Renew | RE: A Guide For The Disconnected

well hey everyone welcome to the countdown here at lh online my name is tc i'm one of the pastors here at lighthouse join with the leader of our arts team brittany guy how are you bro i'm good how are you guys my name is brittany guy i am the executive arts director here at lighthouse church amanda this is my first time being here live so how could i not be good we are here at rgb location it is a beautiful sunday morning the sun is shining and we are in the middle of our re-series yep it's a good day to be alive it's a great day to be a church yeah and you know what you know since we've been doing this on location this is your first time being in it and as leaders of our scene you're wearing a shirt that you're our steam design i'm wearing a hoodie our art scene design and in front of all the the merch and the banners are team design so they did a great job it's fun like you guys work for months and you get to like live in it right totally totally it's really cool to see it all come together because the one of the things i love the best is you go into a place it's kind of like when you go to disney world or like somewhere where you're unexpecting stuff and it just happens and you're like oh it just happens there has been so much prayer that has gone into all these deliverables so much thought and just inviting jesus into it so to see it come to life to see what jesus is doing through this series is absolutely incredible and and i've heard nothing but just excitement from people about what they're getting out of the series and i know that you know sammy's been just thrilled with what god's doing through the series so we're super excited about it and one thing just to note is that we still have lots of merch that's available to people as you can see the store behind us if you're interested in a book we have the pdf online at our store for free that's available for free throughout the entire series yeah yeah yeah if you're here in person i don't even know if you have any more copies this is what the pdf cover will look like i don't yeah yeah if you if you pay me i'll give you this copy yeah yeah no we're just kidding we have it for free and then we also have a journal that you can be journaling through yeah just because we believe god's got a journey for all of us to go on we missed this absolutely and the heart behind a lot of this merch too is so that it's conversation pieces you know so that when someone says ambassador what are you an ambassador for amen that enables you and empowers you to have a conversation and tell people about jesus yeah um same thing i know you always joked about this t-shirt this is my favorite piece in the line it's our kingdom coming shirt we have the lyrics to the chorus in the back that is a song that our lh worship team has written you always joke that i should wear it so that if you forget the lyrics you can just read it off but it's also really cool to just have that conversation what is that song what is the heart behind it and just tell people about jesus so you can get all of your re-merch online at our lhl and there's there's there's even more mercs we've talked about in hey online audience we decided to do something fun and cool for you guys i still can't do a drum roll with this mic i'm gonna try yeah yeah so so we have um our online community had there's an lh online page on facebook did i say that um yeah i think it's a group i'm not on social media very much anymore yeah yeah so so there's a group on facebook to the lh online community each of our communities have one yes uh and evan connolly who directs our online community he told us he's going to do a giveaway this week where if you win you can choose one of any merch and you can get it so if you're like i want that ambassador hoodie i want that kingdom coming shirt i want the journal you can pick it and you can win that and so if you're not already a member of the group the facebook group there you go for the lh online community yes join it and then this week he's going to put that contest and you'll have a chance to win one of anything you want yep absolutely and so another piece of merch that we have i can't miss this opportunity is our love week t-shirts so love week is a huge deal around here it is a week where we go out and love our community like jesus i love the t-shirts this year they are very cool design they're that sand color which is very in right now um but it's just a great way again it's a conversation starter it's also a way for you to contribute to love week because all the proceeds from that shirt go back into outreach yeah so it's going back into our community to love and serve like jesus yeah um so you can get involved in love with that way we also want to encourage you to sign up for love week you and i have both had the opportunity to do love week projects sure since we've both been on staff here and i cannot tell you we say it it changes you more than it benefits the community it does benefit the community but man just the conversations that happen the relationships that deepen and just seeing jesus explode out into the community and so online you are very much part of love week because the cool thing about our online community is that what we're doing here with jesus doing here is not just centralized to glen burnie it's all over every global olympics we have projects you can be anywhere yeah exactly so you can go to our website lighthouse.church.lvwk because we're a no val yeah church around here which is short for love week sign up for our project our outreach director katie was on the past couple weeks with you and we actually have something specifically that she has poured her heart into with evan for you when you sign up to be online and serve for love week we will send you a box that equips you for different projects we got some park cleanups that you can do so we don't want you to go out be like oh i got to do this all on my own it truly is something for you to use and to utilize yeah i think i think our online community i think we have three different projects that you can choose from you're gonna be meeting with the person leading that online so it's not just like hey you signed up here's a box we hope it goes well no no you're gonna connect with with people here at lighthouse you're gonna serve the community you're gonna get to talk about what jesus has done i think it's awesome i'm super excited about it yeah and so that's coming up real soon because what kicks off love week is a night of worship