Lovey-Dovey: The Awesomeness of God’s Love & A Major Announcement

I don't ever give you all titles of names or titles of my notes, sermons, whatever you call them. And but it's in here as loveydovey. That's how I put it in my notes. Loveydovey because we're talking about the awesomeness of God's love in our life. but before we do, I have an announcement for you. You guys want it now? There's no point. There's no point in waiting. This is silly. Just drawing out. You guys just be going nuts. Just what is it? You won't even listen to what I'm telling you. I'm preaching because you're going, "What's the information? " So, I'll just cut to the chase. Shouldn't I just cut to the chase? We don't need buildup. We are officially under contract to purchase the building behind McDonald's to have as our home Church. It's official. I'm going to tell you.

And we're going to I'm I guess I will highlight some time. It goes all the way back to the Gallentine ladies. Well, it goes before that a little bit, but they were driving to Tulsa for the what was it called? It wasn't Gallentine. What do you call that? The brunch, the Guts Girls brunch. And they were talking about just life. They're riding the van driving. And they were talking about, well, that building is come for sale, whatever. And they started saying it'd be cool if that was a Church, a building that we use for Church. And then they said, well, we'll just get in faith and believe God for it. And that was in August. And this is March 1st and we're officially under contract to own that building. And it's just an amazing story. It's amazing journey. I do want to take a few minutes because I want to highlight how good God is and how faithful God is. And let me tell you something just on the natural. You can have a lot of thoughts and a lot of opinions about it and a lot of like well what ifs and where I will never forget this is a funny story. N and I God opened up a door. We were engaged to be married and we were believing God for a house to live in and we had allotted between $800 and $1,000 for rent and an apartment in Tulsa.

And we were we were not married yet and we were looking at the apartment we going to live in. And then this lady at Church, she came up. She goes, "I have a place do you have a place to live? " I said, "No. " She goes, "Do would you like, I'd like to I have a house I'd like to show you. " And I thought, "Well, that'd be cool. " And I was hesitant at first. I thought, "Let's go look at it. " And anyway, it was a four bedroomedroom house with a game room upstairs. And it had never been lived in. The papers were still in the appliances, never been used, never been touched. We go through the whole deal. It's obviously a no-brainer. Why wouldn't you want to live there compared to some little dinky apartment that we've been looking at? And we had a lot of $100,000. And she said I said, "Well, there's no question we'd enjoy living here. How much do you want for? " She said, "How about $900? " And I said, "Well, that feels like God. We'll take it.

" And so that was our first house. And then we end up buying it was a long story. And that's not the story I want to tell you today, but I want you to understand that. Then her parents came and go, "Well, we were sitting there and they're like, "Well, I bet the utilities on this house are a lot. " And we got freaked out. were like, "Oh my gosh, we got to pay utilities. What are we going to do? " And it was like, "Wait a minute. God just brought us this house. I think he can take care of the electric bill, too. " what I'm saying? And that's exactly what's happening here. God's building his Church. And I don't mean Covenant Church alone. I mean God's building his Church. God is doing remarkable things out of Eastwood under Brad and Holly's leadership and bringing revival to that little area. Lives are being stirred. Families are being stirred. God's doing great things in the world. And it's evident to people.

And so we get to be part of something God's doing. and we're responsible for what God's put in our heart to do. And last July u without getting into crazy details, obviously they closed down and that building came was going to be coming available. And I remember going by to look at it and just walked around and I thought, man, this could be cool. and I and I went home and felt impressed to almost start believing God for it. And I was praying one day and just talking about I said, "God, there's just there's in the natural, God, there's no way you do this. So, like you're going to have to do something. If this is something you want to do, this is something you're going to have to do because there's just no way that we can do it. What they were asking for it and where they started. And in our prayer time, God dropped to my heart that I'm the one that makes walls fall. And that's referring to the story of Jericho and taking the promised land. And I understood exactly what God was speaking to my heart then. I'm the one that does the part you can't do. I'm the one that does supernatural stuff. And I remember going, "Okay, God, then what are the marching orders? " Because God gave them marching orders. there is there is an action a faith step that we do and so in this case they marched around the city for seven days and on the seven days seven times and then God made the walls fall and they took Jericho and that was the beginning of conquering the promised land and so God told my heart he said I'm the one that makes walls fall and so I just thought cool so God what are the marching orders and it was it's been a six-month process and I promise you and I assure you that we did not go chasing that building I did not I don't need it and I'm saying that like honestly we are technically a mobile Church. Yes, my family owns this property and Chad and Chris have been gracious to open their building the summer, but we are what is called a mobile Church in the world of Church lingo where we set up and we tear down and we set up and we tear down and we don't get to take the creative liberty because it's not ours to do that with. And so, and so it's like, God, if this is something you want to do, then I'm trusting you to lead me and I'm here I'm here for it, if you want to do it. And so we offered them a for a while didn't do anything because it was just out of range.

