Embracing Freedom: Living Transformed in Christ

### Bible Reading
1. **Romans 7:15-25** - "I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it. So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in my sinful nature a slave to the law of sin."

2. **Galatians 5:16-18** - "So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law."

3. **John 8:36** - "So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed."

### Observation Questions
1. According to Romans 7:15-25, what internal conflict does Paul describe? How does he express his struggle with sin? [52:29]
2. In Galatians 5:16-18, what does Paul say is the result of walking by the Spirit? How does this contrast with living according to the flesh? [56:29]
3. What does John 8:36 declare about the freedom that Jesus offers? How does this align with the sermon’s message about freedom in Christ? [01:02:12]
4. How does the sermon describe the cyclical journey of knowing God, finding freedom, discovering purpose, and making a difference? [51:00]

### Interpretation Questions
1. Why does Paul in Romans 7:15-25 feel like a "wretched man"? How does he find hope despite his struggle with sin? [54:01]
2. What practical steps does the sermon suggest for walking in the Spirit, and how do these steps help in overcoming the desires of the flesh? [57:21]
3. How does the concept of transparency and authenticity, as discussed in the sermon, relate to experiencing true freedom in Christ? [50:20]
4. How does the sermon illustrate the idea that freedom is already ours in Christ, using the example of the slaves in Galveston? [01:04:11]

### Application Questions
1. Reflect on a personal struggle you have been hiding. How can you bring this issue into the light and seek God’s help to overcome it? [50:20]
2. What are some practical ways you can yield your daily decisions to the Holy Spirit? Can you identify a specific area in your life where you need to walk more in the Spirit? [57:21]
3. Think about a time when you felt ashamed of your struggles. How can you practice transparency and authenticity in your small group or church community to experience true freedom? [51:42]
4. How can you remind yourself daily that you are already free in Christ? What steps can you take to live out this freedom in your everyday life? [01:02:12]
5. Identify one specific way you can feed your spirit this week through prayer, studying the Word, or fellowship with other believers. How will this help you overcome the desires of the flesh? [01:18:25]
6. How can you support someone else in your community who is struggling with bondage or addiction? What practical steps can you take to help them experience freedom in Christ? [01:03:33]
7. Reflect on the cyclical journey of knowing God, finding freedom, discovering purpose, and making a difference. Where are you currently in this journey, and what is your next step? [51:00]

1. "Give God one year where you give him your absolute best, and I promise you, you'll look back one year later, and you will not be able to believe how far God has taken you." [47:34]


2. "Jesus came so that even while we're walking the face of the earth, we can be free from anything that the enemy has tried to cause us to be in bondage to." [49:19]


3. "It's okay to not be okay. In fact, say it out loud. Say, it's okay to not be okay." [50:20]


4. "No matter how much you know God today, there's still more of God to know. We have not gotten God figured out." [51:00]


5. "A big reason why so many believers don't experience full freedom is because we can never control what we will not confront." [52:29]


6. "Walking in the Spirit is learning how to yield our decision-making to the power of Holy Spirit instead of our own mind, will, emotions." [01:02:12]


7. "Just because you're not walking in freedom doesn't mean that you're not free. Whom the Son sets free is free indeed." [01:04:11]


8. "Human nature is obsessed with the forbidden, the secret, the hidden, or the unknown. You tell us we can't have it, and our interest just went up." [01:09:45]


9. "Fellowship with God nourishes my spirit, just like food and water will nourish my body." [01:18:25]


10. "If you're looking for a perfect church, go ahead and go to heaven because there are none down here. But if you're in a good one, you ought to thank God for being in a good church." [01:17:56]

### Day 1: Embracing Present Freedom in Christ
**Description:**
Freedom in Christ is not just a future promise but a present reality. Jesus came to set us free from the chains of sin and bondage in our daily lives. This freedom is available to us now, and we must embrace it fully by bringing our struggles into the light and allowing God to work in us. Often, we hide our struggles and put on a facade, much like Adam and Eve did with their fig leaves. However, God calls us to be transparent and authentic, to bring our issues into the light so that we can experience true freedom. This transformative power of Christ liberates us from the chains that hold us back, enabling us to live a life of victory and purpose. [49:19]

**Bible Passage:**
"For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery." (Galatians 5:1, ESV)

**Reflection:**
What is one area of your life where you feel bound or restricted? How can you bring this struggle into the light and allow God to work in you today?


### Day 2: The Power of Transparency
**Description:**
Transparency is a crucial step towards experiencing true freedom in Christ. Like Adam and Eve, we often hide our struggles out of shame. However, God calls us to be transparent and authentic. By confronting our issues and bringing them to God, we can break the cycle of hiding and shame. The Apostle Paul, despite his spiritual stature, admitted his struggles with sin, showing us that even the most devout believers face challenges. His transparency encourages us to confront our issues rather than hide them, allowing us to experience the transformative power of God's grace. [50:20]

**Bible Passage:**
"Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working." (James 5:16, ESV)

**Reflection:**
Think of a struggle you have been hiding. Can you take a step towards transparency by sharing it with a trusted friend or mentor today?


### Day 3: Practical Steps to Walk in the Spirit
**Description:**
Walking in the Spirit is not a spooky or mystical experience but a practical discipline of yielding our decisions to the Holy Spirit. It involves living a life animated and motivated by God. By focusing on the things of the Spirit, feeding our spirit through prayer, the Word, and fellowship, and following the Holy Spirit's guidance, we can overcome the desires of the flesh and live a life of freedom. This practical approach helps us to stay grounded in our faith and to continually seek God's guidance in our daily decisions. [56:29]

**Bible Passage:**
"But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh." (Galatians 5:16, ESV)

**Reflection:**
What is one practical step you can take today to yield a decision to the Holy Spirit? How can you incorporate this practice into your daily routine?


