Exploring Christian Atheism and Its Impact

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Christian atheists . Okay , you may be like what the heck is a Christian atheist ? What in the world is that ? Even a thing ? Is that possible ? So we are kicking off this brand new series and we're gonna talk about this . Here you go . According to a recent survey in America , it says three out of every four people would say they believe in God . That's good news , right ? Three out of four . And then it says seven out of 10 Americans say they believe that Jesus is the risen Son of God . Is the risen Son of God ? Also good news , right ? That sounds like good news . That's a lot of people , that's a big chunk . But there's always a big but . But maybe you would agree with me or not . But when we look out into the world , when we look into our communities , when we look into even our schools and different things , it doesn't seem like the majority of people are Jesus followers . There's a lot of anger , depression , depression rates are higher than ever before . This upcoming generation has more depression rates than any generation in previous history . Now , why is that ? Why is that ? Here comes the thought . Here comes the thought that we're gonna explore for the next four weeks a Christian atheist . A Christian atheist Because when we look at how people live . They live as , in a way , they say oh , I believe in a God , but by the way they live , their life doesn't show that he exists , that they don't . They didn't show that he exists . So , as everyday people who are learning how to become Jesus followers , how can we live in a way that reflects following Jesus in our families , in our schools , in our workplaces , in our communities , in all of our environments ? How can we , as Jesus says , be a light to the world ? How can we do this ? Here you go a Christian atheist . The working definition of a Christian atheist is believes in God but lives as if he doesn't exist . Lives as if he doesn't exist .

Speaker 1 2:01

Another interesting survey by Barna Group . It says more and more people than ever before are walking away from church . More and more people than ever before are walking away from church Not because of Jesus and , interestingly enough , not even because of church systems or structures . It's kind of a fascinating thing that we're seeing among young people . Young people are actually going back to liturgical churches in record numbers , more than evangelical , charismatic expressions of church . But it says this and the reason why people are walking away from Jesus they say because they don't see a difference in people who call themselves Christians and people who don't . Well , that's alarming . That's a good alert . We need to hear that In fact , among ages 13 to 17 , so the next generation , I'm coming up they are more spiritually open than ever before , but reports they are hesitant of following Jesus because of the lifestyle they have witnessed from other Christians .

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Now I want to kind of use this verse that the apostle Paul is talking to Timothy to kind of set the tone for the next four weeks . It says this Paul talking to Titus I'm sorry , not Timothy , I mean Titus Paul talking to Titus says this and I want you to hear the heart behind this Titus 1 , 16, . It says they claim to what ? No God . They claim to no God and there's a difference . I want you to get this . There's a difference between knowing God and knowing God . It's like we all know who the president is , but we don't know the president . Do we ? And the same with God ? A lot of people . They know who God is , but do you know God intimately ? Is God , do you have a relational connection to God ? Here you go .

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It says they claim to know God , but by their actions .

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By their actions , what do they do , but by their actions they deny him .

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They deny him . They claim to know God but by the way they live they actually deny him . And I recall that a Christian atheist I believe in God , but I live in a way as if he doesn't exist . So let's be honest . Let's be honest . Haven't you met a Christian before that says one thing but then they do another thing ? Haven't we all met a Christian before that ? We would use the word man ?

Speaker 1 4:21

They come across as like hypocritical or judgmental , not kind . You don't see attributes of Jesus . When you say and what is it doing your heart ? What is it doing your soul ? Doesn't it bother you ? You know what I mean . Like when you see , even when you see some of these big mega pastors and they have these falls from grace , they have all these doesn't it like there's something in it like rub you the wrong way , like man ? That bothers me . Right here you go . Let's not just pick on people out there .

Speaker 1 4:48

What about us ? What about us ? What about you and your life , when you know God is leading you to live a certain way , to act a certain way , to love a certain way , and yet you still do the opposite ? Doesn't it bother you when you live your life in a way that you know God is real , but I keep making choices as if he doesn't exist . It bothers us , right , it bothers us in our core Now , and there's a reason for that . There's a reason for that because today , what we're gonna talk about are those who believe but do not know him , those who believe but do not know him , and is that even possible ? Is that possible to know someone , to believe someone , but not know them intimately ? Well , yes , let me give you a good example of this .

