It never ends and it won't come down.
Hey, I had a great idea. A world with no hate and no fear. All greats love and all cheers. Families, hugs, and no tears.
Hey, let me just bask for a minute. Brand new with no windows tinted. Water in the street till the sun come get us. And tell the whole crew they can all come with us. And we ain't gotta lock the doors. And we don't need toxicors. And we don't care about your skin. We just want an all-out win.
Now tell me it's illogical. But anything is possible. If God be for us, we can overcome all obstacles. They say love covers a multitude of sins. So I'm here to put some love in the wind.
Tell a friend.
Morning church. Good morning church. How we doing this morning? It is good to see each and every one of you this morning.
I want to get started. We got a lot happening in service today, but I wanted to take a second and just set the atmosphere of expectation this morning. We are expecting God to do some amazing things. When we come in the door on Sunday, we're not just coming here just because it's checking off something on our calendar.
I believe that when we come to church, we should come in the spirit of expectation. I'm expecting God to do something. I'm expecting to hear from God. I'm expecting him to move. I'm expecting to leave this place differently than the way that I came.
And so we're going to get started. I am super excited that we have the Bersennios joining us in worship. Miss Haley and her husband Jacob over there on the electric joining us this morning and really excited about them.
Could you do me a favor? Let's stand. We're getting ready to go into the song and the song says, uh, goodbye yesterday.
I don't know what your week was like, but some of y'all need a goodbye yesterday. You need a goodbye yesterday moment. And we're moving forward in the promises of God. We're moving forward in the faithfulness of God. We're moving forward in the love of God and all the things that he has for us.
Heavenly Father, thank you for this day. God, this is the day that you have made and we make a decision to rejoice and to be glad. You have been so good to us and continue to be so good to us.
God, thank you for the breath of life that you gave us this morning. Thank you for waking us up in our right mind, giving us the activity of our limbs, warm blood running through our veins.
God, thank you for protecting us as we made our way to your house this morning. And as we're here, God, we ask that you would have your way, that you would move, that your presence would be felt. That we would leave here having encountered you, the tangible presence of the living God.
God, we set our minds, our hearts on you. We lay aside the worries of the past week and the worries of the week to come. We cast our cares on you because you care for us.
And we focus in, we are laser focused to celebrate you, to honor you, lift your name, have your way. In Jesus' name, amen.
Yes, good morning. Usually when I introduce you, you're not here. So now that you're here, I just want to say good morning. Good morning. It's good to see you this morning. You're amazing.
Well, praise God.
Well, I'm super excited about this moment. We've been talking to you guys for a couple of weeks about the stretching that has taken place here in our church. Even as you look around right now, we are close to capacity on a regular Sunday.
And God has been doing some amazing things. And so I said, if you would do me a favor for the past couple of weeks, go home and pray and see what God would have you to give in our stretch offering.
We talked about launching Limitless Student Ministries, which is the ministry of our middle schoolers and our high schoolers that we want to launch next year.
Yeah. Yes. I'm excited. Parents, y'all better be excited because your kids will have an opportunity to be ministered to in a way that's directly for them.
We talked about, you know, having the opportunity to continue supporting our missionaries like DCF that's on the college campus of UC Davis and FCA and the other organizations that we support and talk about continuing our mission support to Zambia.
And just the outreaches and all the things that we want to do next year. And we said, hey, we need your help to stretch with us to make this possible.
And even this morning, we heard the testimonies of how God has been moving in the lives of our people. And so you will notice that when you came in, that there was an envelope and on that envelope, it says stretch on it.
And so right now we are going to take our stretch offering. This is not your regular tithes and offering. This is something different. We'll take your regular tithes and offering at the end. But I wanted to take some time and really frame what God is doing here and what we desire for him to do.
This is not an ordinary seed. I believe by faith that the story of this seed will be telling the story of what God did through this seed all next year. We will tell of the testimonies of the lives that were changed and we will tell of the marriages that were restored. We will tell of the kids' lives that were changed.
Yes. This is the result of us having an opportunity to sow and to stretch with our church. If you say, hey, Pastor, I want to give online and you normally give through our QR code, you'll notice there's a drop-down box. And on that drop-down, it says tithes offering and under that it says stretch offering. So you have the opportunity to give there.
I can't tell you how excited I am to see what God is going to do to be able to go into next year and say, hey, all the things that we want to do, we now have the resources to be able to do this. And I am excited and I thank you for praying and I thank you for stretching with us.
And so if you would take out your envelope, I'm going to have, baby, if you would pray and just pray that God would move. We just sung about how he is able. We sung about the miracles. We sung that anything is possible.
