The Power is in the Pattern | Jeremy Foster

[Music] pastor jeremy and jen foster are some of our favorite people on the planet and uh when we are thinking who who should come and bring the word today we look no further than pastor pastor jeremy we love he and jen and their six kids four of them are with them on this trip but they lead a dynamic church in houston texas hope city church it is a powerful church god is using them and working through them in a mighty mighty way come on would you put your hands together for pastor jeremy foster come on let's give jesus an ovation to worship right now come on somebody shouting to god with a voice at triumph wow it feels good you could be seated if it's your first time to hear me preach well god bless you um real preachers will be back next week but um i got like this is my first time to wear a blazer at james river but many of you don't know the story like the first time that i came i was so nervous and that because you get i don't care who you are you get nervous preaching at james river because it's james river it's it's this is a big deal pastor john lindell he versed my verse through the entire new testament hello that's a big deal okay um and so i wore i wore a blazer the first time i had a blazer on and i remember walking in to the green room and pastor john had on a pair of khaki pants and a hawaiian shirt and i was like oh thank you god i had on a pair of cowboy boots and wranglers and a blazer and i said hey man you okay to take my jacket off and he was like yes that would be great i was hoping you would and um and then today the day i decided to wear a blazer i spilled coffee all over my pants y'all so my shirttails untucked and she cousin from texas we're gonna do our best today okay i didn't have time to wash my jeans right before service so i want to tell you this i've been thinking about what do i title this weekend what what do i preach this weekend and i thought how do you how do you get 30 years of incredible incredible ministry what can we learn from 30 years and what i came up with is very simple if you're taking notes write this down but this is the title of today and that's simply this the power is in the pattern the power is in the pattern this church didn't happen off of just some moment this church happened because there's a pattern here there's a pattern of prayer that started in 1998 and has not stopped it's every week there's a powerful prayer meeting and if you haven't gotten in on that get in on the pattern can i tell you when i entered the pattern it was 20 years ago i came to this church 20 years ago i came i was on a building committee that i probably never should have been on at the age of 24 but we were building a building my father was a pastor and he allowed me to sit in on a building committee and we flew here to visit james river and i remember walking in we didn't schedule the visit we just came we just walked in we just like just became you know church is open we'll just go in and see we never dreamed we would get a meeting with anybody here and you know what we didn't we didn't even ask for one there was a janitor who opened the door for us and and was the kindest human we'd ever met he showed us the whole church we were like we thought he was an executive pastor and at the end of it we were like what do you do he because oh i'm the janitor i was like dear god if the janitor is this good i could never get a job here i i'm still trying i i i wore a blazer today i'm doing my best but i remember that weekend pastor john you you preached and then and then he gave a baptism appeal and it was the best baptism appeal and the best teaching in three minutes on baptism that i had ever heard and and today as a pastor in houston texas i still use what i learned from you teaching baptism so thank you for the effect that you've had not just here but all the way in houston it's a pattern it's a pattern it's a pattern of life change we've seen you guys realize how how monumental it is to see almost 68 000 people give their lives to jesus in 30 years that is a pattern we've personally planted as a church over 100 churches out of this church that's a pattern and the power is in the pattern you guys can't help but do it right drop zone what is drop zone oh we yeah we put a lift up there and we drop watermelons and over 100 kids get saved i mean i'm just saying man you know for james river we do it right 171 kids to be exact you drop watermelons and people give their lives to jesus that's what you're a part of that is the power of a pattern that's what you're a part of but there's also other patterns romans warns us 12-2 says do not conform to the pattern of this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind then when you get the right pattern then you'll be able to test and approve what god's will is is good pleasing and perfect will you have a pattern as much as the church has a pattern and our pastors have a pattern you have a pattern turn to your neighbor and say i have a pattern you have a pattern i have a pattern i can't eat one cookie who can do that who can eat one cookie raise your hand i want to see who i don't like in this church this is my family because none of y'all raised your hand dust y'all my play cousins we don't who eats what kind of psycho eats one cookie you know i'm just gonna have one i'm like oh you might be an axe murderer too i don't know what your problem