Amen. Give the Lord praise. Hallelujah.
Wow. You may be seated if you want. If you want, we welcome those of you that are watching online. Thank you so much. So good to see you.
First service this morning. So packed. We had to turn people away, and we just thank God as we're growing, and you are here and inviting people. Next week's gonna be really great. Pastor Kevin Goff will be with us. We love him. He's got a fresh word, and we're looking forward to that.
Hey, let me say thank you. Last week was Pastor Appreciation Day, and the cards, the gifts were just beyond anything we've ever received. All the pastors were saying that, and we just want to say thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you for that.
All right. Well, if you have your Bible with you, your iPhone, your iPad, whatever you use, let's hold it up and let's make this confession today.
Let's say it. This is my Bible. It is the word of God. It is life to me. Today I receive the word. I confess my mind is alert. My heart is receptive. I am obedient, and I will never be the same again in Jesus' name. Amen.
Father, we just rejoice. What praise and worship and all these wonderful people who've come today to hear your word, to lift up your name, and we ask you, Lord, to speak to us. We need your anointing. I need your anointing not only to say what you want me to say and not say the things I shouldn't say, but we need your anointing today to understand and hear your word, the truth of today, for your word is truth, Lord, and we need that truth in our life.
So speak to us today. Let us be obedient to you today, and we pray that at the end of today that you will be glorified, the saints will be edified, and the enemy will be terrified in the name of Jesus.
When I was a kid, I got in trouble a lot, and I know you couldn't believe that right now, could you? But my mother used to use this phrase when she would get on to me, "What were you thinking?" The truth is most of the time I wasn't thinking, right? Or I wouldn't have gotten in trouble.
So this series that we're going to talk about starting today, it's not just another series, but this is life and death for some of you. You need to grab this because this is a way that you're going to get out of where you are.
Here's a synopsis of what we're going to do for the next five weeks, and we're going to end up this with Dr. Dwight Bain coming and being with us the first Sunday of December. He's my counselor, and he's going to talk to us more about this renewing our mind from his standpoint.
So here it is. Your thinking determines your future. Would you say amen to that? Your thinking determines the place where you're headed. Whether you think you can or you think you can't, you're right.
This series will give you tools to change by renewing your mind through the power of God's Word so that you can live a passionate, purpose-filled life and fulfill your destiny. So true. That's where we're going to go for the next five weeks.
Imagine fast forward to seven years from now, and you made it seven years. You stand in front of a mirror on Sunday morning, and you stare into the mirror. Someone will be staring back at you. The person you see in the mirror will have been shaped by your thinking for the seven years.
You see, Solomon said this in Proverbs 23 and 7, "For as he thinks in his heart, so is he." Charles Swindoll said it like this. I love this. It's a long quote, but I think it really says what we want to say today.
Thoughts form the thermostat which regulates what we accomplish in our life. My body responds and reacts to the input from my mind. If I feed it with doubt, worry, and discouragement, that is precisely the kind of day I will experience. If I adjust my thermostat forward to thoughts filled with vision, hope, and victory, I can count on that kind of day.
You and I become what we think about. Happiness, like winning, is a matter of right thinking, not intelligence, age, or position. Read the last sentence with me. Our performance is directly related to the thoughts we deposit in the memory bank. We can only draw out what we have deposited.
We live in a world today in which most sports teams and even college teams now have what they call performance specialists. They're psychologists. All they do is work with athletes and people in the world and help them to think about what they're thinking about.
For instance, if a quarterback has a bad day, which Dallas probably will this afternoon. I'm sorry. I knew that was coming from over here. Or maybe it's the Eagles that have a bad day. How's that?
Then next week, you can be sure that Monday morning, their performance psychologist will sit down with the quarterback and he'll say, "Let's go over." Because what he's trying to do is, I don't want the quarterback to get negative thinking in his mind. Because if he gets negative thinking in his mind, he's going to begin performing in that very way.
I mean, if I go to the gym and my trainer Al will say, "If you're going to lift that weight, you got to think you're going to lift that weight." If you think you're not going to lift that weight, you're not going to do it. We just know that, right? We teach our kids that.