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Before I knew my wife , erin , I knew her , but , yeah , before I knew her as my wife and knew her intimately , I knew of her . I knew of her Erin , and I actually knew each other a long time before the romance came in , before Cupid shot his bow and arrow . I knew her for a while . I actually knew Erin when she was around 16 years old and I was a little bit older , I was 18 , and I knew her back then because I was a mentor to her sister , sarah , who was a part of our youth discipleship program when I was a youth pastor down in Virginia Beach , or at that time I was a youth director , and so in that process of me getting to know Sarah Erin's sister , I got really close to the Cory Erin's maiden name the Cory family . I got so close to the family , in fact , that me and my brother were spent every Sunday there for family dinners . And then we got so close that we started to spend things given with them . And here's a funny part For Sarah it was great because , like , oh , her mentor and you know , it was part of her family .

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For Erin , who wasn't a Jesus follower , who wasn't a believer , I was her sister's annoying Christian friend and I would just keep coming over and I'm always positive and encouraging and all this stuff . I was like K-love , Thank you . Thank you for laughing at my jokes , so it makes my self-esteem feel better , but that's all I was to Erin . I was the annoying Christian guy that hung out with the family and all I knew of her was Sarah's sister , erin . And so the funny part was I actually joined Sarah and praying for Erin every day for her to have a relationship with Jesus . Little did I know at that time I was praying for my future wife . So when you pray for people , you never know who you're praying for . So Erin goes .

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Erin ends up going to George Mason University , her second year there at George Mason . George Mason gives her life to Jesus , which is amazing because that's one of the hardest people groups to reach is 18 to 22 year olds and she gives her life to Christ is really incredible story . You should ask her in the lobby about it . But so when she gets back in town , I'm really her only friend from Virginia Beach who is a Jesus follower , my only friend from Virginia Beach who's a Jesus follower , for other friends weren't really headed in that life direction . So we hung out a couple of times , no big deal , let's kind of talk a little bit until the moment the moment happened .

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Okay , back at this time I was a weekend service director for our church in Virginia Beach . There's a pretty large church down there . I had like almost every single job , as you can think , as a Pastor and I was . I was in charge of the weekend service , the worship and all that stuff , and I was and I was leaning up against the sound booth and the in this Sunday service was starting and and the way our church was set up . The sound booth was like here and then the doors for the entry doors were this way and I'm leaning against the sound board and all sudden I look over and I see Erin walk in and she's wearing this beautiful red dress and in that moment I don't recommend this for everybody , but in this , in that moment I thought to myself wow , I'm going to marry Erin Corrie . That was my thought is that Erin walks up to me and here's even the best part of it .

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Prior to this day , I was going through one of those I was probably like in my , in my early 20s . At that point , I was going through one of those seasons that most Got people in the early 20s goes through , where you're trying to figure out life and you know some , I grew my hair out really long out , his little fro . It was awesome , and my facial hair was all like rough , I look rough , I look like a homeless bum , To be honest . And so I finally got a haircut prior to prior to this moment , right ? So I got a fresh fade , got cleaned up , and then Erin walks up to me and she does this . She rubs my face , she says that looks way better , and I said , oh , you be witch to me , body and soul . You know I start talking pride and prejudice on her , you know , but I didn't say that out loud there . But it's a funny part , we end up hanging out a little bit .

Speaker 1 9:37

And then that summer we hung out every single day that summer With the excuse of we're going to train for a half marathon , and so we would go to the park every day , run around the park . We said we were going to run a half marathon . We never did , but really we just wanted to see each other . Yeah , so we did . We have seen each other . By the end of that year , erin and I started to date nine years , nine years later , three kids in a church plant later .

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Now I really know her like I know her now . Then I know when she's , when she sat or upset , before she even speaks a word . I know how to push her buttons . She knows how to push my hand and she Knows the deepest on the deepest parts of my heart , my deepest fears . And I know her . We have a deep shared love for our children and their hopes and their futures , and I wish , I wish there was more Minutes in the day so I could think about Erin even more . That's how much I know her , right compared to how I knew her when she was 16 to how I know her now , there's a difference . And what is the biggest difference ? What is the biggest difference of when back then and now ?

