Oh, oh, oh! Good morning, Father's House, and welcome into the house today!
We'd love to welcome those of you that are joining us online this morning, and we're so grateful that you chose to worship with us online.
We're here for one thing: that's to bring glory to God because He is worthy and deserving of all of our praise.
So let's kick off this New Year giving praise and thanks to our good God!
I praise in the valley, I praise on the mountain, I praise when I'm sure, and I praise when I'm doubting.
I praise when outnumbered, I praise when surrounded, 'cause praise is the water my enemies drowning.
As long as I'm breathing, then I've got a reason to praise the Lord, oh my soul!
I praise when I feel, I praise when I don't. I praise 'cause I know You're still in control, yes, You are!
'Cause my praise is a weapon, it's more than a sound. My praise is the shout that brings Jericho down.
And as long as I'm breathing, then I've got a reason to praise the Lord, oh my soul!
Come on, praise the Lord, oh my soul!
Oh, I will be quiet; my God is alive! Oh, how could I keep it inside?
Come on and praise the Lord, oh my soul!
Come on, praise the Lord!
Now, this bridge is riddled with reasons, right? But the number one reason that we have to give praise and thanks to God is because there's breath and there's life in our bodies this morning.
That your hands are actively working, and you are able to clap and put them together to lift them and exalt the name of God.
But in this bridge, it says that He's sovereign, He reigns, He rose, defeated hell, death, and the grave, came back, snatched the keys, and we can dangle them because we have the victory now, right? Amen!
Let's lift this bridge up together:
I praise 'cause You're sovereign, I praise 'cause You reign.
I praise 'cause You rose and defeated the grave.
I praise 'cause You're faithful, I praise 'cause You're true.
I praise 'cause there's nobody greater than You!
Praise the Lord, oh my soul!
Come on and praise the Lord, oh my soul!
Come on and praise the Lord, oh my soul!
Praise the Lord, oh my soul!
Oh, I won't be quiet; my God is alive! How could I keep it inside?
Oh, I won't be quiet; my God is alive! So how could I keep it inside?
Come on and praise the Lord, oh my soul!
Praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord!
Come on and praise the Lord!
Amen, amen, amen!
Who can roll the stone from every grave? Only Jesus, only You!
Who has called me out and knows my name? Only Jesus, only You!
Who is like You? None beside You, my God, You're worthy!
I will sing of it all my days, King forever, my Defender, my God, You're worthy!
I will sing of it all my days.
Who will go before me in the night? Only Jesus, only You!
Who will bring the victory in the fight? Only Jesus, only You!
Who is like You? None beside You, my God, You're worthy!
I will sing of it all my days, King forever, my God, You're worthy!
I will sing of You, Jesus!
I will sing of You, Jesus!
Just give me Jesus; it's all I want, it's all I want!
Just give me Jesus!
Just give me Jesus; it's all I want, it's all I want!
Just give me Jesus!
Just give me Jesus; He's all I want, He's all I want!
Just give me Jesus!
And who is like You? None beside You, my God, You're worthy!
I will sing of it all my days, King forever, my Defender, my God, You're worthy!
I will sing of it all my days.
Who will keep the promises He spoke? Only Jesus, only You!
And who is coming back to bring me home? Only Jesus, only You!
Amen!
You may be seated.
We are going to receive communion together, and hopefully, when you came in this morning, you were able to get the elements on the way in.
But our ushers are here; if you need some, just raise your hand; they'd be happy to serve you.
For those of you at home, if you want to participate with us, you can grab some crackers, juice, or something to signify as we are together as a family receiving communion.
If you want to prepare your elements by taking the little top part first, there's two parts, and then the second part, we'll be ready to do that.
We just celebrated Christmas, and that's the birth of Jesus, and what a wonderful time it is to remember His birth.
But Jesus never told us to remember His birth; He did tell us to remember His death and His resurrection, and so that's what we're doing right now.
Easter's coming up on the last Sunday of March, and it'll be here before we know it.
And so we think about what He did for us. What He did for us, and communion is a celebration; it's a remembrance, and it's a proclamation of Jesus and His death and what He did for us.
It reminds us and declares that Christ was with us, He died for us, and now He is in us, working through us.
I want to encourage you to remember that if you are a believer in Jesus and you've given your life to Him, He lives in you, and He's working through you.
So again, today is just a way for us to be reminded of what He did on the cross for us.
He didn't want to do it; He did not think, "Oh yes, I can't wait! Today is the day I get to die on the cross, take all the sins, past, present, and future."
He didn't want to do it, but He did it for you, and He did it for me.
It's not just a ritual that we do every first Sunday of the month.
"Oh yeah, we're at Father's House; we're going to do communion because it's the first Sunday."
No, it's not a ritual, but we practice communion together to remember, to help us to remember.
And what do we need to remember?
We remember to be grateful, to be grateful for what He did.
I want you to take just a moment of reflection right now, just to think about what Jesus did for you and what that affords you now in this life, but also in your eternity.
If you've surrendered your life, and this is a meal for believers.
If you haven't surrendered your life, then the Bible tells us that we shouldn't partake.
But it's a habit of gratitude; it's showing our thankfulness to remember what He did.
1 Corinthians 11:23-26 says, "On the night He was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took bread, and He spoke a prayer of thanksgiving. He broke the bread and said, 'This is my body, which is given for you. Do this to remember me.'
Then when supper was over, He did the same with the cup and said, 'This cup is the new promise, the new promise made with my blood. Every time you drink from it, do it to remember me.'"
So when we participate, He gave us the bread and the wine as a memory tool.
He gave it so that we could help remember to practice gratitude in all things.
When we participate in the Lord's Supper or communion, we're saying to God, "Thank you, Father, for sending Your Son, Jesus, to live a perfect life and die for our sins so that we can be forgiven."
And as we remind ourselves of that high price that Jesus paid to save us, the only reasonable response that we have is gratitude.
If you can't think of anything else to be grateful for, be grateful for that: that Jesus loves you so much that He gave His life so that we could have eternal life.
Some of us need to inform our face; I'm one of those.
I just have that face that I'm not thinking about anything, and people think I'm sad or mad or whatever.