And so now we have an opportunity to take part in that through our stretch offering. Would you pray?
God bless you. Remember the envelope on the front. It says stretch. Our team is going to pass the envelope, pass the offering bucket. Do me a favor. We're going to worship one more time. And worship with us as the offering bucket goes by. God bless.
And if you did want to make sure I say this, if today you didn't come prepared and say, hey, Pastor, I want to give, that tab will be open for the next two weeks. In your online giving, it'll say tithes offering, and then you can give to the stretch offering.
I'm going to pray over the offering. But Stacey has a testimony that she wanted to give. Now, y'all know I don't really be, she's like, I got something. I was like, okay. But come on, Stacey.
Amen. Amen.
I'm showing you how much I trust you right now. Go for it.
One way or another, he is so faithful. And I don't know what position you're in or what you came in thinking or where you were at, but if that doesn't ignite you, I don't know what will because it's about legacy. It's not just about us.
And he says, I say this every week, he gives seed to the sower. And this is him tangibly saying, I want to show you because he knows us. He got to show us. Show me. I need to see it. And he's like, okay, fine, I'll show you. And that's exactly what he did.
So I praise God for that testimony, not just for her but for you and the opportunity for you to hear it so that your faith can continue to be stirred. That when he speaks, move. Move and he'll do the rest.
Let's stretch our hands. Heavenly Father, we thank you for our stretch offering. Thank you for the opportunity to believe you for the impossible. Thank you that you are more than able. Thank you for giving seed to the sower and thank you for performing miracles here today.
We believe that our finances are our seed and we sow this seed into good ground and we command that seed to go and to grow in the name of Jesus. Amen.
Amen. Come on.
I'm done. I'm not finished. I was about to give back. I was about to go back into worship. I was like, that was good. I'm done. Alright, okay, so there we go. We got two things. Have a seat. Sit down. I'll let you stand, but you won't like it.
So we have two quick things. Thank you. She tried to take your job. Tell her you saw that, right? You saw that? Get her. Get her. He was looking at her like, get her.
Two quick things. We have visionaries of the month. And so we acknowledge them first service, but I want to make it an opportunity. And I hope that he is watching the stream or will rewatch the stream. Our first visionary of the month, Xavier Willis.
Xavier, Xavier Willis. Xavier has been serving on our tech team since we started here at Limitless Church, and he has been serving. And let me tell you, Xavier, you may not know him because if you didn't walk up to him and speak to him, then you don't know him because he's not coming to say nothing to you.
But Xavier has served here faithfully since the very beginning. He has been a pillar in our tech ministry. He has seen it all, and he has been back there pushing them buttons and making sure that our stream is what it needs to be.
We honor Xavier today not just because, you know, he's serving, but the fact that he's faithfully serving and going to school at the same time. Xavier is a high school student that makes sure that he responds to his planning center requests, hallelujah, and that he is back there and he is serving and he gets it done.
And I am truly appreciative, Xavier, if you're watching this, thank you so much for serving this church. Thank you for being here. We appreciate it. We appreciate you. We love you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
I get the privilege and the honor to play Fortnite with Xavier during the week. And let me tell you, the same way he is at church is the same way he is there. We're like, Xavier, where are you? He was like, oh, I'm gone.
I thought you guys knew where we were. No, we don't know where you are, Xavier, but praise God.
And then our second visionary of the month is Miss Becky.
Go, Becky. Go, Becky. Go, Becky.
She's like, it's not happening. Miss Becky serves on our worship team and our Saturday cleaning crew. And let me tell you, it is something amazing when you can stand up here and lead worship.
You may think you're just standing up here and they're just singing in their songs. There is so much that goes into standing in this pulpit and leading people, not only in the preparation, the administrative, picking the songs, making sure the team is ready, making sure everybody's where they need to be, but also the prayer and warfare that you encounter simply by being here.
It is a testament. Please understand this. Hear me and hear me well. It is a testament to God's faithfulness whenever you see somebody standing on this stage because I promise you that they have gone through something each and every week.
There is a battle that is happening because the enemy does not want the Lord to be glorified here on this stage and they get it, but they still press through. And Becky still presses through to stand up here and lead people to play her guitar, to even open up her home to our worship and our tech team.
And we appreciate you. We love you. We honor you today for being here. It is not a small feat. And you are a teacher. So let me just. Hallelujah.
Okay, because I seen them kids. Hallelujah. And what grade is it?
The devil. The devil is a liar. High school.
Yeah. Yeah. That's why we start in the student ministries because we need some Jesus in them high schoolers.