### Day 4: Living in the Freedom Already Ours
**Description:**
Freedom is already ours in Christ, much like the slaves in Galveston who were free but didn't know it until it was proclaimed. We too are already free in Christ, and we must live in that freedom. This means confronting our struggles and allowing God's light to shine on them, breaking the chains that hold us back. By recognizing and embracing the freedom we have in Christ, we can live a life of victory and help others do the same. This freedom empowers us to overcome our struggles, whether they are anger, addiction, or any other form of bondage. [01:02:12]

**Bible Passage:**
"So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed." (John 8:36, ESV)

**Reflection:**
What is one area of your life where you need to embrace the freedom you have in Christ? How can you live out this freedom today?


### Day 5: Feeding Your Spirit to Overcome the Flesh
**Description:**
To walk in the Spirit, we must feed our spirit through prayer, studying the Word, and fellowship with other believers. By focusing on the things of the Spirit and starving the desires of the flesh, we can live a life of true freedom and victory. This involves a conscious effort to prioritize spiritual nourishment and to seek God's presence in our daily lives. By doing so, we strengthen our spirit and gain the power to overcome the desires of the flesh, leading to a life of freedom and fulfillment in Christ. [01:18:25]

**Bible Passage:**
"But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil." (Hebrews 5:14, ESV)

**Reflection:**
What is one specific way you can feed your spirit today? How can you make this a regular part of your spiritual routine?

It is so good to be here with you. My wife April and I, we say hello to all of you. We have been married for 31 years to each other. And I've literally walked this journey out together. We have three kids. We have a 23-year-old daughter, a 21-year-old son, just turned 21 last week, and then our 17-year-old son, the president of his student class, his senior class. And he travels with me a lot and drives us around, and I'm glad to have him here.

Can we put your hands together for the best pastors in the state of Georgia? Come on. We love your pastors dearly. We have literally walked through every phase with them since we've connected with them in ministry and are just so proud. I mean, to see what God is doing. You ought to be proud of what God is doing in your church. Come on. You ought to be excited, man.

I'm kind of excited. I'm a little unexcited because I thought I was only going to do two services today. Last time I came, I had two services. And so when he sent the invitation, I was like, sure, because I do three every week. I was like, I get a little bit of a break. And I found out on Thursday last week, no, they got three services. That's awesome. I'm a little bit mad at your pastor, even though I love him. But that just means that this church is growing, and God has so many good things for you.

Can I just encourage you to do this? If you're here, be all the way here. Which means don't just kind of have your toes in the water. Go ahead, dive into the deep. I say this all the time to people. Give God one year where you give him your absolute best, where you do everything the church is asking. You do small group. You go through the growth track classes, and you start serving in the ministry, and you actually come to church every time you get a chance. And I promise you, you'll look back one year later, and you will not be able to believe how far God has taken you.

Because if you give God everything you got, watch this. He's got even more to give back to you. Come on, shout like you believe that today.

All right, let me pray. Father, we thank you for the word today. Thank you for, again, giving me wisdom to deliver this word in a way that is just right for this group. Tailor-make it, Father God, to meet the needs of the people that are here and those that are watching online. We love you. We honor you. We give you praise. In Jesus' name, amen.

Before you're seated, high five two or three people and tell them you look even better than you did last week. There's some good-looking people in Savannah, man. I don't know what y'all are doing up here, man. I might move to Savannah so I can look better. Come on.

Well, I got a message I want to minister to you, and I gave it a title, and it's entitled, "Called to be Free." Catch this. The heart of this is I want you to understand that Jesus, he came to set us free. He didn't just come to give us a one-way ticket to heaven. He didn't just come so that one day when we finally die, we'll open up our eyes and be in the presence of God. Jesus came so that even while we're walking the face of the earth, watch this, we can be free from anything that the enemy has tried to cause us to be in bondage to. Anything and everything that doesn't represent heaven, Jesus wants us to be free from it.

And I said this earlier. I said again, the church as a whole, I don't mean Hope City Church. I don't mean any particular church, but the church of the Lord Jesus Christ as a whole has unintentionally taught us how to be ashamed of our struggles and hide our issues. If you remember the very first thing that happened with Adam and Eve, after they disobeyed God, they sinned, and then God came looking for them. And the Bible says they were hiding. And when God finally found them, they were no longer transparent. They were no longer authentic. Now they had some fig leaves they had sewed together.

Because human nature, instead of coming to God to own up to what we've done, own up to where we are, human nature, and I tend to say that the church has helped us out with this. Human nature tends to try to hide what our struggles are. Because it's tough sometimes to look in the mirror and acknowledge that we still have a little ways to go.

And I want to say to you today a phrase that we say in our church in Jacksonville all the time: it's okay to not be okay. In fact, say it out loud. Say, it's okay to not be okay. Now say it like you mean it. Say, it's okay to not be okay. In fact, I love the fact that the journey here at Hope City is the same one we have in Jacksonville. And we got it kind of from our home church, a church of the Highlands.

And that is, as people come into our church, we want them to know God like you do. But we want them to find freedom just like you do. We want them to discover or figure out God's unique design and purpose for their lives. And we want to launch you so you can go out and make a difference.

And I tell people all the time, that's not a linear thing. It's not like you know God, now I got that one, let me check that box off. Let me move on now to finding freedom. Let me discover some purpose. Let me make a difference. And now I graduated and I'm good. No, it's a cyclical process. Which means no matter how much you know God today, how many know today? There's some more God to know.

I don't think you heard me. I said no matter how much you know God today, there's still more of God to know. We have not gotten God figured out. No matter how long you've been walking with God, there's more of God for us to come to know. But watch this, no matter how much freedom you are living in today, there's still more freedom that God wants us to experience.

