What's Next | Pastor Chris Hodges

come over Jesus all the praise everybody come off you Jesus all the praise everybody awesome alright give somebody a high five tell them it looks like you've lost weight come on tell them just go ahead and start with good news right off the bat right even if it's not true it's good news it's never true for me I but I love hearing it so if you want to compliment me that's what you say you know so in fact I had the spiritual gift of eating anybody else out there anybody else I'm actually from Louisiana I'm a Cajun from South Louisiana and so we eat eating some Olympic sport down there so we are very much into it in fact I set a goal this year to lose 20 pounds I really need to lose 20 pounds in fact there's so much pressure on this button right now somebody on the front rows about to die I'm just letting y'all know just fair warning so but but I said I go to lose 20 pounds this year and I'm happy to report here at the second month of the year only have thirty pounds to go come on somebody so I am well on my way so excited about I am here with my wife of almost 34 years everybody miss candy in the house yeah and we have five kids and a daughter in four boys and five I know that's a lot I tell people I don't have five kids because I like kids I have five kids because I like my wife come on somebody right so that's a different conference we all give you that one but one day or a different message but we'll do that we have five grandkids now I think last time I was here we weren't grandparents yet but we have five under three and under and we're the grandparents had grandparents grandparents were yeah there they are yeah integrate their way even though yeah I'll just tell you if you don't have grandkids yet grandkids were better than kids it's God's gift for not killing your kids that's why it's what it is right I truly believe that so if you have kids and no grandkids let them live better ones we're coming now I just hang in there all right I really mean that so so that's it everybody in this pray no I'm just kidding I do want to share God's word with you today before I do that I have to give honor to your pastures and my dear dear friends I only have a few pastures that I pastor and pastor Steve and Erica they're just they're just some of the finest human beings on the planet I mean they're great leaders come on show you love your pastors everybody I mean it I mean they are in heal cried anything you're not right everybody just the Brotherhood cries like you see our new building yes coupe look building like okay but I'm telling you it's really it's because he has the heart of a pastor he's really a true pastor in fact I get convicted when I'm around him I'm telling you the man loves people he loves you loves what God's doing here and it's really amazing to see what the Lord's doing here and it's my celebrate covenant church I celebrate your pastors I'm honored to be here today to talk to you about what I am most passionate in the whole wide world about so might surprise you I'm not a big big fan of just preaching or in teaching and being on stages I mean this is fun I feel like I was created to do this and I can preach I could you know I could lather up the place really good if I wanted to and I love to I love I love to teach the Bible I'm going to do a little bit of both of that but what I love more than anything else in the world is actually helping people take take spiritual steps I think my real job is the pastor is not to impress you on a stage I think my real job is the pastor's to take you on a spiritual journey I'm a shepherd and what Shepherds do is they lead and feed so I want to lead you want to show you some things about your spiritual life that you might not know was available to you it's kind of like I tell Church I am your spiritual tour guide to show you parts of the city that you have any looked at yet to see things that you didn't even know was there if you ever try to explore a city if you ever go on a vacation you try to explore it on your own you're gonna find some of the things but you're not going to find all of the things because you need to someone who has already been there before you say look you didn't even know this is right over here come take a look and I want to do that with you today take you on a journey of your spiritual life and this is for anyone who's not even a Christian perhaps if you wandered into church today you're welcome we're so glad you're kind of kicking the tires of Christianity for those of you guys that are been in church your whole life listen to me if you're breathing air there's another step for you God has more he has more for you and the key to all of this the key to what God has for you is to not get in a place where you settle so I'm gonna tell you I've been in church for my whole life I'm 56 and I've never missed a Sunday in church in my entire life to date like I we don't miss my dad didn't let me so he just feels thrown up he's like Mara you get a bag you throw up a church you know that's that's kind of how I was raised and and I've been around it a lot and what I've watched as Christians especially in the Bible Belt the part of the country that we all live in most of us have had some type of church experience like we've been doing this for a while and you have found kind of your resting place you found your spot in it and I want to kind of nudge you past that a little bit I want to I want you to make sure you're getting all that God has for you in fact most people that I talk to are not even in flourishing mode