Inform your face what's going on in your heart—the gratitude that we have toward Jesus.
Be grateful and remember Him whenever you receive communion.
Amen, amen!
Let's stand; we're going to continue to worship.
The weapon may be formed, but it won't prosper.
And when the darkness falls, it won't prevail, 'cause the God I serve knows only how to triumph.
Oh, my God will never fail!
No, my God will never fail!
And I'm going to see Your victory; I'm going to see Your victory, for the battle belongs to You, Lord!
I'm going to see Your victory; I'm going to see Your victory, for the battle belongs to You, Lord!
Whoa, oh!
There's power, there's power in the mighty name of Jesus!
And every war He wages, He will win!
Oh, I'm not backing down from any giant, 'cause I know how this story ends!
Yes, I know how this story ends!
And I'm going to see a victory; I'm going to see a victory, for the battle belongs to You, Lord!
I'm going to see Your victory; I'm going to see a victory, for the battle belongs to You, Lord!
Oh, I'm going to see Your victory; I'm going to see Your victory, for the battle belongs to You, Lord!
I'm going to see Your victory; I'm going to see a victory, for the battle belongs to You, Lord!
Oh, hey!
You take what the enemy meant for evil, and You turn it for good!
Yes, You do!
You turn it!
Oh, You'll turn it around!
You take what the enemy meant for evil, and You turn it for good!
You turn it for good!
You take what the enemy meant for evil, and You turn it for good!
You turn it for good!
You take, You take, You take, You take!
You take what the enemy meant for evil, and You turn it for good!
You turn it for good!
Oh, You turn it around!
You take what the enemy meant for evil, and You turn it for good!
You turn it for good!
I'm going to see a victory; I'm going to see a victory, for the battle belongs to You, Lord!
I'm going to see Your victory; I'm going to see Your victory, for the battle belongs to You, Lord!
I'm going to see Your victory; I'm going to see Your victory, for the battle belongs to You, Lord!
I'm going to see Your victory; I'm going to see Your victory, for the battle belongs to You, Lord!
You take, You take, You take what the enemy meant for evil, and You turn it for good!
You turn it for good!
You turn it around!
God, You're turning it around!
Oh, for good!
All for good!
I'm going to see a victory; I'm going to see a victory, for the battle belongs to You, Lord!
I'm going to see a victory; I'm going to see a victory, for the battle belongs to You, Lord!
So I'll keep my feet steady with my hands raised high!
I surrender, God; it's all Yours!
I'll steady my feet on the truth of Your Word and lift my hands high!
I surrender, God; I know it's all Yours!
What could I do with my hands You can't do with Your words?
You speak a word, and it comes forth; it shall not ever return void!
You accomplish more with Your voice, God!
With Your voice, with Your voice, God!
So speak a word to our hearts, Lord!
This is how I fight my battles!
This is how I fight my battles!
This is how I fight my battles!
This is how I fight my battles!
With my feet steady and my hands held high, I'll fight my battles!
Oh, this is how I fight my battles!
Even though it may look like I'm surrounded, but I'm surrounded by You!
It may look like I'm surrounded, but I'm surrounded by You!
It may look like I'm surrounded, but I'm surrounded by You!
It may look like I'm surrounded, but I'm surrounded by You!
So this is how I fight my battles!
This is how I fight my battles!
Oh, this is how I fight my battles!
This is how I fight my battles!
It may look like I'm surrounded, but I'm surrounded by You!
It may look like I'm surrounded, but I'm surrounded by You!
It may look like I'm surrounded, but I'm surrounded by You!
It may look like I'm surrounded, but I'm surrounded by You!
In Second Kings, there's a story of Elisha, and this army is on his doorstep because, well, he's been obedient to God, right?
And sometimes you might find yourself in situations where you are being obedient, doing everything right, but the army still comes.
The enemy still comes in like a flood, 'cause that's what he does.
But that morning, Elisha's servant opens the door, and he looks outside, and he's like, "Oh my goodness! There's an army! There's chariots! There's fire! There is everything stacked up against him!"
And sorry, I'm going to read this.
And Elisha's servant looks out, and he basically says, "What are we going to do? What are we going to do? What am I going to do?"
That's what you might be asking yourself: "What are you going to do? How can I do this? There it is insurmountable!"
The weight might be on you, like honestly, it's on me in this very moment.
But I'm choosing, so are many of you, to praise through it.
It just doesn't make sense!
You know, people want maybe a tangible solution to things.
People want maybe a step-by-step, but I've got one piece of advice for you this morning, and that is to praise even though it doesn't make sense!
To worship even though your heart is breaking!
To lift your hands, pushing through the weight of maybe darkness that seems to be crowding in on you.
Because I know one thing: that God is faithful, and He's with you!
And just like when Elisha's servant looked at what seemed impossible surrounding him, and he asked, "What are we going to do?"
Elisha then prayed this prayer: "God, open his eyes so he can see that there's more with us than there is with them that is against us."
And so you'll be encouraged today that even though you feel surrounded, even though you feel cast down, even though you feel broken, even though you might feel hopeless, lift your eyes beyond yourself and lift it towards God who is with you!
There are angel armies!
Do you know He commands armies of angels?
He is a mighty God, and nothing is too impossible for Him to do!
So be encouraged this morning!
If you came in downcast, if you feel like it's impossible, be encouraged this morning that He is with you!
And this is how you can fight your battles: with your feet steady on the Word of God, with the truth of what His Word says about you and your situation, and who He is, by raising your hands in worship and also in victory!
Because He will bring the victory!
It may not come like you want it; it may not come when you want it, but you will be victorious at the end!
God, we thank You for who You are!
We love You, Lord!
Thank You for Your Word of encouragement this morning!
There's nothing too hard for You, God!
There's nothing too hard for You, God!
There's nothing that is too hard for You!
And when we come to that point where we have exhausted all of our options, that's the perfect place to be!
That's when You can do what only You can do, God!
And if we're here at that place, we surrender ourselves this morning to You, and we ask You, God, to have Your way!
We thank You for this time of worship with You, sitting in Your presence, hearing and sensing Your Spirit, and being encouraged and offering You the glory that You deserve, Lord!