is i don't need one who eats one oreo no no no where two or three are gathered together why do you think they put them in rows that's father's son holy spirit they're one you should eat them all anybody ever blacked out and ate all the oreos that's my wife's like who ate the oreos i'm like i think it was the kids you know i don't i don't know we all have we all have patterns the product isn't the problem the cookie isn't the problem it's your pattern that's the problem and the challenge is the promises of god aren't the problem we don't have a promise problem we have a pattern problem if you want to bring the promises of god into your life you have to get into the pattern that god has called us to why do you think this every weekend we talk about giving why do you think we talk about tithing why it's a pattern and if you get in the pattern of tithing you will be in the pattern of blessing that's where you should clap your hands right there because that's good preaching it's in the word why do you think people get tight when we talk about giving i don't know about that because you have a pattern of stinginess giving is never about your money god doesn't need your money he made you he needs your heart where your treasure is there your heart will be also well i have a heart for people you want to know where your heart is follow the money trail this thing is hot on anniversary weekend you and i both have a pattern what are we talking about well how do i shift the pattern well the bible is clear if you want to change the pattern you got to change your mind you have to renew your mind because the enemy gets in your head how many i remember when you were kissed anybody ever scared of the dark just raise your hand you scared of the dark you may scare the dog so when i was a kid i was scared of the dark anybody ever remember like when you would get in bed and your mama turned turned out and part of it was how they prayed over us at night remember those prayers now i lay me down to sleep i pray the lord your soul to keep and if you die before you wake i pray the lord your soul to take good night love you sweet dreams baby doll okay no wonder we were scared and you would you would have the covers up to your neck right you know the covers up to your neck and then sometimes you would put your covers over your head like if you saw a shadow in your room anybody ever see a shadow in your room you saw i saw one time i saw a shadow it was my mom she was in there praying over me anybody have a praying mom my mom had a pattern of prayer she would come in and pray and she would literally oftentimes she would pray me to sleep she would pray it was all sweet prayers and then i would wake up and she would be saying lord if he's ever gonna walk away from you take him now like i'm seven lady but you know you get you get scared of a monster and for whatever reason we we thought like there are monsters under the bed right but if we put the covers over our heads somehow it was an invisible force field and if the monster came over and you were like he was like and as ridiculous as we all know that is the truth is the monsters were never under your bed they are as an adult in your head and it becomes learned landmines of inaccurate assumptions and fearful imaginations and doubt and depression and fear and anxiety and we worry about things that will never happen and i can tell you this you cannot have a positive life with a negative mind even if you're a christian if you want to have a strong marriage if you want to have a strong career if you want to be blessed in your life if you want to make an impact on your community and impact on your family and impact in your church you have to constantly war against what the enemy brings into your mind the good news is you don't have to live that way aren't you grateful that we have a church that takes us through the bible that teaches us how to rightly divide the word of truth i'm grateful that we have pastors who can stand in this pulpit hold their shoulders back and preach the word of god without fear or favor and teach us how to walk through things grateful for that 30 years man philippians 4 and 8 says and now brothers as i close this letter let me say this one thing to you fix your thoughts everybody say fix your thoughts the challenge with most of us is we haven't fixed our thoughts fix your thoughts on what is true and good and right think about things that are pure and lovely and dwell on the fine good things in others think about all you can praise god for and be glad about it that's what we've done this weekend we've celebrated what the lord has done and the many styles of john and debbie lindell those were some great styles the mustache was probably my favorite how do i fix my thoughts the writer goes on we often don't read this verse but in verse nine he says keep putting into practice all you learned from me practice is the pattern all you learned from me all you saw me doing and the god of peace will be with you have you ever noticed that practice and peace go hand in hand you can't just pray for peace but you can practice peace into your life if you follow what god has called us to do so how do i put it into practice well i did a word search uh there on on learned how do i learn it he said you got to learn the things that i've taught you and the greek word for learn there is to be a disciple and it means it means discipline and