they're in survival mode so I'm gonna get to heaven one day I'm gonna try to make it on earth until then God has so much more for you than that can I get a better a man in this house God has so much more for you than just survival you can literally live in significance mode you really can flourish you can flourish not survive flourish flourishing has the key though I'll show you this verse out of Psalm 92 it says those who are planted not just attending but planted involved in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God so the environment you're in determines the level with which you flourish got to get in the right environment in in America we have an environment we have a part of our country that does not flourish it's it's it's dead it's dry it looks like that picture up there on the screen we call it Death Valley California it's the hottest driest place in America no one lives there there's no farms there there's no cattle there there's no plants there is there because the environment is not conducive for flourishing but in 2004 in Death Valley California a phenomenon happened they really don't know how it happened because of where it is geographically it does not rain there at all but in 2004 in the winter of 2004 seven inches of rain fell in a 24 hour period nothing happened immediately but by the spring of 2005 this happened show it to them guys this is what happened they call it if you want to google it and go study it it's called the super bloom and the super bloom happened in in spring of 2005 in Death Valley California and that's when they realized that they had missed named the place Death Valley wasn't dead Death Valley was dormant the potential for beauty was always there look at my eyes the potential for beauty is always there it's right it's in your life right now that you're not dead you're dormant that beneath the surface are seeds a potential that just need the in right environment to come alongside of them and see something beautiful happen can I hear a good Amen everybody right okay I want to do that today I want to come and I just want to water your life a little bit and help you flourish and receive all that God has for you now I wrote a book I think they have some available for you if you want a copy but it's called what's next and the thesis of the book is that people are they're not unwilling to take the steps because they're just unwilling to take the steps they're willing to take the steps because they don't know what the next steps are like the pathway is not clear and if there's one thing I know even the Bible says it this way that God will show us and I want to help you today show us a path of life so life is a pathway if you will life is a set of steps it's a progression that God has something for you you get to go here to get here here to get here here to get here God God wants to move you in fact I think the most vibrant best churches that exist are moving churches everybody is moving so the laws are getting safe safer getting password password being discipled disciple being mobilized I mean like everybody's everybody's in a process of I'm not where I'm supposed to be yet even the Apostle Paul who wrote almost two thirds of the New Testament said I do not consider myself yet to a taken hold of it now if you think you've already taken hold of it you might as well go on to heaven everybody right you know God has some or everybody say God has more he really does and you got to believe that so you can pursue it there's more to the city to see and I'm gonna be your tour guide today you've got to realize that there's a path of life semicolon so this is what will happen if you'll get on the path of life that in your presence is fullness of joy and at your right hand pleasures forevermore what wouldn't that be great have like joy and pleasures in it actually I'm not saying have a problem-free life but in life that is actually fulfilled and enjoyable that absolutely absolutely can happen how God made it clear and for some is still not clear so you can you can go all throughout the Bible I've done this work for you that literally from Exodus now to Revelation there's at least 14 places Old Testament and New Testament where God said I want these things for you here is the path or the progression if you will and it's set at a lot of different ways that it was God's attempt to say it a lot of different ways and I love teaching all these different ways for the sake of time can't give you 14 so I picked out one of them so in every place God always still says this this this then this and I'm gonna give you just one one version of God's attempt to try to get people to take steps so they can flourish so they can their lives can super bloom that's what we're headed today it's what comes in the form of a prayer and I love teaching this for those you've been in church for a long time just bear with me okay let me talk to those who perhaps haven't but the Apostle Paul apostle means church planter so he didn't pass her churches he started them raised up a pastor went and did it again by the way your church invests in church planting you don't know if you know that that when you give more than half of it comes right back to you in the form of a church we serves you very well but then much of it goes out to touch people's lives as your pastor said locally nationally and internationally nationally you may not know this but you invest in church planning into an organization that is planting churches and today for more churches are being planted in America bringing the total to 900 today