Church of the Harvest

#PressOnward

“Now Paul doesn't have amnesia. You know, he's not forgetting history. He's just... The Lord has given him how to deal with it. Think about Paul's position. He persecuted Christians. He remembers Stephen dying. He's probably ministering to people that he's responsible for the imprisonment or the death of their loved one. And what's God have him do? Forget those things which are behind and press on for the high price.”

#GraceNotWorks

“We can repent and return to God. We can allow his Holy Spirit and others to point out things inside of us that need to look more like Jesus, and we obey. All of the things that I was talking about at the beginning about prayer and evangelism and reading your Bible and coming to church and serving, you can now do all of those things from a place of rest and gratitude opposed to trying to earn to deserve something. We serve because of what Christ has done for us, not because we can somehow convince him to love us.”

#SurrenderToGod

“See, the thing about walking with with God is he will gradually show you things in your life that's not pleasing to him that you need to release. Right? The news flash, once you release that, further down the road, there's gonna be something else that you gotta release. Right? He's always working on us. None of us have arrived by any means. But the mind of Christ is be obedient saying, lord, you search me, you show me. And when he does show you, be quick to release it. Don't make excuses. Don't defend yourself. Just surrender it to him.”

#SurrenderToGod

“Jesus knew what was ahead of him. He knew he was about to go to the cross. He knew what he was gonna suffer, but he willingly surrendered to the father and obeyed. That's the kind of surrender we're called to. Not a surrender that says, I'll obey you if everything works out the way that I want it to. It's a surrender that says, god, even when I don't understand, even when it's difficult, even when the outcome isn't what I want or expect, I choose to trust you.”

#UnityInChrist

“That's what unity in Christ looks like. It looks like me confessing to my dad that I'm dealing with this sin issue, and I need you to help hold me accountable. Telling my friends so they can hold me accountable. Walking through the sin issues. Right? And sometimes the sin issue is brought to light in your heart, but sometimes it takes somebody next to you to say, hey. I see this sin issue in you. And that can be a lot harder to receive. Right? But if we don't have unity in Christ and we just reject what anybody has to say and we're in an echo chamber where we only hear what we wanna hear, We're never gonna move forward. We're gonna remain in place.”

#GospelAdvances

“We grun to Jesus. We go to him. We put our trust in him. And when we do, we see his hand, the grace. We see infusion of his power to enable us in whatever place we're at. He brings his power for us to stand and be strong. In the midst of trouble, heartache, persecution, Paul had inward peace. Paul refused to say the gospel advanced in spite of the chains. He said advanced because of the chains.”

#WorkInProgress

“You may be driving down the road, having a conversation with the Lord, and all of a sudden he puts his finger on something in your heart and you're like, man, we gotta deal with that now. Yeah. We do. Right? And you'll find out until you deal with that thing that he's been pointing his finger on, he's not gonna show you something else to deal with. Right? He wants this at this particular time surrendered to his lordship. We're all work in progress as none of us have arrived by any means. But the good news is God finishes what he starts. Unfinished does not mean abandoned. In Christ, you're a work in progress in the hands of a faithful god, and I'm so glad it's him doing it. Right?”

#ForgivenessOverRevenge

“Forgiving someone is not excusing bad behavior, It's refusing to worship revenge. It's refusing to have to have that last word. You can listen, you can be busy for Jesus and you can still miss him. You can also be right in an argument but wrong in your worship. So the question is who's been sitting in the window of your life? Whose opinion has been forming and discipling your responses more than the presence of God?”

#WorshipTransforms

“So here's what I've learned. The situation may not change, but something inside of me changes. God's peace comes. God's wisdom, whatever it is I need, his strength that comes because I choose to seek him and worship him and my focus changes. My perspective changes. Fear stops being the loudest voice, and I let god's voice be the loudest and remind me of who he is. That's what worship does to the worshiper.”