Help our eyes to be opened; help our ears to be unlocked so that we can hear what You need to say through us, to us, through Your Word this morning, and also through those vessels that are upon the stage this morning.
We thank You for what You've begun to do in hearts this morning and what You will continue to do throughout this service.
And it's only by the mighty, matchless name of Jesus that we can all exclaim this morning, "Amen! Amen! Amen!"
Well, go ahead and turn to some people around you and welcome them to the Father's House!
Good morning! My name is Simone, and this is my great friend Paul.
Good morning, everyone!
We want to welcome you to the house, and we also want to take just a second and welcome all those online, so let's hear something!
Good morning, online!
Outstanding!
If you are new with us here at the Father's House, go ahead and grab one of these connection cards from the seat back in front of you.
If you are in the front row, just go ahead and lean over, talk to the person behind you, and get one from back there.
We want you to fill it out as much as you feel comfortable and take it to the "New Here? Start Here" table in the front for you at the end of service because we have a special gift just for you!
And let me point out, at the very bottom of the connection card, it says, "How can we help you?"
So if you have a prayer need, you can list it there, or better yet, if you have a praise report that we could celebrate with you, put that there!
Yes!
And so we want you to know who we are and what we stand for, right?
Absolutely!
Yes!
Everybody in here has a purpose, but as a group, as this church, we have a group purpose!
Yes!
And we call that our mission statement, so why don't y'all help us say it now?
Yes!
We are bringing hope and impacting our community by leading people into a growing relationship with Jesus!
And one of the ways that we impact our community is by our giving, and you guys do such a great job in doing that!
And there's the four ways up there that you can give, and we're going to do that at the end of service, so get ready, and then we'll pass the buckets at the end.
And while I'm thinking about it, reach into your pocket or your purse and find that loose change in there, and be sure to drop that in the bucket as it goes by!
What we use that for is what our mission statement is all about—helping others!
Yes!
And we call that "Change for Change," and this month that goes to what?
Benevola!
Yep!
So there is a lot going on here at the Father's House!
There is a lot going on here at the Father's House, and we want you to stay in the know!
The best way to do that is we'd love for you to go to thefathershouse.com, or you can just scan that QR code on the screen above you!
And if you had been out there already looking, you would have known yesterday we had a men's breakfast, and there were 80 to 90 men that showed up to listen to the amazing testimony of Sean!
And yes, there's a lot going on for Sisterhood too, ladies! Woohoo!
So registration opens up for that!
And can we also mention that the Martin Luther King Day parade is coming on the 20th, and we want you guys to register!
And please don't forget that you don't have to be a biker to go!
We know there's a lot of bikers that do this for us; it's so great!
But you can walk, you can run, bring your stroller, bring your children; it's for everyone!
So register to do that as well!
Please pray with me!
God, we thank You for this wonderful day already and all that You've already done here in our service!
We pray, dear God, that You will just prepare our hearts to receive what it is that You have for each and every one of us!
Dear God, open our hearts, open our ears spiritually to just really take in this message!
Anoint Pastor Terry in this moment and just let Your Word do what it does!
In Jesus' name, amen!
Watch these videos!
Well, it's good to see you!
Haven't seen you since last year!
Hope you're having a good year!
You didn't—you don't look any worse for making it through a year!
All right, look better!
And we're just so thankful that you're here today!
Wow, what great worship!
Don't you love our praise and worship team?
Wow!
Just—and there's room for you if you'd like to be part of that team, as well as there's room for all of our other teams!
And we thank the Lord for them!
Listen, Saturday at 11:00 a.m., we're going to have a memorial service here for Pastor Andrea's mother.
She graduated onto Heaven this week, and she's been through a lot of struggles.
And so at 11:00, Saturday, if you'd like to come, it's going to be a little different memorial than what you're used to.
They've requested, since she was a big football fan, that you wear FSU shirts or Kansas City!
All right, so there's no choice in that; it'll be the Florida State!
And I know Vance, who's a Gator fan because he's her husband, he bought one; he's going to wear it, but he promised he'd burn it right after!
But we do want to come and honor Pastor Andrea, and our prayers are with you!
You have your Bible with you, your iPhone, your iPad, whatever you use?
Let's lift it up, and let's say this together:
This is my Bible; it is the Word of God!
Life to me today!
I receive the Word!
I confess my mind is alert, my heart is receptive!
I am obedient!
I will never be the same again!
In Jesus' name!
And we welcome those of you that are watching online!
It's always good to see that you're here, and we hope that if you're ever in this area, you'll come and visit us, and we'll treat you as best as we can!
And if you're sick, we pray you get healed so you can get back to church!
And if you're still waiting for COVID to end, just come on back, all right?
And whatever you have to do, but we miss you, and we're glad to see you!
Father, we love You today!
Our hearts have been directed towards You in the worship and just the amazing fellowship that's here at this house!
We thank You for every man, woman, boy, and girl that has decided to come today to put You first place!
And Lord, as we start this brand new series and as we're starting this month of fasting, we pray that You would direct us, guide us, and help us to focus in the right way!
That it's just not an event, but it's something spiritual that we're applying to our life!
And I pray today that, Holy Spirit, You will anoint me!
Don't let me say anything I shouldn't, but let me say everything You want me to say today!
And I pray at the end of today, Father, that You would be glorified, the saints would be edified, and the devil would be terrified!
In the name of Jesus!
Well, this week on Facebook, Lisa put out a question that I had of what reality TV program that you might watch, and we got a lot of responses back!
I love the responses!
So many!
Some of them I didn't even know that was a reality program; I thought it was just a sitcom!
But anyway, I learned a lot this week!
All right, but some of you said Survivor, Fear Factor—that's an old one!
The Golden Bachelor—I don't know; I never even saw that one!
I guess that must be an old person there!
But Amazing Race, Biggest Loser, Nip and Tuck—all of those!
But back in 2002, ABC premiered a reality show called Extreme Makeover.
It only lasted for three seasons, but there were a lot of spin-offs from that: Extreme Makeover Home Edition, Extreme Makeover Foot Edition, Extreme Makeover Car Edition—you see where I'm going?