And you said it's math, too. Oh, yeah. No.
So we praise God for you. Thank you so much, Becky. We appreciate you serving our team.
And so that is our visionaries for the week. Please, if you see them throughout the month, bless them. Say thank you. Say, you know, we appreciate you.
Second thing that we have is we have our updates for December at Limitless. So I'm going to tell you everything that's going on. But this will be available on our app. This will be available on social media. And we'll be talking about it.
The important thing, or I say the most immediate thing, is next week. We're wearing Christmas sweaters and we're going to have hot chocolate and cocoa.
Okay, so I know y'all got them ugly sweaters in here because in moms and aunties, I know y'all been had the sweaters. So pull them out.
Next Sunday, we're going to be wearing our Christmas sweaters, ugly or not ugly, because I don't have an ugly Christmas sweater. I got a Christmas sweater.
No, thank you. No, thank you. I like the nice one. I like the nice. No, thank you. Hallelujah.
Alright. And then we'll have hot chocolate and cookies as well. The 21st. Yes. The excuse me. 15th. No, the 15th. I want to make sure I'm saying that right. Yes, the 15th. It says it in there. And I'm going to believe that. I'm going to believe that Danielle is right.
The 15th is our Christmas service. Nope. No, it's the 22nd. Wrong. Alright. 22nd.
The 22nd is our Christmas service. Christmas at Limitless. If any of you have been here, you know how we do it big for Christmas. So I encourage you to bring your family, bring those, bring your friends, bring your neighbors.
We're excited. Our kids ministry is going to be ministering that day. They got a song that the teachers have been working with. So they're going to be here on the 22nd. We have some other things, some other wonderful things that are going to be happening in service.
And we're going to come dressed up, ready to celebrate on the 22nd. The 24th, we will have our Christmas Eve service. So we are excited about that. We're going to do a one-hour service. Some of y'all say, Pastor, you can't do that. Watch me.
Watch me. We will have a one-hour Christmas Eve service at 6 p.m. And it'll be a candlelight service. So we invite you. We invite you guys to come spend an hour with us on Christmas Eve and worship God.
And so that is all the things. Oh, no. One more thing. Somebody say December 29th.
Y'all, I'm telling you, you don't want to say this one. December 29th.
Will not be here.
Okay. December 29th is the last Sunday of this month. Please, I beg of you, do not knock on the door. No one will be there.
Okay. We're going to be taking that week off just to be with our friends. We're going to be taking that week off just to be with our family, to let our team rest, to let our visionaries rest, so that we can come back strong for the new year.
So I encourage you. Do you hear all our visionaries saying amen?
So I encourage you to go find somewhere to sit and to receive the word. You can go to Limitless Life TV. We have 140 sermons on there. So if you missed the week, you got plenty of services you can catch up on and we will be back the following week.
And so that is our calendar. We will send it out. It'll be on social media. It'll be on our app so you can keep up with everything that's happening.
And I'm excited to dive into the word. Anybody excited to get into the word this morning?
Alright. Let's pray.
Heavenly Father, thank you for your word. Thank you for what you want to do in this building today. We honor you in this place. God, would you speak? We already know that your presence is here. We have already heard of the miracles that you've done in our lives, God.
And we are in anticipation of you speaking today. God, would you open our ears so that we can hear you? Would you open our hearts so that we can receive the word that you have for us?
We need to hear from you in Jesus' name. Amen.
Can I tell you something real quick? Y'all mind?
It's not like y'all can go nowhere. But, you know, just very quickly, this week we're serving at the Woodland Ice Rink down the street. As a matter of fact, our team is there right now and they have begun serving the city.
I got the opportunity to go there on yesterday. And let me tell you something. It was such a blessing to see kids, fathers, mothers holding hands, skating around that ice rink.
To see little kids taking their shoes off and just excited. Excited to get on the ice, to see them taking pictures with their families or sitting around the propane heaters that are out there.
And I spoke with the owner as he was there and I said, do you realize the core memories that's happening right now? Do you realize the changes in kids' lives that are being made right now as a result of you opening the door for this opportunity to happen?
And then it hit me in that moment. How privileged are we that we get an opportunity to be a part of that?
See, you may think it's just ice skating. Nah, it's a little bit more than ice skating. It's just a setup so that people can encounter the love of God.
Because let me tell you, Limitless will be there this whole week. And guess what? When the Lord moves and we have an opportunity to pray with people, we get to do that.
We get an opportunity. I just sent signs out after service that'll say Limitless. Limitless loves Woodland. And people are going to ask, what is that? And then we get to tell them about our church.
