that is not a suggestion it is a command it is the expectation of heaven once we are saved we are not just to stay where we are we are to grow into maturity if he did not expect you to grow the salvation experience would look like this the moment you are converted you are translated but the fact that he plants you in the earth he expects you to grow the fact that he has not come to get you he is expecting you to grow the parable of the talents is about the expectation of what will you do with what i gave you will you grow it or will you bury it a person remains immature according to hebrews chapter 5 verse 11 when they become slow to learn this is not this is not exciting um all the great stuff that happened before the message enjoy one of the reasons i'm gonna give you five one of the reasons a person remains immature is because they are slow to learn let me help you because we don't typically use the terminology slow to learn so let me help you with the terminology that is most used used in this community and will help you understand it's also called complacent complacency hear me family i'm about to show it to you in the scripture complacency produces dull hearing complacency produces dull hearing dull hearing leaves you immature if you are complacent in your walk with god i want you to know it will be harder to hear him [Music] if you are complacent in your walk with god the more complacent you become the the more difficult it becomes for you to understand the scripture this bible which is full of life will feel like a pamphlet to you when you are slow to learn why because because you become the swine that the pearls are cast before your complacency removes you from proximity to his voice so it is harder to hear because you are slow to learn or dull of hearing hebrews chapter 5 verse 11 and the esv says it this way about this we have much to say and it is hard to explain since you have become dull of hearing the writer of hebrews is saying i want to talk about deeper things i want to talk about other things i want to talk about stuff that you i have a bunch to say but it's hard to explain it because you have become dull of hearing the hebrew believers have become mentally lazy and sluggish and spiritually complacent and slothful this is how one commentary puts it they were sitting and listening to preachers and teachers and they were reading the scriptures but they were not listening or paying attention they were on you version because they wanted to keep their streak going but they weren't actually paying attention to what they were reading i want you to understand that if you do that kind of religious activity you are dulling your spiritual senses after a while a dull knife can't cut after a while a dull razor can't cut after a while you who thought you were a ginsu knife are now a butter knife and you don't realize it because you have become dull by participating in religious activity without your mind without your heart and without your spirit you are physically there but you're not there their minds wondering this is the equivalent of checking the attendance box of fulfilling religious duty physically there but mentally checked out you got the stream on but you're washing dishes now i'm not talking about those who are trying to multitask right now you put your your hands down you're like okay all right all right you're like you don't understand the super bowl is now and i got people coming over and i need to i get it [Laughter] what i'm actually talking about is a regular practice of feeling like you're connected because it's on but you're not connected you got the prayer call on but you're scrolling through instagram at the same time you got the prayer call on but you won't mute your lines [Laughter] my god i'm coming for you dull person not just kidding colossians chapter one colossians chapter one paul writes this starting in verse 3 in esv he says we always thank god the father of our lord jesus christ when we pray for you since we heard of your faith in christ jesus and of the love that you have for all saints jumping down to verse 9 and so from the day we heard we have not ceased to pray for you asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will and all spiritual wisdom and understanding so as to walk in a manner worthy of the lord fully pleasing to him bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of god we are to be bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of god family hear me if you are not increasing in the knowledge of god it is a sign that you are at a level of immaturity if you are not increasing in the knowledge of god and bearing fruit in every good work it is a sign that you are immature can we take a self-evaluation for a moment is that where you are number two a person remains immature because he refuses to grow verse 12 of hebrews chapter 5 says this you have been believers so long now that you ought to be teaching others instead you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of god you need milk and not solid food or as the nlt would say you are like babies who need milk and cannot eat solid food hear me a sign of growth is being able to not only grasp but communicate the basic principles of the faith communication of the basic principles of faith is not a preacher's job only it is the job of every believer you ought to be able to teach by now okay american church we are the ones who feel like we've been saved for 29 years and we're still not ready to cross the street and witness to our neighbor it is a sign of