It just seems like it never ends!
Every week, it's another reality!
But in the Extreme Makeover, what they would do, they would bring a needy person in or a person that just looked ugly—sorry, that I shouldn't have said that; I'm sorry, that was not politically correct!
Right, rewind!
They brought in people who were in real need, and so they gave them plastic surgery, they gave them dental work if needed, they brought in stylists, they gave them a new set of clothes, and then at the end of that, however long it took, they'd roll the truck away or whatever it was, but it would be open the curtain, and the family members are there, and they'd all look at them and say, "Oh yeah, I didn't even recognize you! You look so different! You look so amazing!"
Now, the season only lasted three years, and I got to thinking about that.
I wonder why it only lasted three years?
Could it be that those who got an external makeover couldn't keep it up themselves?
They didn't have the stylist; they didn't have the trainer; they didn't have the internal thoughts of where they were.
Now listen, I'm not against plastic surgery; if I were, I would be slamming half of The Villages that attend this church!
Sorry, sorry, rewind!
Listen, I'm up for a little nip and tuck; there's a few things I'd like to nip and tuck myself!
But anyway, at 74, I don't think it'll happen in this life, all right?
But when I get to the next life, it's going to change!
But I was thinking about that: why are we so fascinated with makeover programs?
Now, maybe it's an old car, and they show it to you before; it's just a wreck in the junkyard, and then they fix it up and do all that nice fin, the wheels, and all that, and you look, "Oh wow, man, look at that! Look what they did! Look at the ingenuity of somebody that could take something that was nothing and make it look like that! Wow!"
Or if it was a house, you'd see the same thing in shambles, and it was after—or in the original thing of taking someone who needed a makeover in all areas of their life.
So why are we so interested in that?
But I think because, first of all, we really love positive transformations!
We really love to see things that happen before and happen after, and the after is better than the before!
But I wonder if it's also that in our DNA, we don't all want to do better, be better, improve every year!
In January, people fill out New Year's resolutions and whatever, and I'm not against those or for those, but I do think that we all need to have something that we're looking forward to, that in our life we need to change!
I've got things in my life I want to change this year, and I'm hoping this year will be the year!
But I think a lot of times the problem is when we look at makeovers, we always think of the external—what we can see!
But you know, it's really an inside edition; it's what happens from the inside out that changes!
In fact, you've seen the stories; you've seen people that have just got—I mean, they've had plastic surgery out the ye-haw, and they stand there and they look in front of a mirror and they say, "Oh look, this is not good! I still got some here! I still got some here! I still don't have enough here! I don't have enough!"
And this is not what I want!
I need more!
I need more!
I need more!
Because you see, if you're always looking for things that are external that's going to bring you satisfaction, you'll never find it!
It's not in that new car; it's not in that new house; it's not in the new clothes; it's not in the new gun, Steve!
It's not in any of those!
But it's—and those things are all enjoy that!
Enjoy the car, the guns, and everything, and I'm not politically correct today, so that's okay!
But I've got a few guns, so don't come to my house and try to break in at night!
I don't know what I'm talking here!
But I didn't have any of this in the morning!
But for the next month, I want to lead you on a spiritual journey of a makeover, and we're starting this week with our 21-day fast!
Tomorrow—hey, do you have your sermon notes from today?
Turn it over on the back!
Take out your phone!
By the way, while you're taking out, go ahead and put it on silent; that's always good!
And then go ahead, there on the back, there's a QR code!
Take your camera, scan that, hit that QR code, and it brings me up to 21 days of prayer and fasting!
Have you got that far yet?
All right, so then it tells you prayer and fasting 2024, January 8th, which is tomorrow, through January 28th, and it's a 21-day fast as we move into that!
And then there's a place you can hit resources, and when you go there, you'll find—you follow on down through there, and you'll find a lot of resources!
But also, I want you to look at the—see the thing that says "Fast like Daniel"?
Click here to join TFH!
So if you click that, then it'll take you to open in the Bible; it'll take you to that particular U-version program that we're going to look at for 21 days!
And there's two of them there: there's "Fast like Daniel," and there's the other one!
Anita and I are doing both of those; you can choose one or you can choose both of those!
I think they'll help you!
And then tomorrow morning on the Father's House Facebook page throughout the day, afternoon also, you'll see beginning prayer that I'll lead you in some prayer points!
And then for 21 days, every day, there'll be someone different that's going to give you some prayer points that we're going to focus in on praying in this 21 days!
Now, I'm asking you to do a lot of things, but also there's a connection card in the chair in front of you!
You—or as she said, if you're on the front seat, just look around, smile at the people behind you, and say, "Please give me a connection card!"
And fill out as much information that you can!
But here's what I want you to do: down where it says, "How can I help you?" I want you to fill in there the type of fast that you're going to commit to for this month!
Now, some of you, it may be your first time fasting, so I don't think you would want to start necessarily with a 21-day Daniel Fast!
But you might start—if you look at our resource page on the Father's House Facebook, you'll find the Esther Fast, you'll find the Paul Fast, you'll find the Daniel Fast, you'll find other fasts!
Some are a day; some of them are three days; the Daniel Fast is 21 days!
I'd like to know what fast you're going to do because I'd like to keep these cards, and for the next 21 days, I want to pray with you on your commitment!
Now, if you have health issues, you need to be sure that it's cleared with your doctor that you're all right!
But I just want to know what you're doing!
Now, Anita and I are going to start out our 21-day journey, and we're going to do a liquid-only fast for about three days or more!
At least I'm going to do it; I don't know what she's going to do yet!
But anyway, I know there are some that she's going to do!
And then after that, we're going to do the Daniel Fast!
Now, people say, "What's the Daniel Fast?"
Well, in our resources on our website, it'll tell you Daniel ate only vegetables, fruits, whole grains, things like that—clean eating, right?
However you do that!
Now, some people say, "Well, will this work? Will that work?"
And you tailor that to however you feel like that you're giving up something worthwhile!
Because really, fasting is less about what you're giving up, and it's more about putting the Holy Spirit in the driver's seat, making room for you!
Now, and then after we do that, we're going to do the 21-day fast, and Anita and I, and then we're going to give up TV except sports!
