September 5, 2021 | Dr. Jack Graham | Walking in the Spirit | Romans 8:5-11 | Sunday Service

[Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] well good morning and welcome to prestonwood come on stand to your feet so glad you're here to worship with us this morning come on put your hands together [Music] but the miracle that i just can't get over my neck is registered and heavy come on [Music] is [Music] [Music] this is my testimony [Applause] [Music] come together sons and daughters sing the praises of the spirit son and father our god we'll finish what we started [Music] jesus christ [Music] [Applause] come on let's declare this together [Music] greater things [Music] oh [Music] oh [Music] his grace rewrote my story i'll testify [Music] [Music] jesus christ [Music] [Music] thank you [Music] [Music] the place where your love is found a place where for gifts and joy about where one endless song resounds how great you are [Music] a place where the word brings life a place [Music] through the night how great you are come on every voice lift it up [Music] this house is yours [Music] a place of redemption and victory [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] is [Applause] [Music] is [Music] [Music] knows is how great you are [Music] this house will be [Music] is [Music] is [Music] we praise you amen church family we have much to celebrate today as we have believers who are being baptized and today with me i've got sadie crystal ball this is gail glover upon your public professions in our lord and savior jesus christ in obedience to his divine command we baptize these in the name of the father the son and the holy spirit [Applause] this is grace king this is pamela sutton upon your public profession in our lord and savior jesus christ in obedience to his divine command we baptize you in the name of the father the son and the holy spirit [Applause] this is nick fletcher upon your public profession in our lord and savior jesus christ and obedience to his divine command i baptize you my brother in the name of the father the son and the holy spirit [Applause] this is hunter miller mechanic garrett upon your public profession in our lord savior jesus christ in obedience his divine command we baptize you in the name of the father the son and the holy spirit [Applause] [Music] this is joshua oldham it's a privilege my friend to baptize you today and upon your public profession in our lord and savior jesus christ and in obedience to his divine command i baptize you my brother in the name of the father the son and the holy spirit bear with christ in baptism raise to walk in newness of life yes oh never get tired of that seeing life change seeing people come to faith in jesus christ responding to his great love for us this is going to be a powerful day in god's house his presence is with us you are with us we're so glad that you've chosen to worship with us today if you're our guest we especially want to welcome you we've been praying for you to join us and we would love to have a record of your visit so let us know that you're here you can text the word guest to 74788 or better yet go to guest central out in the main atrium as you leave today and we have a gift we want to give you and we love to answer any questions you might have about the ministries here at prestonwood we're just one big family and we want to serve you in any way that we possibly can and i want to add my online welcome to everybody joining us around the world today more than 40 nations join us in worship every single week and we're so grateful to have you from right here in plano and we especially want to give a shout out to our first responders and our men and women in uniform we're grateful for your service and sacrifice and there's going to be more about that later in the service today but this is going to be a powerful day when we gather like this and we come into his presence and we sing songs of gratitude and we say god you are number one on a list of one we are going to respond to your love and your mercy we're gonna praise you for your faithfulness throughout every generation one generation shall commend your works to another we're gonna praise him for his goodness no matter the season he is with us he is in control and he's working all things for our good and his glory so lord as we continue to worship today we open our hearts and hands to you we thank you for your goodness in our lives we ask you to come and transform us by the power of your presence and by your life-giving word today you are the center we are not the center in the name that is above every name jesus we pray and everybody said amen let's continue to worship [Music] i love you lord oh your mercy never fails me all my days i've been held in your heads from the moment that i wake up until i lay my head oh i will sing of the goodness of god [Music] with every breath that i am of the goodness of god i love your voice [Music] [Music] i've known you as a thought [Music] and i've known you as a friend in the goodness of god [Music] oh [Music] oh [Music] is [Music] [Applause] every day is [Applause] [Music] is [Music] all my life you have been paid all my life you have been so good [Music] of the goodness [Music] thank you jesus [Music] is my goodness [Applause] [Applause] [Music] amen surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life scott and then we'll dwell in the house of the lord forever god is so good he is good he does good and he's working all things together for good in your life as a follower of jesus amen amen please take a seat thank you it's good to see uh you this morning and i've got scott turner here with me and i want you to look around uh right now because scattered and and uh