God never intended for us to be saved and walk in as Christians for 10 years and 15 years and still have the same struggles today that we had 15 years ago. Now hear me out. There's no reason for us to walk around ashamed. No reason for us to walk around hiding it. No reason for us to do what church people tend to do. You know, we come to church and somebody asks you, how are you doing? And we say, I'm blessed and highly favored. Not acknowledging the fact that I was just in the car crying my eyes out. I was just depressed. I barely could get out of bed this past week.

I've been struggling in an area and I've been ashamed or embarrassed to admit to somebody else that as long as I've been saved and where my position is in the church, I'm ashamed to admit I haven't gotten fully right in this area yet. And what I want to just deposit into you today is number one, that God knows us inside and out. And number two, God wants you to grow to the place where you don't have to feel like you've got to hide and be ashamed of your issues.

He wants us to bring our issues to him. Watch this. So he can help us not just be good at covering them, but finally be good at getting free from them. Give me a good amen, somebody. I'd say it this way. A big reason why so many believers don't experience full freedom is because we can never control what we will not confront. God wants us to get better at confronting the areas in our lives where we know we still need to have victory.

Let me read you this scripture in Romans chapter 7. You'll be amazed when I tell you that it's the Apostle Paul who's writing this. Now, Paul was credited for writing nearly two-thirds of the New Testament. But I want you to see what this powerful giant of a man says. He says, I don't really understand myself. He said, because I want to do what is right, but I don't end up doing it. He said, instead, I end up doing the thing that I hate.

Can anybody relate to what Paul is saying? One, two, three, four, six. Can anybody relate to what Paul is saying? Seventeen, eighteen, nineteen, twenty. Can anybody relate to what Paul is saying? Can anybody relate to saying, I'm never going to do that again, and then finding yourself doing the same thing you said you weren't going to ever do again? Can anybody relate to saying, I'm going to make sure I start praying, and I start the year off right, but then the thing I should be doing, and it ends up petering off, and the thing I shouldn't be doing, the thing I said I would never do again.

Paul said, I can't figure myself out. I keep doing the wrong stuff. Then he said this, and I know that nothing good lives in me that is in my sinful nature. He said, I want to do what's right, but I can't do it. I want to do what is good, but I don't. I don't want to do what is wrong, but I find myself doing it anyway. Then he said, oh, what a miserable person I am.

Then Paul, the apostle, asks this question: Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? If nothing else frees you, it ought to be freeing to know you're not the only person going through this rollercoaster struggle inside and out. I love how transparent Paul is because he could have wrote that as if he's a man of God, and he never has any bad thoughts. He never wants to hurt somebody.

Anybody ever have the spirit of slap want to just try to come on you for one day? This is not like 20 years ago. We don't mind telling stories from before Christ. We'll tell those in a minute. Yeah, B.C. What about them stories since Christ? It wasn't that long ago, man. I found myself jumping on the freeway. This was right after church, so I had just finished preaching. I had just left the stage, and I'm on my way home, and I'm getting on the freeway. One of my struggles from years ago is I had real bad anger problems back in the day. I used to fight all the time.

Even now, man, I'm saved and delivered, but I ain't the one going to turn the other cheek. I'm working on that scripture. I ain't lying. You hit me, I'm hitting back. And so I'm getting on the freeway, and this car cuts me off as I'm getting on the freeway. Then as they cut me off, then I look back, and they throw a finger up at me. It wasn't I'm number one. And so I'm ticked. I don't even want to know I'm ticked, but I take off behind them. I'm flying behind this car right after I left the stage. Come on, somebody.

And I'm flying behind this, and I'm weaving out of traffic because they realize I'm behind me now. All that tough guy stuff is gone. They're taking off now. And as I'm flying down the freeway, this thought comes to me. The Lord just kind of says, if you catch them, what are you going to do? Because if you catch them, you pull them over to the side, and they get out the car, and you beat them down, then you're going to end up on the news in a real bad story. And if you get out the car after you catch them, and they beat you down, it's going to still be a story, and you're going to be embarrassed about the story.

And so it just was a reminder. Just because something has been in our past, and we've gotten some freedom of it in the past, doesn't mean that we don't need to still stay on top of it. Come on, because some of those things from the past can end up being like Freddy Krueger or Jason from Friday the 13th. The moment you think it's done, you start hearing those areas from our past, come on, start trying to show back up. I'm preaching better than you're saying, amen.

So here's the verse I want to give you. Galatians 5, 16 says, I say then, walk in the Spirit. Everybody say, walk in the Spirit. Come on, everybody say, walk in the Spirit. He says, walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. Paul asks the question, how or who's going to deliver me from this life that's dominated by sin and death? Then he tells us in Galatians, if you walk in the Spirit, you won't fulfill the desire of the flesh.

So the way I grow to the place where I'm no longer fulfilling the desire of the flesh, the flesh wants to fornicate, how do I keep from fulfilling that? The flesh wants to overeat, how do I keep from fulfilling that? The flesh wants to have more than a glass of wine. The flesh wants to have the bottle of wine. The flesh wants to keep going past any kind of a limit. How do I keep from fulfilling the desire that comes from my flesh? Paul said the solution is I've got to learn how to walk in the Spirit.

Now here's the problem, because when we hear walk in the Spirit, there's a whole lot of different thoughts that go through your mind. And one of the things I realize is that Christians have made walking in the Spirit a spooky experience. And some of us just have way too much swag to be labeled spooky. Some of us don't want to be called spooky. I don't know about you, I try to stay away from the spooky Christians. I don't want to be lumped into that bunch of spooky Christians.

And sometimes we've made things like walking in the Spirit, flowing with the Spirit so spooky that a lot of people end up staying away from it. I remember growing up in the Good Baptist Church. Put your hands together for that worship team, man. Thank God for all that. Yeah, I don't know how much time and effort it takes to be ready on a Sunday like that, man. But that young lady said that if we were in the Baptist Church, we'd say it like this. And they took off and hit that little beat.