#WorshipBeyondSunday

“Guys, Sunday is not a destination of worship. This is the training ground for a worship, a life of worship. This isn't the destination of your week. Sunday mornings, my worship to the Lord. This is the training ground for your real worship, which is Monday through Saturday. If your Christianity only works in this auditorium, in the sanctuary, then you're not a living sacrifice. Obedience in the secret place, in the hidden place where nobody sees is the loudest worship that you will all ever offer unto God. I don't care how loud you shout on Sunday morning.”

#FaithIsNotSolo

“not a biblical pattern, and it is not the will of God in any form or fashion. So that's my thing I want you to understand right now. If listen. If your version of following Jesus requires nobody else, it's almost certainly not the version that Jesus intended. your version of being a Christian, a Christ follower, doesn't involve anybody else, it's probably not what God intended for you. Following Jesus is never meant to be a solo project. Number two,”

#AloneIsNotGood

“``Guys, this is interesting. Now we we obviously we talk about this in marriage and this verse is quoted in weddings. But guys, that's not the point I'm trying to make right here. I'm saying this this is the first time in the creation account that God said something was not good. What was not good? That man was alone? Listen, understand this. Before sin ever entered the world, God identified isolation as a problem. Before the fall, isolation was already identified by the father as a problem.”

#WhoShapesYou

“``Guys, I think this has been pretty clear. Culture is trying to shape you. God is inviting you to a better direction. And the way forward begins with seeking him. This season will shape you. The real question is, who gets to do the shaping? And, you know, it's your choice. Right? If you choose not to make a choice, it'll be made for you. I wanna give you a moment to meditate and kinda reflect here on what the holy spirit is speaking today. I'm gonna ask you a few questions here for a second that I want you to honestly ask yourself as you allow the holy spirit to minister to you. Will you close your eyes for just a moment?”

#ChooseIntentionalLife

“``You will not accidentally live the life that God designed for you. You will either choose it or you will lose it. And intentionality, again, is not just about your own soul. The people around you, there are people around you every day that are drifting all over the place, and some of them, you know, they they used to walk with the Lord, but again, their love has grown cold, or it may be people who who are just drifting around that have really never known the Lord. Some of there there are people around you. I promise you. There are people around you that are drowning, yet they look totally good on the outside. All that person needs is somebody who's willing to notice and to take action.”

#RealFaithNotDenial

“``As was said earlier, you know, we we are a spirit filled, faith filled church. But, guys, when things fall apart, faith doesn't pretend that the pain isn't real. Okay. Okay? There's some of you you may have come from a background where if you even said the word, if you came to somebody and and said, I just got a diagnosis that I have that that I I I've got cancer in my body. Somebody will tell some people correct you. Don't say that word. Don't you say it. Don't you say it. No. What's the reality? Then the reality in the flesh is there's cancer in the body. Right? There is. We don't pretend that it's not real. We don't. Faith doesn't operate from a place of denial. Right. But at the same time, faith refuses to let fear write our story. Okay. And faith and it's by faith that we stand on God's promises.”

#StepIntoYourCalling

“``Maybe you're letting fear stop you from taking that next step. Maybe you need to remember who god says you are, or maybe you're just afraid to trust him. You know what you're supposed to do, but you don't wanna take that step because it's a little scary. It's a little uncomfortable. God wants you to know something if that's you. You are not overlooked. You are not disqualified. You are not forgotten. He's still working in you. You are not finished. He is not calling you to be like every single person around you, but he's calling you to be exactly who he created you to be.”

#RadicalUnity

“In a divided world, God calls his people to radical unity. Radical, unnatural, out of the ordinary unity. And so just as we saw, we just came out of our series Holy Spirit about the Holy Spirit, the friend that you've been missing. The Holy Spirit is the one who empowers us. He empowers us to love. He empowers us to respect. He empowers us to persevere together and to live as one family in the kingdom of God. And when we do, we experience victory and we experience the blessing that comes with unity.”

#MoreThanConquerors

“``We're more than conquerors because he fought and won the battle. One of the greatest examples of this is how many have ever seen a prize fight where it's like a heavyweight championship? There's millions of dollars on the line, and you have your your fighter. Both fighters are training, and you got this guy. He's hitting the pavement every day. I mean, you've seen the Rocky movies. Hitting the pavement. He's jumping rope. He's lifting. He's doing all these things. Then he's eating right. Then he's getting in the ring. He's sparring with somebody. He's hitting. He's going. And he goes through all this throughout the day.”