we passed the 900 church mark of the churches you've invested in come on give God's embrace for that it fosters a good job so but Paul with the church planners so he would start he would start these churches and and then after he believed he would either need to send instructions for doctrine or correction and they came in the form of letters that he wrote the one we're getting ready to read here X he wrote it while he was in prison and they become now our Bible we call him a epistles but they're just letters and he planted a church in a city called Ephesus which is in where modern-day Turkey is today and in any Road so he wrote this letter to the Ephesians and in the very first chapter he says hail all that you know I'm praying for you a lot in fact every time I pray I keep asking that the god of our Lord Jesus Christ the glorious father to give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation I'm praying that you could see it and I and by the way I feel that tension right now as I'm speaking to you I just wish you could see it I wish you could see what I see I wish you could see the part of the city that I want to show you that you haven't seen yet I wish I could see it and that's what he's saying here I just want to take you on a journey I wish you could have this wisdom and revelation so that you may and I've highlighted some things in yellow here to show you this progression this path of life first of all I wish you could see how important it is to know Oh God - no and he used the word there sis not shocking you at all because it's not a shocking word in English but in the language he was speaking of the day it was a shocking word he uses the word gun Oh schoo in the original manuscripts of the Bible the original language and the word conozco in the word know like I know you it's it's that I know you it's not a head no but it's a heart note in fact it's the same word that's used when they when it says Adam knew his wife Eve and they had a baby yeah that's what it that's the word and it's not a sexual word it's an intimate word it's that and for some of you need to hear this that part of your spiritual journey you may not have known this or not but God does not want you just to sing songs about him or just own his book or just come to his house he wants to be in a relationship with you he's not offering religion he's offering relationship like you might yeah you might need to know that like there's might be more to it than when you're currently experiencing like you can know him intimately personally up close real I mean awesome and it's better when you do he says and then once you know him period I pray now secondly that the eyes of your heart be enlightened to which when I read that I hope all your eyes aren't on your heart Dale on your head my brother - what she would say no they're not you're not looking through these you're looking through this all of you in this room are looking at the exact same thing and all of you are seeing it differently based on what's happened to you up to this point your past people and problems like your life creates a heart filter that you're seeing through and Paul says some of you have never dealt with that like you're going to heaven you know God you're a Christian and you still have a hard filter that is not enlightened and the message it says I pray that your heart be focused and clear and for a lot of us our hearts are not focused and clear they're muddied by the things that have hurt us people problems addictions habits it's just stuff that does not disqualify you from heaven but the journey along the way so for a lot of us we're still like we you've never settled these things in your heart you haven't gotten your heart healed and if you don't get your heart healed you can't go to the next step in the journey but you can't get your heart healed until you know God because he's the only one who can heal your heart are you seeing that everybody this is a progression this is a spiritual progression he says but once your heart is enlightened I pray that you might have your heart enlighten in order that in other words you can't even go to this third one until you do in order that you might know the hope to which he has called you so Paul showed us a look that you have a calling that you're never going to be able to see the future if you're still looking in the rearview mirror of your past but once you settle the issues of the past you're gonna see my goodness God has a role for me it's a it's a purpose for me a plan for my life and that's not just preaching that's really true there's a like you're a part of the equation you're a you're a you're your own purpose for a purpose and and the Bible puts the word hope and calling together everywhere by the way you see the word hope you see calling because your hope is in your calling in other words you can't have hope if you don't know why you're here but when you know you're here you'll have hope people think well I'll be hopeful when when my problems go away no no no that's not how it works you have hope when you know you have something bigger than your problems not the elimination of my problems it's very important for you to hear that if you don't have something big in your life ie your calling your problems will be gargantuan but the day you realize oh my goodness I'm here on purpose for a purpose you're gonna realize they're not as big as you think they are and if even if they are big you were able to walk right past them because you have your eyes fixed on something bigger and better now that'll help you right