Climbers | Pastor Jentezen Franklin

if it's been good too you give him a thanks today bless his name praise his name lord we bless you today this is the day the lord has made i will rejoice and be glad in it somebody give him a great shout of praise this morning praise the lord praise the lord you worthy lord bless your name hallelujah if you're glad to be in church say amen welcome to all of our campuses to all of you online turn around and smile at two or three people greet them let them know that you're glad they're in church today praise the mighty name of jesus i love him don't you you're singing good this morning i want to say to all of our wonderful veterans we appreciate you on this memorial weekend can we tell them how much we appreciate the families and the sacrifice that so many have made that we might be free the home of the brave the land of the free are you glad that you are in america the greatest nation and the greatest freest nation on the planet to god be the glory clap your hands and say man somebody what a blessing to be an american what an honor to be an american and if you don't believe it get on an airplane and travel all over the world i've done it and i tell you when you come back you will say there's no nation on this planet greater than america and thank god for the men and women who fought and died for our freedom we must never forget the price of freedom is blood and thank god for our heroes and their families today if you have your bibles i'd like for you to open them with me and i want to go to the book of psalms chapter 24. psalms chapter 24 and uh listen i'm gonna preach right here psalms chapter 24 psalms chapter 24. verse 3 who will ascend into the heel of the lord or who may stand in his holy place he who has clean hands and a pure heart who has not lifted up his soul to an idol nor sworn deceitfully he shall receive blessing from the lord i want you to notice that first verse who will ascend into the hill of the lord that's what i want to preach on sending going up to the top of the mountain with jesus i don't know if you've realized it or not but life is an uphill climb but the view is worth it life is like an uphill it is full of challenges and it requires of us to keep climbing and i love this verse because he said who will ascend who will keep climbing who will keep going until you get beyond just a start in god or a comfortable place in god but who will ascend to the hill to the top that one will obtain the text said a mighty blessing moses climbed mount sinai he didn't climb it halfway he went all the way to the top and when he got to the top god gave him his assignment god gave him the ten commandments elijah climbed mount carmel and he prayed a 14 war word prayer and the fire of god fell it didn't happen down in the valley or halfway up the mountain it happened on the mountaintop you have to keep climbing to get god's best peter james and john climbed the mount of transfiguration and there they saw the glory of god on top of that mountain notice that the blessings were on top of the mountain and it required climbing don't just arrive but you have to climb you you won't just get to the top you have to climb and our journey is an uphill climb and there are three kinds of people in life and in the church and in our walk with god there are people who start the climb but quit there are people who climb so high and then they camp out and get comfortable and complacent but then there are those people who are not just starters and they quit and they're not just people who get to a certain place and camp out and get comfortable and become a little lukewarm but there's that last group that i want to be a part of they just keep climbing you're either a quitter a camper or a climber you see quitters are crybabies quitters abandon the climb when things get tough quitters end up bitter and depressed because of what happened to them in life and they're a drag to be around quitters have excuses for depression and worry and fear dominating their life they opt out they back out they drop out of every great thing that god has in their future they quit climbing because it gets too hard it's not easy i thought god would just give it to me no no life is an uphill climb but the view up there is worth it it's easier to quit than endure and then there are campers that's the person who goes further than he's not a quitter he doesn't throw in the towel at the first challenge but they get up and they win and they have some successes they only go so far a camper goes a little ways and then stops they have a few successes and then they get satisfied and complacent they don't go all the way they say things like well it's good enough for me this is good enough for me they say things like i'm doing better than most folks they say things like it's comfortable here and they grow weary of the climb they terminate the ascent they get to a comfortable place in their marriage a comfortable place in their walk with god a comfortable place i'm not a quitter i started i'm in it but i'm not really reaching and climbing and grabbing and fighting for more territory and trying to get up there where god has shown me i'm supposed to be they just start camping out they find a small smooth plateau and they camp out there they they they pitch a tent make a campfire start singing or whatever it is i never did like that song they play it safe they roast marshmallows and kick back and say i have arrived in life they're that same way spiritually i made the team i started the game i even played the last game but i'm comfortable now i don't have to try much i don't have to i don't have to strain anymore climb in this mountain i'm in a good place just leave me alone i want to say something big they start hanging out with other campers and before you know it they're real comfortable right where they are and there's no hunger for more success should not diminish our desire amen brother franklin success should not diminish our desire if it does you will not