#SurrenderToSpirit

“And maybe the greatest obstacle isn't whether god wants to fill you. Maybe the greatest obstacle is whether you're willing to surrender. Because god never called you to do his work in your own strength. He has always intended for you to do it through his spirit. The Holy Spirit is not looking for perfect people. He's looking for willing people. People who will say, Lord, here am I. Use me. Fill me. Lead me. Empower me. And when you say yes to that, he does what only he can do. He fills us, he empowers us, and he transforms us. He uses ordinary people to accomplish extraordinary things.”

#PentecostBoldness

“But we know in this moment, something clicked and something changed. In Acts chapter two, when suddenly they're filled with the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost, everything changed. These men and these women, they stepped out of this room with supernatural boldness beyond their own human ability. As a matter of fact, we're told that Peter steps out of that building and he steps in front of a crowd and he preaches one of the boldest sermons that we see in the Bible.”

#FruitOfTheSpirit

“So, what is the clearest evidence that the Holy Spirit is residing in somebody's life? Is it weird, strange behavior? Is it even necessarily some weird drum some odd big dramatic experience? No. Not necessarily. The clearest evidence is the fruit of the spirit in your life. And that's what Galatians five twenty two tells us. The fruit of the spirit, which if you're a follower of Jesus is within you, the fruit that he's within you that comes forth from your life is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control.”

#SurrenderForFreedom

“Submission to him brings true freedom. Guys, that doesn't make sense in our culture today. We don't understand that. We think submission is a terrible, terrible thing. We is is is tends to be the perspective that humanity has today. But guys, submission to him is what brings true freedom in our lives. We stop trying to be in control and we surrender to Adonai.”

#JesusSameYesterdayTodayForever

“Guys, because he has no beginning, because he has no end, you can trust him with whatever lies ahead. Because here's the deal. He's already there before you. He's already in your tomorrow. You just catching up. The future is not unknown to him. He's already there. He's waiting for you, and he never leaves. Y'all know Hebrews thirteen eight? Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.”

#GoodSoldierMindset

“Not only you are you enrolled in God's army, but you are to be enrolled to be a good soldier. There's a difference between a soldier and a good soldier. You know what the difference is between a a soldier and a good soldier? Attitude. Some people just wanna do their time and get away with as much as they can get away with, but then there are those that are good soldiers. They are born for the fight. They love the sound of the battle. They are not cowards. They're not trying to cower back.”

#RunningOnEmpty

“You ever felt like you're just running on empty? You you you don't have enough strength? You don't have enough wisdom. I've known a lot of times, man, I need wisdom to know how to answer this. Not you don't have enough resources. Whatever that may be. If that's you, you're you're gonna relate to this guy and we talked a little bit about the story a few weeks ago. Pastor Rob mentioned it and talked about it. We're gonna go just a little bit further. In Genesis seventeen one, when Abram was 99 years old, the lord appeared to Abram and said to him, I am almighty god. Walk before me and be blameless.”

#NotFightingAlone

“my question is, where do you feel outnumbered right now? Where do you feel less than a month, less than enough? Because the lord of angel armies is standing by your side. So, let's bring them together here right quick. Jehovah Nissi raises the banner of victory over your life. You just gotta keep your eyes on it. Jehovah Sabaoth commands the armies of heaven on your behalf. So again, what else? What in the world do we have to fear? Together, they declare, you are not fighting alone. The battle belongs to the lord. You're not fighting alone. The battle belongs to the lord. Can anybody say amen to that?”

#HealedAndMadeRight

“``Jehovah Rapha, he sees your wounds and he heals them. And then Jehovah Sidkanu takes your guilt and he makes you right with god. Guys, together, these two names together declare something powerful over your life. They declare something beautiful. You don't have to hide your brokenness and your pain for another day. You don't have to muster up the strength to carry it on into tomorrow into another another day, another Monday, or you're trying to hold yourself together because of all of the brokenness and the pain and the wounds and the shame within you.”