The brother over here with the hairdo to the side, my frat brother. I looked at him at 8 o'clock and I looked at him again because I'm envious. Because the moment they hit the heat, I mean, he took off with a... And I want to do that, but my feet don't move like his feet move. And I remember being in church growing up. And whenever they get to a part in the service like that, I didn't want to lose control and don't look good doing it. So I wouldn't even try to, you know, I just kind of, let's keep it right here.

Yeah, uh-huh. Uh, yeah, right there, uh-huh, Jesus. Mm. He's a friend of mine. Mm. Because, see, I grew up in a church environment where we weren't taught like you've been taught here. We weren't taught what it means to have Holy Spirit in you from the day you say yes to Christ. And receiving the baptism of the Holy Spirit and that you have control of yourself. You don't have to get wild and out of control.

I grew up in a time where catching the Holy Spirit in church made you shout and get wild and knock people all over the place. And I remember as a kid, there's this guy in church. Every Sunday, he would catch. Holy Ghost, that's what they told me. He caught the Holy Ghost. Like, pow, like he caught it. Whenever he would catch the Holy Spirit, true story, every single Sunday at a certain time in the service, you could almost set your watch to it. He would jump up out of the service, start shouting wildly.

Then he'd take off running full speed across the room and pow, smack into the wall. Then he'd stop and dance, bum, bum, bum, ba-dum, ta-da. Then he'd take off the other way, full speed, pow, run into the wall. Then he'd take off shouting. Then he'd run back, pow, and then he'd finally plop down, fall out. And then they would say, whoo, didn't Brother John catch the Holy Ghost today? And I thought to myself, he caught the Holy Ghost, and that's what it made him do. I don't want no parts of that Holy Ghost.

What I'm saying is so many times our definitions, our impressions of what it means to flow with the Holy Spirit or walk in the Spirit have been shaped by such spooky behavior that we don't realize that every believer is supposed to be governing our lives in this way. Let me share this with you. Galatians 5:16, I'm going to read this one from the Message Bible. Paul said, instead of saying walk in the Spirit, he said, my counsel is this, live freely. Everybody say live freely.

Then he said this. What does that mean to live freely? It means animated and motivated by God's Spirit. He says, if you do that, then you will not feed the compulsions of selfishness. How do I walk in the Spirit? He said, just learn how to live freely. Learn how to live your life. Watch this, animated and motivated by the Holy Spirit. That means that animated is every action I take. Motivation is the reason behind what I do.

Watch this, if I learn how to make sure my actions are motivated by God, and the reason why I do it is because of what the Holy Spirit has said. The Bible says I won't end up fulfilling the desires of this flesh. That means that how I conduct myself as a husband, I need to listen to what God has to say. That means if I'm a single person, watch this, how I conduct myself as a single person should be based on what the Holy Spirit has said. Come on, say amen, somebody.

That means if I'm a single woman, come on, somebody. I should post pictures animated by the Holy Spirit. That means I got to ask myself, is it the Holy Spirit that told me to turn my booty to the camera and look at... Oh, y'all acting deep and spiritual in here. Because he said, come on, if I'm animated and if I'm motivated by Holy Spirit, then I will not end up in a position where I fulfill the desires that come from my flesh.

See, walking in the Spirit is not a spooky, weird spiritual exercise. Walking in the Spirit is learning how to use... Yield our decision-making to the power of Holy Spirit instead of our own mind, will, emotions. Instead of the popular opinion of what social media has to say. Instead of my own personal desires. Walking in the Spirit is a spiritual discipline that every believer has the ability to achieve.

Paul said this again in Romans 7. He said, who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? Then he answered his own question. He says, thank God. The answer is in Jesus Christ, our Lord. Then two verses later, he said this. And because you belong to him, Christ, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death. Somebody say, I'm already free.

Come on, if you're born again, I want you to say this. Say, I'm already free. I need you to understand that because this is where I want to take a moment to just encourage you. Because if you're still struggling in an area, if you still find yourself up late at night on the computer and you're going to sites you know you shouldn't be going to, or you're looking at pornography on your phone, and the enemy has just taught you that you need to... You need to hide that and make sure nobody ever finds out about that.

And when you look in the mirror and you know that you're a man of God or a woman of God and you feel ashamed about it, and the tendency is to put some fig leaves together so that I can just hide it and keep it from anybody else, what I'm trying to say to you is that God wants you to come out of hiding. Come on, somebody. God wants you to stop being ashamed of that. He wants you to put that sun, the S-O-N, let the sun shine on it.

Because if you allow the sun to shine on it, watch this, then we won't live the next ten years in the same struggle. Come on, say amen. We'll not only get free, but we'll turn around and go help somebody else get free. And what I need you to understand is, watch this, even if you're struggling with that anger, even if you're struggling with alcoholism, and you've got to get up in the morning to drink just to get going, even if you're struggling with drug addiction, and you're convinced that no matter what you do, you keep running back to the same thing, I'm here to tell you, even if you're still in the thick of it, if you are born again, you have already been set free.

And I need you to take about ten seconds to shout like you are grateful to God that you are not going to be free. One day, come on, you are free right now. Come on. And whom the sun sets free is free indeed. And see, just because, watch this, you're not walking in freedom doesn't mean that you're not free.

It was June the 19th, 1865, where we get the holiday we call Juneteenth from. A group of slaves in Galveston, Texas, had been set free almost two years earlier when Abraham Lincoln freed the slaves with the Emancipation Proclamation on the 1st of January, January 1863. But because the media wasn't like it is today, and we didn't have the ability for the Word to travel as fast, some believed that the slaves in Galveston were free and didn't know they were free.