remain successful very long if we as a church get comfortable and camp out and say well we've done more than most churches and we've grown more than most churches and we feel more than most churches so we'll just settle here not with this pastor you won't i am not a quitter and i am not a camper i'm a climber and i'm going up there where the glory is i'm going up there where the miracles are i'm going up there where my church will be built and the gates of hell will not prevail against it somebody clap your hands and say god don't let me lose the climb i'm a climber can't perceive the campground as a permanent address you're supposed to just stay there and get refreshed and renewed but instead you get you a leather sectional you get you a cappuccino machine you get you a nice warm blanket and a blazing fire and you kick back and you take it easy and i wonder how many i'm describing spiritually that's where you are in your mindset that's where you are but then there's climbers it's what god wants you to be is a climber dedicated to a lifelong journey this says i'm i have not arrived i have not reached my place that i'm supposed to be i will not i i say no to the plateau i have not peeked i have not reached my high mark in god they continue an upward journey listen to me regardless of misfortune regardless of disadvantage regardless of pain regardless of past achievement they do not get satisfied i'm telling you today that that climbers see obstacles as opportunities climbers see the glass half full climbers understand that a bend in the road is not the end of the road climbers get hurt they get bruised here it is and then they get over it they put some bengay on it and they say i am not through climbing praise god hallelujah and i tell you i've been bruised and i've been hit but devil i will not quit till i get to higher ground i'm going up i'm going higher i don't know about you but i'm going to the high places shout a man somebody a climber is like the painting mona lisa it keeps smiling when its back is to the wall the climber stops at campgrounds and gets refreshed takes a minute and gets refueled but they don't sit there and set up a satellite dish over their tent and kick back matthew chapter 5 verses 1 and 2 in the message bible reads like this when jesus saw the huge crowds he climbed a hill and those committed to him climbed with him listen to that those committed with him climbed with him and and when they got to the top he sat down listen to these words and taught his climbing companions i love that there are things that climbing companions people who keep climbing well i'm just going to retire you're going to die ain't nothing wrong with retiring your your career but you can't retire your calling and your calling is not your career and you have a calling to keep climbing and growing and getting stronger in god and in your faith and he sat down and he taught them that blessed sermon not everybody got to the top of the mount of beatitudes they had to climb and his fellow companion climbers got revelation that people didn't get who were camping out or who had quit i want to i want to be a climber all my life and in order to do that here's some things you need to do quit being a quitter most people many people start out and then it gets hard and they quit quitting can become a habit just like winning and we better not let our children get used to quitting make them finish something make them do something until it's done right because quitting can become habitual they can develop in their minds that if it's hard i quit and there are no ramifications quitting can become a habit just like winning can become a habit to finish first you must first finish there are two times when you're likely to quit after a failure you just get discouraged and after a great success after a victory success has made failures out of many people second corinthians 4 8 said we're pressed on every side but we are not crushed said we are defeated it seems like and we are perplexed but we don't give up and we don't quit a man is not finished when he is defeated he is finished when he quits there's a difference between a quitter and a climber and the difference is not no pain both of them have pain but one chooses not to quit and the other says i give up winston churchill said that a bulldog has a nose that is slanted backwards so he can continually breathe while not letting go i'm saying to people under the sound of my voice it's time to quit quitting i'm afraid that if you don't watch it a a quitting mentality will get a hold of you you'll quit your marriage you'll quit your education you'll quit job after job when it gets hard and tough in trying times you don't stop trying you keep climbing never never never give up hold on hold fast hold out don't quit the second lesson the first one is quit quitting turn to somebody and say quit quitting the second lesson is this this is for those who a little bit better than quitters they're campers don't unfold your tent at the campground of complacency what do you mean proverbs 1 32 their own complacency will destroy them some people make some progress and then they become complacent there are two by-products of success number one arrogance and the other complacency and the number two this is what happens to people who have a measure of success in their life the byproducts naturally are you get arrogant nobody can teach you anything you don't need anybody's advice we're the best we are the biggest we know it all you don't know nothing and there's some little body in a garage somewhere inventing something that's going to make you obsolete in a little while you're going to be a dinosaur you're going to be a hula hoop the two bro by-products of success are arrogance and complacency you stop learning you stop being sharp you stop being teachable you stop being passionate about what you do and you become arrogant and complacent many times businesses and churches move into a zone of complacency that's why our worship is not