We get to minister to people that would never darken the doors of this church this entire week. So please be in prayer for our team this week. Come out, put on some skates and enjoy time with your family as we get this opportunity to minister to our city.
Amen.
Alright. So we're in this series called This is Jesus.
Okay, I'm gonna go quickly because I talked a lot. Alright. The series is called This is Jesus. And it's this opportunity that I want to talk about engaging who Jesus really is.
Okay, not who we've made him to be through tradition, through disappointments, through religion, through what people have said. But who is Jesus really?
We say this is Jesus. When you think about that title, this is Jesus. The question we have to ask ourselves is who is Jesus to us?
Who is Jesus according to his word?
Because we're going to spend some time talking about Christmas and the birth of Jesus and what it meant to the Jews and what it meant to Jerusalem, what it meant to the world and what it means to us as believers.
But we have to make sure that we know who Jesus really is because we can forget.
We can forget and do forget oftentimes, whether the disappointments that occur in life or the twists and turns that take place or maybe the disappointments that happen in life.
Or maybe just simply the results of living in a fallen world. These things happen to us. And then what happens is we ascribe qualities and characteristics to Jesus that have nothing to do with who he is.
If we're not careful, we begin ascribing these things to him that is not who he is.
My boys are here. One is, I believe, in the back and the other one is in kids ministry. I got two boys and they like to roughhouse and they like to play.
My boys will hit me with everything that they have. And in that moment, I feel that they are ascribing qualities and characteristics to me that do not exist.
Okay, they think that they can beat daddy. That is not a characteristic or a quality that I will allow to live.
So when we roughhouse and we play, I will pick them up. I will slam them. My wife will tell you. I have the ball in my hand and I am going full. She's like, you're going to knock their head. I'm like, they be alright.
Because I'm reminding them of who I am. This is daddy.
This is, I don't want them to think that they can just, just, no, that's not happening. This is daddy.
Okay. This is daddy. Daddy going to get you.
Okay. So when you play with daddy, she's like, you should let him win sometime. Like, now, baby, you are ascribing characteristics and qualities to me that do not exist.
It's not going to happen. It's not happening.
So when they play with me, my son comes in and he's very prideful. I'm going to beat you, daddy. I'm like, no, son, I'm sorry. You're not. And unfortunately, that's just not going to happen.
Then sometimes my sons will ask me for something and they'll say, hey, daddy, can we go here? Or one time my son asked, hey, can we have a play date or can we do this?
And time will go by. And at some point they will think that I forgot.
They will think that I forgot that I have so much going on that I will forget what it is that they asked for. And then when I get it to them, they'll be like, dad, thank you so much. Or mom and dad, thank you so much. And I thought that you forgot.
And I'm like, hey, I will not forget.
Might be a lot going on. It might be stuff that happens. But I am going to remember.
And the reason that I do that is because I want them. I want them to know the quality of who I am and the characteristics of who I am.
A while back I told you guys a story about what happened when my son was at school, where he was at school in kindergarten. And he got in some trouble and I had to come to the office.
And his face when he saw me. And I made it a point to make sure. I made up my mind before I walked in the door already that whatever my son said that I'm going to defend my son.
It's kindergarten. I'm not. It's not something. That's serious. But what I was doing in that moment, I asked him, hey, is this what you did? Is this what happened? Then that's what I believe.
Why? Because I want him to know that when his daddy comes, that his daddy is there to protect and defend him. That his daddy has his back and his daddy is going to take care of him.
What am I doing? I'm making sure that there are qualities and attributes that he is able to ascribe to me based off of his relationship with me.
Does everybody understand? I don't understand what I'm saying.
Okay. Because people might say stuff and he might think just something because of other people's daddy. But I'm telling you, I'm letting you know what your daddy is going to do.
Okay.
See, they call Jesus a wine bibber and they called him a glutton.
Okay. When he was on earth, they said, well, look at him. He's a wine bibber. And look at him. He's a glutton.
And even today, people will talk about Jesus. And some will say that he's a good philosopher. Some will say that Jesus was a good teacher.
He's a good teacher and a good person to point to. But none of those attributes are who Jesus really is.
It is amazing that we have so many historical artifacts and we have so many written testaments of his accent and his words. And yet we can still struggle to understand who Jesus is.
But this is not something new. This is something that occurred even in the Bible times as Jesus was on the earth.
Even when he did the impossible, those around him still couldn't see who Jesus was.
We got a five-piece dinner. People are hungry. The crowds are gathering and Jesus is concerned. And he's like, these people got to eat.
And they said, this guy comes up. He said, I got this three-piece fish dinner. And that's all I got.