there in fact the best way to pass for people pastor Stephen I've learned the best way to pastor people is not to help them through their problems it's to give them something in their life bigger than their problems and the moment you do like as we say down in south Louisiana and now we cook them agrees come on somebody write right okay so so I got it I'm gonna know God now that this relationship with God get my heart healed so that I can know my calling and now this is where you ultimately want to be I can have riches that's actually inheritance you have an inheritance you have something that's gonna store up in heaven you've gotta you actually have a bank account that's already been open the question is are you filling it you have an inheritance what's my inheritance pastor Chris oh I'm so glad you asked it's other people because people is the only thing that lasts forever so our inheritance is that we made a difference with our giving our that we planted churches today that were that we're helping the poor in in in Dallas that we're doing something that that is storing up treasures in heaven and this is your inheritance and this is the cool part about your inheritance it's fun like even secular sociologists have proven that the happiest people on earth aren't the ones with less problems but it's the people who are doing something that is touching the lives of others sociologists call it transcendent living now they made up that word these are non-christians who's basically said the highest level of living is when you can lay your head down at night and say I impacted the life of someone else now I want to get you there in fact Wall Street Journal just came out with an article Pastor Steven that said said that that there's their endorphins get released whenever you're generous like endorphins of happiness God did that because he wants you to ultimately get to the final stop in your spiritual journey and that is you're living this life of difference making but you can't do that if you don't know your place in that and you can't do that if you're still dealing with your yesterday's and you cannot do that until you know the Living God and have a relationship with him are you seeing this everybody all right it's very important so that's why we have phrases around here like we want you to know God and we will meme I know God has don't just attend church we want you to be in a vibrant relationship with God you would need to know that Jesus himself said that not everyone who says to me Lord Lord is going to go to heaven which that was the problem cuz that was my plan come on somebody where y'all at right when I was seven years old I walked the aisle at a Baptist Church my dad played Oregon I was sitting with grandma's seven roads right over there and-and-and my preacher my preacher talked about Hell like he had been there you know I'm saying every cent I have and his finger was eight miles long it was always pointing at me you know and so I mean I'm seven but I'm not stupid so I got up and walked out like I don't want to go to hell I don't think you know him say and I signed the clipboard come on where you Baptist at right and voted in and baptized and thought I had my fire insurance and but I didn't I didn't know God I met my church that day but I didn't meet God and then I came to a church like this and honestly I don't even remember the sermon that was preached I remember the worship service I remember the Christians who were in love with Jesus I never seen Christians and love with Jesus before by the way when you worship God it blesses God and inspires the other people around you to never forget that you do not have the luxury of worshiping the way you want to your worship brings honor to God and inspires others come on say Amen right there right very important very important because I was like these people are crazy I think I want what they have you know what I'm saying house yeah but then I got home when I heard this message and I decided to find out what the Bible says about how a person gets to heaven and I read this verse that not everyone who says Lord Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven oh no and Jesus says there in fact they'll do very spiritual looking things like cast out Devils do miracles and prophesy and he says I'll tell them away from me you're an evildoer because I never and then he uses the word conozco I was looking for relationship not religion it was the first time in my life that I realized that the condition for eternal life had nothing to do with my church attendance and it had everything to do with my relationship with God which was non-existent and I threw my arms across my bed in my bedroom and I gave my life to Jesus 41 years ago best decision ever made in my life right you know and for some of you you've been in church your whole life but you still have never good nose code you need to knowing you need to knowing you need to be in a relationship with you and then once you can you know what to do that then you can take the second step that we use here at Covenant Church called find freedom now this stuff is going to surprise some of you because freedom is not found now just between you and God God's giving you the power to be free but God has a completely different system or a step that helps you find freedom and some of you have never known what I'm getting ready to say that God's plan for you to really get over your addictions your habits your problems the part of you think of it right now we all have it think of it the part of you that you know it that what