and that's happening that's october 10th right i got my dates right you did which is weird that's in two weeks so love week also kicks off in two weeks so i'm just getting over summer like i feel like i'm just okay thinking about fall but man it's all's here y'all fall is here oh yeah which i'm very excited about i know um i'm gonna out you a little bit austin he's standing behind us our production director we've talked about all the fun basic things that we love candles pumpkin candles fall candles i'm here for fall but i'm also here for love week so yeah super excited about that well this year they come together in a beautiful synergy so you can love them both at the same time blend those two together somehow we can do that but yeah yeah there's a lot of pumpkin spice candles in there no not at all there's stuff to actually serve the community it's really cool that's a different box we've got some stickers we've got gloves love soap yeah anything that you need we're here today wait in just a minute we're gonna step over into the sanctuary our campus pastor dj swick he's gonna jump up just share with us a few just welcome us and get us ready to go but wherever you're at prepare your heart and we're gonna be worshiping together in just a minute well what's going on lighthouse church how are we doing today all right can't hear me there we go how we doing today guys all right it's a little excitement well it is so good to be with you today if we haven't had a chance to meet yet my name is dj swick and i'm one of the pastors around here on staff and let me tell you what we have such an incredible morning planned for you guys this morning let me first take a moment to welcome our online community lh online we love you guys and we cannot wait to share what's going on in this room today because church listen up we're going to experience life change today we have so many good things going on around here and whether you're online or here we want you to be a part of it we're going to have an in-service baptism today streaming online and in this room let's give the lord a praise church come on well as i said there are so many good things going on around here since the over the last year we've had hundreds of salvations hundreds of new attendees almost 250 new volunteers on boarded to serve here and online that we're seeing over hundreds of kids and our lh kids and almost 100 people being baptized over the last year that's an incredible move of god but we want you guys to be a part of that all right so we have something called lh chat that we would love to connect with you to get you connected on what jesus is doing around here so any questions you have whether you want to get connected or a question about the sermon please use lh chat to find a way to get connected because church we're called to do community with one another amen but just a moment we're going to get started we're going to go into a time of worship and then pastor is going to come out and continue our series and read but before we get started let's pray lord jesus i thank you for this morning lord i thank you for your people and holy spirit i just asked lord that you would dwell in this place this morning father that lives would be changed father that lies would be resurrected through your holy spirit it's in your name we pray jesus amen [Music] [Music] good morning church so good to be with you this morning please join us as we worship our god together [Music] [Music] in amen presence of my enemies [Music] is a melody [Music] comes to fight for me [Music] is [Music] [Music] with everything inside of me [Music] this week [Music] [Music] new louder and louder [Music] [Music] come on is [Music] for me is is [Music] [Music] [Music] oh i raised [Music] [Applause] the cross has the fine word [Music] the cross has the fine word sorrow may come in the darkest night the cross has the finest the cross has the fine word [Music] the cross [Music] the cross has oh thank you jesus [Music] [Music] the savior has come the morning light the cross has the fireworks the cross has the fight [Music] [Music] he trained for [Music] we worship you father there's nothing greater there's nothing stronger than the name of jesus [Music] there's nothing i there's nothing greater than the name of jesus all the glory to the name of jesus there's nothing stronger nothing i heard [Music] than the name of [Music] jesus to the name of [Music] the jesus of jesus [Music] glory to the name of jesus [Music] [Music] he world [Music] the savior has come with the morning light the cross has to find [Music] [Applause] [Music] that jesus blood and righteousness [Music] my hope is my hope is in jesus blood and righteousness [Music] i dare not trust [Music] so [Music] he is lord [Music] the darkness seems [Music] [Music] [Music] my [Music] is [Music] [Music] is [Music] is [Music] is is [Music] oh may i then in him be found dressed in his righteousness alone foreign [Music] oh [Music] cornerstone [Music] [Music] through [Music] every voice let's think it out [Music] [Applause] [Music] he is [Music] [Music] is [Music] whew [Music] how are we yeah good that wasn't too shabby how are we so good to be with you and oh thank you aramis team and guys are incredible i mean you take us there and let me tell you something i i i hate dotin on just just the the musical ability of if it weren't for they have a heart for jesus amen and that's what's conveyed week in week out it's not just that they they make a joyful noise under the lord i mean it could be a mess if you had somebody up here that couldn't do that you know like me if you had me singing you know you'd be like this we got to find another church this is really rough but um these guys love jesus love this local body and so do i so i just want to welcome you if this is your very first time with us uh we just want to say it's an honor it's a privilege to have you we treat you as a guest of the house not just a visitor uh guests are treated way way better and uh those even online right now that are watching us can we give those those within the room in the chapel warm welcome we love you so much [Applause] where you find us actually this morning is um we're in the third installment of a collection of talks that we jumped into some weeks ago entitled re a guide for the disconnected our hearts cry our prayer as a staff as pastors as elders here has been that this is an invitation this is a summoning this is a cleared pathway for those that may have drifted from god maybe those that don't even have a relationship