Got this three-piece fish dinner. And that's all I can offer. And Jesus takes it. He blesses it. He breaks it. And he begins feeding the thousands.
John chapter six tells this story. We pick it up in verse 13. He says, so they gathered them up and they filled 12 large baskets with pieces from the five barley loaves, which were left over by those who had eaten.
Check this out. When the people saw the sign, when they saw the attesting miracle that he had done, they began saying, this is without a doubt the promised prophet who is to come into the world.
This is without a doubt the promised prophet who is coming to the world.
Then Jesus, knowing that they were going to come and take him by force to make him king, withdrew again to the mountainside by himself.
Okay. They see the miracle take place. Now, the definition of a miracle is something that happens in the supernatural that is attributed to by a divine entity.
Okay. Something that happens supernatural, something that happens that cannot be understood by man's natural rhyme and reason that is attributed to the divine.
Okay, so they see the miracle take place and then they say, oh, this Jesus is without a doubt the prophet who is to come.
Even though they saw it, they still relegated Jesus to something that he was not.
Then after they called him a prophet, they said, now we want to make him king.
But Jesus was not there to be a king. He came to die.
But still, they wanted to assign a title to Jesus that wasn't who he was and wasn't who he was called to be.
That was not Jesus.
It was interesting that they wanted him to be the king, but they didn't want him to be the savior.
It was interesting that they called him a prophet, but a prophet wasn't promised. A savior was.
Jesus came to die. And if we are to grow as believers, as Christians, as people who follow Jesus, we need to know him.
We need to know him for who he is.
We need to know him for who he is because for too often, we've made him a genie.
We've made him this genie and we just rub our prayer genie lamp. And then we expect him to do whatever we want him to do because that's Jesus.
Too often, we've made him a get out of hell free card. And so what I'll do is I'll stay just close enough so that when I die, that I don't go to hell.
Because I don't want to go to hell, never mind living a life with him. We just want to make sure we don't go to hell.
And so we've just attributed or ascribed him to this deity that will help us not go to hell.
We've made him a figure on a painting that we look at. We made him a deity on a statue, but none of that is Jesus.
None of that is Jesus.
Jesus must be defined by the characteristics of the word of God and his actions, not our assumptions, not our titles.
Jesus' disciples had the same problem. His followers had to learn this lesson far too often.
Let's turn to Acts. Acts chapter one. Let's start in verse six.
Verse six said, so when they had come together, they asked him, Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?
He said to them, it is not for you to know the times or the seasons that the father has fixed by his own authority.
Now the disciples are with him. They've seen him. They've heard him. They've seen him perform miracles. They heard him talk about how he must die.
They heard him talk about how the kingdom of God is like this. And the kingdom of God is like that. And the kingdom of God is like that. But they still didn't get it.
They still said, Lord, is this the time that we're going to come as from under being oppression to now we're about to take over Jerusalem?
Now are you going to hand the king, hand the keys of this place to the Jews?
And he says, you still don't get it. It's not for you to know the time that God is going to do whatever he's going to do.
Mark chapter 10, James and John. Let's start in verse 35.
Yeah. James and John, the two sons of Zebedee came to him saying, teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.
First of all, no.
We want you to do whatever you ask of us. That already sound like a setup. I'm coming with no off the top, but I'm not Jesus.
Jesus replied to them. Notice he didn't say yes or no. He said, what do you want me to do for you?
They said to him, grant that we may sit with you one on your right and one on your left in your glory, your magister and spender in your kingdom.
But Jesus says, you don't know what you're asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink or be baptized with the baptism of suffering and death, which I am baptized?
And they replied to him, foolishly, I might add, we are able. Bless their heart.
Jesus told them the cup that I drink, you will drink and you will be baptized with the baptism, which I am baptized.
But to sit on my right or left, this is not mine to give. But it is for those whom it has been prepared by my father.
See, these sons of Zebedee, they were there and they knew that Jesus, they're still in this idea that Jesus has an earthly kingdom that he is going to be here with.
And they said, Jesus, hey, when you sit on that throne, yeah, don't forget about your boys.
Come on, let me, I don't gotta run nothing. I just want to see, can we just be up there with you when you sit down on your throne in the kingdom at the center of the city and you start taking over everything?
I just want to sit. I just want to sit right next to you.
Okay. And then my brother, let's do it like this. I'll sit on the right, he'll sit on the left.
And he said, you don't even know. Yeah, you don't even understand. You don't even know what it is that I'm about to do.
Take on. Yeah, they were with him. They saw him. They heard him. They saw the miracles. They heard all of the prophecies and the testimonies and the stories and they still didn't get it.
