Embracing Freedom: Our Identity and Power in Christ

1) "He's made it his body. And we're not going to bring an offering today that costs us nothing. That's not who we are, church. We're not going to come into the presence of God with nonchalance and apathy. That's not who we are. Maybe you came and you feel distant from God. That's a different thing. God can reach you. I'm talking to people that know Jesus today. Come on, let a spiritual hunger rise up within you and say, God, I am nothing. Going to sit back. I'm not going to be on the back of my heels today. God, I'm running to you with all that I am and all that I have. Jesus, you are worthy." [37:26] (34 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


2) "Amen. You know, not because we need a full room, because people need Jesus. The second thing is that we are doing on Monday, tomorrow night, a parenting in the digital age. Call it a course, call it whatever you want. It's just a night hangout at 07:00 p.m. at our headquarters. And here's why this matters. Can I tell you why this is a really big deal? In the past 14. In young 14 years, in young people, people anxiety has risen 139%. Major depression in teenage girls has risen by 145% in just over a decade. Among boys, it's up 161%. Daily porn use among 12th grade boys has gone from 10% to 25% in just over a decade. Self harm among teenage girls, up by 188%. So here we have the very first generation that's been raised with this level of digital exposure." [43:33] (59 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


3) "Chair number one is where God called you to be, who he made you to be. If you remember, in week one, we had Pastor Rachel. I just asked her impromptu, who is it that God made you to be? Ultimately, this chair, who God made you to be is a son or a daughter of God living to glorify God. Can I challenge you, church? Chair number one is not just the chair that I believe in God. I love it if you're there. Let me challenge the fire out of you. You exist to glorify God. He made you a son or a daughter. He canceled the written code against you. He took away your sin, your past, your pain, and your shame so that you could get back to who he made you to be. A son or a daughter that says, I live to glorify the father with all that I have and all that I am. This is my reason for living." [52:52] (52 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


4) "The problem with the idol of influence is it's taken away our passion for discipleship because we think that if we're not talking to the masses, if we're not on a platform, if there's not hundreds of people listening, then it doesn't matter. And God says, that is not how the kingdom of God grows. Kingdom of God grows in the lobby after the service today, in a one to one conversation, I am so grateful for the opportunity God gives me to hold a microphone. But can I tell you, if God took this away, then I would still cry out for the opportunity to use my life to influence. Listen, I want you to have a passion to reach a lot of people but not lose the significance of seeing someone and looking them in the eye and understanding that God builds his kingdom one to one." [55:55] (44 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


5) "When you cry to goddess for help, he will help. That's why you got to figure this out. But this is what today is all about. Today is about the power of righteous freedom prayers that get you back to there. Because if it is not for the power of the Holy Spirit, I can know about what's in my past, but still not be free. I can know how I'm showing up. I can have a description. I can even have a language for it because the self help section in chapters is bigger than any section. And it will tell you a language for who you are today, but it does not have the power of God to set you free and put you back in who God made you to be. That is only the power of the Holy Spirit." [58:09] (35 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


6) "Freedom prayers are powerful prayers. Second Corinthians, chapter ten, says, the weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. So I love praying prayers that are God. I'm thankful that you love me and you're here, and I'm your son, and I get to be in your presence, and I adore you. I'm thankful for those prayers, and that should be the majority of your prayer time. But I would be remiss if I did not teach us about the power of spiritual authority and pulling down strongholds. And so a stronghold. And I've asked Brenda to come back early because I really believe God, the Holy Spirit, wants to actually turn this into a moment for you with God. And so the stronghold, a stronghold is a lie in your life plus a destructive behavior." [01:03:00] (53 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


7) "Freedom prayers are powerful and they make real to you the love of God. Pastor Andy has a message next week that is going to bounce off this and is so powerful about forgiveness. Save that for next week. But I have to tell the end of this story because you're wondering what happened with Mark. So the power of some freedom prayer has got mark up over here in the seat. It says, I'm a son and I'm a daughter of God and I live to glorify God. And God began to speak to his heart and say that he needed to go to his dad and let him know what God had been doing in his life. You see, his dad didn't know. Jesus didn't want to know. Jesus was sick. Now, we need some wisdom in this. I'm not saying that you need to go to everyone who's hurt you and wronged you and sit down and have a meeting. That might not be wisdom. They might not be able to receive that. So exercise wisdom in the leading of the Holy Spirit and counsel in your life. Ask your small group, do you think that I should go and talk to this person? Is this the leading of the Lord? Pray about it." [01:12:30] (78 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)