passionate that's why our prayers are not passionate that's why we don't really you know sometimes if we don't watch it we move into because we've had success we become arrogant and complacent and we think we know it all and god says i'll never allow people in my kingdom to become arrogant and complacent after i bless them somebody said good is the enemy of best that's the truth i am not interested in being a good church i want to be the best unless you try to do something beyond what you've already mastered you will never grow you will never grow if all you do is sit back and and rest in what you've already achieved if at first you do succeed try something harder the tent of complacency the tent of complacency on your job and so what happens is you just start doing a get by job have you become complacent are you a camper on your job now that you got the job there was a time when they first hired you you'd beaten down doors to get there you'd pull up early you'd leave late you'd work yourself silly you produced but now you have pitched the tent of complacency on the campground and you do a get by job and the only time you really feel pressure is when somebody's looking at you you used to have internal pressure of things you had to do it's deadly to allow complacency the tent of complacency to set itself up in your life on your job followers complain about problems leaders solve them what about in your marriage well it's good as most well 52 of all marriages end in divorce so you're headed for a divorce if your marriage is good as most we get complacent we get we get bored deadly boring marriages the tin of complacency in marriage well at least we didn't quit we're still together well i can tie two cats tails on a clothesline together and they'll be together but the fellowship is lousy is that what you want to be is that is that the kind of marriage you want to have i heard about i shouldn't tell this in public but i'm going to because i feel like i want to but i heard about a woman who was married to her husband and he was having some physical problems and she took him to the doctor and they gave him a thorough check out at the end of the the end of the examination the woman said could i see you the wife in a room by yourself i need to have a serious talk with you about your husband so the husband waited outside she went in to have her talk with the doctor and he said well your husband has a very unusual and extremely rare disease and it's going to require you to do three things that's going to require you to be extremely kind and nice to him no matter how he acts number two it's going to require three home-cooked meals a day and then number number three is going to require you to have sex with him at least three times a week on the ride home the husband turned to his wife and said what did the doctor say she said he said you're gonna die you're dead the tent of complacency turn to your husband and say you're probably gonna die too just be honest just be honest boy y'all come alive on the on the jokes don't you that's the biggest shout i got all my morning out of my preaching everybody breathe it's all right that's how you got here then i thought about that ten complacency about our about our our our church life our spiritual life we've got to keep climbing there's a difference between growing old in the lord and growing up in the lord a huge difference it's not enough to grow old and say i've been in the church for 15 20 30 years are you growing up not just growing old in the church a man is not old until his regrets take the place of his dream regret looks back worry looks around but vision looks up i will lift up my heels i will lift up my eyes to the heels from which cometh the lord and vision keeps climbing vision keeps saying i may change and i may be going through a change in in the direction that god is leading me in this particular season but one thing i'm not losing is that desire to keep climbing because i'm not a quitter and i'm not a camper i'm a climber i'll climb if yesterday still seems big to you you're not dreaming anything today use your pass as a launching pad not a lawn chair use your pass as a springboard not a hammock beware of the desire for safety what happens is people get halfway and they just want security and they just want to play it safe and they just want safety but every time that we've seen miracles happen in this ministry we had to refuse to allow the desire for safety and security to grip our heart because god is a faith god and without faith it's impossible to please him i don't care how how much you go to church i don't care how holy you act i don't care how blessed you are if whatever you're involved in does not require you to trust god and have faith for you are not pleasing god because without faith it's impossible to please him are you doing anything that requires you to have your faith in god security many times is the first step to stagnation me give you this i want to challenge everyone under the sound of my voice at all of our campuses and all of you online to dare to climb again if you endure now you will enjoy later philippians chapter 3 verse 12 through 14 this one thing he said i count not myself to have apprehended i count not myself as someone who has arrived and gotten a hold of the prize but he said this one thing i do forgetting the things that are behind i stretch i reach for that which is ahead i press listen for the high calling of god in christ jesus he's calling us upward he's calling us to press on he's calling us to get hungry again he's calling us to put our tent back up on the backpack and keep climbing because you have not arrived refused to become a lukewarm christian forget about what lies behind and reach for that which is ahead edmund hillary in 1952 tried to climb mount everest and he failed but he went back later and he was the first one to do it successfully but he gave a speech after he failed the first time and he made these words pretty powerful he said mount everest