with god those that have been sort of pulled away from god this is an invitation to come back to god and what we've witnessed over the last several weeks has been nothing shy of god we've seen him perform miracles in the way of relationships salvations in the way from even young in lh kids to old men and women that are re-committing their lives meeting jesus for the first time uh putting away childish things stepping into their god-given purpose and none of that happens through clever planning or you and i just hoping how that happens is is the father that loves us with an everlasting love draws sons and daughters to himself amen and we're so grateful that we get to be able to witness that here but by way beginning i want to i want to do one on a particular group um for a moment that i have watched them i have um listened in on the planning the strategy and the heart behind what they do and i have found it to be absolutely amazing and i'm speaking to this group in particular because this is the room full of adults but what many of you may not know is what transpires on the other side of that wall where we host lh kids is something altogether miraculous under the leadership of liz and megan and delaney they have taken this re-curriculum and they have put their creative juices to it and what i believe is truly an anointing that during the week i'll sit at my desk or even before i go to bed at night i'll open up my laptop and i'll watch like the youtube version of lh kids i'll laugh i even get a little teary-eyed at times i'm inspired it's not like i'm looking at it just for sheer entertainment god is using lh kids like nothing i have ever seen i mean it is amazing back there and so it's not just the kids that are in mind it's also the parents the drive homes from church the the the uh the materials that moms and dads are equipped with to continue the discussion about jesus and so if you have your kids in lh kids i just want to say those men and women that serve back there they love your children they love jesus and they want to see seeds planted that will take an eternal impact and so when you go back there i mean hey slap them on the back tell them how grateful you are give them cash i don't care but you tell them that god is using them and that we're the beneficiaries of it amen and so i just i had to say it had to say it and so with that we're going to go ahead and get started i'm going to pray we're going to get right to work i believe god has something in store for us today something that i've been eager to share this installment of re um comes really special to me because i believe it's what god has done in my life and what i've witnessed and we'll see what he does over the next few moments would you pray with me heavenly father we love you lord jesus we've gathered here because we know that your arm is not too short to save and your heart is not too small to forgive that you father are the god that comes and renews you refresh you make the parched and weary lands full of springs and nourishment you come and you satisfy our soul you lead us by the stillbrook so that we find refreshment in you i pray father as we peer into the pages of scripture it is timeless it is authoritative it is active it is alive and it is powerful i pray by it lord you would speak to us change us leave us here different than when we arrived all of this for your glory and for our joy and all god's people said amen it was a few years ago that i um after a really busy season of uh ministry that my family and i um we all took a a short vacation it was about four days in total certainly not long enough but thought of on the front end this would be suffice and so it was that i had just completed um my last book it was called supernatural change i was smoked and so it was i told both staff and friends and everybody else that i was going away and i was going off grid once again you know no phone no no no no calling in all of this type of stuff so it was that i left and i came back and upon my arrival a pastor friend of mine reached out to me and asked me hey do you feel refreshed without even clutching i said to him actually truth be told i feel more fatigued now than when i departed i said i got smoked on vacation i mean hey now anybody that has three kids of a young age you know exactly what i'm talking about okay i mean it's a pipe dream to think you're just gonna go away and rest and relax and nap and all that uh-uh i spent the whole four days mad anyway you know we got back and and i had told him that via phone conversation and and his response to me is something that i'll never forget i believe that it was the word of the lord at the moment that i mean permeated my heart and i've clung to it ever since and he made this statement he said do know this that when you feel fatigued and tired and worn out many times rest and even a nap will resolve that he says but when you are depleted he said that's only remedied through renewal and he said to me so i my question to you is are you worn out tired and fatigued or are you depleted i knew right then the answer to his question was i was depleted and the problem was is that i was trying very typical and even plausible things to find refreshment much like we do when our physical body wears out much like happens when you know our our schedule is too busy much like we do when even material things wear out we give them a break or we cause a rest or we take a nap and in hopes that we find regeneration but what had happened was is that my soul was depleted and see the reality is is that you can replace material things but when it comes to your soul that's only resolved by god renewing it you can't replace it you can't go find remedy for it you can't even sleep it to refreshment you need renewal but if you're anything like me the truth be told you in the pace and the rate in which we live the preoccupation of what we give our hearts and affections minds and bandwidth too often times we find ourselves in a place of renewal what we think is we just need a little refreshment refreshment and renewal are two totally different things and to compound the problem in the day and age in which we live many times when we need renewal what we'll do is we'll add things to our schedule or to our person or to our habits in hopes that it will provide us something only causing us a need for renewal even more we live now marginless lives i believe the pace and rate in which you and i live in 2021 is absolutely unsustainable it's unprecedented to human history dr richard