immaturity meanwhile across the world you have people who got saved six months ago that are now pastoring churches because they internalized they got rid of the refusal to grow they internalized the basic principles of the faith and now they are growing in their knowledge of god for whatever reason we feel like we need to have a seminary degree before we can talk to our co-worker family that is a deception of the enemy and is leaving us immature a sign of growth or a sign of maturity is to be able to at least not only understand but articulate the basic principles of the faith if we are saying remind me again remind me again remind me again remind me again it means it's not taking root in us so therefore we remain immature a sign of spiritual immaturity is if you've been exposed to and taught the basic things of god's word and have not yet allowed it to take root in your heart in such a way where you can tell others if you understood the grace of god that would be enough for you to tell your neighbor i didn't deserve what he did but because of what jesus did for me he changed me and he can do that for you and it's not based on what you do it's based on how you believe how is it that it's so difficult for us to tell people that we are the carriers the heralds of the good news of the gospel and i'm assuming now as i read the scripture that one of the reasons why the heralds are silent is because they don't yet believe it themselves the gospel crisis talking about a god who can do something for you that you're not sure he did to do something for someone else you're not sure he did for you every it says it says then that that you never think about meditate on talk about or live out these spiritual realities in your life it's speaking to you about where you are every other spiritual reality is built on the reality of the basic principles of the work much like math you can't understand multiplication if you don't understand addition like if you don't grasp addition you can't grasp multiplication we have people follow my analogy who act like they're ready for trigonometry who haven't mastered addition you're walking in territories that are above your level we have people who want to put a hyper focus on eschatology talk about prophecy debate over covenant theology and dispensationalism ages and errors times and seasons gifts and a myriad of open-handed issues without a clear grasp of the closed-ended issues which at the core are the fundamentals of faith some of you may have never even heard that the terminology of open-handed closed-handed issues but the reality of close-handed issues is there's certain things about the principles of the faith that are not debatable all christians are to believe the close-handed issues of the faith we can talk about open-handed issues but different people have different biblical viewpoints on but they're not essential or crucial to salvation and so because they're not essential or crucial to salvation meaning that these things don't determine your eternal destiny it just determines how you walk out here but it does not determine your eternal destiny those are open-handed issues there you can have debate over open-handed issues you cannot debate over close-handed issues is jesus the son of god that's a close-handed issue did he die and raise from the dead that's a close handed i mean there are certain things that are fundamental to the faith and yet we have people who want to debate over all sorts of other things and still not having a handle on the basic principles of the faith which is one of the reasons why sometimes it's so confusing to hear some of them preach because they actually have no biblical foundation of the foundational basic principles of the faith which leads him into extra biblical interpretation we see the results of this play out in the inability to live it if you don't know the basic principles of the faith you can't live the basic principles of the faith this is one of the reasons why we are so confused about people with gifts who don't live right it is because they don't understand the basic principles of the faith and as a result they can't live them that is immaturity the inability to communicate the basic principles is connected to the inability to remember which is a sign that it's not in you which is why you can't live it i have achieved concern about what we're seeing play out in a number of circles of the gifted who can't seem to live it i'm convinced it is because of this we are elevating the immature the exercise of the gifts has followed many into the belief that they themselves are mature or that others they are seeing exercising a gift are mature however the scripture is clear that the inability to retain or articulate the basic principles of the faith is a sign of immaturity you've professed christ for years but you haven't grown now let me be clear in this moment this is not a them message it's not a them word this is a where am i moment and if you find yourself with this is a part of your life become intentional about changing in that area don't stay there let me also say this because i want to help some people if you are new to the faith the expectation is for you to grow daily you won't know everything right away the indictment of immaturity in the passage of hebrews references those who have been saved for a while and are not progressing it doesn't reference you who are new if you are a baby in christ milk is not only fine it's necessary if you're a baby in christ milk is not only fine for you it's necessary because certain