#LordWillSeeToIt

“The Lord will see to it. How many of you have a situation in your life that you have worried and worried and worried and worried yourself silly over, kept yourself awake at night, and what you need to do is stop and realize and remind yourself that the Lord's gonna see to it. It's not your business. It's not your job to carry that weight and that burden. The Lord's gonna see to it.”

#BlessedInPersecution

“Matthew five ten it says, blessed are those who were persecuted for righteousness sake for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Jesus is revealing that a distinct blessing comes to life inside us when we endure persecution for the sake of righteousness. This blessing comes when we choose to follow god's way and not the world's. Persecution can come in many forms. As a six year old, that experience of rejection affected me. Ultimately, we're talking about the collision between light and darkness. The blessing of righteousness, peace, and joy saturate us when we choose to stand for the light of the truth.”

#AliveInChrist

“So I want you to think for a moment about your life. Think about your marriage. Think about your work. Think about your self talk, the words that you speak over yourself or you think about yourself. Think about the fears that haunt you. Guys, what would change if you truly believe that the old version of you is gone and the new you is alive in Christ Jesus? What would change? What freedom? What joy? What purpose could rise because Christ rose and you rose with him.”

#SurrenderToBelong

“Pride says, I'll wash myself. Let's put that on the screen. There it is. And Jesus says, unless I wash you, you have no part of me. Independence keeps you outside his grace. Surrender brings you in. Guys, where are you still saying, no, lord. I've got this. Where in your life do you still sound like Peter? What? No. I've got this. What belonging with Jesus are you missing by refusing his service?”

#MindDetox

“Old lies, regrets, mental loops, things that keep going around in our mind with it in play over and over again. You're not enough. You'll never change. These things that you did in your past, they will always define you. Those things often come in. What they do is they poison us even after we've confessed our sin. Even after we've repented, even after God has forgiven us, they continue to poison us. Guys, Jesus didn't die just to forgive your act of sin. He died to renew your mind so that the poison stops circulating through your system and is destroyed.”

#FreedomNotPepTalk

“Guys, I want you to understand something in this series. What I'm trying to communicate is Jesus didn't rise from the dead to give us a pep talk. That was not his pep talk for us. He it was not his attempt to give us a slightly improved version of ourselves. He rose from the dead to set us free. He rose from the dead to set us truly free so we no longer would have to carry those weights and those burdens and that baggage day after day after day in our life that we were never meant to carry in the first place.”

#CelebrateRestoration

“And notice, the father goes out to the older son too. He wouldn't just waiting on the younger one. He ran out to the older son. He pursued both whether they're in rebellion, whether in religion, he runs toward both. And here's how you know you understand this parable. You celebrate someone else's restoration. See, religion keeps score, but grace throws parties. One son was lost in a far country, the other was lost in the front yard.”

#MirrorOfMercy

“And And the question today isn't just who is my neighbor, but the deeper question is this, what does my response to my neighbor reveal about what's in my heart? Because the people we avoid, the people that we step around, the people that we quietly hope someone else will handle, all of those are mirrors. And today, I want us to look into the mirror of mercy. Say the mirror of mercy. The mirror of mercy.”

#ForgivenessHeals

“The easy thing would have been for Jennifer to just walk away in shame and let it go or for Ronald to to harbor bitterness for over a decade of his life that was lost. But they both ended up choosing a different path. Jennifer ended up reaching out to Ronald when he was released and asked to meet. When they sat face to face, she looked him in the eyes through tears and said, I am so so sorry. Ronald completely forgave her and he is quoted to say, I forgave you because I knew god had forgiven me. Holding holding that against you would have kept me in prison long after I got out.”

#EmptyHandsFullOfJesus

“Empty hands. You're free. And then what Jesus does, he comes and in those empty hands, he places himself. He places his spirit. He places the kingdom. He places the joy that you can't find in anything else in life. And here's reality, guys. In in all that, we gotta recognize that are any of these things bad? Not at all. They're not bad at all. But if we give them what if we give them to the Lord and we allow him to be in control of all those other things in our life?”