John chapter four, we run into this story that we all know of the woman at the well, the Samaritan woman.
And she's there and he starts taking on this conversation in verse 7. And he done told this woman everything. He done told her all her business.
He done told her everything that she wanted to know and the things she didn't want to know. And she has heard this whole thing and she's heard about how you must, you must, one day there will be a day when you don't worship at a place, but everyone will be able to worship freely.
And he's told her about her, her, her, the man that she's with is not her husband. And she said, she's under, she's seeing this.
And in verse 25, the woman said to him, I know that the Messiah is coming, he who is called Christ, the anointed.
When that one comes, he will tell us everything we need to know. Ma'am, pay attention. Read the room, ma'am. Read the room. You're missing it.
And in the next verse, he says, I am he. But she should have picked that up a little bit earlier because he didn't have a whole conversation with her.
She's amazed and astonished, but she still didn't know who he was. She just thought he was a nice Jew, just a Jew that happened to talk to her.
And whether it's a nice Jew, a political leader, or a king, the people that Jesus encountered, even those close to him, were all the people that he was talking to him still had to come to the understanding of who he really was.
They had to let go of their preconceived notions. They had to let go of their ideas of who Jesus was. They had to even let go of what religion and tradition told them he was.
They had to see Jesus for themselves. They had to let go. Here we go. They had to let go even of their preconceived notions of who he was, of what people said about him.
Matthew chapter 16, Jesus is there and he asks his disciples, who, verse 13, he says, who do people say that the Son of Man is?
And they said, some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah or Jeremiah, one of the prophets.
He said to them, but who do you say that I am? He replied, you are the Christ, the Son of the living God.
And Jesus answered, blessed are you, Simon bar Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.
Jesus asked the disciples, what have they said? What characteristics and qualities have they attributed to me? What are they saying?
Then he asked them, man, who do you say that I am? Who do you, he says, who do they say that I am? And then he says, who do you know me to be?
Because you have walked with me. You are in relationship with me. You have experienced me. You have been with me. Who do you know me to be?
And Simon's response wasn't based off of hearsay. It wasn't based off of the stories. It wasn't based off of the Torah.
He said, who do you know me to be? He says, you are the Son of the living God.
And as we prepare to celebrate Jesus's birth, as we celebrate the birth and the things that all of that entailed, I want to make sure that when it comes to our relationship with Jesus, that we're thinking about the same question that Jesus asked.
Ask the disciples, who do you say that I am?
In other words, who do you know him to be?
And when we answer that question, it can't be based off of religion. It can't be based off of tradition. It can't be based off of history. It has to be based off of his word and his character.
It has to be based on this.
If you have a characteristic that you've attached to Jesus, it should be in here. If it's not, then get rid of it.
If you have attached a characteristic to Jesus that's not here, then you need to get rid of it.
Matthew 7 says, on that day, many will say, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and cast out demons in your name and do mighty works in your name?
And I will declare to them, I never knew you. I never. I never knew you. Depart from me, you worker of lawlessness.
I never knew you. I never engaged in relationship with you.
We may know of him. The question is, do we know him?
Yeah.
Please understand the attributes and qualities of someone who's, if you asked about an attribute or quality of someone, it's going to be different from someone who is in relationship with that person versus someone who's not in relationship with that person.
If somebody asked, hey, tell me about Pastor Keenan. Tell me about him. And you're someone who serves with us. You're someone who we are in relationship with, somebody who we're in conversation with.
And we talk and we share vision and we share what God has done. The characteristics that that person is going to say versus someone who has no idea who I am, that's going to sound different.
It is going to be very different.
So the question is, what are you, what attributes have you ascribed to him? What do you believe about Jesus?
And where did it come from?
Who told you that he was angry at you?
Who told you that he was ready to strike you down?
Who told you that he was the one who made bad things happen to you?
Who told you that he left you?
Who told you that he gave up on you?
Who told you that he wasn't hearing your prayers?
Who told you this?
Who told you that he was punishing you?
That is not Jesus.
Psalms 103, because y'all don't believe me, says the Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in compassion and loving kindness.
That is who Jesus is.
Deuteronomy 31 says, be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them for the Lord, for it is the Lord who has made you.
And who told you that he was your God who goes with you? He will not leave you or forsake you.
That is who Jesus is.
First John five, verse 14 says, this is the confidence that we have toward him. That if we ask anything according to his will, guess what? He will hear us.
Just feel like my prayers just hit the ceiling and they just hit the ceiling. And they, who told you that? Where'd that come from?