I weren't even going to do it. Felt impressed to offer them an amount and it was about a fourth of what they want. Just the what I'm saying? Call it low ball, call it whatever you want to call it. I call it reality as of what we can afford in the natural. what I'm saying? like and I just told her, I said, "Look, we're a new Church in a small town and so, God's doing a good thing, but I said that I said, 'I know it's a low offer, but I said it's I just going to throw my hat in the ring and if something presents itself and that was that was at least four months ago or better. " And didn't hear anything for a long time. Soon they just dismissed it, didn't think about it. Well, that was during government shutdown, different things. And it all factored in. And then they came I got a realtor text and it said, "Hey, we'll they're entertaining your offer and they want to know if you can come up, 50 to $100,000 more and I really think they'd sell it to you for another 50 grand. " And Pastor Bill always would talk about he his negotiations when he bought his house, when they negotiated the Church property and stuff, he his philosophy when negotiating was, "I have a number. I have a number. " and he just stood his number and I was reminded of that. This is why it matters to be in the house and be under godly leadership because I was reminded of something so natural. I got a number and I gave him my number. I gave this person my number and so and so I said, "Well, I really appreciate your consideration of everything but I'm just going to hold my original offer. " Right? And then another month or two walks goes by and long story short, they have accepted our offer.

Then they went to great lengths to fix some things on their end to get it to us and then they quickly signed the contract for the third time. We filled it out three times and every time it came to us again. I did not I promise you I did not go chasing it. God brought it to us. And so when I tell you that I'm hopeful and excited and expecting of what God's wanting to do by this next step of obedience, God's building his Church. Our job is to be good stewards. And this is going to open up opportunities for toddlers and for babies and for kids and the academy and a lot of different things. And as you all know if you've been here at this Church very long in the summer when the summer comes up we've got to make change and we've got to go somewhere else. And now we have somewhere to go. So God's good. you're going to be getting more information about it, learning more about it. we have opportunities honestly to give toward it., it doesn't take a scientist, a rocket scientist to figure out how it works., and so we're going to give you all an opportunity to be part of that and how we can do the buildout. I have a friend coming from Tulsa that's going to help us shoot a video to help communicate some of the vision, the opportunity that's behind this move. And then and then I'll just go low-key throw it out there. my plan right now is if everything can work out, just to have a big old Easter party in there on April 5th. just open it up and go turn the music on and eat some chicken wings. what I'm saying? Like happy Easter everybody.

Then just get after it and celebrate the goodness of our God. And so if it works, that's the plan. If it doesn't work, we'll be right here celebrating the goodness of God. So there you go. We're officially under contract for a building to become our Church home. And look for the next step. I'll be honest with you, I don't think it's the final destination, but it's the next destination. It's the next step. And that's all you can do. That's how we live by faith. You guys understand that you're not going to know the outcome. And if you knew the outcome, you'd freak out. Wouldn't do it. Just heads up. Hey, hey, Joseph. Hey, Joseph. Do you want to be a king? That'd be good. You want your brothers to acknowledge your authority and recognize you and maybe even your family? Yeah, that'd be cool.

All right, cool. Listen, here's what I want you to do. You're going to be a slave for a while and you're going to you're going to be lied about and you're going to be betrayed by your brothers and then you're going to go to prison for something you didn't do. and then we'll be king. And if God told you that's how it was going to work, you'd be like, " what? I'm pretty cool here on the ranch. " what I'm saying? But God used him, put him in a position to use him to bring salvation to his family and to protect the lineage of the Gospel that we enjoy today. Well, God's purposes are greater than your purposes. That's why we get on his page. We become about his purpose. God's doing a great work. He's doing a great work in people's lives. And this is the next step in creating an opportunity for God to do work in people's lives. All right? See, we need a we need a baby in a toddler room right there. how that works? That's little baby moose right there. And he's upset right now. And he's like, "Man, I wish I had a little room to go to.