swanson wrote a book called margin and in it it's not it's not it's not an encouraging read on the front end it's a very eye-opening read where he says in no other era of human history have we moved at the rate we currently are thinking that we just need to grind harder go faster shoulders back chin up and just stick it out and we'll eventually find the refreshment that we're looking for only to find we're burning out at a rate that even humanity can't keep up with and so here we are and so the problem is is that for so many of us we need renewal but what happens is even in the need of it we're compounded by another problem that we give ourselves to and that's called distractions i don't know how many of you if you were to survey your schedule if you were to survey your lifestyle if you were to survey what you give your hearts your finances your emotions your bandwidth too so many of them are distractions it's richard uh swenson that said actually psychiatrists are now starting to determine that your body interprets distractions as stress we've never understood that before but your body interprets distractions and what your your eye gate goes to what your mind goes to what your thoughts go to what your body goes to if it's not pre-planned or thought out and it's spontaneous we thought well that's just normal no no your body keeps score and your body interprets distractions as stress let's say case and point your phone what we thought is it's very therapeutic to scroll we thought it was very therapeutic to hang out in the search bar of your youtube page we thought it was very therapeutic to read comment threads one after another and just bounce from here to there before you know it you've burned through 90 minutes like it was a second well your body interprets that as stress and this is why we're experiencing burnout at this unprecedented raped and so it was after my friend told me this that you need renewal that it was some months ago that i started to realize wait a minute i'm starting to repeat and feel the same patterns of burnout that i did some years ago hence that's why i took a sabbatical that's why i shut it all down stopped the clock turned everything off and went away i found myself now with attitudes and i didn't even know where they where they were sort of birthed out of i just had attitudes i had my sort of my wick was growing short week in week out i had to preach and and yet i had to find myself this gear on sunday mornings at times when i didn't have any passion i didn't have what it took to really get up here and at times even be authentic according to my heart i found that i was sort of repeating more what i had heard or more what i had read than my intimacy with jesus and so it was that i then stepped off but what i had to come really really aware of and what i also had to be really really honest about is how much of me that i gave to distractions not just bad things but even plausible good things can i tell you something the enemy of your soul does not need to destroy you if he can simply distract you he does not have to get you to fall into some epic sin he doesn't have to blow your family apart he doesn't have to ruin your life your finances your relationships if he can just get you to sit sidelines because you've given your heart your soul to distractions and this is nothing new for us this is the plight of humanity all the way through scripture and even to present day to make my point i want to read you a a narrative that dr luke captured in his gospel if you have your bibles i want you to go with me to luke chapter 10 and i find it incredible that jesus saw fit that this story which many of you have heard many times before he wanted this sort of crystallized in scripture dr luke in detail records it and jesus now is on his way to jerusalem enroute to jerusalem he has now taken the disciples sent them out two by two they're coming back with testimonies of either persecution or people not receiving them well or even incredible testimonies and so jesus now gathers his disciples and he's heading towards jerusalem the hour is drawing short for his time as he now is heading towards his own crucifixion it says this as jesus and his disciples were on their way he came to a village where a woman named martha opened her home to him she had a sister called mary who sat at the lord's feet listening to what he said i mean jesus walks in here's a little dinner party they're going to host them jesus comes in sits down as does marry boom it's not even a question it's not like she wondered what should i do or shouldn't i do or what should i get or shouldn't i get what she did is i'm just gonna sit here i'll make apologies later if i should give myself to something else but i'm just going to sit here at your feet hanging on every word listen to this but martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made now let's be honest jesus rolls into your house there's gonna be some prep i mean you can give yourself you're gonna be like wait a minute we gotta get the you know falafel out the oven we we we gotta make sure things are tidied up get rid of the goat he's got to go right we're gonna straighten up around here fluff the pillows cut the crease in the middle let's get after it jesus is in the house and he ain't going to miss a beat so martha's like wait what hey mary you sit and i'm i'm going to give myself to all the the needed things so she thought this is what it says she then came to him and asked lord don't you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself so this is to infer that martha's now a busy bee all over the house i mean straightening up trying to get a little pot of coffee on right breaking out the sanka here she is she's she's she's doing it right and she peers into the living room so as to see mary is sitting there and them two are getting along like two peas in a pod like mary's not even sweating martha like looking over her shoulder like with this obligatory maybe i should help maybe i should ah she's like i'm straight and so martha wanted to bring attention to jesus wait a minute this is unfair and you two you two were just chatting it up i'm i'm busy in the back this is what jesus says says where martha said tell her to help me now notice what martha just did there martha actually suddenly got a little attitude at jesus that mary made him more important than the preparation see the nuance she actually said to jesus martha needs to help me not sit with you she thought that was as right as reign prep trump's intimacy this