now i know why it's hard because none of us like discipline does anybody know what a switch is raise your hand if you know what a switch is some of y'all think it's the light switch some of the young generation are like i know i know um that ain't a switch we know what a switch is yeah i mean your mama ever tell you hey go pick a switch did your mom ever tell you that some of you young kids y'all don't know what that means but that means go pick a stick that i'm gonna hit you with did anybody ever go out just get a little bit of the old twig and bring it back to my mama'll be like i'll jab that in your eye go get me something bigger you know how your mama hit you with whatever was available you know a brush a ping pong paddle it didn't matter these kids nowadays who yell at their parents you ever seen these kids yell at their parents i'm like [Music] i heard about y'all do y'all know like in the 80s we never saw kids like that in the 70s you didn't see kids yell at their parents you know why because anybody could spank you back then neighbors had permission to spank me somebody in walmart's like i don't even know who you are my mom's like yeah i'll get him too you know i'm like what are you doing i saw a t-shirt the other day that said i was spanked as a child and now i suffer from a disease called respect calm down i'm i'm not saying spank your kids but some of y'all need to spank your kids i'm okay just take them to therapy let's find fine hebrews 12 and 11 i'm actually a big fan of that both spanking and therapy um one will inevitably lead to the other okay guys come on hebrews 12 and 11 says no discipline seems pleasant at the time but painful later on however for those who have been trained by it it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace this doesn't come natural we have to learn it notice the writer says practice what you have learned if you look at the root word for learned it's methitis and it's the greek word for math now we know it gets hard because math is not easy is it let's take a test 2 plus 2 is 3 plus 3 is well done 10 minus 7 is 20 minus 2 is you guys are so good 4 times 4 is well done 32 times 68 is yeah calculator i want you to watch the progression of math we start with simple math we start with addition then we get the subtraction then we get to multiplication we learn and division and algebra and geometry all of these advanced forms of math but it starts with addition and subtraction the challenge with so many people is we want to jump to multiplication and we want god to multiply blessings in our lives but we've never learned simple addition and simple subtraction if i want to get to multiplication i've got to add the word of god i've got to subtract the patterns of the world i've got to learn and practice the patterns of god that's what we've done for 30 years did you guys see some of the pictures y'all had choir robes some of y'all came in here in big old suits weird carpet i applaud you because i know it wasn't easy to change and i know not everybody liked it pastor weather we still have choir risers oh they're back there they just behind the led wall we didn't get rid of them they back there you can go stand and sway if you want to i love that we learned the pattern of progression to be relevant with with society but we never moved off of the word of god so we can shift some of the patterns of how we do things but we never got away from the word of god the power is in the pattern it's in the pattern so there's three there's three steps to shifting the power of the pattern number one is you have to recognize the pattern you have to recognize your pattern you have a pattern you have to be honest about it and recognize it listen i love my family i love my family i'm from louisiana i live in texas i'm a southern pastor i'm gonna protect my family i love how many y'all you love your family like you do anything for you like you're like i love my family and if you come into my house uninvited are you going to meet the holy spirit and his his play cousin smith and wesley because we ready i'm just telling you right now i'll pop a cap and pray later i'm a papa pop and then i'm going to be like all right now you're going to meet the lord right now okay so we go you think i'm wishing i was by a real pastor be back next week so then y'all can be good with that so a couple years ago i'm in bed i'm laying there it's the middle of the night i'm asleep dead asleep and i hear glass break in my room now we got three windows in my room and two doors i hear glass break in my room now i want to tell you i'd like to tell you that i like stealthily slid out of bed and had like two hands and i was like like this and night vision goes that's not what happened though i i just screamed i was like like i was going it was things to be hand to hand okay like it was going to be owned and i went and i heard the voice say stop i recognize that voice is my wife what she said calm down it's your son and at that point i realized my uh two-year-old son gunner had come in the room and had and the desire to come and climb into bed with us for whatever reason he had knocked over a glass and broke it which woke me up and you ever had a moment where like you like like you had a lot of adrenaline and then all of a sudden you realize the threat is gone and you're so i was like i was getting ready to fall back into bed she said stop i was like what she said