things coming to you would choke you so what we're actually talking about what this particular past is talking about is not an indictment to say everybody's immature and grow up if you're a babe in christ the expectation here me is for you to grow so grow milk helps you grow milk helps you grow it's okay but if you've been saved for a while this is not okay it's not okay i want you to take a a journey with me imagine going to dinner with some friends and their family and the server comes up to take everybody's order and they're going around the table taking everybody's order and they get to your friends children who are now teenagers and when they get to your friend's children who are now teenagers the teenager looks at the server and says i won't have anything on the menu because my mother brought me a bottle of milk everybody would be perplexed you bla hold up let me get this straight you're 17 and you're not going to eat food off the menu because you are still drinking milk from your mother as crazy as that sounds that is the reality of many in the body you should be eating meat by now by now you should have grown beyond milk but you are still craving and desiring the milk of the word and the writer of hebrews says i'm frustrated with you because there's so much i want to say that i cannot say because you can't handle it because you're still on milk when you should be on solid food unfortunately family some believers this is how some believers are still drinking milk after years of teaching first principles are milk the word in totality is meat first principles basic principles first principles are the milk that we grow on the word itself or revelation is meat first corinthians chapter three verse one through three i know i'm going a little bit i know the super bowls a little bit later i don't have that much more to go but don't have the idol anyway and i like sports [Laughter] so that's not a pastor who doesn't like sports he's not gonna watch the super i like sports but it's not an idol that's for somebody [Laughter] first corinthians chapter three verse one through three but brothers i could not address you as spiritual people but as people of the flesh as infants and christ i fed you with milk not solid food for you were not ready for it and even now you are not ready for you are still in the flesh for while there is jealousy and strife among you you are not of the flesh are you not of the flesh and behaving in only a human way like paul is like look i wanted to address you differently but clearly i need to still give you milk a sign of spiritual immaturity is the inability to grasp and communicate the basic principles of the faith number three a reason a person remains immature is because he knows little about the word of god and little about righteousness as hebrews chapter 5 verse 13 tells us for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness since he is a child this is the very essence of the gospel it's the very essence of the gospel who is jesus and what has he done the word of righteousness who is jesus and what has he done jesus is the word of righteousness because he is the righteousness of god in philippians paul recounts what he once thought made him righteous but came to a new understanding of what makes him righteous or right with god after his conversion so this is what he writes in philippians chapter 3 verse 7 philippians chapter 3 verse 7. i once thought these things were valuable but now i consider them worthless i'm an nlt because of what christ has done yes everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing christ jesus my lord for his sake i have discarded everything else counting it all as garbage so that i could gain christ and become one with him i no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law rather i become righteous through faith in christ for god's way of making us right with himself depends on faith he understood righteousness so therefore he wasn't unskilled in the word of righteousness we said we we say this out of romans chapter 3 verse 22 almost every week we are made right with god by placing our faith in jesus christ and this is true for everyone who believes no matter who we are the writer of hebrews indicates that they remain immature because they were unwilling to embrace not only the righteousness of christ by faith but also the righteousness of god revealed in scripture their lack of study led to a lack of manifestation or their lack of study led to a lack of the fruits of righteousness in their life if you are not reading the word if you are not studying the word you will not produce the righteousness that christ produced and he gives you righteousness imputed which is your standing before god but at the same time your life is to bear the fruit of righteousness or right living in everything you do it is the word of god that instructs you in that way without it you won't live it the word is more important than most people treat it this bible is not a book of literature that is to be studied in the pantheon of all other great literary works and to be compared as equal to the writings of anyone else this bible is living it is the word of the matchless unchanging immutable invisible invincible unchallengeable god who speaks outside of time into time so that his creation knows his heart every other work is dead the writer is dead it has a beginning and an ending and it is dead this bible is living it is more important than most of us give it credit for jesus the word in flesh when tempted by the devil used