" And we're like, "Well, I'm working on it, bro. Chill out. " Right? like I'm trying and he you he does whatever he needs to do right now. Let him let him be a baby. let me get in Word for a little bit. That's great news, guys. And man, be excited. Be in faith. There's plenty of things to continue to push forward on and God's given us his wisdom to continue to navigate it. He's given us supernatural favor that we get to walk in. The Bible says his favor is like a shield on your life. You understand that? I'm telling you, we have to get our mind wrapped around who we are in Christ. Everywhere you go, there's favor on your life. When I call you Savior, when I call you Jesus, that puts me in right hand with God. And his favor becomes like a shield on my life. People got to deal with God's favor on my life before they even got to deal with me. Well, that's kind of arrogant. It's for you, too.

You understand that it's what we would say it's nepatism at its finest. You're God's kids. You're his favorite. You're not you're not a you're not a black sheep. You're not a you're not a handme-down. You're not a throwin. You're not a well throw him in the car. Let's go. No. It's like, hey, I will give my life for that person. That's what God did. That's the kind of love he has for you. You're his favorite. You're favored by God. Nobody can stop you. who you are. And I'm telling you, if you don't, you got to learn it. You've got to grow in it. It can't just be attending services. You've got to grow in the knowledge of who you are.

This is what we talk about so often. And I was again sharing on conversation before Church like this is why you're here tonight. This can't be hitting our quota for services and hitting the check Mark. I'm here to get discipled. Teach me about God's love. Teach me about who I am. Let me know who I am. I said to be like and with respect to people that have served in our military or been in real battles, it's like somebody hands you a gun and says, "Here, go win. " And you're like, "I don't even know how to shoot this thing. Who am I aiming at? What am I What do I do with this? Where who's the bad guy? What am I, where am I supposed to stand or do I get to hide my like it's like you have no strategy. You don't understand. That's the disciplehip. You've been given a position of victory. You've been given the tools to go win, but you got to learn how to work them. You got to learn how to use them. You got to remember who you are and remember what we're fighting for and then the strate the strategy that comes with it. And that's what God does.

Let me tell you something. The supernatural element of provision in this way is the same supernatural element of provision in your lives. It was a six-month process. And I promise you when I tell you that I did not chase it. I DID NOT chase it. It came to me. It came to us. I I don't know how to say it any differently. I just did it. It it came and found me. I had let it go and thought, "Well, they just dismissed. " And then two and a half, three months later, they get a text and it's like, "Oh, we still doing this? " Because I'd already moved on. I'm thinking about other ideas and thinking about other plans for summer and other stuff. So, what I'm telling you is God has a way of bringing his promise into your life. The reality is the natural part of it is we give up. And I'm just going to shoot you straight. We give up. You quit. It wasn't on your timeline.

It wasn't the way you expected. It didn't happen. You didn't get what you wanted. So, you quit. And you I'm just I'm this is not my message. I may not get to my notes. I'm just telling you that's why you stop winning because you quit because you give up because you negotiate God's promise and you settle for less. And I promise you, I'm of the same temptation that you would be with that. I'm of the same feelings. I'm of the same challenge. I told you what I just told her. My heart and my mind are fatigued. That's why the Bible talks about endurance. That's why the Bible talks about perseverance. That's why the Bible talks about don't grow weary and DOING WELL. DON'T GET TIRED. DON'T GIVE UP. DON'T LOSE HEART. Don't quit. Keep pressing.

Keep believing. KEEP CALLING OUT. KEEP DECLARING, "WELL, I don't FEEL LIKE IT. " SO WHAT? Nobody asked you how you felt. Nobody asked Jesus how he felt. Jesus, do you feel like going to the cross today? If you don't mind, if you got like a few extra hours to just kind of hang there, it' be great. How foolish and selfish and sloppy is that? The toughness that's required. Paul said, "You harden yourself. I harden myself to difficulties. I harden myself to them. I'm prepared for them. Yes, it's going to be hard. Yes, there's going to be challenges. And there's going to be challenges going forward from this moment after this announcement. There's going to be work days. THERE'S GOING TO BE WORK NIGHTS. IT'S GOING TO REQUIRE SOME FINANCIAL GIVING.