beautifully unfurled in this worship center today are 13 flags and each one of these flags are representative of one of our brave soldiers marines who gave their lives in afghanistan as we were ending the war there and we all have a perspective of course on how that went and how it's going but what we do know is that over the past 20 years the brave soldiers of america have protected us and have provided an opportunity for people in afghanistan in that region as well to sense and taste freedom we don't know what's going to happen going forward over there but what we do know is the lives of these soldiers were not given in vain not only these 13 but all who served in afghanistan all who who gave who served and many came back with with wounded bodies and wounded souls and wounded spirits and these past two decades have been challenging to say the least but i'm personally grateful that our flag still flies high and that we will stand and rise and meet once again the challenges of our generation and going forward and so before we go any further in a time of prayer as we are inaugurating a season of prayer in september i want us to watch the screen for a tribute to the brave soldiers and fighters for freedom in america if i could go back and talk to that 20 year old kid who landed in afghanistan this is what i would tell him i would say thank you thank you for everything that you're doing because the next 20 years you're going to keep america safe and everyone that served in afghanistan we did our part america is that beacon of hope i am in a very unhealthy mix of betrayal uh grief and rage right now uh and and those feelings are understandable but i want them to hear me loud and clear veterans gold star families victims of 911 their sacrifices were not in vain a whole generation of americans have grown up not worried about planes flying into buildings not worried about suicide bombers on school buses they've grown up in safety and that sacrifice was worth it but if you're struggling if you're struggling with all of this please call somebody there are hotlines out there use them you're not alone there are those coming home under flag draped caskets and there are those coming home with serious and grave injuries the one thing that can never be taken away from any of them is the service that they gave the service that they gave to those that stood shoulder to shoulder with them their fellow marines those that were holding the wire the interpreters and other sivs that they were fighting to get out the americans that they were fighting to get out they gave everything that they could because of those that they believed in and the commitment they had to their people to their left and right that's why we do what we do in combat and that will never fade away their sacrifice was not in vain it wasn't okay it kept this country safe for 20 years and it's because we've had brave people that have been willing to give their life and limb over there in afghanistan thank you to all the brave men and women that served over there and you know and i want to reiterate that you know their service and their sacrifice was not in vain but i also want to let them know i'm just as disgusted as they are about the way we're leaving this and the way we're getting out of there it's absolutely horrific and embarrassing i could probably list by name about 75 reasons why afghanistan was personal to me and i wear the names of a number of them on my wrist those are all very personal reasons about why what goes on in afghanistan matters to me personally the message to the gold star families those who have lost loved ones those who have been wounded and their families we did our jobs we did their jobs for 20 years the only thing that you can say is be proud of the job that you did this is not political this is personal and it's about americans it's personal for those of us who have served there and it's personal for everybody who knows somebody who has too i wear this for a staff sergeant matt pacino one of the green berets that i didn't bring home i was his commander he was my responsibility uh matt took point on every single mission that we uh that that we went out on uh the taliban went old school on their tactics uh they went to tripwires on their ieds uh and rather than ride in an armored vehicle matt went out front on a motorcycle so that he could be close to the ground and he could see the tripwires i asked him about it one day i said matt yeah you're pushing your luck brother you know every single mission you're doing this he said you know what if i miss one i wanted to get just me not my five brothers in the vehicle behind me that's the kind of people and that's the kind of mentality of our green berets and our special operators and our veterans so i wear this every day i put it on before i step into the capitol and i tell myself to be worthy right for everything we do and every american that's my challenge to them is be worthy of the sacrifice that allows us to breathe free air every day and be worthy of the men and women that are out there right now keeping us all safe and free just remain standing and we are going to pray we have a big job ahead of us here in america uh we have afghan refugees and allies that are coming this way and you may have read that even in the dallas fort worth area here we have about 1 000 afghan refugees who are here some of you remember the days in the 1970s when the boat people came from vietnam looking for freedom and hope i know our church up at the first baptist church of duncan where i was pastor where deb and i served in the mid and late 70s we adopted a vietnamese family and it was such an encouragement to to them and to us to be able to do this we