the word what are we doing he could have said do you know who i am get out of here but instead he modeled something for us he said man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that comes from the mouth of god he was modeling something for us to say listen and he's saying it and he is the word in flesh we need it job puts it this way i have not departed from this from his command i have treasured his words more than daily food it is so important to remain unskilled in it is a sign of immaturity where are we how are we taking this opportunity just in case you forgot where are we is being skilled in the word my job or my privilege yeah it is not my job just in case you know just in case you didn't know that's for pastor pastor william pastor caleb and pastor matt and pastor jason and pastor jerry they're supposed to be skilled to teach us our calling according to ephesians as a gift is to help you mature we also are to mature we're not exempted from the call to grow or mature nor is it solely our responsibility alone this is one of the things about the season of scattering are you taking responsibility for your own growth or are you abdicating that to me and the brothers on sundays are you still unskilled in the word of righteousness have you grasped the basic principles of the faith a person number four i'm almost done remains immature because he does not train his mental and spiritual senses you say what verse 14 of hebrews chapter 5 solid food is for those who are mature who through training have the skill to recognize the difference between right and wrong or as the esv says but solid food is for the mature for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil hear me a mature or fully grown person is a person who discerns between good and evil a mature or fully grown person is a person who discerns between good and evil we are going through more than one epidemic covet 19 is not the only epidemic happening at the moment we seem to be seeing an epidemic of wandering like outlined in james chapter 5 due to deception that some have fallen prey to and there's another epidemic we also seem to be seeing an epidemic of spiritual immaturity manifested by the inability to discern good and evil because we have so many people who right now have a seeming inability to discern between good and evil between god and evil between right and wrong they're calling evil good they're calling stuff that's demonic god what we're showing is that we are immature solid food is for the mature for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil this word trained is an important word that we don't give enough importance to now when i'm teaching on spiritual disciplines if you remember i brought out this verse in first timothy chapter four verse seven in nlt it says this do not waste time arguing over godless ideas and old wives tales instead train your selves to be godly train yourselves to be godly train yourselves to be godly physical training is good but training for godliness is much better promising benefits in this life and in the life to come help let me help you one of the most important aspects of training is repetition one of the most important aspects of training is repetition doing it over and over and over and over again how does the bible say to us in hebrews it says trained by constant practice trained by constant practice the mature are trained by constant practice to distinguish between good and evil the mature are trained by constant practice to distinguish between good and evil let me give you a constant practice are you ready philippians chapter 4 verse 8 esv finally brothers whatever is true whatever is honorable whatever is just whatever is pure whatever is lovely whatever is commendable if there is any excellence if there's anything worthy of praise think about these things if you don't constantly think about these things you are susceptible to not being able to easily recognize or distinguish what is god and what is not what is good and what is evil if your mind is always on the things of god you will be able to quickly distinguish what is not one of the reasons why we are finding ourselves this way in a level of immaturity is because we are allowing our minds to be drawn off to all sorts of things i feel like an old school preacher right here because you know some of y'all y'all want to argue back and forth all day about what you can do and what's allowable and what's permissible and the bible doesn't say we can't do this and the bible says don't say we can't do that that is the activity of the immature trying to skirt up to the line and find out everything you can do without crossing it is the activity of the immature my toddlers do that that's right well i can listen to that music it doesn't make me sin it makes me feel good okay but is it honorable is it true is it just is it pure is it lovely is it commendable is it excellence is it worthy of praise as you mature the things of the world become less and less desirable to you that is not just somebody who's trying to live and act holy so they can look down on other people it's actually the activity of somebody who wants to live pleasing to him i don't care what you think about me i care what he thinks about me i don't care if you talk about me i want him to talk about me i don't care if you think i'm holier than thou i might be y'all weren't ready for that to live consecrated to live with the mind that is constantly set on him my regular daily thoughts all the time are about him i'm not faking it's not