All the things. It's the first time I've danced like that for about that topic. But I'm JUST SAYING BECAUSE YOUR FLESH DOESN'T GO, "OH, that sounds like a hoot. " But if we're about the mission of God, BRING IT ON. WHAT ELSE AM I GOING TO DO WITH MY LIFE? LET ME POUR out my life like a drink offering. Like Jesus poured out his life as a drink offering. When he could have cried out and said, "Call down to the legion of angels. " He did it. When he could have excused himself, he did it. He embraced the mission. And he went to battle on your behalf and on my behalf. This is the same mentality that we have to operate in. Don't quit. Don't lose heart. Don't lose focus. You're winning. You're winning. You've won. You've already won.

Walk it out. No weapon formed against you can prosper. But whatever you put your hand to will prosper. Whatever you put your hand to will prosper. I will put my hand to it. I will trust the timing. I will trust the turns. I will trust the process. I'm trusting God through the process because I'm putting my hand to this. I can't lose. And no weapon formed against me can prosper. It doesn't say that weapons won't be formed against you. It just says they can't prosper. The Devil will sit there with the biggest weapon he can find and he will try to intimidate you with it, but he can't use it against you. He can just psych you out. All he can do, listen to me. Jesus, help me. All he can do, he has no weapons. He's been stripped of all of his authority. He's been stripped of all of his weaponry.

He's been stripped of all that he has. And all he has is deception. It's all he has. He's a lion with no teeth. He is he is he is only miss objective is to psych you out to manipulate you away from God's promise. He did it in the beginning with Adam and Eve. He does it today with you and I. It's to draw you away to manipulate to confuse to wear you down. Let me tell you, if you have any level of confusion, it's not of God. Because the Bible says that God's not the author of confusion. So if there's confusion, it's not God. So when you feel confused about something, you ought to go, "This is not the Holy Spirit. " So let me call out Jesus and invite and ask for his manifold wisdom to illuminate the direction, the counsel for me in my life. Let me call out and declare his righteousness. Let me go to my place and position of victory. Let me remind myself of who I am and declare God's promises. Man, those promises that are on our app and on the phone and I'll make available to you, all that stuff. It's for you to open your mouth and declare them, to get them in, to remind yourself of who I am. Not for your comfort, but for your benefit and for his glory, for you to go win. That's what's that's what's there for you.

That's the kind of love that God has for you. This is this is I want to highlight a couple things, but like this is the this is the dynamic love for you forward in your lives. I said this last week, so I'm going to reinforce it. Is that when we hear it subconsciously because we know of our failures and we know what I meant to do and we know what I wanted to do and we know what I haven't done and I know all of my mistakes. Then when I come and I tell you and you also have your I'll say manipulated view of Church because the Devil's been pulling you away and putting lies in your heart and your mind about Church because people have messed up and all the things and our motives and lying to you and accusing the Church of our motives and it and it it contorts and it confuses and it frustrates and I know the things I didn't do and the things I should have done and I'm aware of all that. And so when I come in and I just tell you that God loves you, it sounds cliche and it loses its weight because the Devil's he's diluted it, he's manipulated, he's warped it for you. And at the very least, your subconsciousness hears it for poor pitiful me. Poor pitiful me. I've made all these mistakes, but at least God loves me. Well, God loves me. Pat yourself on the back, dy don little thing. God loves you and that's how we hear it. But what I'm here to tell you is that God's love is so pure and so perfect that before you even thought to acknowledge him, his love could not be any greater toward you. And in this moment, if you can receive his love, HE WILL LOVE YOU FORWARD TO HEALTH. HE WILL LOVE YOU FORWARD TO STRENGTH. HE WILL LOVE YOU FORWARD TO PROSPERITY. HE WILL LOVE YOU FORWARD TO Heaven. HE'S LOVING YOU FORWARD in your life. BUT WE ONLY LOOK BACK AND look at what he's done. Yes, that's 1 million% true.