are working right now with partners in order to give you an opportunity to do something similar and we want to help people who are coming to our shores and to serve those who need jesus many of these are people from another religion another background they're muslims but we will have an opportunity to show them the love of jesus christ so i want you to know and to pray that we are working on this uh this very moment we also part of the uh of the funds we gave in fact fifty thousand dollars of the one million dollars that we gave to the international mission board uh last month we are buying bibles in the language that can be read by afghan refugees around the world so fifty thousand dollars of your giving is going to put the word of god in uh afghan hands and we pray in their hearts and many other things of course with ida sweeping the nation we're also involved prestonwood cares again working with franklin graham and samaritan's purse and others and and helping to relieve there's so much suffering and pain in the world right now we'll be talking about that in the book of romans why what does god say to a suffering world that's that's coming up uh very soon but we know that his grace is sufficient for all and his mercy is greatly needed and his power to save and his power to deliver is the same because jesus is the same yesterday and today and forever and so as we begin this month of september in which we are going to remember even next weekend the 20th anniversary of september the 11th 2001. uh i want us to pray make this month a month of prayer in your worship guide today if you picked one up if not let me encourage you to do so there is a preston wood praise hanger for your uh to put on your car mirror and every day we're going to be praying on a different topic and different subject we're already uh of course what is it four days in now so five days in so this is the fifth of september and so we're five days in and you can get that every day i'm encouraging you to look at your watch and when you see 9-1-1 on your watch 9 11 morning and evening that you remember to pray it doesn't have to be a long prayer but just a burst of intercession as you invite the lord to move in our hearts our church our communities and our country scott and so let us pray and pray and pray again you can you can actually go and get a download version of my book hear our cry lord hear our cry which is a prayer devotional 30 days you can go to uh 4 7 4 7 8 8. i know they lost it there 747 888 and just text in pray and you can get the prayer guide from me the book from me it's absolutely free of charge of course and so join us please let's join hearts and hands in prayer we're going to be doing some things in every service throughout the month of september to highlight the need for intercession because we desperately need god in this hour and today as scott turner leads us in this time of prayer we do it with thanksgiving because something happened in the state of texas this week which was glorious and the heartbeat bill was passed and that's a victory well we needed a victory uh this week that's a huge victory for life and uh we're so grateful for matt shaheen and and jeff leach and and and others uh in in our state legislature who legislature who who worked for this who prayed for this and and now the supreme court stopped the resistance to this and we'll see other states are picking it up we want to change america from a culture of death to a culture of life and think about how many babies i mean six weeks i mean it's virtually impossible past six weeks for someone to take the life of a baby in the womb so we're grateful for that and you know it's not nearly over this fight for life but we're going to keep praying and fighting the good fight of faith so that is a victory but what i want to ask the deacons of our church to do is to come forward and kneel here so deacons i gave you a heads up on wednesday night as many as you are in this service i want you to come forward and scott is going to lead us in prayer scott is there coming forward anything you'd like to say before you pray thank you pastor you know if it's going to be it's going to be up to the people of god the church the effectual fervent prayer of the righteous of the much amen amen and god is calling us to pray not only in this month which is a great prayer challenge but also every single day that god gives us the breath of life to intercede for for our country to intercede for our brothers and our sisters for those that are lost and so pastor we do thank you uh for allowing this time and being obedient to the spirit of god that we may pray as a church we're going to pray for the military pray for our country pray for the church to have a revival and pray for god to move in ways that we've never seen before and that the people of god will be committed to giving our lives to god day after day after day amen amen let's pray together father god we do thank you for this time father god a moment to pray lord jesus we are so grateful for your presence thank you for down on the cross and shed in your blood that we might have eternal life god this morning we lift up the military families to you lord god those that have served father god those that have given their lives and sacrifice for this country lord jesus we thank you we thank you god for that commitment we thank you for that sacrifice we thank you jesus for the dedication of our military men and women lord god i pray are just a special favor of our military father here and abroad nor we pray for the families of those 13 lord jesus who gave their life just here recently in afghanistan lord i pray for peace that surpasses all understanding god i pray for clarity