Speaker 1 10:44

Intimacy there's a relationship , there's an intimate relationship , there's heart to heart and and . And there's a relation , there's an intimacy there . And what I want to say to us today , why do I say all that ? What I want to say to us today ? Maybe you grew up in church environments where it was all about head knowledge and how much Bible you know and how , and that's important and that's great and it's good to have a good theology . But did you know that the God who created the heavens in the earth , the God who made the sea and everything in it , that that God desires an intimate relationship with you ? He desires an intimate relationship with you not just in the head but in the heart , and that God loves you so much that the Bible says that he is near people who have what Broken hearts , which signifies to us that God is a relational God , that he is near and close . So the problem is we often have head knowledge of God yeah , I know him but no heart knowledge . The intimacy has to grow Now .

Speaker 1 11:48

What I want to do is give us kind of three different levels , three different categories of what it looks like to believe in God , and these are kind of my ways of expressing it . But I think you're gonna see yourself in one of these three categories , probably a little bit in all three of them . To be honest with my hope , is my hope for at the end of this talk today that you , that we will all say I want to take a step towards the third category that I'm gonna say okay , here you go . The first one , if you're taking notes , some people believe in God but don't know him , and that's kind of what I've been saying . Some people they believe in God but they don't know him , and that could be a lot of us actually that could be alive , especially in certain areas in our lives . Like I , yeah , I believe in God , but I don't really know that he's gonna come through for me on this job . I don't really know he's gonna come through for me on providing for my family . I don't really know if he's gonna like yeah , I believe him , but does he think about me ? Does he ? Does he care about me ? And so you know and here's the thing that this is the part I want you to get some people

Belief in God vs. Personal Relationship

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you know .

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You say you believe in God without knowing God . Scripture says this , and this is kind of interesting thought . Scripture says even the demons Believe in God and they shutter . And so what does that mean you can have ? You can have a head knowledge of God , but not a personal , surrendered lifestyle to God . You can't . You could like , oh yeah , I know God , but not be surrendered to God , or are , are , are being in a loving relationship with them .

Speaker 1 13:09

In fact , I would call this more of a cultural Christian . Culturally , you're a Christian . You may be someone that says , yeah , because my mom was Catholic , yeah , I believe in God . Or my dad was Baptist , yeah , I believe in God . We went to Christmas on the important times , you know , and we went to church on important times like Christmas and Easter and when the church had the cool picnic with all the food . Those are the important dates to go , you know . You may say , yeah , I'm a Christian because I don't follow any other religion , so by default , I'm a Christian . You may say why grew up watching veggie tails ? Does that count , you know ? Yeah , that's not . Maybe you say you go in first , John too .

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John has some very direct words , I think , about a real , significant issue that was going on in his time . That I think , is going on in our time as well . Check this out in first , john too . He says this . He says this we know that we have come what . We know that we have come to know God .

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If we , if we do what , we know God , if we what keep his commands , if we keep his commands , whoever says I know him , I know God , but does not do what he says , what is that person according to John and John's a little harsh here he's the right . He says they're a liar . Wow , that's kind of hard . If you say you know him but don't do what he commands , we're a liar and the truth is not in that person . Whoever says I know God , but there's no fruit in their life , there's no sense of obedience , there's no sense of remorse when we sin , there's no , there's no transformation . We claim to know God , but we don't live our lives in a way that represents God . What is he saying ? He says well , you're kind of living a lie and I don't think it's like you're a liar , you're you scum . I don't think it's like that . I think it's Western , is not being honest to ourselves . We're not when I you know when it's not being honest with ourselves , and because we're not being honest with ourselves , we're not seeing the results that we want .

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It's like if you were into , if you were into weight training , right , if you're into weight training and you say , you say to yourself , yeah , I go to the gym every day . And you and your friends look at you and say what ? You go to the gym every day because they look at you kind of weird , because you kind of got a . You know , you got out a little bit . You know , you know you don't look that healthy . And you know , yeah , I go to the gym every day . You're like , you're like , okay , well , what do you do at the gym ? When you go to the gym every day , you're like , oh Well , my jam has a wonderful jacuzzi that I sit in every day . Well , yeah , you go to the gym every day , but you're in the jacuzzi . I don't think you're going to get the weightlifting muscles you want from sitting in the jacuzzi .