incongruent that's the activity of the mature i'm not trying to do this because i'm a pastor i'm not trying to do this because i think other people think some kind of way about me i'm not preaching on sundays and then going crazy in every other aspect of my life at home if so you wouldn't see my wife in the comment section saying amen all the time i didn't command her to do that you better you better say amen there are some passes that do it when i preach you better be up on your feet sir your life and your fruit is going to tell on you eventually i don't know if she's in the comment section today so she ain't saying hey man i'm like my god you better say it no just kidding that's a good place to say amen sweetheart we have five kids at home so she might not always be able to be present but yes whatever is true whatever is honorable whatever is just whatever is pure whatever is lovely whatever is commendable if there's any excellence if there's anything worthy of praise think about these things what are you doing you are by constant practice training yourself to distinguish between good and evil pastor caleb worked at a bank years ago i worked at a bank years ago anyone else who works at a bank or has worked at a bank can tell you that they never train us to find counterfeits by giving us counterfeits they train us to find counterfeits by handling the real and the more you handle real money the easier it is to find counterfeits not even by look but by feel how are you going to be able to distinguish between good and evil if everything surrounding you is evil then when something looks not as evil you call it good constantly think this is how you train yourself through constant practice to be able to discern how do you train discernment thinking about god how do you gain discernment spending time with god so that anything that's not like him is easily recognizable [Music] like some people have a real problem being able to identify demonic activity within a service why i can tell you one simple and easy thing the bible says that the holy spirit will not speak of himself but will only testify of jesus which means that the holy spirit or the manifestation of the holy spirit will never take the attention off of jesus which means that anything else that does is not of god anything in any atmosphere or any environment let me help you pastor worship leader wherever you are anything in any environment that takes the focus or the attention off of jesus is demonic even if it sounds like worship some of y'all y'all just think oh they're just being no no no no they are seeking attention the only thing that would seek attention in the presence of god is a devil that's free for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal of the flesh but they have divine power to destroy strongholds we destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of god and take every thought captive to obey christ what are we doing we are not only offensively taking care of something but also internally what we are doing is we are training ourselves to discern i gotta stop number five number five in order to move from immaturity to maturity come play somebody not somebody david that could get interesting [Laughter] in order or clay like if you can use it no i'm just kidding in order to move from immaturity to maturity a person needs to get past the abcs of teaching pass the basic elementary teachings about christ if you're going to move that has to be established the bible is not suggesting that they are lower not suggesting that you can ignore them it's not suggesting that you can forget about them it's suggesting that it should be a firm foundation for you to not stand on in order to gain anything else you must have this hebrews chapter six verse one so let us stop going over the basic teachings about christ again and again let us go on instead to become mature in our understanding i'm an nlt surely we don't need to start again with the fundamental importance of repenting from evil deeds and placing our faith in god you don't need further instruction about baptism the laying on of hands the resurrection of the dead and eternal judgment this doesn't mean forget or ignore or look down on what's called the basic teachings of christ but rather to allow them to be so interwoven into the fabric of who you are that it's a solid foundation to build on you'll never get to a place of maturity family for example if you believe that every time you mess up or fall short it brings a question in your mind as to whether or not god loves you that's the thought of the immature or if your sins are forgiven if you repent or if the finished work of the cross is in question because of something you did we should be able to embrace the perfect lamb of god who sacrifices once and for all you are forgiven that should be settled for the mature the enemy is messing with you causing you to believe that the basic foundations of the faith are in question because of what you did that's a sign of immaturity our faith in god should be settled and not conflicted by having faith in god and in man and in ourselves so i'ma pray that god does it but if he doesn't i i i'ma take care of it myself that's not the activity of the mature the activity of mature is to wait on god certain things should be set up for the mature we can't identify as mature while still wrestling over the basic teachings of christ i said it's five to six this the last one is the fastest one the mature to be a mature person you must be determined to grow that's the final verse that