So if science and the Bible both say that that's important, then I think we need to think about what we're thinking about. So let me ask you this. Do you like the direction that your thoughts are taking you right now?
And if the answer is no, then I've got help for you today. Point number one in your notes, if you're taking notes, and if you aren't, you should be. Number one, make a decision to change your mind.
Say it with me. Make a decision to change your mind. You are who you are because of what you believe. I like this. What you believe as a truth will affect your life even if it's a lie.
If somebody tells you a lie, but you begin believing that, then you're going to accept it as a truth. If somebody comes along and says you'll never amount to anything, you'll never be anything, you'll never be able to start your own business, you're never going to be loved, you're never going to be friends, that's all a lie.
But if you believe it, then it directs the direction of your life. That goes all the way back to the beginning in Genesis. Remember the Genesis? We looked right now in Genesis chapter 3.
The snake was the most clever of all wild animals that the Lord had made. The snake spoke to the woman and said, "Woman, did God really tell you that you must not eat from any tree in the garden?" And the woman answered, "No."
Now wait, have you ever read that and thought, why isn't she surprised that a serpent is talking to her? I mean, does anybody else think about those things beside me? I mean, she's not like, "Whoa, a snake just spoke to me." No. I mean, she takes it like that happens all the time.
And that caused me to begin to think. I wonder in the beginning when God created everything perfect, I wonder if animals had the ability to speak, or is it just that the enemy, Satan, came and overtook the capacity of that serpent?
So here's the answer. I don't know. I'm not going to lie to you, but I had five theologians in my office before church. And I said, "What do you think about this?" And guess what? They're all dumb. Just like me. They said, "I have no answer."
So somebody said, "Well, do you think animals will be in heaven and talk in heaven?" I don't know. Somebody said, "There'll be no animals in heaven." I don't know what you're going to do when the lion and the lamb lays down together. I don't know what you're going to do about the horse that Jesus rides coming in victory. I don't know what you're going to do about that.
So just to comfort you today, then maybe your puppies will talk to you when you get to heaven. I don't know. Don't quote me on that. That's not good theology.
But the woman, she says back to him, "No, we can eat fruit from all the trees in the garden, but there's one tree that we must not eat from. God told us you must not eat from the fruit of that tree that's in the middle of the garden. You must not even touch or you will die."
Now, think about this. Eve was not even created when God told Adam, "You can eat of any fruit you want in this garden, but don't eat of that one." Now, Eve was not created yet. So how did she know?
Well, it's because Buddy Adam told her. And I believe that he knows women real well. And so he said, "Listen, don't eat of that tree and woman, don't even touch it." That'll sink in later as you're going home.
But the snake said to the woman, "You're not going to die. God knows that if you eat the fruit of that tree..." The snake's putting a thought into her mind. "God knows when you eat of that, you're going to learn about good and evil. And then you're going to be like God."
The woman could see, I got that underlined in my notes, that the tree was beautiful and that the fruit looked so good to eat. She also liked the idea that it would make her wise. So she took some of the fruit from the tree and she ate it. And her husband was right there with her.
So she gave him some of the fruit and he ate it. Then their eyes were opened. They saw things differently. They saw that they were naked. So they got some fig leaves, sewed them together, and wore them for clothes. And they sinned and they failed God.
Notice the serpent didn't say, "Eat the fruit, eat the fruit. Come on, eat the fruit. Here it is. Here it is." No, he planted a lie or a thought in her mind. Here's what he said. "God's holding out on you. God's holding out on you. You can't trust God. I mean, look at that fruit. Doesn't it look good? And why wouldn't God want you to eat something that's good?"
I hear people all the time. "Well, I know it's a sin, but it feels good. And I believe God will understand." Excuse me? He died on the cross. And then you say, "I think he's going to understand my case because my case is kind of special."
I'm sorry. I love you with all my heart, but I have to say to you, no. The enemy has put a lie in your mind that what you're doing is okay because your heart is right.
Listen, if your heart is not right with the word, then your heart is not right with what you're carrying out in your life. Do you understand that? If you believe that today, give the Lord an amen, amen, amen.