seems right to me martha needs my i need her help i'm i'm over here busying it up you got to tell her where to give her attention to cause she's all out of whack and if she doesn't straighten it out i'm a buster with frying pan tell her help me this is what jesus said the lord answered you are worried and upset about many things watch this but few things are needed or indeed he says only one notice how he did not say few things are important or a few things should be prioritized ah he used the word there needed i think that's a key word key word few things are needed he goes let me let me set the record straight actually only one a need is a big difference than important need is a big difference over preference a need is a big difference even over a racking and stacking priorities a need trumps them all he says only one thing is needed he then concludes mary has chosen what is better and it will not be taken from her i want you to notice what mary did mary went through the distractions to get to what was needed mary understood all of these peripheral things actually they aren't the refreshing and renewal things there is but one thing that will provide me that and that's me sitting at his feet now what i want to do just just just for a moment is i want to make it very clear thank god for martha's i'm tired of hearing sermons where people slight martha all right let me tell you if we didn't have a martha in our home okay it looked like a farm in there all right i mean thank god for martha's my wife is a martha i grew up in a house where my mom was a martha i mean things taken care of we were fed we didn't go without we didn't always have the best but we had what was needed why because mom put priorities in place ruth puts priorities in place thank god for martha's nevertheless martha gave herself to good things being being prepared for jesus to arrive in the home isn't a bad thing actually it's a good thing but i want you to understand something very very clear often in life the most difficult choices that you and i make aren't between good and bad things they're between good and the best things paul's there because this is where i believe our souls are being depleted it's not that we're making the decision between good and bad it's that we're missing the importance of the decision between good and the best and because in our plausibility we think we give our lives our time our effort our monies to good things we can't figure out why are we so depleted because many times the very enemy of your soul will use the good things to keep you from the best things that's why scripture says he comes as an angel of light he ain't always dark and demonic and and and and and and you can't you don't you see him coming uh-uh he will keep you and i distracted to where our souls are parched and weary by constantly putting good things in our path to keep us from god's best things so that's what happened with me i mean i'm giving myself to ministry i'm giving myself to loving people i'm giving myself to counseling i'm giving self to family i'm trying to organize my time efforts bandwidth mental capacity and the whole nine yards many of which this is not to say that i lived a life flawless without sin many times of which i was giving myself to good things and yet i still needed renewal still needed a season of refreshing i still needed to sit before jesus's feet and have my soul regenerated and what i found then is that there is a very biblical yet very practical pathway to renewal here's what i know within this room even those of us that are watching online those that are sitting in the chapel right now here's the deal so many of us need renewal in the place where you think you're just tired your soul needs to be renewed by the one that made your soul your soul needs to be refreshed by the one that made your spirit come alive in you your soul needs intimacy intimacy with jesus whereas there is no way to circumvent it and there is no substitute for it i want to give you three things really briefly that ultimately are the pathway to renewal if you're taking notes these are going to be very very simple again very biblical but yet very practical when it comes to you and i being renewed when it comes to you and i coming alive in jesus the first thing is is that you must must must remove the old you must start with removing old habits old patterns old things old besetting sins old you fill in the blank there must be a concentrated effort towards re removing the old this is why we started with week one when it comes to a guide for the disconnected week one you gotta realize where you are you gotta realize wait a minute how far have i drifted from god where is my degree of joy where is my degree of peace where is my degree of contentment how often do i hear from him how how has my appetite for scripture either increased or decreased where is my my level of anxiety where is my soul you got to realize where you are and the condition they're in otherwise you're going to move in the wrong direction to the destination and so it starts with realizing an honest inventory of this is where i am but once you realize where you are you must repent of sins that you've given your heart to habits that you've been that that you've you've fostered and cultivated little things that you've compromised that have just chipped away at your soul that you've even given a hall pass to or you've overlooked you must start the process of repentance but after repentance this is where renewal sets in this is it this is this is god's pattern realize where you are repent of where you've been and then let me renew you but you must begin by removing the old listen to what king david said in psalm 51 we read it last week i'm going to read it again it says this create in me a pure or your translations might say a clean heart oh god and renew a steadfast spirit within me notice what david said he said before you renew there must be a purging or a cleaning of the old that you won't renew where i first haven't purified repented asked forgiveness of put away or cleaned out i want you to come in and clean my house clean my heart so that you have a clean slate to then work from case in point anybody in this room that's a contractor a little little do-it-yourselfer or home improvements anytime it comes to hey you want to rent out the bathroom you want to rent out the kitchen you want to do a full house project you're going to reno everything you're going to you're going to beat it all down to the studs what you don't do is you don't in