we cover today hebrews chapter six verse three and so god willing we will move forward to further understanding listen to how eugene peterson puts this passage the first three verses of hebrews in the message he says this so come on let's leave the preschool finger painting exercises on christ and get on with the grand work of art grow up in christ the basic foundational truths are in place turning your back on salvation by self-help and turning in trust towards god baptismal instructions laying on of hands the resurrection of the dead eternal judgment god helping us we'll stay true to all that but there's so much more let's get on with it i started with the verse that i told you i can't unpack i'm not going to try to i know my time is gone but we have to be rooted this is a checkup for us in a moment like this does our life look like this in any way to be rooted and grounded because we're not just going to go through this season we're going to grow through this season we're not just going to go through it we're going to go through grow through it we're not going to waste this opportunity because if we don't waste this opportunity family on the other side of this will be trusted with more but if we waste this opportunity there's judgment on the other side of this principally speaking colossians chapter 2 verse 6 and 7 where i started and now just as you accepted christ jesus as your lord you must continue to follow him let your roots which we'll deal with in the coming weeks grow down into him and let your lives be built on him then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught and you will overflow with thankfulness why does this matter so much why does it matter so much because i started with you earlier and said to you earlier and we see in matthew 25 the expectation of the master the expectation of the lord is that we will do well with what we've been given or that it grows sitting on what you've been given which is an opportunity this season is an opportunity sitting on what you've been given while knowing that the expectation is growth has a serious implication this is what the scripture says about the one who sat on what he was given he was called wicked and lazy the context is the return of the lord and the expectation of what we are to be doing while we wait and the reward of faithfulness and the judgment of being unfaithful but the principle is what will we do with what we are given because what we do with what we are given in one season determines what you are given in the next so if you find yourself in the category of immature if you were hearing these things and you were being honest in your self-check evaluation and you were saying that sounds like me this is the time to make a commitment not to stay that way this word this moment this season is an opportunity for you to say i'm not gonna stay this way i need to change so i'm going to if you find yourself maybe not in the category of the immature but in a different category that i did not actually described today i didn't talk about it it's a category of the inconsistent internally as you were hearing the word you felt like that's not really where i am spiritually i'm you know i'm not regularly there but i'm there i'm like that sometimes and maybe you're not immature you're inconsistent you're saying okay that hebrews 5 11 through 14 and in chapter six one through three that doesn't really describe me i'm i'm good but there was something that was kind of eating at you a little bit as you heard a couple things you're like well i mean i kind of sometimes i you're inconsistent this message doesn't come to beat anybody up not even immature if you're immature it says hey make a decision a commitment to not stay this way don't waste this opportunity because i am telling you this this season's coming to a close you still have an opportunity to do something about it don't stay there if you're inconsistent make a commitment to consistent growth or consistent activity and if you're doing well you're mature which is what i'm going to talk about next week god willing the marks of a mature believer if that's where you are by all means keep growing keep going pastor caleb's going to pray for us i pray that you're blessed [Music] family i know just like you i am so thankful for the word of the lord and uh even though pastor william has has labored uh immensely in the word of the lord and even tried to condense some of all that the lord has given him to give us uh what he's given us in these few moments uh i i am just i know that even though my heart says wants to believe you know i'm i'm mature i realize that even whether i think i'm immature and consistent and mature no matter who i am is an opportunity to continue to grow before the lord and i i all wan i want us all to take this opportunity this moment to to really do this spiritual checkup to really take spiritual stalk of our lives i can be honest even as i was listening there were moments and times where the lord was was showing me areas of my own life where i can be more faithful in in in engaging in spiritual disciplines that will train me for godliness or will train me for discernment i i don't want any of us to think that you know since we've reached a certain level of maturity in our walk with god that this isn't for us i think even as our pastor shared at the end no matter where you find yourself this is an invitation to make a decision to grow i know for me i i'm taking this seriously and not you know sometimes we can baste our spiritual maturity based off