We don't know the timeline. I personally don't believe that he said to Eve, "Eat the fruit," and she ate it that day. I think he planted a seed in her mind, and maybe it was a day, maybe it was a week, maybe it was a month, maybe it was a season, that every time she'd walk through the garden, her focus would go to the tree.
And she would remember, "If I eat of this, then I'm going to be like, wouldn't God want me to be like him? If I eat of this, it's going to taste good. Look, I can imagine her walking by and saying, smells good. Ooh, God didn't zap me because I smelled it. God didn't zap me because I was looking at it."
And maybe one day she reaches out and she takes it, and God doesn't zap her. And then she eats and she sins. What is it? What seed has the enemy been planting in your mind?
Some of you, he's saying things like this, "You can't. You can't live a Christian life. You can't get victory over this." Some of you, he's saying, "This won't work for you." We're talking about renewing the mind and getting on focus, and the enemy's telling some of you, "It won't work for you."
For some of you, he's saying, "Yeah, it'll be short-lived. You've tried things before and they didn't work for you." Some of you, he's saying, "Nobody loves you. You don't have any friends. Nobody wants to be your friend. You'll always be lonely."
Some of you, he's saying, "Nobody believes in you. You're always going to be like this. You're not going to feel better. You deserve to be angry. You deserve your addiction. You deserve it because you're not good enough."
The enemy knows that we're not fighting an external battle. But if he can put a lie, a thought that's contrary to this word in our mind, and if we don't check it, if we don't say, "I'm not going to receive that," if we let that linger in our mind, then it will take up residence and one day you'll live it out.
Because here's what I know, he'll wait a lifetime on you. That lie that you've been playing with, that you've been thinking about, that temptation, whatever it is, all of your life you've been thinking about that and it hasn't happened yet, but it'll happen.
The enemy can wait till a lifetime when you get to the peak, when everything should be really going your way, and then what you have left unchecked becomes who you are. Ralph Waldo Emerson said this, "Beware of what you set your mind on, for that you will surely become."
You cannot change what you're not willing to acknowledge. If you're not willing to acknowledge, "I believe the lie. There's some things in my mind that are not true. I've been believing that nobody will love me. I've been believing that I don't have friends, and I go around telling people that all the time. I've been believing that I'll never get over this addiction, and I'll never be able to," you fill in the blanks.
Here's what I know today and I believe with all my heart. You have a great destiny. You have a great destiny promised to you, but the enemy will lie to you that you are not able to achieve it.
Remember in the Old Testament, it goes back there again. They came to the promised land and they sent 12 spies into the promised land, and it was amazing. It was awesome, the promise of God. You see what I'm telling you? The destiny that you have, where you're going, the direction that you're going, if you get there, you're going to find the abundance of fulfillment of God and all of that.
But along the line, if you began believing, that's big. It looks great. It looks wonderful. But I am not able to achieve that. Then instead of fulfilling that, you find yourself moving over here to a comfort zone and you miss your destiny.
So 12 spies went in. They came back carrying grapes. I mean, so big that one thing of grapes, two soldiers had to carry them. They came back and Caleb and Joshua said, "It's exactly what God said. It's amazing. Our destiny is perfect. It's going to be great. Let's go in."
And 10 of the spies, because the enemy had put a doubt in their mind, a lie. I mean, you're going to be surprised at this lie that he told them. And they said, "No." In verse 21, they said, "No, we're not able."
But in Numbers chapter 13, verse 33, they said, "10 of them. There were giants there." And I believe Joshua and Caleb said, "Yep, giants." They said, "We felt like grasshoppers in our own sight. And so we were in their sight."
Have you ever stopped to think about that? I wonder what giant they went up to and said, "Excuse me, Mr. Jolly Green Giant. How do you look at me?" And he said, "I look at you as a grasshopper. You little one, let me squash you."
But see how humorous that is? But it's no more humorous and silly than the lies that the enemy's been telling you. That you'll never be able to be who God wants you to be. You'll never have a great marriage. You'll never be healed. You'll never walk into that ministry.