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Here's the thing I think some of us , we sit in church , we say we know God , we say oh , yeah , but when it comes to the weightlifting training of following God . We aren't doing the stuff . We aren't doing the stuff . Again , and this is what John is saying . He said , hey , you say you know him , but if you know him , you're going to do what . You're going to do his commands . Come on , go with me here , go with me here . Ok , so there's a head knowledge of the things of God but not a heart relationship with God , because some of the things that God requires for us to do , or asks for us to do , we just can't make a head decision on it . It has to be a heart decision . See , when God is moving us to be to show forgiveness to people , that's hard to do in your head . Show forgiveness for that person out of the way they treated me , nope . But if my heart , if my heart is moving towards God , I'll do it . I'll keep his commands . Ok , here you go .

Speaker 1 16:49

In fact , jesus had even more harsh words to say , and again , I don't normally preach all like the harsh Bible verses , but I felt it was important for this one . This one used to scare me when I first gave my life to Jesus . I'm like , oh my gosh , I don't know if I'm doing the right thing . Jesus says this . He says this , not everyone who says to me Lord , lord , will enter the kingdom of heaven , uh-oh , jesus , but only the one who does what the will of my father , who what Keeps my commands , who lives a life in obedience and surrendered to the life of God . Ok , it continues . He says , lord , look .

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And then others will say many will say on that day to me Lord , look , didn't we prophesy in your name and in your name , drive out demons like Linda Blair , and in your name , perform many miracles . What we might say to that ? It says didn't we go to church ? Didn't we go to the membership class ? Then I get baptized when I was a baby , then I give some money , then I try to do nice things and I pray for the people I like . But Jesus says this . And he said then I will tell them plainly I never . What's the word there ? Knew you , man ? What are we going to do with that verse ? Church , I'm doing all the church stuff .

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Is it possible that we can do the church stuff and be doing the church stuff for our own egos and not out of a relationship with God ? Is it possible that God wants us to get to a place ? And it's a word that we don't like to use in our culture , and I understand for an extent , but maybe God wants us to get to a place of surrender . I surrender my life to you , god . I'm going to follow your commands , because when I try to do it by my commands , well , I don't know about you guys , but I know about me . When I try to do it my way , man , my way , it's not a good way . It makes me do things that after I do it I'm going to say why did I do that ? Here you go , let's continue , let's continue . I want to get you guys out on time because everyone's hungry and we all got to see Aaron Rogers play . Oh , never mind , okay . Aaron Rogers hurt himself , never mind , okay .

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So , first category I believe in God , but I don't know him . Second category I believe in God and I know him , but I don't know him well . I don't know him well . This is good . I want you to go here , okay . I believe in God . I've experienced God . I've had some experience with God . I've worshipped before . I don't know him well , I don't know him intimately . And the reality is there's a lot of us who actually have had experiences with God , but we might not have grown up with God , we might have stopped after that experience . And this is what I want to say , because this is where this is one of these things that I guess my heart going to get my passion going . I actually believe the reason why so many people begin to experience God and then there's kind of a stop and we see this kind of this exodus from the church , is because maybe and maybe this is you and maybe it's not you . But if this is you , maybe you had experience with God .

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But then you got into a church , you got around a leader , you got around a pastor who maybe used their position to manipulate Can I can be honest in church today Use it to kind of get you to do things ? And guilt Maybe feel guilty when you didn't do certain things and there was a disconnect . And because there was a disconnect at that church , in return , you said , well , I'm not going to go to church anymore . And you said and you probably use this phrase , well , I don't need a church to believe in God , and there's truth to that , but there's also a lot of , a lot of not truth to that too . And and , and , and , and , and and .

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But because of that , because you stepped away from church . Your relationship with God . It kind of was good at first but then kind of got stagnant . It kind of got stuck and then opinions of the world and the opinions of the gospel of Netflix started to shape your way of thinking .