you beat me the first time but i'll beat you the next time because you're as big as you're gonna ever be but i'm still growing clap your hands and shout i'm still growing here's a big point don't miss this one if you're taking notes write this one down hang out with people who are climbers don't hang out with people who are campers and quitters now if you're going to hang out with them just hang out with them long enough to pull them up but don't dare hang out with people who cause you to feel comfortable with the mediocre i like to get around climbers i like to get around people who are up here and i'm still here but they inspire the fire out of me they make something in me say well why am i settling here if they can do it i know i know that person they haven't quit god's used them and i got some talents they don't have we need to hang around with climbers are there any climbers at free chapel anybody who still believes that our greatest days are up there not back there hallelujah don't go back to what used to be come on i wish we could go back to you that's how i feel i don't want to go back to none of it i went back in the old free chapel i took my mom and my my youngest daughter and we walked in the old old building and you could put it literally on this stage almost and i thought lord this is amazing what you've done but i sure don't want to come back here you know it's kind of like those you ever seen those people who were rock stars back in the 60s and 70s they had the molecule and they had to they would wear the uh the spandex nobody don't want to see you in your 70s 30 years later 80s in spandex with long hair it was cool when your hair was black but now that it's solid gray it just doesn't have and and nobody wants to see you in spandex just because it was cool then doesn't mean it's still cool now mick jagger do you hear me do you hear me i'm just saying it's just the season it's not coming back so hallelujah well pastor climbers always look up climbers keep looking up life could get them down trouble and trials could get them down but climbers keep looking up seventy percent of the accidents in mountain climbers seventy percent of the accidents happen on the way down isn't that amazing i didn't know that seventy percent of the people who get hurt it's not climate if you've seen these people on the side of mountains they don't get hurt going up because they're real focused but when they're coming down they're careless they're not paying attention but trying to hurry up the words press on always have solved problems in the human race climbers endure hebrews 10 puts it like this i will have no pleasure in those who turn back god said i will have no pleasure in the people who turn back and quit and give up and go back down through faith and patience we obtain the promise for the joy that was set before him that that mountain climber jesus i'm so glad he didn't quit when he was in the garden of gethsemane he didn't quit when he was carrying the cross down the via dela rosa in jerusalem and he collapsed under the weight of the cross he didn't quit when simon serene helped him carry his cross he could have quit but he climbed calvary's hill for the joy that was set before him he endured the cross because he knew there would be a victory on top of that hill that would forever bring blessing and joy and peace and deliverance to you and to me he didn't quit when he was carrying his cross why are you quitting why are you camping out god hasn't brought you this far to get you halfway to tease you he's saying come on up a little bit higher i'm not through with you i'm not through blessing you i'm not through anointing you i want somebody today to get something in your spirit that says i am not a quitter and i am not a camper i am a climber and nothing's going to stop me until i reach my place there is a place that god has ordained for you and if you keep climbing there's victory there there's glory there there's fire on that mountain as elijah found out there's victory there's prosperity there's blessing there's success and i want it do i have any fellow companion climbers in this church who would dare say this morning i am not satisfied and maybe i had my tent out but i'm packing it back up cause i got to go up a little bit higher would you stand to your feet all over the room at every campus i don't want a sad song today i don't want a slow song i want a victory song because we're called to be victorious we're called to mount up with wings as the eagles we're called to stomp that quitting spirit under our feet that camping spirit we're to shake it off into the fire and we are to say i am going to climb until i reach the place of victory god's called me to raise your hands all over the room open up your mouth and say god i praise you i want you right now to say lord i re i repent of camping i repent of quitting and i receive a new anointing to climb i will not stop i will not quit i will not count i will climb in jesus name say amen somebody praise god now listen to every head bowed every eye closed no one moving no one you know distracting just right where you are i believe that somebody has been tempted to quit and there's another one that's been camping out and because of it you're you're not living the life of success and victory god has for you and somebody today needs to say lord i'm getting back in the fight i'm not going to quit and i'm not going to settle for less than what god said we could have i believe in complete victory i believe that we can keep climbing if you're in this room today or any of our campuses and you would say pastor jensen i'm not right with the lord matter of fact i feel like i i turned around and started going back down or maybe you've never made a commitment like you need to make it and today you hear a voice saying come up higher come up higher you don't have to live in that addiction you don't have to live in that failure you don't have to live in that past and that shame and that guilt and that condemnation