You did make some dumb choices. You were a fool and God loved you then and God loves you now and he covers that. But he loves you completely and perfectly that you might grow in his love and grow into the man that he's called you to be. to grow into the man that you are. I've given this example before. It's been a long time and this picture is in my mind. I saw it 15 20 years ago, but it's like what happens is you guys know I think it's that Gumby character that's like, and it's like my my feet I was lost and now I'm found. And this is my position in Christ. And the Bible says I'm seated with him in Heavenly places. I'm a joint heir with Jesus. I'm the I'm the righteousness of God. That his Spirit lives big in me and that there's healing in my hand, salvation my lips, and everywhere I go is land God's given me. I'm a new creation in Christ. This is MY POSITION. BUT MY LITTLE GUMBY BODY GOES OVER HERE AND MY little noodle still on this side. MY BRAIN IS NOT CAUGHT UP TO THE POSITION THAT I live in. I live in God. I live in love. I live in Truth. I live here.

This is who I am. This is what I'm about. This is where I'm going. Death has no steam. GRAVE HAS NO VICTORY. I CAN'T LOSE. BUT MY BRAIN, LITTLE GUMPY BRAIN IS OVER HERE GOING, "WELL, SHOOT. I don't know what we're going to do with all these missiles going off. " That's a big deal. I get it. But this is a big God. This is a really big God. And this is the purpose of our life. God is not an American. God is not an Iranian. God is not a Chinese. God is not a Russian. God is God. And all of humanity is made in his image and likeness. And different individuals, all of humanity has re tried to reject him.

This Gospel has been persecuted from the day that it arrived. Jesus showed up and they killed him. Jesus conquers the CROSS AND THEY REJECT the story. People were KILLED FOR TELLING THE Gospel of Jesus. THEY WERE HUNG UPSIDE DOWN ON CROSSES. THEY WERE BOILED TO DEATH. Their heads were cut off because of a message. THIS LIFECH CHANGING GOOD NEWS Gospel HAS BEEN PERSECUTED FROM THE DAY IT ARRIVED BECAUSE THE God OF THIS WORLD HATES IT and it hates you and it will lie and it will manipulate to you and it will tell you that you will never be enough. It'll tell you that you have already THIS IS WHO YOU ARE AND YOU CANNOT LIVE THERE. THAT'S NOT REAL. THIS IS SPOOKY HYPERURCH TALK. I call BS to the Devil. He's lying to you to keep you over here because if he keeps you over here, you're worthless for the cause of Christ. You're a si I'm I'm opening this door. You're a I can be a Weak, afraid, a little bit of persecution. Well, they didn't invite me to the party because I go to Church now. Okay. So, what? I don't want to go. I don't want to go.

Well, they're treating me different because we've made a commitment that we're going to honor God in our relationship. Now, we do. Good. Treat me different. I don't need you in my life. I want I want God's best for you in your life, but I don't need you. I live here, Jack. You want to live there? By all means, I will love you over there, but I will live and thrive and conquer here. My mind has to be renewed to this position. People fighting for their lives. People believing God for things. people getting a and look man look the evidence that we see with our eyes cannot be more real than what I see in my heart this is my mind being renewed to the Truth of who he is the God of this world wants to manipulate you keep you here and something with your natural eye and it's more real to me than this report because we're afraid that we're going to look goofy over here trusting God because this is what everybody else sees and they're going to think, "Man, those guys are goofy, hyper spiritual. " Well, what else you got? What else you going to turn to? You going to go home and rub your crystal ball? What? Are you going to go keto for the next 10 days? What are you going to do? Let me tell you something.

I'm going to get my mind caught up. I'm going to get my Spirit man caught up. I'm going to get my words caught up. I'm going to I'm going to plant my flag. I'm going to put my stake in the ground. I'm going to I'm going to I'm going to set my feet. I'm going to get my eyes locked in on Jesus and I'm going to roll. And it's going to get adverse at times. It's going to get difficult at times. And people are going to have opinions of me and people are going to say stuff from a place of complete and total ignorance. Have an opinion about our Church who doesn't go to Church anywhere and doesn't even believe in Jesus. I don't care about your opinion, ma'am. WITH ALL THAT I HAVE, STICK IT. SEE, that's offensive to some of you. Let me clarify. I love her where she is, but you can take that report and you can send it right back where the sun don't shine because it ain't going to have any work any effect on my life. And you say, "Well, that's kind of you don't need to talk like that. That's crude. " No, no, no. You got to get that aggressive about it.