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And here's what happened and I just want to say , if that's you , that is you . We're not perfect here at LVC and I can't promise that we won't hurt you or there won't be a thing that make you feel disappointed . I can't promise that because we're imperfect people and one of our things here at LVC we believe where we're a perfect place for imperfect people . And if you're perfect , don't come to our church anymore , because we don't want to ruin you with our imperfection . But I want to apologize on behalf of pastors the best I can , a church leaders who maybe Use their position in an unhealthy way . We know it's true , we know it happens . It happens . It doesn't happen just in church , it happens in workplaces and stuff too , but when it happens in the church , there's eternal consequences to it . Okay , but here you go . But , but maybe that's why you may say and this is kind of how I will put it You've been informed about Jesus , but you haven't been transformed by Jesus .

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Yeah , you've been , there's information , you've had some experience , but there hasn't been a life transformation . And this is what I want to say . The apostle Paul says this , talking to a group of Christians that kind of are in the same category . He said to them formally , when you did not know God in other words , you haven't known Jesus yet you haven't no God . Formally , when you didn't know God , you were what slaves to those who , by nature , are gods . He said now that you know God , now that you know God not just here , but know God in your heart , or rather that you have been known by God , how is it that you are turning back to those weak and miserable forces ? Do you wish to be enslaved by them all over again ? Now , maybe it's just me . Maybe it's just me and if it's just me , I hope you guys pray for me about it in the service .

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Maybe it's just me , but do you ever catch yourself doing something and you're ahead ? You know I'm doing something that God doesn't want me to do . Do you ever catch yourself at a place that you're like the way you're nagging at your spouse ? You know God doesn't want me to nag at my spouse the way that you point at your kids flaws rather than acknowledging their success . The way you complain . The way you complain . Here you go , the way you complain .

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Even though God has come through time and time and time Again , you still have this level on this pattern of it's never enough . I just keep complaining About , about what I don't have , instead of thanking God for what I do have . And there's this level of complaint there , right , and you catch yourself . You're like why am I doing that ? You know , why do you do it ? And here's what I want to ask , here's what I want to , here's what I want to point out why do we go back to destructive behaviors at time ? Why does sin , even though we know sin is destructive and sin is not what we want ? Why do we find ourselves going back to sin at times ? Maybe cannot throw someone out here today Because , again , maybe it's just me , but anytime I'm on the verge of doing something I don't want to do , leading up to that moment , my heart , my heart , was wounded , my heart was hurt . And out of the wound of my heart , out of the hurt of my heart , sometimes I want to choose things that feel like an escapism Rather than dealing with it . And what does Jesus ? Come on , let's go go with me here . What

Jesus' Promise

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is Jesus saying ?

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Jesus says something so interesting in the scriptures . He's because I love one thing I love about Jesus he was always just honest . He never did bait and switch on people and I hope at LVC we don't bait and switch you . Here you go . This is what Jesus says . He says in this life , everything's gonna be great . In this life , when you follow me , I will provide a unicorn for you . In this life , when you follow me , you're gonna be rich . In this life , when you follow me , you're gonna be rich . And that's not what Jesus says . Is it Jesus says in this life , come on , jesus , give us something encouraging . In this life , you will have Let me hear it , jesus something good Troubles . Bethany , you can play something up here for me .

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In this life , jesus this is Jesus says this you will have Troubles . Your heart , your heart , will get hurt . There will be relationships that let you down and you will let down people you love . There will be problems that come up that we can't understand . There'll be issues that take place and we . That leaves us asking the question why is that happening ? Jesus makes it clear that in this life you will have trouble .

Speaker 1 25:37

But then he says something . And then he says something I think is so important for us , especially for us who know God . We experience God , but but , but . But our faith is kind of lukewarm . You can say Our faith is kind of rocky Like . Our faith is kind of like yeah , I want to believe , but it's kind of like a like , like a , like a barrier to keep stopping me from fully diving in .

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Jesus says take heart , Take heart , take heart . Why does Jesus say take heart ? Can't be honest again with you guys ? This may not be the most encouraging thing . You said man , you came to church to be encouraged . Today I'm going to tell you something that may not fit our encouragement . I'm going to say it because I love you and I'd rather be honest with you than puff you up . Because what happens to puffed up people ? Puffed up people pop when life circumstances happen right .