hey he uh he has a dirty diaper and since you're already up i ain't gonna look at her right now cause she's sitting right over there but i don't think gunner knocked the glass off i think he came in with the dirty diaper she was like oh can you change that i know you girl i know now here's what's crazy i recognized the threat wrongly i thought it was coming from the outside the threat was inside i did not need a weapon i needed a wipey the challenge with many of us is we don't actually recognize the pattern as our problem we think it's everybody else so we'll blame somebody else's problem and say well no the problem is them when really it's your lack of prayer oh no god hasn't kept his promise no no you just haven't been giving faithfully no no i nobody's there for me but if you would get in a group all of a sudden you'd realize there are plenty of people who want to be there for you they just they just can't because you're not giving them the opportunity you have to recognize the pattern well how do i recognize the pattern here here i'll help you with it when you renew your mind it'll renew your mouth so how do you speak how are you talking to people if you're not speaking in love and joy and peace and patience and kindness and goodness and gentleness and faithfulness and self-control then the fruit of the spirit is probably not in you and you really haven't renewed your mind you've just renewed your behavior we're good at behavior modification but jesus was clear matthew 15 15 then peter said to jesus explain to us the parable that says people aren't defiled by what they eat don't you understand yet jesus asks anything you eat passes through the stomach and then goes into the sewer but the words you speak come from the heart that's what defiles you your mouth is a stethoscope to your heart are you speaking life or death on a daily basis matthew 12 34 for out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks words reveal thoughts how do you speak to your friends how do you speak to your family do you speak to your friends different than you speak to your family do you encourage some people and discourage others the power of words can't be overstated i want to show you the power of words i don't think i've ever done this here but it's so fun if you don't mind close your eyes for just a moment okay close your eyes if you're driving keep them open close your eyes for just a moment now some of y'all might be a little nervous if you brought a purse just hold on to your purse because this is church you don't know who you're sitting next to okay close your eyes i'm going to say a series of words and you're going to see something whenever i say these things okay keep your eyes closed here we go dog big dog mean dog okay open your eyes all right look at me how many of you saw a dog right here saw a dog look that's awesome that's weird um how many of you saw the same dog just three different ways three how many of you saw different dogs three different dogs anybody see the the words dog anybody see the smart people anybody see snoop dogg that's something totally different that's a different one word from me created a picture in your mind that's how powerful words are and this is what jesus is trying to tell us listen if you're not careful and you don't get control of your tongue it's showing us where your mind is you don't you ever had one of those moments where you're just like hi i didn't mean to say that i'm so sorry i don't know where that came from jesus would say i do it came from your heart you just didn't mean for it to come out of your mouth words have power proverbs 18 21 the tongue has the power of life and death and if words have power who are you listening to who are you surrounding yourself with this is critically important for you and me to get do you i don't know if you really understand this but this church this church started with four couples they had a interim pastor who's a retired pastor he said hey i'm gonna help out until you guys get a pastor and several months in you know there was about 80 people and they wanted they wanted a pastor and so one of the men in the church knew pastor john lindell a respected man john and debbie lindell and he sat down with him and some of you know this story he sat down with him in steak and shake a little anointing there and as they were eating skinny fries he looked at pastor john and he said we believe that you're supposed to be the pastor of james river and pastor john he didn't know pastor john was tired they had planted a church planting a church is hard they had built it they had dug it out of the dirt reached people got it to a place where it was viable where it was stable and then decided we're done even entertaining thoughts of leaving the ministry going into law school i think you'd be an amazing lawyer but man you're a better preacher aren't you grateful he didn't go into that field although you could be a senator if you want to run i'll vote for you i'm just saying right now but but he sat there and this man said we think you're the next pastor you we think you are the first full pastor james rivers over 30 years ago you know what pastor john said to him no i'm tired i'm actually thinking about not doing this anymore now usually when you say those kind of things to people they say oh man are you okay sure oh let me pray for you that guy was like no no you might be tired but you're the next