#QuietFaithChanges

“It doesn't have to be loud. It doesn't have to be visible in moments. It doesn't have to be forceful to be effective. It infiltrates quietly and suddenly. It begins to spread and move and it begins through one faithful heart. One act of love one consistent prayer that you keep praying even when you're not seeing results in a moment. You keep standing on god's word and you keep praying. You keep believing. And with that, you'll see gradually families, communities, even nations will be reshaped from the inside out.”

#FruitfulHeart

“``Guys, this verse points to hearts that not only hear God's message, but embrace it fully, allowing it to take root and grow into a harvest thirty, sixty, and even a 100 times what was originally planted. It shows the reward of being receptive. Exponential fruit that blesses not only you but all of those around you. Guys, good soil is deep. It's clear to weeds. It's ready to receive, to retain, and to produce exponentially.”

#FaithHealedTogether

“``And scripture says that when Jesus saw their faith, he healed the man. It says that the faith of their the faith of his friends healed him. I don't want I don't want that to just be passed by. He was healed by the faith of his friends. He was healed by the faith of his community. Sometimes, you don't need stronger faith. You need stronger community.”

#JesusBecameHuman

“``The Bible says, he put on human flesh and he came and he dwelt among us. He walked among us. He lived as one of us. He was tempted in the same ways that we're tempted and the Bible says that ultimately, Jesus lived the life that we were supposed to live as a human being and he died the death that we deserved and with that, he broke the curse.”

#RaisedWithChrist

“``that you're actually crucified with Christ, and when he and you're raised with him just as he was raised from the grave. You're raised with him, and the Bible says that he doesn't just like I say, he doesn't just stick a band aid on you. He makes you a brand new creation. It's not just a makeover. You're made brand new. You're perfect. You're holy. You're blameless.”

#FireInObedience

“Hear this clearly, God does not give fire after obedience. He promises fire in obedience. God does not give fire after the obedience. He promises fire in the obedience. So, guys, I want you to recognize that this isn't about earning something new. It's about receiving what God already promised for this moment.”

#FireInObedience

“``God does not give fire after obedience. He promises fire in obedience. God does not give fire after obedience. He promises fire in obedience. Now, guys, what we're talking about this morning, this isn't about earning something new, but it's about receiving what God has already promised for this moment.”

#BeStillAndKnow

“This deliberate stillness is not passive resignation. Well, it is what it is. That's life. Guys, we weren't called to passive resignation. What he's calling us to is active trust. Positioning ourselves to freshly know. He said, be still. Let's keep that scripture up there. Be still and know. The word know is the word yada, and it means to experience intimately that he alone is God. Be still, unclench your fist, relax, and experience intimately that he alone is God. He is God. I am not.”

#HeartIsTheAltar

“So here's the deal. Our hearts are the altar now. That's what God's word says. It's not at some tabernacle or some temple. We are the temple. Our heart is the flame. That's the place where God's presence dwells. We have to keep clearing away yesterday's ashes, unconfessed sin, unresolved hurts, distractions. And we got to add fuel. And that only comes by spending time in God's presence, by through worship, through obedience.”

#WelcomeJesusHome

“And here's what we're going to do, guys. As we go into this, once you get your candle, I invite you to turn it on. And we are going to go into the song, Silent Night. And as we do that, as we turn that light on, I want you to give the thought of welcoming Jesus into your life, but also into your home and into your heart. So I invite you guys to stand and go ahead and turn those candles on.”

#PromiseRestored

“It's as if God in this moment is speaking to Adam and Eve and he's like, You guys messed it up, but I'm going to restore it. You ran from me, but I'm running toward you. You brought death, but I'm bringing back life. And the cost will be the life of my son. Guys, this is why the journey to Bethlehem matters. This is why we celebrate Christmas. This is why a manger is more than a holiday moment. Bethlehem is about God keeping the first promise that he ever made.”