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The reason why our heart hurts at times is because there is a relentless assault at your heart . There is an enemy who has a relentless assault at your heart that wants to keep you down , that wants to keep you in anxiety , that wants to keep you in fear , that does not want you to experience that breakthrough , that does not want you to experience what freedom looks like , that does not want you to live the life that God has designed and called you to live . There is an enemy that will attack your heart with fear and doubt and depression and anxiety , because that enemy does not want you to live out the calling of God in your life . And Jesus says take heart Like grab your heart . The proverb writer even says this . He says from the overflow of he said . The proverb writer says this . He says guard your heart Above all else . Guard your heart from everything you do flows from it . Jesus says take heart . The proverb says guard your heart .

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And the reason why we guard and protect our heart because it's in our heart that God begins to do life transformation . See , knowing God isn't just sitting in church . Knowing God isn't just joining the serve team , which is awesome to join a serve team . Joining one is awesome , serving God . Knowing God isn't just giving money every once in a while , you know , or whatever . Knowing God isn't just here you go , isn't just behavior modification , it's not just oh , let me modify my behavior because then God may love me . No , that's religion , not relationship . Knowing God is heart transformation .

Taking Heart and Surrendering to God

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Jesus says take heart . Why can we take heart ? Because he says . He says , even though in this life you have trouble , take heart , for he overcame the world . Hey , hey , hey , hey , you're over . Jesus . You lying to me . You overcame the world . If you overcame the world , why am I still dealing with this jump ? Why am I still dealing with this mess ? I don't know about you , guys , but sometimes I wake up and I just feel the weight of life on my chest . Have you ever felt that way before ? You wake up and you're like you don't even want to get out of bed because it feels heavy , it hurts . Jesus , I don't feel like you overcame the world to me . Here's what I want you to get . Here's what I want you to get church , when we take heart , when we guard our hearts , the way we do that is when we spend daily time with God . Because in the process of spending daily time with God , through prayer , through scripture , reading , through times of you know this being in God's presence , through worship , when we spend daily time with God , it repairs the wounds and the brokenness of our hearts and friends . It's what the Bible will use , this Bible word called sanctification . It's a process . It's a process of taking a broken thing Our hearts and making it a whole thing . Last category , last category , and this is where I hope we all can get to I believe in God and I know Him intimately and I serve Him wholeheartedly . Can I just say that one more time and let that soak over us , because imagine how different our lives would be If I believe in God and I know Him intimately and I serve Him wholeheartedly .

Speaker 1 30:27

Aaron and I were talking the other day and I said , aaron , I kind of had this epiphany . I don't know if it's true or not , but this is what I feel . I feel like God . I think it's been preached that God wants to take us from better to better to better , like , like , like one level better to the next level better . And I said , I think that I do think God is . He's a good father and he wants to give us good gifts , like the scripture says .

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But I don't know if God necessarily wants to take us from better to better , to better in the sense of how we view better . I think God wants to take us from better to obedient , like , and sometimes obedience is working through that hard thing , sometimes obedience is working through that characteristic of anger that you've been defined by for your whole life , and God is saying I didn't make you to be an angry person . I want you to work on that . Obedience means going back to that relationship that you violated and trying to make it right . I hope I didn't get too heavy on us today , because the problem is , I think , if we view life as , oh , god wants to take me to something better and better and better , and there's this idea of prosperity , this prosperity gospel that kind of gets woven into it , and what we really miss is that God is not about prosperity in the sense of I'm going to just give you a bunch of things , but God is in . But God wants to prosper us , in our hearts , so we can be the person that he has called us to be , to not be someone who's angry , to not be someone who's vengeful , to not be someone who is consumed in depression , to not be someone who can't experience freedom . But I believe in God and I know Him intimately and I serve Him wholeheartedly .

Speaker 1 32:18

And so , friends , I asked you this question today what area of your life do you need to surrender to God ? What area in your life have you been living as if God doesn't exist . How do you indicate that , like Jacob ? Can you make it practical for me ? What are you trying to do ? That looks more like this to God rather than this , and I'm reminded of a story . It's not even in my notes . I don't even need my notes , no more .