understanding and wisdom lord jesus i pray for those that have given our life all that they know you lord jesus as their lord and their savior that their families will be drawn to you for you are the answer jesus it is you and you alone father we pray for our country right now thank you jesus that we have a reason to celebrate father the heart beat bill father for the protection of life and the womb father we thank you god for those that have served in the legislature those that father fight for those that don't have a voice father i pray you continue to give them strength courage and conviction and lord god thank you for this victory lord today we lift up our country the united states of america god that you will be an iron dome of protection lord god in these times of uncertainty one thing that we are certain about is you jesus are still on the throne and we thinking that as pastor said you are the same yesterday today and forevermore and lord god we worship you we pray or protect us you pray that you would lead us lord god as we kneel before you today we're reminded of your word that the effects were fervent prayer of the righteous availeth much father hear our cry this morning father god as we touch and agree you said you would be in our presence and hear our prayer and lord we pray that thy kingdom come that thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven that the church god that we would be the church you've called us to be that there will be a great revival in the land father this starting father right here in the bible believing churches of america lord thank you for our pastor who leads us with a godly conviction and father i pray for all pastors around america father to teach the bible as the word of god father god for what it is an inerrant flawless word and that is it father that your power will move forward and lord not unto us not unto us but unto you oh god we thank you we love you we praise you we lift you up and father i pray for the members of this church the friends of this church father god as we worship you you would hear our worship father god that you would answer the prayers of the righteous father you know every detail in every situation and god i pray you move mightily on our behalf in jesus name amen amen [Music] every time i try to make it online every time i try and stand and start to fall and all those lonely roads that i traveled there was jesus when the life i feel came crashing to the ground when the friends i had nowhere [Music] there was jesus [Music] [Music] buried in the broken pieces [Music] [Music] there was jesus for this man who needs amazing kind of grace [Music] [Music] i'm not perfect so i thank god every day that there was jesus [Music] [Applause] [Music] pieces [Music] there was jesus [Music] in the shadows of the alley [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Applause] [Music] there [Music] oh [Applause] [Music] amen you just heard the good news the gospel of jesus christ that by his grace and mercy we are saved jesus is always present in our lives what he did for us on the cross he rose again that we could have eternal life now and forever always always jesus take your bibles and turn with me to the book of romans chapter 8 romans chapter 8. we're taking time in the great eight the eighth chapter of romans and it is such a powerful passage of scripture that begins with no condemnation and closes with no separation it's a chapter about security and the spirit of god life in the spirit the title of the message today is walking in the spirit beginning at verse 5 romans 8 for those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh but those who live according to the spirits set their minds on the things of the spirit for to set the mind on the flesh is death but the mind to set your mind on the things of the spirit is life and peace do you want life i'm talking about life with a capital l real life this life is christ it is life in the spirit and with this life comes peace the peace of god and with god verse 7 for the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to god for he does not submit to god's law indeed it cannot those who are in the flesh cannot please god you however you meaning you who are followers and believers in the lord jesus christ you however are not in the flesh but in the spirit if in fact the spirit of god dwells in you anyone who does not have the spirit of christ does not belong to him but if christ is in you although the body is dead because of sin the spirit of life because of righteousness if the spirit of him who raised jesus from the dead dwells in you he who raised christ jesus from the dead will also give to your mortal bodies through the spirit who dwells in you life in the spirit walking in the spirit you know it's a healthy thing to walk in fact on my watch and perhaps you have some kind of data that you can track your steps each day and i don't know how many you're supposed to take ten thousand seventy five hundred but more than most of us are taking i assure you and we need to keep moving and keep walking and it is very very healthy but i can tell you this in christ we're walking in a journey with jesus and the bible describes this walk the christian life as a walk that's a good thing because walking is one of the most basic things that we do and we learn it as small children and we begin to walk throughout our lives and it is a picture therefore of the christian life walking is a normal experience of life and the christian life the christian walk walking in the spirit this is a normal thing as well sometimes you may get the idea that the spiritual life is so supernatural and it is supernatural but that it is so supernatural it's only reserved