in your life your life would be better so I'm talking about that part it doesn't disqualify you from heaven because Jesus is paid for all your sins past present and future praise God for that I'm talking about the quality of your life here on this earth I'm talking about your addictions your habits your problems your the things that plagued you they just keep you from the best version of you how do I get rid of that well the Bible says in James chapter 5 confess your sins not to God confess your sins one to another and pray for each other and you'll be healed so you go to God for forgiveness but you got to go to God's people for healing now you may not ever known that that the secret to real freedom is being in a place not with everybody like I'm not going to ask you one at a time okay here gonna start here on the front row brother hey shouldn't sat there your first no we're not gonna do that today I'm talking about getting in a small group that you heard about in the news that they're not there just so you have something else to do this week it's to meet somebody we're a big Church because all of Dallas matters can I hear a good amen but we're also a small Church because you matter and you need one other person who knows what's really going on cuz we'll hide behind the smile how you doing amen praise the Lord everything praise amen you lying to your teeth that some of you told your family on the way out of the car in the parking lot now everybody smiled we're gonna talk about this when we get home and somebody needs to know look in my eyes you'll always stay as sick as your secrets always you don't tell everybody didn't tell somebody here's what's really going on here's where I'm not doing well and when you do you'll experience real healing that's why we want you in a group we don't want you in a group cuz you need something else to do we need you to know another person when you say guess what they're not gonna go really no they're gonna go you too I thought I was the only one and you're gonna find real healing hey it's time for the church to get real and get healed in Jesus name Amen yeah it's important and for some of you that's your next step and then you see this third part that we talk about all the time now that you've covered yesterday you can start thinking about tomorrow you can discover your purpose you need to realize that every person has with the Bible calls a gift the word in the greek is Kharis it's where we get the word charismatic a charismatic it's not a crazy person in church a charismatic is someone who believes that God has given you a unique gifting a divine enablement that when you do it you're not only good at it but it makes you an eternal difference and it's different for different people so even the Bible says well how are a different part of the body and we all have different functions some people are really good with kids some are not some of its musics some are not some are administrative some are relational God did that you think the way you think inherently because of a got a gift that God wants to redeem on the inside of it and once you know what that is once you can chase that thing if you will go after that thing really live for that thing that's when life gets a whole lot of fun I heard this story down in Florida there was a dog track you know you have dog tracks here okay we have one in Alabama I've never been to it I've seen they don't Bugs Bunny though anyway you have seen anyway but obviously the horses you get on the back of the horse can you get up and that's how the horse goes what dog you don't ride the dog so the question is what makes the dog go well they have a mechanical rabbit that goes on the interior railing of the top of the track and they let the mechanical rabbit go first and then the dogs to run after it and in in in Florida this mechanical rabbit they let it go and after made the first turn a malfunction happen in the mechanical rabbit and it exploded fur and wires go everywhere and the dogs now with nothing to chase didn't know what to do so some actually just lay down on the track took a nap right there you know just some got so disoriented they ran through the railing of the track and broke some ribs some looked up into the stands at all the people who were gambling it just barked out of them and I thought when I read this article thought what a picture of humanity if you don't have something to chase you'll take a nap hurt yourself or barked at everybody else I mean right I mean you got to know why your purpose in life is if you want your life to count for something real so that we can do this final thing and make a difference and this is where people are happy in fact if I can tell you this is where people say I'm living my best life not because I have less problems than you because you were designed by God look at me not to attend the game but to be in the game you got to call you to be a spectator God called you to participate I mean watching the games fun to play in the games better and God wants to use your life to impact the life of another that's why you're still here before Jesus your whole life is about finding Jesus after Jesus your whole life is about making a difference in the lives of other people be clear and so I say you know people say the local church is the hope of the world no it's not the local church mobilized is the hope of the world and I'm just here I felt led by God to come to you today and just say let's go so when you're preaching like this I'm going to be honest with you when you're standing here you feel things that