I tend to believe they were free and just hadn't been fully set free because those that were enslaving them didn't want them to know that they were free. Whatever the reason, June the 19th, 1865, the Union troops came rolling in to Galveston, Texas, and they read the scroll announcing the Emancipation Proclamation, and they declared, these slaves are henceforth and forevermore free. Watch this. And the power of this army is here to make sure they go free.

Can I just tell you that if you came in here today and you've still been in a struggle, come on. You've still been dealing with insecurity because of what your dad did. Come on, somebody. You got some molestation from your past that is just so embarrassing, and you felt like somehow or another it was your fault. I'm trying to say if you've been dealing with an abortion and the haunting guilt from that thing has made you feel like because I'm a Christian, I should never tell anybody this.

I'm trying to say that if a bad breakup has left you feeling unwanted and undesired, I'm trying to tell you that you have already been set free. And even if you don't feel like you're set free, I'm here to open up the spiritual scroll and read to you that whom the Son sets free is free indeed, and I'm here to declare that every angel in heaven and the Holy Spirit himself is here in this place today to help you understand that it's time for you to be set free.

I'm here to help you to fully go free. Shout amen, somebody. Shout amen, somebody. Now, let me give you this. How do we walk in the Spirit? I'm going to give you something practical. I don't want to just say walk in the Spirit and walk away. How do we walk in the Spirit? Number one is this. We have to focus on the things of the Spirit. Say this. Say focus on the things of the Spirit.

Another way of saying this, ask a neighbor this question. Say, what you looking at? They say, I'm looking at you. What you mean, what am I looking at? I don't mean what you're looking at in church. I don't mean what you have your attention to. I don't mean what you have your attention on here. I mean, when you're not at church, when you're not around believers, when you're not singing all these Christian songs, what you looking at?

Because in order to walk in the Spirit, I'm saying the first thing we got to do is focus in on the things of the Spirit. What we pay attention to will help shape who we are. That's why the Bible says this over in Proverbs. It says, protect your heart above everything else you protect because out of your heart flow the issues of life. One translation says it shapes the border of your life. Whatever we focus in on is going to affect who we are.

Listen to this from Genesis 3, 6. You know the story of Adam and Eve. If I don't read verse 6 from the contemporary English version, it says this about Eve. It says, the woman stared at the fruit. The fruit looked beautiful and tasty. She wanted the wisdom that it was going to give her, and she ate some of the fruit. Her husband was there with her, so she gave some to him, and he ate it too.

Get the picture, man. God says to them, you can eat all these trees in the garden. I believe there was a pear tree there and an apple tree there. There's a tree of life there. He said, all of these trees you can eat from. There's only one tree I don't want you to eat from. Watch this, because if you eat from that one tree, you're going to surely die. Tell me why the Bible says the woman was staring at the one tree.

You got all these other trees out here she could be looking at and partaking of and enjoying, but the Bible says she's staring at this one tree. She's got her eyes fixated, come on, on this one tree. She and her husband are paying attention to this one tree. The one tree God said, stay away from that one. Don't eat that one. So instead of getting far away from it, they start off, I'm sure, by saying, okay, we won't eat it, but we're going to look at it.

Ask yourself the question, why are they staring at that tree? But all these other trees they have to deal with, why are they staring at that one tree? I've often said to myself, man, when I get to heaven, I'm going to walk up to Adam and be like, what's wrong with you, man? I'm sure some of you ladies given that monthly menstrual cycle that she kicked in for y'all, some of y'all may walk up to her and drop kick her right there in the throne room of heaven.

But then why it says, before we get too judgmental on Adam and Eve, watch this, we've got to ask ourselves the question, why do we do some of the things that we do? When God has blessed us and prospered us and he's allowing us to flow in ministry and serve him, why will we let ourselves hang around in our DMs on social media talking to somebody we know we shouldn't be communicating back and forth with? You better look straight ahead. They're going to think I'm talking about you.

You want to know why? You want to know why they were staring at the thing God told them to stay away from? You want to know why we have a tendency? Watch this, watch this. Even though life is already good, we still got our eyes looking at something else. Let me tell you why. Because human nature is obsessed with the forbidden, the secret, the hidden, or the unknown. You tell us we can't have it, we're not supposed to have it, and our interest just went up.

You tell your kid, don't go in that cabinet right there, but you walk away, they don't find a box, a chair. Why? Human nature has a tendency to want to pursue the thing that we should be staying away from. That's why we have to go to the place of realizing, watch this, we got it good right now. And if the father says, stay away from whatever that is, or temper that, back that up, then we have to just recognize the father knows best and not try to figure it out all for ourselves.

My wife has, I keep calling it a dog, but I'm not sure if it's a dog because it's only about this tall. It's a Shih Tzu, it's a little Japanese dog. And it's the second one that we've had. This one's name is Shih. It's Yoshi. The first Shih Tzu she had was named Favor. That's because we were in a like real spiritual era of our lives. So we wanted every time we called a dog, Favor was coming our way.

And so this dog Favor was like two-thirds crazy and one-third thug, his dog. And so anytime we let this dog out, you know, she'd go do her little business. We'd come back to the back door, and when she's done, she'd scratch on the door and come in. Well, this one season, we had a wooden fence on the side of our house, and we let the dog out to go do her business. And for a while, when she'd come back and finally scratch on the door, she had dirt all over her. Dirt over her mouth, dirt over her paws.

And April would wash the dog down, and next time she'd go out, she'd take longer than the last time. And when she came scratching on the door, she had dirt on her paws, dirt on her face. And then one day, she let the dog out, and it took forever. She didn't, it wasn't scratching on the door. She went outside, and the dog was gone. And we noticed, Pastor Corey, that the dog had done dug a hole up under the gate.