to our walk from the parking lot to the church uh to worship or uh perhaps those special occasions when you are walking in service to christ and that the walk is only reserved for uh religious pilgrimages and so on but no the christian life the walk that we have in christ is an everyday walk it's something we do each day and if you're taking notes and i hope you are to walk in the spirit is to walk here it is in obedience and dependence on the spirit of god upon the spirit of god let me say it again to walk in the spirit is to walk in obedience and dependence upon the spirit of god who lives in our lives now quickly let's review what we've learned in romans 8 thus far that is it begins with the fact that we no longer live in sin and shame and condemnation not then and there but here and now there is now therefore no condemnation to those in christ jesus do you have therefore in your life therefore there is now no condemnation to those who are in christ jesus has the therefore the change that christ makes in your life has it happened to you there's no condemnation we no longer live under the weight and the guilt of sin we're living under grace no condemnation we're also learning in romans chapter 8 that we are not left alone to live this christian life but god has given us the ability and the agility to walk with him by his spirit his living spirit is alive in us in fact we just read it you just saw it in scripture that the same power that raised jesus from the dead raises our mortal bodies also think about it the same power that rolled away the stone the same power that breathed life into the body the dead crucified body of jesus that same power the power that holds the universe together by him all things hold together and consist that power is in you this power is the power of the holy spirit and this presence this power of the spirit is available to all of us not just to super saints or are those called to specific missionary uh or ministerial callings but this is for everyone in all that we do again not just for the religious things we do or the quote spiritual things that we do but all the things that we do we're walking in the spirit we're living out the christian life and the power of the holy spirit the great devotional writer oswald j chambers put it this way he said the christian life is supernaturally natural and naturally supernatural in other words in all things supernatural we're to be natural this is the normal christian life and experience for the believer this is not abnormal it's abnormal not to walk in the spirit so in all things supernatural we are to be natural and in all things natural the normal activities and daily functions of life we're to be supernatural that is it all comes from god whether we're serving god or serving our family whether we're working and fulfilling a career uh or whether we are praying or whether we are washing dishes whatever we're doing we're to do this walking in the spirit and of course the way you walk is one step at a time and in one sense when you're walking it's risky isn't it you're putting one step down all your weight and then you're lifting another one and you're going down so you learn balance while you are walking and when we have trouble walking maybe we have to find our balance on something that we're holding but it is it's risk and and the faith life the the christian life our walk with jesus it is it is uh risky in the sense that we must live by faith and take one step at a time walk i looked up some of the references to walking in the bible in particular the new testament and you may want to jot these doubts we're to walk in good works and that's ephesians chapter 2 verse 10 ephesians 2 verse 10 it says for we are his workmanship created in christ jesus unto good works prepared beforehand that we should walk in them god made you in his mother your mother's womb you were alive at conception god gave you life god gave you breath brephos means life from god and all life is a gift from god you are the workmanship of god god has a plan a purpose a destiny as well as a destination for you and these walk these works that god has planned for us we are to walk in these good works then we are to walk properly as it is day romans 13 13. we are children of the light not of the night and therefore we are to walk properly we're to walk another word for that is circumspectly we're to walk carefully that is not walking in darkness but walking and living in the light we're to walk by faith second corinthians 5 7 we're told to walk by faith and not sight we're told to walk in love in ephesians chapter 5 and verse 2 walk in love as christ has also loved you thank god the love of god the love of christ is poured out in our hearts by the holy spirit and we can love like jesus when we're walking in his love walking in his spirit we can love our families our spouses husbands and wives and children and those around us and show compassion even to enemies because we're now walking in love we're walking in light ephesians 5 18 the light of god the light of his truth we're walking in the light of righteousness and then i like this one colossians 1 10 we are to walk worthy of the lord we just saw it on the screen with the testimonials for from our veterans and to those who gave their lives and the gentleman at the end said i pray that we live our lives worthy of their sacrifice and certainly if that's true and it is true for those who have given their lives in the service of our country how much greater still that we would walk and live worthy of the one who gave his life for us on the cross of jesus who poured out his blood so that we could be forgiven romans chapter 8 is dominated by the presence and the power of the