the renovation of the bathroom before anything's removed out of there say all right let's go get new toilet new sink new cabinet new floors and just put it right on top of the old we'll figure it out you know just hey here go set those boxes in there anybody that's got that's not drunk is going to know let's get the toilet out of here let's rip up the sink remove that out of here we're going to put new floors down let's remove the floors that are in here if you want to replace the tub rip the tub out of here sweep it all out shop vac it all out start it clean and then we'll start the renewal process hear me on this some of us we want renewal you haven't cleaned the old some of us we want god to come in and refresh and renew and regenerate you haven't purged the old habits old things sins that you've given your life to let me tell you something god doesn't operate like that so so a few weeks ago we did that whole sermon where it was the the the blessing of letting go and i said that actually the things that we carry the anxieties the worries the baggage that we carry we don't have to carry those things by god's grace with open arms he says come and bring those things and set them at the foot of the cross and exchange your anxiety from my peace your worry from my joy your sins for my forgiveness and i said we don't have to carry those things this week i want you to know if you want renewal you must let go of those things it's not an option otherwise we're just going to waste our time and so when it comes to cleaning out it it looks like this for some of us okay we got debt let me tell you why we got that because we have paid for things that we don't really need to impress people we really don't even like and so we've went racked up the credit card we we keep spending we think we're just going to buy our way out of debt okay that's what you think all right just give me another piece of plastic i'll fix this and so we just keep racking the ceiling up higher let me tell you something if you want renewal the reason that your soul is depleted is because you pace the living room floor night in night out trying to figure out how you're going to rob peter to pay paul you must do the work of cleaning debt out of your life that's why we got small groups that's why we have dave ramsey that's why larry burkett one time said that you cannot be spiritually free while at the same time being financially bound and so what you know what you need to do you need to take an honest look of it at it you need to you need to incorporate those that are part of it all right snatch them credit cards out of those little kids wallets all right all right make sure you get it off their little iphone you know when they're you know amazonin it up you know snatch all them throw them phones out and and grab hold of debt and say i'm gonna purge my life of debt i'm gonna come hell high water i'm gonna make sure if it takes the next 10 years to do it i'm cleaning out so that renewal camp when you take one step towards god he'll take a hundred towards you i'm gonna tell you that right now so you take debt and you go i'm cleaning out you put that right in the trash now that one might take a moment but you need to make the definitive decision i am cleaning out what i have given my heart foolishly to that's taken up all my bandwidth and depleting my soul then it might be a little more a little more subtle now it might be a little the gram okay so you stand all day on instagram when god's been beckoning you and saying hey come sit with me let me connect with you let me infuse life into you let me nourish you you get off instagram you're mad and depressed and you know and you think to yourself i don't know why i spend so much time i mean doing that meanwhile you're mean-mugging people you're looking at their vacay over your vacay right you went to the poconos sat in a dirty champagne class you're watching them in bora bora you're all bent out of shape like what's up with this i deserve better you know uh single you're watching people get engaged you're like i don't even like that girl anymore i mean you know and you got attitudes you know what i'm talking about you need to take this this has contaminated your heart and this has depleted your soul psychiatrists not even believers non-believers are saying now the more time you spend on social media the more depressed you are does anybody in the room i'd like to find this person because you're a unicorn is anybody in the room get off social media and think i'm happier now no how could you you just watch people fight people talk about who who knows i mean from hogan to jesus i mean everybody's talking about somebody you need to get off of it why because it's depleting your soul needs to go in the trash when it comes to addictions hear me addictions you got to get honest you can't get renewed where you're preserving the old that's what we got cr for hurts habits hang ups celebrate recovery there ain't a soul in this room that doesn't have a hurt a habit or hang up amen so we don't we don't look at cr like you know cr hey those are all the druggies i've been there all right cr is this is for all the real people true story of who's really honest about i wanna i wanna clean out my heart so renewal can come i wanna bring an old toilet or a new toilet in an old bathroom without removing the first one when it comes to let me oh come on come on some of us let me tell you what's right in your soul is just good old-fashioned complaining you think like this is your spiritual gift you're like i do it i'm good at it i mean i do it all the time it comes natural to me i mean we live in a world right now i mean 2021 is the era of complaining and i get it i get it there's a lot to complain about but you don't have to give your heart to it because it's depleting your soul this is why proverbs says those that look for good will find it those that look for evil in like manner will find it as well you start complaining you will find yourself depressed quick and those around you complaining you have got to clean out i'm only going to think on the good things as scripture commends me and i'm only going to speak that which gives life and his grace to the hearer that's got to go in the trash when it comes to some of us we got toxic relationships i hate to be hard on you but you thought you were going to be jesus to that person okay they haven't been changed by jesus yet they ain't gonna be changed by you okay you can try to love them encourage them commend them to come to church the whole