And so you believe that and you say, "Yeah, that'll work for Bishop Tim. That won't work for me. There's just no way." But you know that God has said what he's going to do. But you begin saying, "I'm not able. I'm not able. I'm not able."
Here's what Emerson said, "Sow a thought, reap an action. Sow an act and you reap a habit. Sow a habit and you reap a character. Sow a character and you reap a destiny."
I believe, and we'll look at this more in the next few weeks, I believe there are five major lies or areas that the enemy plants in all of our minds. One could be fear. Fear. Everything makes you, "I'm afraid I will never be able to. I'm afraid I can't. I'm afraid this. I'm afraid something else."
The second is worry. Some of you are like perpetual worry warts. I mean, you just worry all the time. Somebody says something good and you have a negative thing for that because the enemy has put worry in your mind that you're going to have to worry. Nobody else worries about it, so you're going to have to worry about it.
And then he puts number three, temptation. Wow. I mean, he'd make a great husband. Better than your sorry old husband. I mean, he never opens a door for you. He never gives you anything. He never does anything. Look on the Internet. See that? That's how sex really should be right there in Pornhag. Look at that. Did your wife do this? Did your husband do that?
So then you let that seed take root. And you think, "Yeah." Or maybe it's another fix. Maybe it's another drink. Temptation.
Fourth is something I've always struggled with, lack of worth. He'll tell you, "You'll never do it. You're not smart enough. You're not good enough. You'll never do those."
And then five is just uncertainty. You don't know what to do. You don't know what to do. So you say, "Look, I don't like where I am. So how do I, how do I get rid of this lie? I mean, I just can't say presto chango, get rid of this lie. How do I change my mind?"
Here's how you change your mind. You've got to identify the lie and replace it with the truth from God's word. Say that with me. Identify the lie and replace it with the truth from God's word.
Listen, if Satan's greatest weapon is lies, then our greatest weapon should be the truth of God's word. Right? We say, "Well, how do you understand that?" Because Jesus in Matthew chapter four, you can turn there with me.
Jesus is getting ready to come be the Messiah of the world. But before he does that, he's going to be tested by the enemy. Listen to me. Lean in, as she said earlier, as Simone said, lean in. If God's going to use you greatly, get ready. You're going to be tested greatly.
If God's going to use you greatly, get ready. You're going to be tested greatly. So here we have Jesus. Afterward, the Holy Spirit led Jesus into the lonely wilderness in order to reveal his strength against the accuser, against Satan, against the slanderer, by his going through this ordeal of testing.
And after fasting for 40 days, 40 days, we can't make it one meal. 40 days, Jesus, look at this, was extremely weak and famished. Then the tempter came to incite and entice him and provide food by doing a miracle.
The enemy knows when you're on your last nerve, when you feel weaker than you've ever felt before, when you feel like you can't please God, when you feel like everything you believed in is not happening. He comes at that moment with some of his greatest testing.
The tempter came to entice him. So he said to him, "How can you possibly be the son of God and go hungry? Just order these stones be turned into the bread." And Jesus said, listen to what he said, "The scriptures say, bread alone will not satisfy, but true life is found in every word which constantly comes from God's mouth."
Jesus could have called a whole platoon of angels and said, "Smite you in the mouth, Satan." What does he do? He does what he asks us to do. When the enemy attacks you with a lie, you expose that lie and you tell the truth of God's word.
Then the accuser transported Jesus to the holy city of Jerusalem and perched him on the highest point of the temple and said, "If you're really God's son, jump and the angels will catch you for it is written."
Notice the devil can quote scripture back to you, but he always takes it out of context. Once again, Jesus said, "You must never put the Lord God to test."
And the third time the accuser lifted Jesus to a very high mountain range, showed him all the kingdoms of the world, all the splendor that goes with it. "All these kingdoms I will give you," the accuser said, "if you'll only kneel down before me and worship me."
But Jesus said, "Go away, enemy, for the scriptures say, kneel before the Lord your God and worship him." And at once the accuser left him and the angels suddenly gathered around him to minister to Jesus' needs.