holy spirit showing us how we can live the christian life if you are a follower of jesus if you are a believer this is a theology test if you are a believer you don't get the spirit later you receive the spirit of god the moment you come to christ you're baptized into his body in fact paul says here as we read just a moment ago if you don't have the holy spirit if you belong to jesus you have the holy spirit if you don't have the holy spirit it means you don't belong to jesus so we now have this spirit the holy spirit but the question that i want to ask you today is this does the holy spirit have you does he have all of you have you given him his rightful place not of prominence but preeminence in your life the same spirit who gave you life is walking with you every day and you never walk alone amen we never walk along alone and we are in effect to walk in the spirit i like to think of it as staying in step with the spirit staying in step being led by the spirit romans 8 says that as many as are led by the spirit of god these are the children of god so we are we are guided we are guarded in step in security with the holy spirit and by the holy spirit and we're to stay in step with the spirit no matter what i shared with the north campus a couple of weeks ago when i was preaching up there and even out in california last week when i was preaching i shared this my band experience story eastern hills high school east fort worth now you may or you may not know that i play the drums i really kind of play at the drums we have a real drummer up here i just can you know like riding a bike i can still keep some rhythm but but at one time i was i was a young drummer an aspiring drummer and and was even a little band you know the beatles were in in the late 60s and and the mid 60s and we were all thought we were going to be the next big band and so i was a drummer and and and then one of my goals when i got to high school was to play in the um eastern hills high school highlander band and so uh stage band rather i wanted to play in the stage man now the stage band was cool i mean you had your whole set you had your drums on the platform you're playing with great horns sacks playing jazz it was a jazz band so i wanted to be in the jazz band in the stage band in order to be in the stage band i discovered when i became a high school sophomore which is the first year of high school back uh in the day of the neanderthals when i went to school way back there so i was in a sophomore in high school my first year so you know you're a little insecure anyway so i found out in order to try out and to be in the stage band you you were required to be in the marching band i wasn't necessarily opposed to being in the marching band it was kind of cool you got the uniform and all that and i would have my drum and and and could play uh but what i didn't realize is that that i was not going to play our first marching episode i was not going to play in our first marching show the snare drum but they in fact gave me a bass drum now i wasn't really happy about that because when you're marching with a baseball drum first of all you know i was about five nine or ten at that time and i could barely see over the thing and it's heavy and i'm not playing the snare drum so i'm thinking you know i'm not getting to the place i want to be so i wasn't paying much attention when we were doing our routines and getting up before school before dawn and getting out there and walking you know i'm kind of you know i'm just kind of going through the motions not paying that much attention to the steps and the turns and and not being mathematically inclined i didn't understand the angles that much anyway and and and and and by then you know baseball is starting in the fall and i'm more interested in that actually and and so i i wasn't all that good so when they gave me my uniform they gave me my banned uniform i didn't even try it on until the day of about two hours before our performance at farrington field in west fort worth and when i put it on the pants were about eight sizes too big must have been the tuba players from the last band i don't know you know the tuba players are big guys so uh big pants so as always mom comes to the rescue my mother you know okay so we got pens every pen we had in the house we're taping it up we got electrical tape we're taping it up we're putting belts where we got it all cinched up here and so off i go to farrington field we get on the field at halftime i get my line i got my band my pants are all cinched up and we're walking boom boom boom boom i'm going i'm staying in step i'm just kind of watching people next to me in front of me to know where to go because remember i wasn't paying that much attention and and so we're marching and watching and we get to the 50-yard line of farrington field in front of god in front of all my friends my pants go straight to my ankles if i'm lying i'm dying now the question is i mean i'm now marching in my whitey tighties i just gotta i gotta be honest with with these pants down around my ankles i'm not walking i'm stumbling but i'm keeping that beat going you say you say pastor what did you do i i really don't know i think i kind of blacked out at the at the moment i've tried to block this out of my mind but it was something like kind of pulling them up with one hand and beaten that drum with the other hand and of course i never heard the end of it from all my friends the catcalls and the mockery and it's not good on your ego when you're 15 years old and you're marching with the band with your pants around your ankles in the middle of everything but i'm telling you this crazy embarrassing story and i'm putting it to bed for the rest of