nine yards they are depleting your soul you've been with them now 25 years i'm not talking about marriages in here check me on that don't be like that pastor said i can get divorced that's not what i'm saying i don't want to hear that don't send me your emails tomorrow like that was the word for me pastor no it's not i'm talking about friends i'm talking about people i'm talking about even even relationships thank god you haven't gotten married yet you need to find the nearest exit ramp and say say la vie playa i'm out of here why because it's depleting your soul so don't think god will come and bring renewal while you're still surrounded by people that are sucking the life out of you okay amen amen okay that's sort of kind of okay hey for some i'm gonna move fast for some it's food okay you feel bad because you eat bad all right i ain't trying to be a nutritionist on you all right hear me i love me some popeyes so i ain't got a lot of leg to stand on all right a little hypocrisy anyway i'm just saying for some of us you feel depleted horrible why because you're coping is eating some of us when it comes to our our time spent distractions it is nothing more than this little rectangle in your back pocket that you give time and effort and bandwidth to that's robbing you you have got to clean out some of us it's gonna be netflix oh uh oh oh no he didn't yes i did yes i did when it comes to what your heart's going towards listen it's not between good and bad things sometimes it's good and the best things it could be worry it could be work it could be unforgiveness hear me friend you cannot sit there with bitterness in your heart unforgiveness held by you white knuckling it and think god come and bring renewal but i'm unwilling to forgive it doesn't work like that this is why paul the apostle he wrote to the church in corinth and he was talking about relationships listen to what he said he said he said he was telling them about parameters and boundaries and he said this he said i am saying this for your benefit not to place restrictions on you i am not trying to cramp your style as my old man used to say to me sammy god doesn't want to cramp your style he wants to give you one meaning god doesn't want to just be the cosmic buzz kill in your life god doesn't want to rain down heavy-handed so you have no joy his parameters and his restrictions are for your joy they're so you come alive so that your life is refreshed and renewed so that your soul is healthy healthy paul goes on to say this i want you to do whatever will help you serve the lord best with as few distractions as possible here's what paul said he said the same thing david said you must remove the old listen to me church i so badly want you to understand that the pathway to renewal is first by removing and for you to see the joy in it not what you have to give up but what you're giving up so that god floods you with all he wants to give it's about removing the old but second is you then have to put on the new listen to what paul writes he says put on your new nature and be renewed as you learn to know your creator and become like him let me tell you something jesus created you with all your idiosyncrasies and your personality and your quirks and your weird all right he created all of us so that as we conform to the image of his son and we put on our new nature over top of our old nature and we live a life anew in jesus that is everything that you're looking for you you didn't know it but that is everything your heart craves your heart craves may it may though it may not have have told you in articulated fashion your heart cries from the inside out i want to become more like jesus and when you do renewal is found refreshment is found life is found my sabbatical consisted on the whole front end i am removing the old i got my bible i got a journal i i got honest with myself what i was giving my my my time to my efforts to my worry to my bandwidth to my emotions too all of those things and my whole motto coming back was i'm coming back with a new motto of slow and no i'm not doing it i'm not giving my heart to those distractions i'm not giving myself to that it is is slow and no and then it was i'm going to put on the new this is why peter writes by his divine power god has given us everything we need for living a godly life everything you need has been given to you in christ jesus he says this he says we have received all of this by coming to know him the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence why do we have community around here why do we have small groups why do we have cr because that's the means and ways that we get people into forums to put christ on so that we learn when i wake up in the morning i grab my bible i grab my soap journal i'm putting my new nature on i'm putting it on lord i want to equip myself to see things the way you see them to gear my heart to the way you feel towards them to resist sin and to pursue your righteousness lord i am putting my new nature on same way i put my pants on i'm putting my new nature on i am getting my mind fixed my eyes straight my heart geared so that i can walk in newness of life i don't want to just wake up the old paul samuel foster i want to wake up with the new nature and you've given it all to me for the taking don't leave it on the table and then go i feel so depleted and god's going i've given you everything for life and godliness by my divine power and according to my promises it's yours for the taking and then lastly you remove the old you put on the new and then you wait in his presence this is the part where we're like wait a minute wait he just he just said wait but those those few who wait on the lord not those few that are busy those few that are making preparations those that are preoccupied with good things over the best things but those who wait on the lord he says this shall renew their strengths they shall mount up with wings like eagles they shall run and not grow weary they shall walk and not faint westernized christianity has done everything and anything to cheapen intimacy with jesus [Music] we think that we can get away with just doing a little two-minute devotion in route to somewhere we think we'll just listen to a little worship song in the car and that'll be sufficient enough we think a church service on the weekend will supply us everything we need for the week we are twisted in how it works those that wait in the presence of the lord shall renew their strength case in point you do not take your depleted phone plug it