pastor you're the guy you're the one that's gonna take this we started we've done everything that we can small group of people but we actually need a leader and you're him pastor john said i thought he was going to call for the check and we were done but he was persistent and he looked at him and said you're the pastor and he said something shifted in his heart in that moment and even though he was exhausted and even though he was tired he knew this is what he was supposed to do and 30 years later and 67 000 salvations and millions upon millions of lives changed this is a church that grew because of a word that was spoken in the right moment words have power make sure you're around the right people who are listening to god and speaking life into you that's why you need to get in a group we're launching groups you got to get in a group why because i want to get around some people who can encourage me not just sinful sympathizers who want to go sin with me i'm grateful that we have a church that understands the power of words you can't be around pastor john and debbie lindell and not be encouraged they're going to encourage you i've talked to them before when they were going through pain and they asked how i was doing aren't you grateful for that that's a pattern and the power is in the pattern get in on the pattern when they get up here and they talk about grow track that's not just something cool we want you to go through we actually want you to grow through it that's why we call it grow trap it's a pattern we want you to grow we want you to get on the team we want you to volunteer we want you to serve why life so we can look good so that you can feel good and do what god has called you to do it's a pattern it's a proven fact people are happier when they're a part of something that's bigger than them the world has a pattern and that pattern is you deserve this that's the pattern of the world why do you think all the commercials are about what you deserve you deserve this well you might but you can't afford it [Music] but they'll give you credit for it and you'll buy it and it won't make you feel better over time it'll make you feel worse you know why because of planned obsolescence what does that mean that means you got the new iphone and a year later a newer one came out things will never make you happy stuff will never fill the void the only thing that will fill the void is jesus christ and him crucified and serving the purpose that god has called you to get in a group go through the grow track get in the pattern first thing you got to do is you got to recognize the pattern the second thing you got to do is reject the pattern so come on i'm going to stop thinking this way you know they say if you'll if you get on a pattern of thought for 17 seconds it sets the rest of your day i tried this this week while i was studying for this sermon i tried it this week and and i was i was watching a video about this and the lady said think about something fun funny exciting engaging and try for 17 seconds and see what happens and you know what i thought about i thought about my family trip a few years ago to branson missouri come on branson [Applause] and you know what i started doing i started smiling i started laughing and i went this actually works but it's been in the word of god all along popular psychology is only following scripture fix your thoughts and it will fix your life if you'll fix your thoughts but the first thing you gotta do is you gotta recognize it then you got to reject what you've been doing because if what you've been doing is not working continuing to do that is the definition of insanity right doing the same thing and expecting different results you've got to reject it and the third thing is you've got to replace the pattern you got to replace the pattern that's what i love about this church aren't you grateful that you're a part of a life-giving church where you come in here and you feel good now you're going to hear strong word teaching you ever been a part of a death giving church oh if you haven't god bless you i have been to those you're going to go to hell you're going to best held wide open you're a sinner and god loves you but me don't like you very much you're dismissed i said can we leave now or am i going straight to hell i don't know what [Music] aren't you grateful that when we get in here we don't just cover over sins we don't just make you feel good about yourself we tell you hey you're a sinner the gospel is you're a sinner and you cannot save yourself but aren't you grateful that the father sent his one and only son to die on a cross but he didn't stay there he went to a tomb but he didn't stay there he arose alive and victorious on the third day so that you can have eternal life this is the church that teaches us to replace the pattern how do i do that you got to follow what's in the word this is not easy to do because sometimes you don't feel like it i love joel chapter 3 verse 10. i believe that it's an enduring prophecy for then and for now [Music] and it says this beat your plowshares into swords and your pruning hooks into spears and they'll let the weak say i am strong now if you just read that face value it's like let the week say i'm strong but if you study it they don't have swords they don't have spears they've been defeated by everybody [Music] they don't have weapons and the lord says beat your plowshares into