I mean, you can't expect me to give up football in the playoffs, right?
You can't!
So we're going to do that!
And then the other thing we're going to give up is endless scrolling on social media!
Endless scrolling!
How much time do we do that?
So that's what we're doing!
And it's not really a fun time, but it's an exciting time because I believe there's something about this 2024 fast that's going to change lives!
So would you please fill that out, drop it in the offering envelope at the end, because I desperately want to see what you're doing and pray with you!
Listen to me, please listen to me!
Don't compare your fast to anybody else's!
Don't let somebody say, "Well, I'm fasting 21 days, and I'm doing water for the whole thing!"
Well, yay for them because maybe they have a fasted lifestyle!
You see, we're supposed to live a fasted lifestyle!
Jesus said, "When you pray, when you fast," so He expects us to do that!
So I challenge you to look at the resources that we have, and if you need more information, you can call the church office here and ask for Maggie; she has all the answers!
Okay?
All right!
I want to look today about this series that we're going to look at, and we're going to be looking in Galatians chapter 5, and I want to start in verse 22, and it talks about an internal inside edition makeover!
Galatians 5:22, are you there?
Let's look at this together!
But when the Holy Spirit controls our lives—in fact, I'd like you to read it with me out loud!
You ready?
Go!
When the Holy Spirit controls our lives, He will produce—wait a minute, let's stop there!
He will produce!
In other words, I don't have to try to say, "I'm going to make this happen!"
He will produce!
He will produce this kind of fruit!
Read it with me:
Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control!
There is no conflict in the law!
So He puts that "no conflict in the law" because He's writing to the church at Galatia, and they're in all the externals!
There's 613 laws in the Old Testament plus interpretation of those laws, and the church at Galatia was all into the externals: do this, keep that, don't do this, don't do this, don't do that!
So Paul comes along and says, "Look, it's good to live that kind of life, but the way you live that kind of life is that you've got to get something on the inside of you that's working to produce those things in your life!"
So in your notes, I have those listed!
Look at them there; there's checks there:
Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control!
What I'd like you to do is take out your pen, your mascara, your lipstick, whatever you have, and I'd like for you to listen!
I'd like you to do this!
I'd like you to engage in this!
Don't copy your neighbor's page, but I'd like you to look at that and say, "What are the top three manifestations of the fruit do I need in my life?"
What are the top three?
Would you check those?
Just put a check box there that the top three!
What are the top three?
Well, look, I know that I need that last one—self-control!
Yeah, I need that one for sure!
And you know what? I need a lot of patience, so I'm going to check that one!
And you know, there's a lot of different things going on in my life, and I need to learn how to have peace in the midst of chaos, and those would be my top three!
Now, my top three may not be yours!
You may have the most self-control in the world; you may have the most patience in the world, but you lack love!
People just tick you off!
Well, good news!
I'm going to be teaching a sermon the 1st of February on people that just tick you off!
All right?
How do you get along?
Because this is Extreme Makeover!
We're doing session one here this month, session two, Extreme Makeover: Relationships, and then in March, Extreme Makeover: Session Three, and I'll tell you what that one is later!
All right?
So we look at those and we say, "Okay, if all of these things are in my life because of the Holy Spirit, then why am I not producing them?"
Well, that's a good question, and that leads us to the problem!
Everybody say, "The problem!"
Here's the problem; it's in verse 17!
Look at this!
The old sinful nature loves to do evil!
In other words, when I become a believer, my spirit is redeemed, but my old nature is still there!
And so I've got to work with that; I've got to conquer that!
So the old sinful nature—or you could just say the old me—nature loves to do evil!
There, the word evil just simply means ugly things that really wouldn't be what love, joy, peace, and all of those are, which is just the opposite of what the Holy Spirit wants!
The Spirit gives us desires—look at that again!
The Spirit gives us desires—say desires!
He gives us those desires that are opposite to what the sinful nature desires!
These two forces are constantly fighting each other, and your choices are never free from this conflict!
Now, I'd love to tell you at the end of this 21-day fast, at the end of these three Extreme Makeover series, you're going to have no problems in life!
But you're going to struggle with these two choices: am I letting the Holy Spirit direct my life, or am I living by my feelings?
And what I'm figuring out!
So that's the problem; it's this old nature that is there working within us!
In verse 19, here it tells us about if we live not by the Spirit, but if we live by our old nature, here's what happens!
When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, I'm in verse 19, right?
When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear:
Sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousies, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissensions, division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other like these!
Wow!
So He says that's the problem!
But here's the plan!
Look at verse 16 and verse 25!
I love this!
So I advise you—let's take some good advice this morning!
Look at your neighbor and say, "I'm going to advise you of something right now!"
Look at this!
Let's read it out loud!
So I advise you to live according to your new life in the Holy Spirit!
Then you won't be doing what your sinful nature craves!
Verse 25 says it like this:
If we're living now by the Holy Spirit, let us follow the Holy Spirit's leading in every part of our life!
And I think it's as simple as ABC!
First of all, A stands for act as if God has already given you these gifts!
How many of you know without a shadow of a doubt that you're a Christ follower and the Holy Spirit lives in your life because He's come to us to live out the life of Christ?
Are you a Christ follower?
You know that!
So if a person beside you has their hand up, tell them these manifestations are already in your life!
You don't have to pray!
So don't leave today going home saying, "Lord, fill me with the fruit of the Spirit!"
He's going to say, "No, time out! You don't understand! This is not an addendum to Spirit life; this is the impact of Spirit life!"
If the Holy Spirit is guiding your life, it doesn't mean you're perfect!
Anybody perfect in here?
Wow!
'Cause I didn't know how I was going to handle that one!
Maybe fly life pants on fire, something like that!
I don't know!
We're not perfect; we're all in process!
There's still things in my life that's in process!
You're going to hear a testimony in a minute of something from the very beginning to the very end!
It's just a constant process of how God is leading someone to be who He wants them to be!
So act as if God has already given you these gifts!
How many of you are a little older like me, and you remember that you used to ride a bicycle and never wore a helmet?
Yeah!
You used to get in a car, and if you wanted to lay up in the back window while you're going down the road, you lay in that back window and you watch the sky as it goes by!