my life this is the last time i'm telling this story somehow i kept going pants around my ankles at all now you know i can apply this in a lot of ways you know one thing is when when we're in the race we're in the walk with god you know we're not to let anything entangle us and and the scripture says pull up uh and gird up uh uh as you walk with god and walk in holiness so there's a lot of application there but what what i'm trying to say to you is staying in step with the drum beat of god walking in step with the spirit and there are times that are tough when our pants are around our ankles and embarrassing things happen and terrible things happen you know right now we're going through a time when when there's so much suffering and so much pain in people's lives and death and sorrow and grief and all the rest and yet we can keep walking in the spirit spirit is praying with us and for us and in us the next message we have in romans 8 is going to be about praying in the spirit because the holy spirit is our prayer partner it's so very important that we not yield to the flesh but that we yield to the spirit of god now you say what do you mean the flesh not talking about the skin that is on our bodies but the sin and the self that still resides within us when you become a believer heads up now very important when you become a believer and a follower of jesus your old nature remains the memories former desires the inclinations the influences in your life past this is why when we read the scripture you heard me you heard paul use the word the mindset the way we think so the old way of thinking those past programs that were in our head before christ you know they're still there and many new christians think why are these old desires still there why am i still dealing with the same old temptations and struggles in my life why why is that well some of you you were outside of christ long before you were now inside of christ and christian growth takes time and nurturing and nourishing and there are normal human natural desires that are god-given temptation is the solicitation to fulfill a god-given desire in a god-forbidden way so satan takes the desires of the flesh of our humanity and wants to destroy us it it brings death it will kill you someone said john calvin i believe you be killing sin or it will be killing you so the old flesh the old nature still the residue the dregs of the past the drag of what we were what we used to be is still in us and if we continue to feed that flesh if we continue to allow this flesh to control our minds our thinking then then we're never going to learn what it means to live in the liberty and the victory of walking in the spirit so i i live by a maxim from scripture which is to starve the flesh and feed the spirit the way we walk in the spirit is to starve the flesh and nourish the spirit let's take a garden if you have a garden you know it can be beautiful with with with flowers and and beautiful plants and all the rest but if you don't tend the garden if you don't take care of the garden then what happens and it's more than just turning on the sprinkler and you know planting some seed it has to be nourished so so what do we do when the weeds come up you have to take the weeds out you have to weed the garden for the plants to be beautiful and bountiful you are the gardener and the weeds that crop up in our garden the beautiful life that christ has given us when we are to show the beautiful life of christ the fruit of the spirit the weeds if we don't take them out and cut them out then they will overrun the garden and choke out the life of all things beautiful that makes sense doesn't it so god said don't walk in the flesh but in the fruit of the spirit galatians 5 22 and 23 it says don't yield to the flesh and the works of the flesh but let the fruit of the spirit live in you and the fruit of the spirit is love and joy and peace and patience and kindness and goodness and gentleness and faithfulness and self-control one fruit nine luscious flavors the fruit of the spirit and what the holy spirit will do as we allow him to do it as we nourish and feed the spirit how take some work if you just let it go what's going to happen the weeds are going to grow so opening your heart and reading and reflecting upon the word of god praying obeying god worshiping serving all the things the spiritual does you say is this legalism no it is life in the spirit it is it is doing the things that cultivates and nourishes the work of the spirit of god so that we can grow this beautiful life because the goal is this to the glory of god it's not about us it's all about him and that we would live lives walk honorably before him that we would walk worthy of the calling and i can tell you after trekking with the lord now all these years that it's worth it because jesus never fails i took cl i'll close with this i had an opportunity this week to take a walk down memory lane in that i was invited to go out to my alma mater hardin-simmons university in abilene texas and to speak at the convocation the opening convocation of the faculty and students and i i have to tell you once we got to hardin simmons and and and let me just say parenthetically that hardin simmons is doing very well under the fantastic presidential leadership of dr eric bruntmeyer and if you have a student you should take a look at hardin simmons university and be a cowboy the original cowboys not in dallas not out at the star not in wyoming jason snyder not even in coppell cowpell cowboys but the harden simmons university cowboys so take a look at being a cowboy but when i got there it was such a rush of memories and gratitude for the way that god has led me all the way one of the first