you never really say cuz you're I'm a pastor and I want you like me and and I'm not even like I'm not even your pastor I'm your pastors pastor so I got it I got to give you the nice version of all this come I got to be funny and I'm trying to get you to do it but but inside of me I'm not saying it this is not what I'm saying this is what I would say if I was saying it though like seriously you're gonna just God will be an hour on a Sunday when he you can be in relationship with a creator of the universe are you kidding me seriously you're gonna live another year with that addiction you want to keep that yeah I know it's uncomfortable to take off the mask but honestly now I'm not saying it that way to root is say it like that I'm just telling you what I would say if I was saying it like I wanted to say it if you don't want to know your role in the body of Christ like your jobs gonna be your purpose you're just gonna pay pills you don't want to change the world and lay your head down tonight no one you didn't like so I'll close with this little illustration in fact I'll make a confession I am barely saved when I'm driving a car were y'all that ray all that help me out okay okay fine it's like I can't stand people who don't know when to go and get out of the way it's like really and I'm a honker my wife right over here is not a honker and she's always like they probably go to our church and I'm like well good on their pastor and they need to learn something thank you this is what this is this is what it's like this is terrible all right so recently recently I'm at a lift I'm in a I'm gonna left turn lane that's red it's my lane though I'm in this Lane every day and this is my life I know this light and I know how many cars can go through in one light cycle if everybody will go they always be everybody and I'm right there I'm right there on the limit of it I'm right there I'm but I know but everybody's got to play along and I noticed the girl in front of me I could tell us a girl looked fairly young and she had her head down cuz it's red and the thumbs are going and I'm thinking and I'm already anticipating that she's gonna need the full-on home right but then Tammy's voices in my head this conscious I have the holy spirit and I have my wife come on somebody right it's keep it right there like don't don't and I'm trying to be saved that day and so it turns green and I'm just I'm trying to Christian version of it I just been that's all I did just look just just that's the nice version of honking right and and then of course you like and then we miss the lights oh yes they've been miss lights so so that's what it's like standing here I'm very serious I'll look at you nothing this is what I want to do but I'm giving you the but I will tell you this the lights green like you can go in fact if you'll if you'll go we can all go let's go let's go praise God for moments but moments meet nothing if we don't have some movement come on church let's go let's go bow your heads expression yeah yeah yeah let's do it come on come on I've been see the opportunity me pray for you y'all ready to go as we say in Alabama y'all ready to go bear hunting with a switch don't you yes good this is this pray so father I'm asking God for more than inspiration I give us courage to take a step to give you our life to be honest and a relationship I mean there's somebody here that needs to be honest you just need to be honest with another Christian some of you need to get on that growth track it's like you need to find out what your role in the body of Christ is this church is working well without you it worked a whole lot better with you let's go get on a team make a difference so father even as each Easter approaches in a few weeks mobilize this great congregation like never before heads are bowed eyes are closed you're here today and you find yourself far from God maybe you're a Christian and you've backslidden maybe you're like me you're a lifelong attender but you've never really gone all-in maybe it's time for you to really know him and you will know because he'll be knocking on your heart right now he's knocking some of you it's time for you to go all in with God somebody you've never known he you've never been in a real relationship it's time I am NOT gonna have you stand up I'm not gonna call you to the front you're not gonna go to a little room I just want to pray for you right there where you are if that's you at all of our campuses today you said I'm ready to go all-in with God I need to come home it's time it's time for me to get to really be an all-in kind of Christian put your hand up right now let me pray for you lift it up high yes yes yes his hands lifted all over this room it's time it's time it's time come on it's time it's time it's time it's time yes literally dozens and dozens and dozens of hands in this great church it's time it's time to go all in with God come on every voice pray this prayer out loud together with me come on say it together strong say Jesus thank you for dying on the cross paying for my sin today I receive what you did for me by giving you my life everything say it stronger everything I give you my life come live inside of me change me make me the person you want me to believe now say it out loud say I believe you are the son of God I believe you died and you rose again and today I put my faith in you in Jesus name Amen and amen comfort let's dig it together

Channel: Covenant Church

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Length: 36min 0sec (2160 seconds)

Published: Mon Feb 24 2020