Wow!
And you just—you didn't have all the constraints of life!
Well, when I was just a kid, I learned to drive my dad's truck!
I don't know how old I was—maybe five, six, I don't know!
And they say, "How did you do that?"
Well, here's how we did it back then!
I sat on my dad's lap, and he was accelerating and braking, but he was holding the wheel!
And then he'd say to me, "Just hold the wheel a little while!"
Because you see, I lived on a farm, and you had to know how to drive a tractor by the time you were 10 or 11 to be able to work, right?
So we'd drive along, and I'm just a kid!
I remember this!
And then he would say, "Okay, there's nobody on the road, so take the wheel! Feel what the wheel feels like!"
And I just—so man, I'm driving the truck!
Now, was I really driving the truck?
No!
What was I doing?
I was acting like I was driving the truck!
When I saw my little sister, I'd say, "I drove the truck today!"
You did what?
"I drove the truck today!"
Now, did I drive the truck?
No!
I acted like I was driving the truck!
Here's what I'm saying to us: if the fruit of the Spirit is already in our life, then we need to begin acting like those manifestations of the fruit are already in our life!
Do you understand that?
It's not, "I'm praying for more of this!"
I'm going to start acting like I have peace!
I'm going to start acting like I have joy!
I'm going to start acting like I have patience!
B stands for believe that God is the only source for a true makeover!
You see, the first part, A, act like you already have these, would really not work unless you really understood that Jesus, the Holy Spirit, is your only resource!
If I don't—look, if I'm acting as the fruit of the Spirit is in my life, but I'm not saying, but the root of that goes back to the Holy Spirit!
I'm tapped onto the vine of Jesus, and because I'm tapped onto Him, then the Holy Spirit is in my life because He said, "I'm going to send the Holy Spirit to be in your life because He can be with you 24/7 for the rest of your life!"
And He says He's going to be there for you to produce that life!
So when I realize that it's not just me acting like I have these manifestations, but I have them because I'm connected to Jesus, and they begin living out!
If I don't realize the source is Jesus, then all I'm doing is just having an act!
Does that make sense?
Here's what the Scripture says!
Jesus said in John 15:4 and 5, "Jesus said, 'Remain in Me, and I will remain in you, for a branch cannot produce fruit—just circle that—cannot!'
Circle that right now!
For a branch cannot produce fruit if it's severed from the vine!
Listen, if you're living—if you're living a double-minded life on church day or when it's time for you to show out in front of people and pray for people or manifest your spiritual gifts, you're on target for that!
But the other times, in your secret times, you're getting your fix; you're getting your rootage in something from the world, whether that's a bigger car, whether that's drugs, whether that's alcohol, wherever that is, that's your main source of where you are, then you're going to not produce these things in your life!
But Jesus said, "If you remain in Me, for a branch cannot produce fruit if it's severed from the vine!
If you cannot be fruitful, you cannot be fruitful apart from Me!
Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches!
Those who remain in Me and I in them will produce much fruit, for apart from Me, you can do nothing!"
So listen, if you cut yourself away from Jesus as your source and you're plugged into other things, He says there's no way that you can live this life!
You're like a—have you ever plucked a branch off of its rooted source?
And it's going to die, right?
Right!
Because there's no life in it!
So He says to us, "If you're not staying connected to Me 24/7, it doesn't mean you have to be perfect!"
Okay, let's get rid of that!
Then even in my struggles, I realize I can only live this life because of Him!
He said, "Then this is going to be a natural thing for you!
We're going to be people of love, joy, peace, patience, faithfulness, goodness, self-control—all of those great manifestations!"
All right?
So that's B!
C is choose God's way at every encounter!
That means every day, 24 hours a day, I've got to make the choice to follow Jesus!
ABC!
Hey, let's talk a little bit about that!
I'm going to invite Chris to come up and talk with me, and we're going to talk!
Give him a hand as he comes!
He comes right now!
Okay, Chris is our Generations Pastor next door!
Some people call him youth pastor, and so since you do, and you do an amazing job with the kids next door!
What, you got about 100 kids next door?
Something like that?
Probably more!
Probably more today!
Wow!
So you do a good job of that!
So that means to me, when I look at that, then as an early child, you must have had a good Christian background!
Man, it was awesome!
Uh-huh!
Let me tell you about it!
All right, tell me about your awesome background!
Um, my story is a little different than most!
I was—I was telling the first service I have three main memories that when I think of my childhood, as far back as I can remember, there's three that stick out!
Uh, the first one is when I tried my very first memory in life, as far back as I can remember, is me trying to climb up in my mother's lap, and her pushing me away at three!
Trying to climb up in your mother's lap?
And that's still—it seems so fresh even in your mind now!
It is!
You know, you think you put things away, but you really don't!
Yeah!
You know, after first service, I see now there's still things—things I've for sure!
Um, my next memory is I can remember at five following the school bus!
I remember the first time I got high!
You got high at five?
Yeah!
Remember the first time I got high?
We were following the school bus, and I remember thinking to myself, "Next year, I'm going to be on that thing, and I'm going to school!"
So yeah, I started getting high at five!
Wow!
So how did that happen?
I mean, did somebody just give that to you?
What did you—
You know, where I'm from, there weren't a lot of kids my age, and my brothers and sisters—like, I'm really a lot younger than them, so I always hung out with the older crowd, even young adults when I was that age!
So yeah, I kind of just fell into doing what they were doing!
And so how did that affect your life, like through elementary school and all that when you finally went to school?
Well, when I was six, I started running weed for people!
At six?
Yeah!
You're selling marijuana at six?
Yeah!
Now, how did you do that?
Um, well, when you're six, people don't suspect you!
Oh!
So I can get in places that other people can't!
And never be—throw in the backpack, jump on your bicycle, hit the road!
Wow!
Very simple!
Wow!
So how long did that last?
How long did you go through that phase?
That phase lasted most of my life, actually!
Really?
Yeah!
And we've got you in charge of the kids?
Yeah!
Yeah!
So they're not pulling the wool over my eyes!
I see them coming a mile away!
So it's good!
It's good!
It's good!