Speaker 1 32:59

I'm reminded of a story in the Bible . If you grew up in Kids Church , you know the story . Maybe they may actually ease past this part in Kids Church about a man named Abraham . Abraham prayed and prayed and prayed for his son , made some decisions that he shouldn't have made while he was hoping for his son , and then God blessed him with a son named Isaac . And then Abraham found the promise . The promise he felt like is here .

Speaker 1 33:31

And then Isaac's growing up . Abraham has his boy , they throw in the baseball together , they have a good time , they have a fun time , and then God all of a sudden drops on Abraham and he says , oh , hey , abraham . And he's like yeah , god , man , I'm loving life . God , you gave me my son . And he's like oh , yeah , yeah , yeah , that's good , that's good . Hey , abraham , I need you to do one thing for me . And Abraham's like do anything , god , god , you name it , god , I'll do it . And God's like oh , yeah , yeah , yeah , shoot . Hey , abraham , can you go ahead and like , just take Isaac to the top of the mountain ? Oh , you want us to go on a father-son hiking trip ? Of course , yeah , yeah , yeah , yeah , yeah , hiking trip . But when you get there , hey , you think you can sacrifice them to me . And Abraham's like screw what .

Speaker 1 34:37

There's a couple things I want you to get from this story . Okay , couple things I want you to get . Abraham willingly takes his son . They go on their hiking trip . He trusts his God all the way up to the top of the mountain and he knew , he knew that God would provide a way , so much to the point that he lays his son on the altar . And what we see here in a beautiful poetry is that God saw what it would look like for him to sacrifice his son for us . It's a beautiful poetry , scripture is beautiful . But he lays him down , he's about to go and sacrifice him . Angel stops and says Abraham , abraham , don't harm the boy . Why do I share that story with you ?

Speaker 1 35:30

Because I am wondering today , holy Spirit , speak to people . What is your , isaac , that you need to put on the altar ? What is your thing that you need to put on the altar so that you just don't know God here , but you know God and you trust him and you live wholeheartedly for him . That you say I'm gonna make a decision in my life to not just be a cultural Christian or not just be a Christian when it benefits me , when it's just good for my life . I'll be a Christian when it's good for me no , no , no . But will you follow Jesus , even to the scary places ? Will you follow Jesus to the hard places ? Will you take Jesus to the places that you're like ? I don't know if I can go there without you . Jesus , and I'm gonna tell you this God is looking for people , for you and for me , for people who will say wholeheartedly , intimately , I will follow you . Let's pray God , jesus , holy Spirit , we thank you for your goodness and your favor . We thank you for your love and Lord . We come to you saying we want to know you intimately , know you in the deep places .

Speaker 1 37:03

Man , guys , I just have this picture in my head . Maybe it's one of us , maybe it's two of us , maybe it's all of us . In some area of our lives we are just holding on so tight to the things that we think we can control . I suspect the Holy Spirit is just saying to again I don't know if it's for one person , couple people , I don't know . I just feel the Holy Spirit is saying stop lying to yourself , you can't control this situation , you can't control it . Let it go , give it to me , surrender it to me , even if that's you , maybe right where you are in your chair , you just start . You already know what I'm talking about , whoever I'm talking to , or whomever I'm talking to Even right now , in your chair , to say God , I give that to you , that person , that relationship , that fear , that anxiety , whatever it is . God , I've been trying to control this for way too long . I give it to you and I'm gonna say something that I believe will set you free right now , because Scripture says where the Spirit of the Lord is , there is freedom . So , holy Spirit , be with people right now . Bring freedom to people right now , bring freedom in Jesus' name , because where the Spirit of the Lord is , there is freedom . And Lord . You are here , holy Spirit , you are here . Calm , holy Spirit , do great things .

Accepting Jesus as Savior and Lord

Speaker 1 38:43

Maybe in here today , you don't know this Jesus I've been talking about . Maybe you did . Maybe you grew up . You know Him . You don't know Him . You want to know Him intimately , and that's you . I want you to pray this prayer with me . I'm not gonna call you out . Have you come up front ? Nothing like that . Just write where you are . If you want to know Jesus , just pray this prayer with me . You can say it out loud or say it in your heart . Say Jesus , forgive me for my sins , make me new Today . I trust you in the life Today . I follow you in Jesus' name , amen , amen . Let's give God some praise in here today . Amen .