of other people's spiritual immaturity and we can say well maybe i'm not as immature as them so i feel like i'm good none of us have the ability to do that because the reality is until we look like christ there is always room to grow until we are fully conformed into his image and live like him there is always an opportunity to grow and i pray that you were blessed by the word of the lord this afternoon and i pray that you take the opportunity um the opportunity to to grow no matter how the holy spirit is is leading you if you're watching and you haven't yet given your life to jesus i want to invite you into this moment to become a baby in the faith as you heard earlier this message inviting us into maturity if you are a baby in the faith you're new to the faith you are are young in the faith this message didn't come to to beat you over the head actually where you are in the process and uh the way god is working in your life is uh is is just as valuable and just as meaningful as anyone who's who's mature in the faith and what you are learning in him and and whether you're learning the basics of prayer or learning at the basics of submission or or even the basics of the scripture and spiritual uh formation just know that the lord is working in your life he is moving in your life and we are grateful for this we understand that the lord is takes us all through a process and on a journey and we must submit and surrender on that journey to become like christ but if you are watching and you have yet to believe in jesus you have yet to submit your life to the lord you have yet to repent of your sins and turn to god this moment is for you we want to invite you to follow jesus to lay down your own will to surrender your life to repent of your sins to turn away from evil and to turn towards god and to believe in what jesus has done jesus died the death that you and i deserve for the wages of sin is death and he died in our place he died as us he took all the punishment of sin he who knew no sin became sin so that we could become the righteousness of god the opportunity of righteousness or to become righteous was only and made available through jesus you and i didn't have the opportunity to become righteous without jesus but because jesus took what we deserve and lived a life that we can never live a stainless a blameless life by placing our faith in what he's done him taking our punishment and also living a righteous life we can be made righteous before god if we will place our faith in christ and this is true for everyone who believes no matter who you are no matter where you're from no matter if you've heard this message 20 times or this is your first time hearing it you can be made right with god by placing your faith in what jesus has done there's a story in matthew chapter 8 of of jesus coming down the mountainside he had just given the sermon on the mount which is one of the most famous uh collection of chapters in the gospels where jesus teaches and speaks on a number of different things that are are very uh popular even in our christian life to speak of whether it's the his teachings uh on generosity or his teachings on prayer or the beatitudes or a number of different topics you can find it was a very popular message and he's coming down the mountainside and the scripture says that a leper came to meet him and knelt down before him and said lord if you are willing you can make me clean he his condition of leprosy had ostracized him from his community he was living on the outside of of the social context and was unable to come in contact with anybody because if he did his condition of leprosy would make other people unclean and they themselves would have to join him where he was here's the beauty of what took place that day the man comes and kneels before jesus says lord if you are willing you can make me clean jesus responds he says yes i am willing and he does this amazing thing that would signal something new to everyone who was watching that day jesus reaches down and he touched the leper and he cleansed the leper now we could talk about jesus's ability to heal and to change and to transform and that would be enough but here's what took place for all of human time up until that moment if someone was unclean their uncleanliness affected the cleanliness of someone else if they were a leper and they touched somebody else they made someone else unclean which is to say that their unrighteousness or their uncleanliness overtook the cleanliness of the individual they touched but jesus in a moment showed us what took place when we place our faith in him he changed the script he reversed the narrative and jesus touches the man's uncleanliness and the man becomes clean for the first time we see the cleanliness of the man jesus overtaking the uncleanliness of the leper which is to say that when you place your faith in jesus you receive christ's righteousness and your sin is erased your past is forgiven and now you have the ability to live righteously it is also to say no matter what you have done no matter how you have sinned no matter what wrong you have carried into this moment your sin does not affect the righteousness of god your sin has no effect on the cross of christ your sin cannot cancel what jesus has done but if you will place your faith in jesus christ's cleanliness or his righteousness will overtake your sin you will be forgiven of your sin you will receive the righteousness of god and receive the free gift of eternal life this is what is available to you today my friend if you