That's not the word.
Micah seven says, who is a God like you? Verse 18, who pardons sins.
Who is a God like you who pardons sins and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance? You do not stay angry forever, but delight to show mercy.
Y'all better put that there. Micah seven, verse 18. Who is a God like you? You do not stay angry, but delight to show mercy.
Who told you he was mad at you?
You really think that because of something you did, that he's mad at you, that he's upset at you, that he's not listening to you because of something you did?
Who told you?
You really think you got that much power?
No, you don't. Just in case it was a question. No, you don't.
God has already made up in his mind to love you. He's already made up in his mind to bless you. He's already made up. His characteristics don't change. Yours does.
He's already, it had nothing to do with you. That's why he sent his son.
Before his son, it did have something to do with you. That didn't go so well. So he sent his son and he says, now I will make a covenant with myself.
So anything that I need, I see, I don't see you. I see my son.
So why am I loving you? Because my son died on the cross.
Why am I hearing your prayers? Because my son died on the cross.
Why am I healing you? Because my son died on the cross.
Why am I being faithful to you? Even though you are not faithful because my son died on the cross.
That's who Jesus is.
But we don't know that if we're not in relationship with him.
If we're not in relationship with him, we don't know that.
There is a freedom that comes from knowing who Jesus really is.
Worship team, would you come?
There's a peace that shows up when the lies of the enemy begin to come and you already know the truth and you recognize that it's not Jesus.
It's something that happens on the inside of you. You know, when somebody's talking and you know, they lying.
Cadence, did you wash your hands?
Yes.
Cadence, did you wash your hands?
Yes, I washed my hands, daddy. You sure?
I am confident of this.
You didn't wash your hands, but.
But there's a confidence that come when the enemy tries to tell you that Jesus doesn't love you.
And you know, beyond a shadow of a doubt that he loves you.
There's a confidence that comes when the enemy tries to tell you that God isn't with you, that he doesn't hear you, that he's not, doesn't love you.
And you know what the word of God says.
There is a peace that comes when the enemy tries to tell you that he doesn't love you.
There is a peace and a reassurance that comes from your relationship with him that allows you to not ascribe these characteristics and these qualities of him that have nothing to do with him because you recognize that it is not Jesus.
And in those moments, you reflect on who you know him to be.
You reflect on who you know him to be.
And in that reflection comes reassurance.
And through that reassurance, you can confidently sit and remember the goodness of who he is.
And you can tell the enemy, no, no, no, no, no, no. This is Jesus.
Not what you're saying. Not what you're trying to get me to believe. Not what people have said. Not what religion has said. Not what tradition has said.
This is Jesus.
From cover to cover. This is Jesus.
That's right.
And we can fall into the trap of reducing him to a political figure.
We can fall into the trap of reducing him to who we think he is.
But I would encourage you not to try to fit him neatly in your preconceived notion.
Not to try to fit him neatly in your comfort zone.
Jesus did not come to conform to our expectations or fulfill a role that we might assign to him.
He came to transform us.
He came to transform our understanding of God.
He came to transform our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.
Jesus did not come to be a prophet or even a king in the earthly sense.
He came to redefine everything and turn this world upside down.
I want to challenge you this week to reevaluate who Jesus is to you.
To look at the things that you ascribe to him, the qualities that you've ascribed to him, the things that you have said that you have made up in your mind of who Jesus is, reevaluate those things and see, does it line up with who he really is?
And if it doesn't, I'm going to challenge you to let it go.
And I know for some of you, you've held on to those things for a long time.
You've held on to those things for a long time.
Meditate on his attributes, on his love, on his sacrifice, and let it redefine not just who he is to you, but who you are to him.
I wish you would know that you are a child of the most high God.
I wish you would know that you are a child of the most high God.
I wish you would know that he is madly in love with you, that he is infatuated with you.
I wish that you would know that he knows the number of hairs on your head.
I wish that you would know that he watches over you while you're sleeping.
I wish that you would know that he wakes you up with the breath of life.
I wish you would know that no matter what is happening, he has a purpose and a plan that he has designed for your life.
And he is making sure that it comes to pass.
And it is not by your actions. It is not by your works. It is not by your abilities, but it is only by his son.
I wish that you would know.
I wish that you would know that his love for you doesn't change based on what you did.
His desire for you doesn't change based on what you did.
His desire to see you does not change based on your actions.
He's already made up in his mind to love you.
And he will not go back.
The Jesus you know doesn't transform every aspect of your life, then perhaps you've yet to truly see him.
Let today be the day that that changes.