swords what is he saying uh you don't need anything new just use what you already have use what you wanna know when i get this then i'll do that no no just use what's in your hand right now no no when i get my marriage figured out no no do what you got with the marriage you have right now when these crazy kids get no no right now shift the pattern replace the pattern now start family night now start daily devotions now start coming to prayer meeting now replace the pattern and then notice but i'm too weak i love this let the weak say everybody say say this does not say let the weak become strong it doesn't say that let the weak become strong no i'm strong no it says let the weak say i am strong but i am weak i am strong but but i am weak i understand but that's not honest no no you don't understand the word of god when i am weak then i am strong because it's in my weakness that his strength is made perfect so it's not you saying i am strong it's you saying the i am in me is strong and if god is for me who can be against me i am strong even though i'm tired i'm strong even though i'm weak i'm strong even though i've made a mistake i'm strong even though i've messed up i'm strong and i'm gonna make it and i'm an overcomer and greater is he that is in me than he that is in the world stand with me all across this room a few months ago i was on a flight and you know when you get on those flights you can stay standing you get on those flights and you sit down and you just hope [Music] the smallest tiniest person sits next to you [Music] somebody who doesn't talk very much [Music] any times god bless you i have kids i have a lot of kids i have them in their 20s and i have a four-year-old what were we thinking trying to build a church that's what we're doing trying to grow that church but you know when you're a parent and you're getting on a plane and you have your kid you see them people put their heads down they don't want to look at you in the eye and i remember this lady she came walking down the aisle she had a little girl cute little girl she was i thought these are our seats i was like okay come on oh god [Music] she sat in the window seat no no she'd give the child the window seat no mom took the window seat kid's in the middle [Music] sweetest little kid also the most insane person she i'm i'm telling you she took me on an emotional roller coaster i mean there was a one moment she loved me the next moment she hated me she slapped me in the face literally what pam and her mom was like don't do that i was like please [Music] and right after her mom said don't do that she grabbed me with both hands and kissed me right on the mouth i was like we don't do that either somewhere in the middle [Music] and when i had a moment just a break i reached down into my backpack [Music] and i got out my noise-canceling headphones [Music] see there's a little button on the back right here so when i press it can see you but i can't hear you i see some of you going oh this is a blessing and you know what i did i didn't turn on music i turned on ocean's relaxing surf because that's what i sleep to at night oceans relaxing and i close my eyes and you know what in that moment well the little tasmanian devil was going crazy right here in the middle seat i had my head back i almost gave the headphones to her mom but i was like i need them more and i was there i closed my eyes and i could see the palm tree i could see the beach i could see the water i was relaxed i actually went to sleep for a little bit [Music] and if we can do this practically [Music] we ought to also be able to do it spiritually you might think i look like an idiot but if i won't let anything get in without it first going through the word it'll renew my mind and if it doesn't line up with the word it doesn't get into my pattern the power is in the pattern and if i will let peace prevail and if i will let love prevail and if i let patience prevail then god will change everything but it's got to start with you recognizing rejecting and replacing today i really want to encourage you right now to order new normal on amazon or wherever books are sold you can pick up one for yourself a friend or a family member because god wants you to live in a land that's full of his promise and possibility and we believe this book will help you on your journey to a new normal we also have an amazing study guide available on amazon so you can go through the book with a small group your spouse or even friends at a coffee shop so you can get the most out of this amazing resource as you go throughout your day this is our prayer for you may the lord bless you and protect you may he smile on you and be gracious to you may he show you his favor and give you his peace god bless

Channel: James River Church

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Keywords: jeremy foster, hope, james river church, james river church sermons, pastor jeremy foster, sermon, sermons, holy spirit, christianity, bible, church, church online, online church, god, jesus, holy, spirit, christian, theology, promises, chrisitan living, christian life, james river, receiving from god, jrc, encouragement, jeremy foster sermons, power, pattern, god's promises, peace, practice, biblical, jeremy, foster, romans 12, thinking, mind, thoughts, christian thoughts, mark, proverbs, romans

Id: jQPIVw_46bw

Length: 37min 44sec (2264 seconds)

Published: Mon Sep 13 2021