are watching and you feel like the leper you feel dirty you feel like you can't approach jesus you you feel as if you are unworthy and there's things in your life you're not proud of let me tell you this the leper took a risk to come to jesus but he found out that you don't get good to get god you get god and he makes you good and it's the same for you today if you will place your faith in jesus you will realize you don't try to clean yourself up the leper had no ability to cleanse himself that's why he needed jesus and you who are lost in your sin you have no ability to save yourself you have no ability to cleanse yourself you need jesus so place your faith in him today be made clean be made whole be changed be transformed forever and maybe this this be the day where you live for jesus where you turn from your sin and you follow him for the rest of your life so if that is you today you have not yet placed your faith in jesus or maybe today you you when pastor william was talking about inconsistency you you wasn't just an inconsistency of your spiritual disciplines and spiritual life it's actually the fact that you you you said yes to jesus at some point but you turned away you walked away you've been you've been living your own life and and now you've come to a moment where you say you know what this time for real i'm making a decision i'm following after jesus i'm repenting of my sin i am following if that's you today you also i encourage you to place your faith in jesus believe and what he has done and be made righteous before god if that's you today i just want you to say these words say jesus i believe in you jesus i believe in you say it right now wherever you are jesus i believe in you don't delay don't hesitate today is a day of salvation accept jesus while you have the chance tomorrow is not promise tell jesus i believe in you jesus i'm placing my faith in you i believe in what you have done if that's you today i want to lead you in a moment of prayer where you can surrender to the lord it's not the prayer that saves you it is your faith that saves you but we're giving you language for what is taking place inwardly you know you need him would you pray this prayer with me just repeat after me say father in the name of jesus i come to you just as i am i repent of my sins and i turn to you i place my faith in you with your help i will live for you for the rest of my life jesus i believe that you died for my sin and i believe that you rose again so that i could have new life in you from this day forward my life belongs to you in jesus name amen amen amen and amen we're so thankful and grateful for those of you that have responded to the lord the lord has saved you today and you can live this life confidently knowing that your record has been washed clean that you've been forgiven of your sin and that you have received the free gift of eternal life in christ jesus that today is a beautiful day we want to welcome you into the family a bunch of babies just got born today they've joined our family and we're so thankful that you've joined the family of god and so we want to celebrate you we want to congratulate you family if those individuals are responding in the chat would you congratulate them would you welcome them into the family of god they have embarked on an amazing journey with christ in a journey of growth where they will come to know him like never before but this is amazing we want to celebrate it if you responded to the lord in this moment you gave your life to jesus you believed in jesus we want to connect with you we want moderators to be able to give you next steps uh so if you have done that we want you just to put in the comments hashtag i met jesus hashtag i met jesus so we can identify you to celebrate you congratulate you but also lead you on this journey as you follow christ again that's hashtag i met jesus and our moderators be happy to to connect with you there we're so grateful family for you joining us today please don't forget to join us this coming wednesday at 6 a.m as we come together for a time in the place of prayer as you know every time we have come together the lord has met us in a significant way it's our privilege to spend time in the presence of our god it's a privilege to come before him we know that he hears and he answers prayer so if you got to get extra sleep tonight for wednesday how many of you know sometimes you got to sleep like three days in advance for something early that's coming up again coming up ahead if you got to do it do whatever you got to do but don't miss your time of prayer and here's what you can do that's even better invite somebody to join you in the place of prayer on wednesday morning make sure you you get your prayer partner say hey let's go to the place of prayer at 6 00 a.m we're going to be there together and it's going to be an incredible time we don't want you to miss it to our deeper namibia family our deepa australia family we love you so much we are praying for you and uh we're so thankful uh to have you as a part of this family and this global body family we love you so much uh we we encourage you uh to cheer on the buccaneers as tom brady goes for the number of perfection which is seven uh flesh moment hundred percent uh we love you family whoever you cheer for god bless you have an incredible sunday

Channel: Deeper Fellowship Church

Views: 14,368

Rating: 4.9358287 out of 5

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Id: WktjS6TSAE8

Length: 103min 29sec (6209 seconds)

Published: Sun Feb 07 2021