things i did was go to the sub the student union building i don't know what they call it now and i went right into the lunch room and i walked right over to the spot where i first laid eyes on a young freshman by the name of deb peters who became my wife went out to the ball fields and all the rest preached in chapel where i stood as a as a student they gave me the opportunity to preach in the chapel i think that was the most nervous i was ever there i've ever been when i preached a chapel of my fellow students then but just all the memories the the very fact that i ended up at hardin simmons instead of another university that's another story for another day but but seeing how god through a series not of circumstances but providences led me all the way and and and throughout my life i can tell you it wasn't all that purposeful or planned in the sense that you know i had this huge vision or mission for my life i just said yes lord and step by step half the time i didn't know what i was doing but i would hear a voice behind me as the scripture says say this is the way walk in it and if you are listening to the spirit you will be led by the spirit and god will open doors that no one will shut and close doors that you could never open and he will guide you and guard you all the days of your life and what is true for jack graham is true for you as a christian and a follower of jesus if you will stay in step with the spirit even when your pants are down around your ankles if you'll just keep beating that drum and keep staying in step and doing what god has told you to do you will find that god will take you places that you could have never dreamed or imagined amen amen let's stand together i i pray that you know jesus that you have come to a place in your life where you put your faith and trust not in yourself but in christ who died and rose again the wages of sin is death but the gift of god is eternal life through jesus our lord god demonstrated his love toward us and that why we were yet sinners christ died for us you can receive christ into your life and with jesus comes his spirit alive in you you say i i'm never going to get off this this sin walk this this lost you know if you get on a walk and you get lost that's a terrible thing some of you are walking in life and and you're lost as a ball in high weeds but you can be found and get on track and start walking with jesus and talking with jesus what what moved me so greatly as a young person the fact that it wasn't a religion for me it was it was a friendship jesus said i no longer call you my slaves or servants but he said my friends i'm still stunned that i can walk with jesus and so can you and it begins for some of you with a walk down this aisle today take that first step and come forward up in the balcony here on the lower levels our ministers are going to be here to receive you it starts for some of you online just to text in 747 888 that's the number and then type in jesus it will be your way of saying i want to receive christ we're standing by to give you materials a bible and other materials that will help you begin walking with jesus in your life there are others you need to walk in obedience you've never been baptized as a believer in christ but today you want to make that decision so come forward come forward and say to one of the pastors i'm saved i know christ but i want to walk in obedience to christ i want to walk through the waters of believers baptism as soon as we can make an appointment to do it make that decision today we baptize virtually every service so we can line you up and you can get in step with the spirit and obey god in this others god is leading you to step in to the fellowship of this church and to walk with us you know we walk with christ and we walk together with him as well nobody needs to walk alone these are tough times we need each other and others need you to join hands with other christians as we walk you know we talk about lost people being lost unfortunately i think a lot of christians and church members are lost in that you can't find your way to share your faith somewhere you can't find your way to talk about jesus you're just it's kind of lost in wandering your life doesn't have a purpose it doesn't have a passion to glorify god by introducing jesus as lord to as many people as possible so why don't you come today and join this church and be a part of our mission with christ to take the gospel to our neighbors and to our nations lord take these moments turn them into miracles in people's lives here and all over the world for we pray this in jesus name amen and amen thank you for joining us for worship at prestonwood as you heard earlier if you made a decision for christ please text jesus to 747 88 we would love to connect with you and give you these great resources to help you grow in your faith one is a new believer's bible with helpful notes to help you study god's word the other is a book by pastor jack graham on the next steps to take as you pursue this new life in christ as we close i'd like to thank you for your faithful giving to support prestonwood and the work god is doing through our ministries if you would like to give text word give to 74788 or visit prestonwood.org give it's been a joy worshiping with you and we look forward to seeing you again soon you

Channel: Prestonwood Baptist Church

Views: 5,300

Rating: 4.7600002 out of 5

Keywords: YouTube, Prestonwood, Baptist, Church, Non-Profit, Ministry, Ministries, Jack Graham, Jack, Graham, PowerPoint, PPT, PowerPoint with Jack Graham, Dallas, Texas, Jesus, Christ, Bible, PBC, USA, America, Media, TV, Daystar, TBN

Id: rMavN6rwKYA

Length: 74min 14sec (4454 seconds)

Published: Wed Sep 08 2021