#TitheIsTrust

“So understand, the tithe is not about what God needs. The tithe is about who you trust. The tithe is a spiritual act that says, I will honor God first, and I will trust him to bless the rest. And here's the truth. Listen, guys. God never asks for something you don't already have. He's not a loan shark that you have to make payments to, that you're scrounging around trying to come up with the money. He just asks for a small portion of what he's already placed in your hands. The tithe isn't a test of your budgeting. It's a test of your belief.”

#SowToMultiply

“``Seeds feels like loss when it leaves your hand, but multiplication begins the moment it hits the ground. The moment you let loose of that is the moment the multiplication begins. And again, it's the issue of our heart. Think of someone who gives sacrificially in a tough season. Not from overflow, but obedience. Suddenly opportunities arise, needs are met, peace replaces pressure. They discover that miracles often wait on willingness.”

#JesusWayFreedom

“Where the world says grab Jesus says give when the world says protect Jesus says trust when the world says build your kingdom Jesus says seek first my kingdom and when the world says saving leads to security Jesus says surrender leads to life and we've got to understand that Jesus doesn't say these things to guilt us or to shame us into something he says it to set us free because the way of Jesus isn't just morally better it's spiritually healthier it's emotionally lighter it's eternally wiser.”

#FreedomInGiving

“Where the world says, grab, Jesus says, give. Where the world says, protect, Jesus says, trust. Where the world says, build your kingdom, Jesus said, hey, seek first my kingdom. And where the world says, saving leads to security, Jesus says, surrender leads to life. He doesn’t say these things to shame us or to guilt us. He says it to free us. When you understand this, you will begin to find freedom in your life in many different areas.”

#LiveWithPurpose

“God doesn't want to just calm you down. He wants to fill you up. He doesn't want to just help you get through this life. He wants to help you live it with power and with joy and with purpose. You're not just meant to try to get through the day. You're meant to live, to shine through the day, to blaze with the glory of God.”

#TransformedByRenewal

“We're not to be influenced or be conformed to the world. Right? Amen. But we're to be. Come on. Transformed. By the renewing of our mind. You're a word church. I know you know these words. By the renewing of our mind. We're to be transformed. Amen. Hallelujah. So that we can grow. And we can mature. And you know what? Every one of us. If we've been in the kingdom for very long. At all. We ought to be getting to the place. Where we know we think like God. We have the mind of Christ. Amen.”

#ReleaseDontApprove

“The Greek word to forgive means to release, to let go, to send away. It's not saying that what they did was okay. You're not approving of what they did to you. It's saying, I won't carry it anymore.”

#FaithInFleshAndGrace

“Guys, feeling pressure, feeling anxiety doesn't mean you don't love God. It doesn't mean that you don't have faith. It's not something that's supposed to bring condemnation. Feeling depression. Feeling depressed doesn't mean that you're broken beyond repair. It means that you're still wearing flesh. It means that you're a human being. It means that you need God's mercy and grace and you need his healing you need to press into him more than ever before.”

#GodNearInBrokenness

“``God doesn't draw near to the ones who have it all together he draws near to the ones that are falling apart guys you don't have to strive to climb out of the cave on your own he's already in the cave he's already coming for you all you've got to do is turn to him.”

#SubtleSpiritualBattle

“Spiritual warfare isn't something that is spooky. It's actually... It's actually something that's very subtle. You know, the enemy doesn't say, here I am and I'm ready to take you down. Right? No. He kind of is divisive. He comes in and he tries to sneak. And he tries to do things in a sneaky kind of way. And so what we got to realize is that God's truth... This is the battle. Between God's truth and the enemy's lies. Between light and between darkness. Between peace and between chaos. Between chaos. Between truth. Between truth and between confusion.”

#BreatheFightWithPrayer

“This isn't about shouting at the enemy, but it's about recognizing the quiet ways that he tries to drain your peace. And then we have to learn how to fight back with prayer, with truth and with rest. Because sometimes the greatest act of warfare is simply to breathe. Again.”

#OvercomeThroughTrust

“We don't overcome stress by avoiding life's pressure, because life's pressure is going to come. We don't overcome by avoiding it. We overcome by trusting in the One who has already overcome the world, the One who's already overcome the stress. That's how we defeat it.”