Heavenly Father, thank you for your word. Thank you for who you are and who you continue to be.
God, we pray this week that you will continue to reveal yourself to us.
Just like my wife, message that you would say to us, who do you say that I am?
Just like we've heard today, who do you say that I am?
And that we would come to an understanding of who you are.
And in turn, come to an understanding of who we are in you.
I thank you, God. We love you. We praise you in Jesus' name. Amen.
I'm going to call our offering team at this time. We're going to take our tithes and offering. If you're new here, we have three ways for you to give. They're on the screen.
If you're watching online right now, you can give at limitlesswoodland.com. Or if you'd like to participate in our stretch offering, you can also do so online.
You've been in that position where I have wondered if I had enough.
And I had to get to a place to understand that I can never outgive God.
Not only that, he is the provider for everything that I have.
So I don't cut myself short by giving to him. He honors it.
And there's a promise that is attached to that that says I will be in sufficiency and I will not be in lack.
And I learned that by sowing.
And so today for some of you, give with a heart that says, God, I am trusting you in this.
My tithes, my offering, I'm trusting you in this as you continue to show me who you are.
Heavenly Father, I thank you for your word. I thank you for this opportunity we have to give.
Speak to us today on what we should give.
We give our tithe, which is our 10%, God. And today we give of our offering as well, our over and above.
We thank you for the opportunity to be generous. Thank you for not only fulfilling the needs of this house but fulfilling the needs of the city, our missionaries, and all those that we support today.
God, thank you for working in us and through us. We give cheerfully and we command our seed to go, grow, and multiply.
And we know it will not return without accomplishing that in which you sent it.
In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
God bless you as you give. We're gonna sing a song of worship and I'll be right back to dismiss us.
I'm going to call our altar team forward at this time very quickly.
If you're here today and you have not made Jesus Christ the Lord of your life, the assurance that we have in knowing who he is comes from establishing a relationship with him.
There's no way that I can know who he is if I haven't made him Lord.
There's no way that I can know the character of who he is until I first establish a relationship with him.
And he says that if you believe in your heart and confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, you shall be saved.
So I want to offer you the opportunity to make that step today.
Maybe you've made him a prophet. Maybe you've made him a good person or maybe you've even made him a type of king.
But have you made him Lord?
Because there is a difference.
And if you haven't, then I want to offer you that opportunity today, not to simply make him a figure, but to make him Lord.
If you believe in your heart and confess him as Lord, you shall be saved.
So if that's you today, we would love to walk you through that process of going from belief to confession through prayer.
And be the first to welcome you into the kingdom of God and the family of God.
If you're here today and maybe you have made him Lord, but you haven't been living like he's Lord, then we want to offer you the opportunity.
We want to offer you the opportunity to recommit your life to Jesus.
I love the opportunity and the fact that God says, I will never leave nor forsake you.
He hasn't moved. We have.
But he says, I'm right here, arms wide open. I stand at the door and knock and I am ready to receive you.
So if you would like to recommit your life to Jesus, we want to offer you that opportunity today as well.
Or, or lastly, if you're here and you say, you know what, pastor, I just need somebody to agree with me in prayer.
I'm believing God for healing. I'm believing God for a breakthrough. I'm believing God for something.
And I just want somebody to pray with me.
Then we want to offer you that opportunity as well. Our prayer team is to my left, to your right, along the black wall.
Go ahead, grab your Bible, grab your purse, grab your, whatever you brought with you.
And meet us up here, meet us up here, and let's allow God the opportunity to be God in your life.
Let's take this opportunity to see who he is for yourself.
Not based off of what people say or maybe you've even thought who he is, but take this opportunity to know him for yourself.
Every day, we get the app every Sunday. We get the opportunity to hear about the miracle.
We get the opportunity to hear about the miracles of God. And this Sunday was no different.
As we came in at eight o'clock, our team told us of all the things that God had done.
And we cannot wait for your name to be on that list, to hear of the miracles, to hear of all the good things that he's done.
Heavenly Father, thank you for your word. Thank you for your presence. Thank you for your people.
God, I pray that you would keep us as we leave here throughout the week, God, that your word would resonate in our heart and rise up on the inside of us.
We believe that your word has been planted on good ground.
And we say thank you for the opportunity to not just be hearers of the word, but to be doers of your word as well.
That we would know and be able to say this week, this is Jesus.
We honor you. We thank you. We believe you in Jesus' name. Amen.
Go ahead and make your way down to our altar. Our altar team is here for everyone else.
We love you. Thank you. We'll see you next week. God bless you. And don't forget, live limitless. God bless you.
on Dec 08, 2024