With your background, that you can see where they're coming from, and you know what's in the back!
All right, I'm sorry, go ahead!
Um, so I did that throughout my whole school time, really!
I mean, apart from that, I had a very normal childhood!
Normal?
Yeah, really!
I went to school, made the grades, played the sports, did everything that you're supposed to do, or what you think you're supposed to do growing up!
Yeah!
So when did this change?
How did the change come about?
Because I guess you have changed; you're not doing drugs now!
No!
Yeah, right!
I've been clean from that for a very, very long time!
But on through life, you know, I went through high school; people never suspected, didn't know!
I never told!
I was always told, "You never tell anything to anybody!"
You know, so I kind of just fell in line with that doctrination of adults, you know?
And, uh, but in 11th grade, I started dating this girl from another school, apart from me!
And we got very serious!
And then after I graduated, she went up—she got pregnant!
And that's when life kind of took a bit of a sideways turn!
Uh, you know, I couldn't further my education at that point; the military was out of the question, so I thought because, you know, the older generation—I'm not old, but you know what I'm saying?
Uh, you have responsibility!
Yeah!
And the thing to do is, "Hey, you marry that girl, and you take care of it; make it right!"
Yeah!
Um, so that's what I did!
Uh, and you know, for years after that, I continued to sell drugs!
I worked my jobs, of course, but I still had that other side!
And, um, and then her parents were always witnessing to me, always witnessing to me!
And they were real big in the church and everything!
And then they finally convinced me to go to a revival one night!
And there was this evangelist there; his name was John Richardson!
And he, man, he gave his testimony and was preaching, of course!
And man, everything he said lined right up with my life!
I was just in amazement!
I was on the front row, couldn't believe it!
And, uh, so he gives his altar call, and you know, I felt it, you know?
And the Spirit was moving, but I didn't do it!
Yeah!
I didn't do it there!
In my mind, I thought, "I'm not ready!"
Not ready!
There's just no way!
Too hard!
It's too hard!
I mean, there's no way you can do what I've done and be okay!
Just not possible!
So, uh, he gives this altar call, no response!
Then he bends over to me and he says, "Look, man, I know that your story lines up with mine, and he said God is calling you tonight!"
He said, "And I know you know that!"
I said, "Yes, He is! I feel that! I can feel that!"
And he said, "Won't you make that decision tonight?"
And I said, "No!"
Told him no!
He said, "Why?"
I said, "Because there's—I couldn't do that right now because there's too much that I've done, and there's stuff I got to do still!"
Yeah!
You know, I got all these drugs; I got all this money; I got all these things, you know, that I've got to do!
I can't just flush all this and then owe Mafia people!
Al, honey, you know, it's not how it works!
And he said, "You're right!"
And I was like, "Okay!"
I feel this guy, you know?
He didn't pressure me!
He said, "Can I pray for you?"
And he prayed for me, and he prayed this awesome prayer of protection over me!
And, um, he prayed that I would do what I had to do, that I would get rid of what I needed to get rid of, pay who I got to pay!
He prayed that everything would come to an end and that it would happen, but I would be protected during that whole time!
Wow!
Wow!
So what happened?
The decision that you made, how did you encounter that?
Crazy story!
So a few weeks go by, and I did everything like it just happened!
Got rid of everything, paid everybody back, handled all the business!
And about three weeks after that, there was this snowstorm, like an ice storm, hit North Alabama!
And I mean, it shut us down!
Couldn't get on the road; you couldn't call out or anything like that!
We still have power, well, generators and batteries and stuff!
And, uh, but I got iced in, snowed in!
I got trapped, actually!
It's a good word for it!
At my in-law's house!
Oh, worst thing ever happened to me at the time!
So for three days, this ice storm held me captive!
And all I heard was praise and worship music, teachings from different pastors on the radio, prayer witnessing to me!
I thought I was going to die or kill somebody before I could get out of that place!
But you know what?
After three days—three days!
It took three days!
I did die!
I died to sin!
Yeah!
And then the living room floor of my in-law's house, my then father-in-law at the time led me through the sinner's prayer in the living room floor!
Wow!
Wow!
Amen!
Amen!
So then I assumed that everything was great—your marriage, your everything else!
Fantastic!
So shortly after that, when—listen, when I got saved, I got saved!
Say I got that kind of salvation where you can't contain it!
Yeah!
And man, I got involved in everything I could get involved in!
I stayed in the Word; I stayed in prayer!
I stayed in church like every time the doors were open!
And, uh, then I started—after a little while, I started doing mission work!
Man, I was going overseas, here in the states!
I was building churches, schools, all kinds of stuff!
Started leading teams!
Wow!
To Ecuador and Central America and stuff!
And then, um, I was in the states, and I was working with an evangelist called Philip Cameron!
And he was building halfway houses down in South Alabama!
And so I was down there working, me and another missionary friend of mine, Donnie McWaters!
And, uh, got a call from my pastor!
He said, "Chris!"
I said, "Yes, sir!"
He said, "Is Donnie there?"
I said, "Yes, sir!"
And he handed Donnie the phone, or I handed him the phone, and they talked for a minute!
And, uh, he handed it back to me!
I said, "What's going on?"
Pastor said, "Son, you need to come home!"
He said, "But don't go home!
You need to come to the hospital!
You need to come to Children's Hospital in Birmingham!"
So it was about a two-hour drive!
And so we load up our tools and everything, and we head back to Birmingham!
And when I get there, the lobby is just slam-packed full of church family, family!
I mean, it was crazy!
Never seen anything like it except for a gathering like this!
And I walk in, and I just was confused!
But come to find out, my son, my oldest son Blake, he's 26, he had leukemia!
That was a tough time!
That was hard to take because you're doing all these things for God!
Yeah!
You're acting because you know it's the right thing to do!
Yeah!
It's the right thing to do!
But you know, you got to move past that, and you got to let those roots go down deeper!
And it was a hard blow for me and my wife at the time!
And we got put on this regiment of chemo and radiation and everything!
And, um, it was two weeks in the hospital—no, can't leave!
Two weeks, 24 hours a day, two weeks straight!