If you want something great, get ready to be tested greatly. How do we, how do we do this? Well, we've got to replace it with the truth, with the truth.
Now, the sad thing is the average Christian doesn't even know 10 verses of scripture by memory. So if the enemy comes at you with a lie, then what arsenal are you going to use? If you don't know the word, what arsenal are you going to use?
So we want to help you because the scripture says, "Study this book of instruction continually, meditate on it day and night so you'll be able to obey everything written therein. Only then will you prosper."
This series, we're going to unpack this passage in Romans chapter 12 verses one and two. Therefore I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God's mercy, would you read it with me out loud?
"To offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God. This is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you'll be able to test and approve what God's will is, is good and pleasing, perfect will."
Don't let the enemy lie to you. Identify that lie and replace it with the truth. And then repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat.
In your notes there, I say this is the next step I'd like for you to take. For 30 days, I'd like for you to really work on identifying that lie, identifying that thought that the enemy has put in your mind and replace it with a memorized truth.
You say, "Well, I don't know very many scriptures by memory." Then in the next five weeks, each week we're going to give you one memory verse, just one.
We're not asking you to understand and read the whole chapter. This is the way I'm going to do it. And our theme verse today is Romans 12 and two from the NIV. And I know some of you memorized it from the New King James and all that, so that's okay.
But in your life group this week, I want you to go around and make sure everybody knows this. Now, don't put them on the spot, but everybody do it together, all right?
So here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to take this verse, Romans 12 and two. I'm going to put it on a card and put it on my mirror in the bathroom. So when I'm brushing my teeth, I'm going to study that. I'm going to put it over the visor of my car.
And every time I pull up to a stop sign, don't do it while you're driving down the road. Every time I pull up to a stop sign, I'm going to work on memorizing that verse. I'm going to hear it. I'm going to talk it into my phone on that particular place.
And I'm going to listen to it when I get in the shower. I'm going to listen to it over and over and over because I'm sick and tired of where I am right now. How about you? There's more that God has for me, and I need to get this truth in my life.
So say it with me like you mean it. Let's say it. "Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is."
Now, listen, I'm not only going to give you a memory verse. I sound like a multilevel marketing person right now. In addition, you're going to get... I want to help you.
So every week, we're not only going to give you a memory verse, but we're going to give you another YouVersion plan to read and study with us. Now, we've been studying all year long. We're reading the Bible together. How many of you are joining us on that passage?
Okay. Where's the rest of you going? So every year to begin the year, we take a YouVersion plan and we read it. This year we're reading through the Bible. Guess what? We're going to do the same plan next year.
This plan is awesome as you're reading with us. But you say, "Well, I'm so far behind." Well, you can start now. Go to our website. Go down there in our reading plan. You can sign up. It's what is it called? Something about Jesus walking the life of Jesus.
But then there's going to be another one I want you to hook up to this week. It's only seven days. It's called Winning the War in Your Mind. It'll look just like that.
So you go to YouVersion. You actually go to our website. You can scroll down there, see War in Your Mind. It's a great book by Craig Groeschel. It's one of the best ones I know. It's one I recommend.
But in seven days, we're going to walk through this book. And there's other books I would recommend. Think Again by Adam Grant. If you're a real brainy person, this will really be good for you.
And some of us are just old school. We like Joyce Meyer and The Battlefield of the Mind. We'll have some of those in the resources place for you. But don't miss this series.
Next week, Pastor Kevin's going to talk about how that we need people around us to fulfill and renew our mind. Every once in a while, you need somebody along that will come along and say, "How you doing, Steve? How you doing with that? How's it working for you?"
How many of you today that you are a believer, but you know that there are some lies and there are some thoughts that the enemy has been dropping into your mind, and they've distracted you from being who God wants you to be?
I want to pray for you today. If that you would just raise your hand and say, "Yeah, I'll tell you that's me. I'm a believer. But man, this I identified with this today. I really did."
Let me pray for you, Lord. It was an accident that you asked us to do this series. In fact, it's been three years since we did it as a church of renewing our mind.
So, Lord, I pray for every hand that went up, and my hand is there too. Because I know there are lies and their thoughts that the enemy has dropped into my mind, especially the older I get.