Cuz let me tell you what else happens. You Oh, boy. I don't know why I'm so scrappy tonight. Because what I'm going to do, I'm going to let I'm going to let somebody who's lost. Thank you, bro. I'm going to let somebody listen to me. I love them where they are. the Gospel is for them, but they are not submitted to it. They don't like it. They don't go to Church anywhere. They're not for it. And so, they have an opinion about me. AND IF I let them have a voice, then I'm limited in my obedience to Christ and everybody else suffers. So, you don't get to have a voice. You can have all the opinions you want. You can go hide in your hidey-hole and have all the opinions you want. And you can say whatever you want. Maybe it's like teflon. I ain't hearing that. I'm gonna build my life on this report.

I don't need that report. Are you hearing what I'm saying tonight? John 16:33, Jesus said this. In this world, YOU'RE GOING TO HAVE TRIALS AND TRIBULATIONS, but be of good cheer. BE OF GREAT CHEER. BE OF CONFIDENCE. BE OF CONFIDENT EXPECTATION. Let your hope rise. Get your hopes up. Well, I don't want to get my hopes TOO HIGH. GET THEM UP. Get your HOPE UP. GET YOUR FAITH UP. Get your confidence UP. BE OF GOOD CHEER. I'VE ALREADY OVERCOME THAT. I'm going to deal WITH TRIALS AND TRIBULATIONS. I'M GOING TO GET REPORTS. People are going to have opinions. People are going to say things.

Do how many PEOPLE ARE GOING TO HAVE AN OPINION ABOUT THIS DECISION to buy THAT BUILDING? DO WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN? I DON'T CARE. I DON'T NEED THEIR OPINION. I DON'T NEED THEIR APPROVAL. I'M DOING SOMETHING THAT'S KINGDOM RELATED. IT'S SPIRITUAL. IT'S DIFFERENT. WE'RE FIGHTING A DIFFERENT FIGHT. IT'S A DIFFERENT MISSION. I DON'T NEED TO NEGOTIATE God'S PROMISE BECAUSE OF SOMEBODY'S OPINION about it. WE ARE CHANGING A CULTURE. WE ARE BRINGING PEOPLE BACK TO Jesus. WE RESTORING BACK TO God BECAUSE Jesus IS COMING BACK SOON. There is there is ONE TRUE LIVING God. THERE IS ONE SALVATION. AND THERE WILL BE THE RETURN OF Christ. AND THERE IS A DAY OF JUDGMENT. AND God IS PATIENTLY WAITING. AND I'M GOING TO DO MY PART TO GET PEOPLE INTO THE KINGDOM.

Whatever it means. I'll take a step OF FAITH. WE'LL BUY A BUILDING. WE'LL SHOW UP EARLY. WE'LL DO OUR PART BECAUSE WHAT ELSE DO I HAVE TO LIVE? THIS IS WHERE THE FULFILLMENT IS. This is where the contentment is. So you can have all the adversity you want. You can have all the opinions you want. I can look as silly as you think I look. But I'm not trying to look silly to make a statement to you. I am humbly, quietly, for the most part, not so much tonight in this moment, but quietly submitted to the lordship of Jesus in my life. people will come and go. I'm telling you with resolve in my heart, I as accountability to you will not be moved by your actions. I'm inviting you to the cause of Christ. You don't have to jump on this train. You can jump on another train. It's great. My hope's not in you. I just want to do it with you.

I just want you to come too. And that one too. That baby. I want them growing up here. I want them growing. I'm looking at you. Your baby gone. I don't know where your baby went, but Lord, I want these babies growing up. And they love Church. what I need? I need that one that I'm pointing at my daughter. I need these two. I need that one, that little baby. I need them going, I love Church. I need you to make Church awesome for her. I need her when she's 19, 20, 30, WHATEVER YOU ARE, TO GO, I LOVE Church. I LOVE THE GO. I LOVE IT. WHY WOULD I NOT BE IN Church? THIS IS THE GREATEST THING I'VE EVER have ever heard.

I need There you are. I need you. And I need you. And I need you. I need you to MAKE IT AWESOME FOR THEM. WE NEED A PLACE THAT LITTLE BABY GROWS UP. A LITTLE CHUNKSTER JUST LOVING Jesus. Nothing wrong with chunksters, by the way. Thank you, Lord. I don't even know how to exit this message. If this one goes to the internet, people like, "Man, that dude, I don't know if I'm going to that. That guy's wound up. " But dog gone it. It's who you are and it's what he's got for you. Grab it. Own it. Run with it. The parable of the talents. Here's five bags of silver for you. Two bags of silver for you.