Then they let us go home for a week, but while we were home for a week, we still had to go back to Children's Hospital every day for treatments!
So it's like—and it was over an hour away, one way!
So we were kind of really still there!
So during this time, for over six months, we never got to go back to church!
The focus went from family, all these things, to sickness and disease!
Yeah!
And questioning, "Why? Why? Why us? Why? Why do all these things? Why?"
You know, so, um, and it took a toll!
It took a toll!
There's nobody's fault!
Um, but we—by the end of that year, we were separated and divorced!
And I had lost everything!
Yeah!
Lost my family!
Um, what I had, I gave away, you know?
And, uh, everything else was just going, yeah!
And I went into a deep, deep, deep depression!
Yeah!
And I got angry with God!
Uh, hated myself!
Such a failure!
Such shame!
Yeah!
You know, and it doesn't help back then, you know, anything like that happened is to man's fault, no matter what!
Yeah!
The church kind of just—they see you, but they don't look at you!
So how did you handle all of that then?
Um, started running with the old crowd again!
Same back!
Yep!
And I just, uh, because that was my life before!
That's really all I had known!
I had no church growing up!
Uh, when things like that happen, what do we do?
We fall back to what we know!
We try to find comfort in anything that we can when you're going through something like that!
Yeah!
And so were you able to monitor that, or did you hit bottom?
What did—how did that work?
Man, I went all out!
I didn't care about anything anymore!
Didn't care about myself!
Cared about nobody!
And I went back to D, and I, you know, had my connections in Mexico!
And I went all out!
Yeah!
I went all out!
So in that time then, I think you told me that—was it during that time that you lived homeless for two years?
Yeah!
I was homeless for a little over two years on the street!
Yeah!
Wow!
By choice!
Sleeping in my car!
By choice, not because you had to!
Yeah!
By choice!
I, uh, you know, people that deal drugs, they stay in one spot!
They let everybody know what they're doing; they get caught!
Yeah!
And I didn't want to get caught, so I never had a residence!
I slept in my car, not in the same spot!
I was always on the move!
Uh, to the point to where in the city I was selling in, I could go certain parts of the city, and they all knew me by a different name!
So then in the midst of all that, then now on the journey, help us to understand as you're in process, what's the next step that brought you to that transformation that the Lord would want to do in your life?
You know, um, I went to a friend's house one night, and there was this chick pulled up in this Mercedes!
And I was like, "Dang!"
You know?
And, uh, dang the car or her?
Her!
The car too!
The car too!
So my buddy was there, and I was at his house, and I said, "Hey, who is that?"
And he's like, "Ah, she's so-and-so!"
I said, "Hook it up, man!"
And he did!
And, uh, it's okay; her name's Casey; it's my wife now!
Uh, so we got together, and we've been together ever since!
Wow!
Wow!
That's over 20 years ago!
Wow!
Wow!
That's awesome!
So in that process then, was she able to help you along, or did you guys sort of hit the same way together?
We—we sold drugs and stuff like that for probably another year!
And, uh, we spent our time at the hotels and stuff, and at night we would count money and talk about the Bible!
Wow!
Count money and talk about the Bible!
Wow!
Then how did the Lord pull you through that then, Chris?
I mean, I got—I got DEA came in on me!
The guy that I knew that I had dealt with, it had been over a year!
He got in trouble, and he just told them he knew me, which he didn't!
And, uh, at the time, it had been a year since I talked to him!
And, uh, so he, uh, basically snitched me out, you know, just to save himself!
He was weak!
Yeah!
And then I think you remember I just caught that!
You caught that quick!
You caught that quick, Steve!
You know, it's DEA right there!
You know, he's—
So then I think you said in the last service they even planted some on Casey!
Yeah, that's how they got me!
Uh, they came in the room, had a bunch of money, and that was it!
Yeah!
They took the money; only $4,000 got reported; like $30,000 didn't—who knows where that went?
Just disappeared!
Yeah!
But, uh, they—I went to high school with a DEA agent!
Wow!
And he came in, and, uh, I was just in my underwear!
I was handcuffed, hands behind my back!
He walked in and said, "Where's her purse at?"
Guy in the corner said, "I've already went through it; nothing in there!"
He said, "I want to look again!"
And he was standing in front of me literally like this, and he flips through it, and he reached in his pocket and pulled out a bag, stuck it in there, pulled it back out, and said, "Look what I found!"
Wow!
Wow!
Wow!
So did you guys go to jail?
Me?
What happened?
Yeah, we went to jail!
And, uh, and, uh, Casey went, and, uh, funny, while she was in there, they took real good care of her because people in there knew me!
Like, they brought her meals to her, gave her shoes, clothes, all that stuff!
She was like a rock star in there!
So she had it made, you know?
And so we went to jail, and, uh, we came out!
I knew it was time for a change!
You know, she—they tried to get her to roll on me to give me up!
That's why they planted it on her, 'cause they knew I wasn't going to say nothing!
So, uh, she didn't!
They tried for several years!
They showed up at work where she was working, undercover, started talking trash!
They even went to her parents and told them lies!
So, you know, time goes on; she never gave me up!
I decided to keep her!
So, yeah, we—you know, we went on, and, uh, went to work for a company!
After—after five years, we put it off as far as we could!
DEA wanted to give me—or the DA wanted to give me 24 years!
And I kept telling, "No, no, no!"
And he kept coming back because there was no evidence, no fingerprints!
Yeah!
All that money was gone; they took my car, and they sold everything within six weeks!
Well, this was five years later!
Had never been to court!
So, uh, showed up for court!
DA comes over!
Isn't it interesting when you look through all of that how God kept moving this, moving that, and moving this?
Well, during that time, I had went to CR—Celebrate Recovery!
Yeah!
So shout out to my CR people!
It works!
If you work it, it'll work!
And we got back in the church during that time after I got in trouble!
We both just got clean!
And, uh, you know, we got back in church!
And you both got government jobs?
Yeah!
Well, first, we did!
First, she went back to school and got a four-year teaching degree!
I started doing electrical work!
Then after I completed everything, we both got federal jobs!
Wow!
Wow!
And then you lived happily ever after!
How'd you guys get the pilg
on Jan 07, 2024