come up higher this is your service this is your sermon every head bowed i need a hundred people praying right now with me climbing companions pastor pray for me i want to get right with god i'm tired of living life without peace i'm tired of living in the valley i'm tired of always being down there quitting starting and quitting starting and quitting i need to finish your name jesus to get in me he finished it he sat on the cross it is finished when he climbed that mountain he provided freedom for you pastor pray for me if that's you and you don't know you're right with god and you want to get right with god today i want you right where you're standing to raise your hand and say pastor i need a change in my life let me see it if you know that's you and you need a change just be honest raise it high that's powerful that's powerful that's awesome hands all over this room beautiful beautiful right there in that room don't be ashamed you say what will other people think don't worry about them you just reach see what you're doing is you're climbing when you raise your hand you're climbing every one of you that raised your hand as the pastors are coming at every campus i want you to get out of your seat and i want you to come stand right down here in this altar i'm going to lead you in a climber's prayer that's going to change your life just slip out of that seat say well i don't know no just slip out of that seat you're coming out of complacency you're coming off the plateau of just settling and you're saying i'm driving a stake in higher ground come on come on somebody else somebody else somebody else hurry hurry the king's been don't talk yourself out of it talk yourself into it just step out god will do the rest grace will do the rest the holy spirit will do the rest come on come on here they come clap your hands they're still coming praise the lord praise the lord praise the lord bless you sir this is a miracle day for these people this is a transformation day for these people anyone else come on bless you lady come on come on come on that's wonderful that's wonderful praise the lord were you the one that was at the i cannot believe that so this lady pulled up in the she you must have had it on your gps and it sent you to the old church and my office is over there and i was getting something from my office and coming through the parking lot and she and a friend were outside and they were confused it was almost time for church and there were no people there and i rolled down my window and i said are you looking for free chapel and she said yeah i said follow him you didn't know i was the preacher did you did you know i was the preacher somebody told you to come here so you're from ohio and the lord told you to come here and you did you know i was the preacher when you were talking to me said he wants me here and told me to come to this church from ohio and so i just happened to be leaving and i said come on now she's in the altar come on somebody that's a miracle only god can do stuff like that he's got a plan everybody pray this prayer say lord jesus come on down front lord jesus i repent of my sins i thank you for the change for the cleansing for the washing of the blood of the lamb today i receive you as my savior i will not quit i will not camp i will not settle for less than what you call me to but today i become a climber and i receive the victory that jesus purchased on the cross say this i am saved i am forgiven i am cleansed i am a new creation now throw your hands up and give him a shout of praise hallelujah praise the lord amen all right all of you who prayed this prayer in a few weeks we're going to have a big tank of water up here and i'm going to baptize you and you and you and you and you and you in water you i want to hear your testimony you hear me you you i want to hear your testimony you and you and you and you and you and you i want to hear your testimony in the tank so let these people around you get your name we're going to give you some material for your next step because you know the blood of the lamb got them out of egypt you remember that story when they were in bondage in egypt by pharaoh and they the blood of jesus gets you out but that's not notice what to really get free from the devil which was a type of pharaoh they had to get in the water they had to go through the water and they had to follow the cloud which represents the holy spirit so i want to tell you what's coming next the water and the cloud i think i'll preach on that that's pretty good that'd be a real good sermon the the blood what did i say write it down my god i write everything down if i get any inspiration i write everything all right you ready and now wait a minute let's welcome all of these people at every campus let's give them a big welcome to the family of god we're so proud of you we're so thankful for what god has done in your life today you are forgiven you're a new creation to god be the glory you're going to make it you're not a quitter you're going to the top and now may the lord bless you and keep you make his face shine on you be gracious unto you lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace in jesus mighty name thank you for giving they're giving stations all over the grounds thank you for helping us make that miracle that you've already made happen you've heard me talk about it and i just want to say thank you and thank you for being faithful through the summer weeks and months to god be the glory big announcements concerning our climbing journey are coming up in the next few weeks i'll see you next sunday i'm here i hope you'll be here we're going to have church be blessed we love you have a blessed memorial day we can't god give us protection keep everybody healthy and strong

Channel: Free Chapel

Views: 60,354

Rating: 4.9075146 out of 5

Keywords: Free Chapel, Christian, Church, Jesus, Jentezen Franklin, Gainesville, Georgia, Atlanta

Id: nVgvb5tiato

Length: 42min 28sec (2548 seconds)

Published: Sun May 30 2021