One bag of silver for you. Given to you accordingly to what you're capable of. In other words, God has given you something. So, right out of the gate, we're not compared to who got what. No, no. God gave you something with confidence that you could handle it. Whatever you got, you have because God's confident you can handle it. One took the five bags, went to work with it, turned it into 10 bags. One took two bags, worked it, turned it into four bags. The one bag was scared, went and buried it. The master returns, says, "What' you do with what I gave you? It's mine. What' you do with what I gave you of mine? I turned it into 10. I turned it into four. Master, sir, I knew you to be a hard man. And I went and buried it. I was afraid. I was fearful. I didn't understand what the preacher was talking about.

So, I just went and buried it because I was afraid. But here's what you gave me. No growth, no stewardship, no ownership of it. Didn't do anything with it. And the master says, "You wicked and lazy servant. You have to take ownership of it. This is your relationship with God. This is your salvation. This is your opportunity. This is your Church that God has given you. This is your privilege to serve the master. This is your responsibility to take what he's given you and grow it. That when you get to Heaven and you stand before God by yourself and he says, "What did you do with what I gave you? " and you say nothing. It's on the screen. I'm gonna look at this verse. I'm gonna close with this verse. It's been resonated with me. I've texted to a bunch of guys. It's Galatians chapter 6 4 and 5.

And I'm done with this verse. And then I'm going to invite my wife to come up and maybe Brad and I'm going to carry on for a minute. Chapter 6. Pay careful attention to your own work. You take responsibility for your life. God dog, I'm so tired of everybody blaming everybody else. See, the reality is everybody's just you're justified in your mind, in your behavior, but everybody else is wrong. That's the selfish love. That's not the love of God. Remember, we talked about this. God's love is so pure and so perfect that he gave with nothing for him to gain. He has no ulterior motive. He has no impure motive in his love for you. And so we we we get justified in our behavior, our opinion. We start blaming everybody else. No, no, no. I'm going to take responsibility for the five bags of silver he gave me. You got two, you got one, some of you got 10. Some of you got 20 in here. That's not my business.

I'm going to take what God gave me. I'm going to be as faithful as I can be with it. And I know my deficiencies. I know my weaknesses. I'm aware of them. I am preaching to you and hollering at me. I'm in the same dogone boat you're in. I am not I am not some elitist. I am not something exceptional. I am nothing different. I am in the same faith you are. It's the same spiritual authority that you walk in that I walk in. Well, I just need the preacher to PRAY FOR ME. NO, YOU NEED TO PRAY FOR YOU. YES, there's the power of agreement. Yes, there's people coming alongside you. Yes, there's one. If you fight, we fight. But I can't fight your fight. I can only be in your corner and fight supporting you.

My fight is a fight of faith for you, BUT I CANNOT FIGHT FOR YOU. See what I did there? That was the Lord. Pay careful attention to your own work, for then YOU WILL GET THE SATISFACTION of a job well done. And you won't need to compare yourself to anyone. Stop worrying about everybody else's opinion. Stop worrying about how many bags they got. Stop worrying about other people's thoughts and opinions. STOP WANT STOP IT. I KNOW WHO I AM. I'm going to be A MAN OF God. I'M going to run my race. I'm going to be obedient. I took wise counsel. I took the account of the people. We walked this process out. AND THIS IS THE NEXT STEP. IT'S THE next step. AND WHEN I GET TO BED TONIGHT, I'M GOING TO GO TO BED AT NIGHT WITH A SATISFACTION THAT I'VE DONE THE BEST THAT I COULD DO TODAY BECAUSE I FOCUSED ON me being the best I could be as unto the Lord. Hopefully to your benefit.