So every time she was going out, she was like a prisoner. I'm getting up out. I'm about to hit it. We're going to be free. Every time this dog would go out, she was digging a little bit more dirt, Corey, trying to see if she can get out, and we're like, not yet. And finally, she takes off, and she's gone. So now, we got to drive around the neighborhood looking for the dog.

I'm not used to it. I grew up on the east side of Detroit. We never had any dog that you went looking for. If your dog thought they was big enough to leave, you let them go, and you wait until another one came down the street, and you claim that one as your new dog. Come on. We live in a gated community now, so we got to go find the dog.

So we're driving up and down the street, yelling out the window like this, Favor! I feel silly, Corey. Favor! Finally, some neighbors call, and they have found the dog, and they call because the dog had a collar on, and they had to give the dog a bath. They've been feeding the dog some ham, and we come to pick the dog up. She's wagging like, I got you. We come back home. We move to another house, and this time, we don't have a wooden gate. We have those little iron rod gates, and the dog can squeeze through to get out.

So every now and then, she'd take off when she wanted to, and then we got to wait for the dog to come back, and we're riding around yelling her name again. One year, when we were still having New Year's Eve services, we used to have from 9 p.m. to midnight. We're getting ready to have New Year's Eve service, and the dog runs away. And, you know, my wife is distraught because her dog is gone. And I'm like, it's church. It's not like it's one of our kids. It's a dog, man.

She knows where we live. She can come back. So we leave and go to church, right? And I'm enjoying the presence of the Lord. My wife is not. We shout in the New Year. She doesn't want to get back home until you look for her dog. We pull up to the house thinking the dog is going to be sitting there. She's not. So we go to bed, and she barely sleeps. We wake up the next morning. The dog is still not there.

About 10 a.m., we get a ring on the doorbell. Ding dong. And it's the maintenance guys in our community. And they stand there, and he's saying, I think we have somebody that belongs to you. And they step out of the way. They literally had to drive the dog on a little maintenance cart. And when he steps out of the way, the dog is coming down the sidewalk like this. That dog never ran away another day.

We could open the door and say, go. She would not go anywhere. She'd come right back in the house. What am I saying? Come on. See, the more we get free in Christ, the more we learn how to stop comparing our lives to anybody else. The more we learn how to become grateful. Come on, man, for how good God already has it for us. Because watch this. No matter how difficult things are right now, no matter what's not working out, can I just tell you this? God has still been good to you.

And I need you to take about a minute to give him a praise like he's really been good. Come on. Nope, I need you to praise him like he's actually been good. Nope, I need you to praise him like...

The second thing that we've got to do if we're going to walk in the Spirit is we've got to learn how to feed our spirit. You've got to feed your spirit. There was a movie back in the 80s, a classic movie that had a character named Gizmo, and they got a little picture of Gizmo. Got a little picture of Gizmo right there. Isn't Gizmo cute? Aw, look at that. Big cuddly eyes. Just want a whole Gizmo, right?

But if you know the movie I'm talking about, the Gremlins. If you feed these characters the wrong food at the wrong time, they turn into this. This. That's a long way from cute little Gizmo. They turn into a Gremlin. Can I tell you this? A lot of believers have become spiritual Gremlins. That's what Paul said. He says, I've made myself miserable. He said, oh, what a miserable man I am.

And a lot of times we think our misery is because of the white man or the black man or the system or the Republicans or the Democrats. We think we're miserable because the church is not doing for me like they should be doing. We think we're miserable because something's wrong with my spouse and my kids and everything outside. Truth of the matter is, sometimes we are miserable because God has one plan for us and we're trying hard to live out a different one.

And when we feed our system the wrong stuff, we turn into little spiritual Gremlins without realizing it. See, anything that we feed is going to grow. Which means why I say this, if I'm struggling in an area, if I keep feeding a desire that I shouldn't be feeding, eventually it's going to grow into an obsession. If I keep feeding a habit that I know is not good for me, eventually it's going to grow into an addiction.

If I keep feeding a wrong belief, it's going to eventually, essentially change how I see myself. If I got a wrong belief about my marriage and what I should be getting from my spouse, if I keep feeding that wrong belief by listening to the wrong girlfriends and letting my mom and them talk to me about my marriage, it's going to change how I see my spouse. If I keep listening to that little gossip, no one's always got something to say about the worshiping. They should have did that like that. If I was up there, I would have been past the Korean.

If I keep listening to that little gossip, watch this and letting that, watch this, just letting that little poison seep into my ears, getting the wrong belief, it's going to change how I see my church. Can I just tell you, if you're looking for a perfect church, go ahead and go to heaven because there are none down here. But if you're in a good one, you ought to thank God for being in a good church.

If I keep having a wrong belief, it'll change how I see myself, my church, even my future. But if I starve that bad desire, if I stop feeding that bad habit, if I stop listening to those wrong beliefs, those things will lose, they'll lose their grip on my life. See, fellowship with God nourishes my spirit, just like food and water will nourish my body.

How do I feed my spirit? We feed our spirit by spending time in prayer, number one. Jesus said in John 16, up until now you've asked me nothing, but ask in my name and you will receive so that your joy might be full. I also feed my spirit by spending time studying the word of God. Jesus said to the Jews that believed on him, if you continue my word, you really are my disciples. You will know the truth and the truth will set you up.

We also feed our spirit by spending time, watch this, with other believers. So it's not enough just to spend time in prayer, spend time in the word. We also, hear me out, we feed our spirit by spending time with other believers. It is not good enough just to be an at-home Christian. I hear people say all the time, I can be just as good a Christian at home as I can at church. No, you can't.

If that were the case, God in his infinite wisdom wouldn't have set up the establishment, the institution of faith, the fellowship together. And this is what the author of Hebrews said in Hebrews 10. He said, let us think of ways that we can motivate one another to acts of love like you did, bringing in all those supplies for those in need, and motivate each other to good works. He said, and let us, watch this, not neglect our meeting together like some people do, but instead encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.