But, Lord, I claim today the truth of your word that I will not conform to the pattern of this world, but I'll be transformed by the renewing of my mind.
Father, I pray for every believer who raised their hand. Help them, Lord, to sort out their thoughts. Help them to memorize this verse, to memorize others. Help us, Lord, as a church to do this YouVersion plan this week.
Seven days won't take us long of winning the war in our mind. And then we'll do the YouVersion plan to get out of your head by Jenny Allen. Because we want to equip ourselves, Lord, to be all that you want us to be.
As you continue to pray and meditate on your life, I want to talk to some of you that may be here today. You're not a believer. I mean, you say to me, "Terry, my thoughts, my thoughts are all over the page. I mean, one day I wake up and I think things are good. The next day I feel like a heel because I know that I'm just bouncing back and forth like a ball in the pinball machine. I just don't seem to have a purpose or destiny."
I want you to know it's not an accident that you're here today. And I want to tell you about Jesus. Jesus is God's son. He came to this earth. He was born of a virgin. He walked and he lived a sinless life. He said, "In every way that you've been tempted, I've been tempted also. I've been there and I've got the victory."
But then he went to the cross and he shed his blood to cover your sins and my sins. Sins have to be covered by the blood. It has to be forgiveness.
So today you can be cleansed in the power of the blood of Jesus. But Jesus didn't stay dead in that grave. On the third day he came out in full victory because he wanted to give you and me a second chance for life.
So if you're here today and you're unsure of where your life is headed right now and your thoughts are all over the place, but you say, "You know what? Today I want to surrender and transfer my trust to Jesus."
Would you raise your hand right where you're sitting and let me pray with you today? Thank you, sir. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you in the back. Thank you down here. Thank you here. Thank you here. Thank you.
Others today say, "Yeah, that's me. That's me." And to you that are online, thank you. Thank you in the back. I see your hand. Thank you.
Let me lead you in a prayer. Would you pray this prayer with me? We've all prayed a prayer like this at some time or another, or we need to pray this with me.
Father God, I thank you for sending your son Jesus to die for my sins. I confess today I am a sinner in need of a Savior. I am lost. I need for you to find me. I sense your spirit is drawing me today and I accept you as my Savior.
And I believe that you are the Lord. And on the third day, you rose from the dead so that I could have a fresh start in life. Fill me with your spirit. As best as I know how, I want to serve you all the days of my life in Jesus' name.
Church, would you give the Lord a hand clap for these who invited the Lord into their life? Come on. Lives have changed. Eternities have changed. This is so important.
Those of you who raised your hand, I want to get some materials into your hand to help you on this journey. Over here at the first step table and over here at the first step table, some great people that have some resources for you. They're not going to sign you up for something that are going to keep you. They're just going to give you something that will help you.
And before you rush out, let's just remain seated. We're getting ready to receive our tithe and offering today. And our officer and our ushers are monitoring that because we want to be sure that we don't disturb them.
But as you're getting ready, as the ushers come, let me read a passage of scripture to you from 2 Corinthians. Paul said, "Here's my point. A stingy sower will reap a meager harvest, but the one whose souls from a generous spirit will reap an abundant harvest. Let giving flow from your heart, not from a sense of religious duty. Let it spring up freely from the joy of giving all because God loves hilarious generosity."
Look at your neighbor and say, "God loves hilarious generosity."
All right. So I want to pray for you today. Lord, I thank you for those that are giving today and those that have already given, given online paying. And we just thank you today that we can give hilariously.
And Lord, I know you even take money from stingy people, so that'll be okay. We thank you today.
Hey, as you're giving today, watch this because we're part of this convoy of hope. Watch. Let me tell you about it. Watch this video. And let's give to the Lord.
Now because of your generosity with your legacy giving last year, we'll be talking that in a little while. As January moves into giving of legacy and some of you give in December, we were able to send because of your generosity, $25,000 to Convoy of Hope to make a difference in people's lives.
Hey, let's stand and let's worship the Lord. The prayer team will come down front. Amen.
on Nov 05, 2023