But in the end, God, that I could go to bed because I paid careful attention to what you called me to do. And I put my focus on honoring you with how I live my life. And I don't need to compare myself to anybody else because I'm careful focused on what you called me to do. I'm focused on the bags you gave me to steward and I will take care of them. I will grow them. And the next verse says this, "For we are each responsible for our own conduct. " Well, if they would just do this and I would, well, then you're a loser. You're not going to win that way. You're wait You're waiting. You're waiting for Spencer to get it right so you can get it right. I don't need Spencer to get it right. I get it right and maybe I can benefit Spencer and help him start winning. IT'S NOT SOMEBODY ELSE'S JOB TO DO THAT RIGHT WHEN they start saying something. When they start I took responsibility. I could talk all night long. I TOOK RESPONSIBILITY FOR MY own relationship with my own family members. And I'll make it real honest and be real vulnerable in front of everybody because we're in his building. But it was my relationship with my dad. And I remember thinking like, why doesn't he ever call me? Why doesn't he ever say he loves me?

How come he never comes to visit me and I'm a victim? Because he won't do. AND THEN I DECIDED ONE DAY BY THE MERCY and the grace of God, it came alive and says I'm going to start doing it then. So I start calling and I start saying I love you and I would come home and visit and to begin to do WORK IN OUR RELATIONSHIP. NOT ONLY FROM OUR RELATIONSHIP IN MY heart and guess who STARTED TELLING ME THEY LOVED ME AND GUESS WHO STARTED RESPONDING CHANGES BECAUSE I TOOK initiative and then God BEGAN TO OPEN MY EYES AND I BEGAN TO SEE WAIT A MINUTE QUALITY TIME IS NOT HIS LOVE LANGUAGE. WORDS OF AFFIRMATION IS NOT HIS LOVE LANGUAGE. God began to teach me something and IT BEGAN TO HEAL MY HEART AND I BEGAN TO UNDERSTAND WHAT IT IS TO BE A HUSBAND AND HOW IT HAD TO BE A DYNAMIC AND A HARD DYNAMIC FOR HIM AND I BEGAN TO HAVE THIS COMPASSION TOWARD HIM BECAUSE I UNDERSTOOD SOMETHING I COULD HAVE NEVER UNDERSTOOD ANY OTHER WAY AND I BEGAN TO REALIZE HIS LOVE LANGUAGE WAS Acts OF SERVICE AND HE'S BEEN BUSTING HIS CHOPS FOR 45 YEARS TO CREATE AN OPPORTUNITY FOR US TO HAVE THIS IS WHAT God'S BEEN doing but I sat there and go well I mean he never calls me. Shut up. Some of you GUYS ARE OFFENDED AND WON'T COME BACK BECAUSE YOU'RE LIKE, HE said a lot of rude things tonight. BUT I'M JUST I MEAN IT'S IT'S THAT IT'S that simple and that real. And some of you need to hear it like that. I guess it's real talk. God, we love you and we thank you for who you are. God, your victory is so dominant that we can't lose. You're good and you are only good. Your love is perfect and your love is pure and you have no selfish motive. God, you only want good for your children. We see it demonstrated in Jesus. You won for us, God. Church, where you're sitting, this is the moment of ministry.

This is your ministry moment. This is the moment for you to respond. Man, we sing songs and sweat and slobber and spit and preach God's Word, but it is now your response to God. Who do you call Jesus in your life? I call him Savior. This is your chance to call him Savior for your life. I believe in my heart. Do you believe it? I believe in my heart that God conquered death. He conquered my sin. He conquered the law. He conquered my performance. He conquered my imperfections. He conquered them. He took the penalty upon himself and he conquered it. And God resurrected Jesus. And I confess with my mouth and I acknowledge with my whole heart that Jesus is God. You believe in your heart unto righteousness. And you confess with your mouth unto salvation. You confess with your mouth unto a position, this position.

That's why I say, open your mouth, sing the song, say the words. Confess with your mouth the position that you walk in. I am a child of God. I am forgiven. I am perfectly loved. I have been gifted by God. I hear God's voice. I am a joint heir with Jesus. Right where you're sitting, receive God's perfect love. Acknowledge and recognize the righteousness you walk in. and understand that from this moment forward, God loves you forward to strength. God's healing your heart. God's healing your mind. God's healing your relationships. God's healing your outlook. God's destroying your selfish pride and allowing you to see differently, to see people differently, to not have an impure love of your own, but to grow in his love and begin to love them where they are. Not what's in it for you, but what can you do for them? What can we do for this community, for the people around us? What can we do for this time and this season that God's called us to? What can we do with the bags of silver that the master has entrusted to us?

We're going to grow them. We're going to steward him that the master would say, "Well done, good and faithful servant. " God, we give you glory and praise and honor in Jesus name. Amen.