In other words, what he was saying is, we have to be people that come together. I draw from you. You draw from me. Last thing you want to do is think that you can be okay at home by yourself. Even those online right now, thank God for the opportunity to have these digital opportunities, but I promise you it's better in this place than it is at home by yourself. Come on. You ought to put your hands together. The atmosphere is good in here. It's good in here, man.

Then the last one, number three, I want to share with you this. The third way that we learn how to flow with the Holy Spirit is we got to learn how to follow the Holy Spirit. How to walk in the Spirit. I got to learn how to follow the Holy Spirit. Just like you saw in the video announcements that we ought to be following the church's social media page. It's good to follow your church, know what's going on.

Can I tell you there's something better than following your church and that's learning how to follow Jesus. And in that process of learning how to follow Jesus, John 10 said this, I am the good shepherd. I know my sheep and my sheep know me. He said, my sheep listen to my voice. I know them and they follow me. What he's saying is if you're really my sheep, then when I'm speaking to you, you need to be listening.

And I'm saying every one of us in here, every one of us in here, including me from the stage, we can get better at fine-tuning our hearing to the God channel. Because sometimes we hear what God says as long as what God says agrees with what we already want to do. And if we're honest with ourselves, sometimes we have our spirit on do not disturb.

You know how it is when you have your phone on do not disturb and folks are calling you and they think you haven't paid your minutes, but no, you still got minutes. It's just that when they call you, watch this, instead of it ringing, they're calling, but it's not ringing to you, it's going straight to voicemail. I think for many of us, God is calling you, but you send them straight to voicemail because you're preoccupied at the moment.

You got something else you're enjoying doing at the moment. I know what I should be doing, but right now I'm just having some fun. And so some of you ladies, God has been calling you. And part of the reason why he brought you to church today, and God had a divine appointment for me to be here, because God had a word for me. He wanted me to deliver to you because your spirit has been on do not disturb.

God's been trying to get your attention. This is what he's getting. Thank you, God, for calling, but right now I'm a little tied up. I'm in a little relationship, found somebody that's tall, dark, and handsome. You know him, you made him. And I know I had more time for church before I was in this relationship, and I was serving in church before I was in this relationship, but we find ourselves taking some trips on the weekends, so I just find myself a little more busy than I used to be.

But God, just understand that as soon as this thing falls apart and he breaks my heart, I'm sure I'm going to find myself right back there with you. But until then, go ahead and leave a message at the tone. Spirit's on do not disturb. There's some fellows in here. Man, God's been trying to get your attention. He's been asking you to serve. He's been asking you to go ahead and lead your family.

He's been asking you to go ahead and make church and the things of God a priority instead of fitting it in. But when he tries to get your attention, when he keeps hearing, yeah, God, I appreciate that, Mosai. Thanks for everything you've done for me, but at the moment, I'm a little bit tied up. I just got this new job I got in this promotion, and they're paying me 30% more than I was making before.

And, you know, surely that's got to be a good thing. I count it as a blessing from you, but only thing is they got me working on these Sundays, so I'm just never able to make it now. But you know my heart, God, and trust me, I'll be back because whenever this job proves that it's a horrible provider and I shouldn't have my trust in it, then I'm going to find myself right back at the altar asking you to turn it around and fix it like I did before.

But for right now, I got a new God, so go ahead and leave that message. What he's saying is go ahead and take your spirit off or do not disturb. Let him get a message through to you. Let him redirect our path and show us the right way to go.

Go ahead and stand to your feet. I want to wrap up this way. I wrote out a list of areas that can be bondages, and by no means am I saying you're struggling with all of these, but I promise you each one of us in here probably has one or two or three, five of these or more that if we're honest with ourselves and we stop hiding from God, then we probably have some of these as a struggle.

But as I said, whom the Son sets free is free indeed. Even if you are struggling with one of these now, let me tell you, God has already set you free. So what I want you to do is lift up your hands, both of them. Lifting our hands is just a sign of surrender. I'm going to call these out, but as I call them out, I want you to declare your liberty, your freedom.

And by the time I'm done in declaring these, I'm going to declare that the power of the enemy is broken off of our lives, and the devil, come on, he has no power, no grip, no hold on you ever again. And you're going to walk free for the rest of your days. Go ahead, open up your mouth and begin thanking God as I declare these.

In the name of Jesus, I declare that bitterness and unforgiveness and resentment is broken off of our lives. I declare, Father, that hate and malice and envy and jealousy has no place in us. Insecurity and inferiority no longer has a grip on us. I break the power of fear and rejection and self-pity and self-hatred and anger and rage.

I break the power of murder and violence. Father, we come against every father wound in our heart, every mother wound in our heart. We break the authority of sexual immorality. We say no to impurity. We come against adultery and fornication and lust and promiscuity. Manipulation has no authority. No control issues, criticism, judgmentalism must bow its knee.

And greed and materialism and selfishness. Father, we come against covetousness. We break the power of depression. We break the spirit of anxiety and worry. We come against suicide. We come against self-destruction. We say no to addiction and dependency. We break the spirit of alcoholism and the curse of drunkenness.

I declare you are free and you will walk free from this day on for the rest of your days. Now look up here at me for a moment. If you were to walk out of here right now and your feet hit the pavement in this parking lot, I've got to do this quickly. If you were to breathe in and take your last breath, do you know where you would go?

I'm not saying this is going to happen, but what if? Because there are many people that walked out of church thinking they had another week to get it right. And in reality, all we know we have is this moment right here. So if you do not know where you'd go if you breathe your last breath, can I just ask you, will you let me pray for you?

The big fallacy is that we tend to think, I've got to get myself together. I want to straighten myself up then I can come to God. I don't want to be a hypocrite. The truth of the matter is God knows everything about us and He still loves us. And no matter what you're dealing with, hear me out, don't try to fix it and then come to God. Bring it with you.