into your charger and then one minute later come back unplug it and go i'm good for the day you let it sit there as you wait for it to charge and renew and refresh so the battery life can sustain for everything you need it for those that wait in the presence of the lord can i tell you something he wants to speak to you can i tell you something he's been speaking to you the question is have you been so distracted you haven't heard them this is why proverbs 4 says set your gaze on the path before you clean out the old put on the new he says with fixed purpose look straight ahead ignore life's distractions watch where you're going stick to the path of truth and the road will be smooth safe before you let me tell you something this isn't a one and done this is daily but those that wait on the lord that put on their new nature and ultimately remove the old are those that live life to the full in jesus renewal starts in a moment but renewal takes day after day to keep it going you don't charge your phone once neither do you do the same with your soul what we're getting ready to watch now is we're getting ready to watch a renewal we're going to watch a young man by the name of joey renew his life out in this foyer so that you and i see what the starting point looks like but joey will have to not only renew today joey will renew for a lifetime to come because jesus wants intimacy and this is what renewal at the start looks like well hey church i am here with my main man joey and we are about to witness real renewal see a little bit about joey's story is joey grew up in the church he was around a family that absolutely loved jesus that went to church every single week but through his high school years through his college years joey thought that he could do everything on his own so he stepped back and he said i don't need god i'm gonna put god on the back burner but what that did joey felt lost he felt empty like he had nowhere to go he was completely lost his family was disconnected relationships were disconnected but in 2015 something changed thank god for a praying wife because his wife sarah insisted she didn't ask but she insisted that joey would come to lighthouse just to check it out with her family and friends in church i got to tell you it would be when he get when he got here that he would meet jesus face to face and his life would never be the same so you're looking at somebody now that has been completely renewed see baptism doesn't save us the only thing that saves us is a relationship with jesus because scripture says that when we confess with our mouth that jesus says lord and we believe in our heart that god raised him from the dead we will be saved but that baptism is that next step of obedience it's that next step of saying that i am showing the world that i am going to be resurrected with christ and put away my sin because of what jesus has done on the cross and my man joey is ready to take that next step amen ready ready let's do it careful joey i really do not believe that you're sitting in this tub by an accident that i believe that you here for a reason by a divine god this divine appointment to show the world your testimony to show the world that you had a praying wife that you just you were completely renewed from the inside out by the god of heaven and that's going to be your testimony to show this world how good of a god that we serve and he is a god of renewal amen so joey do you accept jesus as your lord and savior i do but by the power and invested in me by our lord and savior jesus christ i now baptize you in the name of the father son and the holy spirit [Music] [Applause] stand with this church we're gonna go out singing to our god whose name's above every other name to jesus who's the light of the world let's sing this out together amen [Music] the shadows [Music] is jesus you make the darkness jesus [Music] [Music] and your name is a lie [Music] is [Music] forever [Music] jesus [Music] jesus [Music] amen amen do we serve a god of renewal or what church [Applause] what you just witnessed was real life change but let me tell you something important it don't stop here that don't stop inside these walls that we're called to be the church outside the church because we are the church amen so we see renewal happen like this we have to share that testimony out there because other people are waiting to be renewed the lost the broken that we're called to be the light of the world amen let me pray for us before we get out of here lord jesus thank you for this incredible word today father this real life change before our very eyes that you are the god of renewal lord we pray that we can be that testimony out there to this loss this dark this broken world and ultimately lord we give you the glory it's in jesus name we pray amen thanks guys man well welcome back online fam what an incredible day incredible service you know i hope you guys were feeling it like you were here with joey getting baptized that was incredible i love that i mean i mean stories like that of true life change transformation that's why we're doing this that's what we're excited about and if you saw that and you're like yo i want to take that step of obedience to jesus i want to get baptized go onto our app or our website in the bottom right click the chat icon and tell us let us know hey i want to get baptized and if you're local we'll set that up here if you're not local if you're out of the country we will work with you we'll make sure we can help you get baptized to take that step of faith yes absolutely and you know we get the privilege of hearing stories like joey all the time all the time and there is so much life change that is happening here at lighthouse church none of it would be possible without your faithful generosity and your faithful giving i mean we are seeing literally hundreds of lives changed week in week out it may even be more but none of that would be possible so we just want to say thank you to all of you who financially partner with us we could not do what we do without you and thank you for trusting us to steward the money that you are giving to use as jesus is leading us it's been it's such a privilege we say it all the time this is a privilege so thank you and i can't believe we get to do what we do because we as a community are doing it together amen we love you guys we'll see you again next week on the countdown you

Channel: Lighthouse Church

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Length: 80min 5sec (4805 seconds)

Published: Sun Sep 26 2021