I never heard that in church. Bring it with you. Because when we do one thing, that is surrender our lives to Christ, allowing Him to be Lord of our lives, believing in our hearts that God has raised us from the dead, the Bible says you'll be saved. And when God changes us on the inside, He'll then take us by the hand in a good church like this being taught the Word of God. He'll help us learn how to find the freedom we need.

So if you're ready to surrender to Christ, I'm ready to pray for you. I'm not going to embarrass you. I'm not going to bring you to the front right there where you are or right there on the line. I want to lead you in a simple prayer that will change your life forever.

So bow your heads, please. If you're giving me permission to include you in this prayer, when I count to three, I'm going to ask you to shoot your hand up as high as you can. I'm going to ask you to do it quickly because the devil is going to try everything he can to talk you out of it. But if you're ready to surrender fully to Jesus Christ, when I get to three, go ahead and raise your hand up for liberty and freedom for the rest of your days.

Here we go. One, two, three. Lift that hand up. Yes, all over the building. I see that hand there. Another one there. Another hand there. One, two, three, four, five, six hands there. Thank you, sir. Another hand there. Thank you. Another hand there. Thank you, brother. Another hand there. Thank you. Another hand there. One, two, three, four, five, six hands there.

Come on, all over the room. Come on, all over the room. Hands are going up. If you're online, I can't see you, but lift your hand up right there at home by yourself. Heaven will put it on record. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

All right, every one of you that raised your hand, I want you to whisper this prayer right there at your seat. Say, dear God in heaven, thank you for loving me. Thank you for sending Jesus to die in my place. He paid the price for my sin, but you raised him from the dead. And I know he's alive right now.

So, Jesus, come into my heart now. Save me. Forgive me. Make me brand new. I surrender my life to you for the rest of my days. And according to the Bible, I am born again. Amen. Come on, Hope City, put your hands together.

1. "Give God one year where you give him your absolute best, where you do everything the church is asking. You do small group. You go through the growth track classes, and you start serving in the ministry, and you actually come to church every time you get a chance. And I promise you, you'll look back one year later, and you will not be able to believe how far God has taken you. Because if you give God everything you got, watch this. He's got even more to give back to you." [47:34] (23 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)




2. "Jesus came so that even while we're walking the face of the earth, watch this, we can be free from anything that the enemy has tried to cause us to be in bondage to. Anything and everything that doesn't represent heaven, Jesus wants us to be free from it. And I said this earlier. I said again, the church as a whole, I don't mean Hope City Church. I don't mean any particular church, but the church of the Lord Jesus Christ as a whole has unintentionally taught us how to be ashamed of our struggles. And hide our issues." [49:19] (30 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)




3. "No matter how much you know God today, there's still more of God to know. We have not gotten God figured out. No matter how long you've been walking with God, there's more of God for us to come to know. But watch this, no matter how much freedom you are living in today, there's still more freedom that God wants us to experience. God never intended for us to be saved and walk in as Christians for 10 years and 15 years and still have the same struggles today that we had 15 years ago." [51:00] (26 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)




4. "What I want to just deposit into you today is number one, that God knows us inside and out. And number two, God wants you to grow to the place where you don't have to feel like you've got to hide and be ashamed of your issues. He wants us to bring our issues to him. Watch this. So he can help us not just be good at covering them, but finally be good at getting free from them. Give me a good amen, somebody." [52:29] (23 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)




5. "A big reason why so many believers don't experience full freedom is because we can never control what we will not confront. God wants us to get better at confronting the areas in our lives where we know we still need to have victory." [52:29] (16 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)




6. "Walking in the Spirit is not a spooky, weird spiritual exercise. Walking in the Spirit is learning how to use... Yield our decision-making to the power of Holy Spirit instead of our own mind, will, emotions. Instead of the popular opinion of what social media has to say. Instead of my own personal desires. Walking in the Spirit is a spiritual discipline that every believer has the ability to achieve." [01:02:12] (23 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)




7. "If you're still struggling in an area, if you still find yourself up late at night on the computer and you're going to sites you know you shouldn't be going to, or you're looking at pornography on your phone, and the enemy has just taught you that you need to... You need to hide that and make sure nobody ever finds out about that. And when you look in the mirror and you know that you're a man of God or a woman of God and you feel ashamed about it, and the tendency is to put some fig leaves together so that I can just hide it and keep it from anybody else, what I'm trying to say to you is that God wants you to come out of hiding." [01:03:33] (24 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)




8. "No matter how difficult things are right now, no matter what's not working out, can I just tell you this? God has still been good to you. And I need you to take about a minute to give him a praise like he's really been good. Come on. Nope, I need you to praise him like he's actually been good." [01:14:53] (15 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)




9. "If I keep feeding a wrong belief, it's going to eventually, essentially change how I see myself. If I got a wrong belief about my marriage and what I should be getting from my spouse, if I keep feeding that wrong belief by listening to the wrong girlfriends and letting my mom and them talk to me about my marriage, it's going to change how I see my spouse. If I keep listening to that little gossip, no one's always got something to say about the worshiping. They should have did that like that. If I was up there, I would have been past the Korean. If I keep listening to that little gossip, watch this and letting that, watch this, just letting that little poison seep into my ears, getting the wrong belief, it's going to change how I see my church." [01:17:56] (42 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)




10. "We feed our spirit by spending time in prayer, number one. Jesus said in John 16, up until now you've asked me nothing, but ask in my name and you will receive so that your joy might be full. I also feed my spirit by spending time studying the word of God. Jesus said to the Jews that believed on him, if you continue my word, you really are my disciples. You will know the truth and the truth will set you up. We also feed our spirit by spending time, watch this, with other believers." [01:18:58] (31 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)