The Danger of a Rewired Gospel: A Theological Review

[00:01:03] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]
[00:01:03] We will give you thanks because your deeds are awesome and amazing. You knew us thoroughly. Our bones were not hidden from you when we were made in secret and sewn together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw us when we were inside the womb. All the days ordained for us were recorded in your scroll before one of them came into existence.
[00:01:37] So teach us to consider our lives so that we might live wisely.
[00:01:45] For we are your workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works that you prepared beforehand so that we may do them.
[00:01:54] So today, the good work that we will do is to honor life as being sacred, to stand up, to love the unloved, and to fight for the unborn with all our being.
[00:02:21] Let us always remember all that God is doing.

[00:02:26] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[00:02:26] Good morning, good morning.
[00:02:41] Let's stand and worship the Lord today.
[00:02:45] Come on, put your hands together.

[00:02:54] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_08]
[00:02:54] Come on, let's lift it up to Him this morning, church.

[00:12:04] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_06]
[00:12:04] Come on, church, isn't that good?

[00:14:48] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]
[00:14:48] Let me ask you, how many of you have witnessed God do something for you in your life?
[00:14:56] Raise your hand, raise your hand.
[00:14:58] So here's what I want you to do.
[00:15:00] The Bible says, let the redeemed of the Lord say so.
[00:15:03] Let the redeemed of the Lord say so.
[00:15:06] As we were singing this in the second service, I looked at one of my buddies that was standing next to me and I said, if you had 10 seconds or less, and God said, I want you to share with this person
[00:15:15] what you've witnessed me do, my friend responded.
[00:15:19] He said, one Sunday morning in this sanctuary, nine years ago, I watched God save my entire family in one fell swoop, in one fell swoop.
[00:15:27] Right over there, about third row.
[00:15:29] here's what I want to ask you to do I want you to take 10 seconds or less I want you to turn around to the people that are around you at least find two people and say I want to tell you real quick
[00:15:43] what I witnessed God do for me all I'm asking is 10 seconds of insane courage to give glory to God he inhabits the praise of his people and I don't want him to have to from Bula
[00:15:55] raise up a pile of rocks we don't want Bula to just be a brick and mortar church no no we want it to be a living letter read above all men of the goodness of God in our life you ready
[00:16:05] 10 seconds just two seconds of insane courage in 10 seconds or less to tell somebody let me tell you what i've witnessed god do for me ready set go go tell it now for some of y'all that was a
[00:16:43] little weird others y'all y'all got away with it you looked over at your spouse you said honey i've witnessed god put you in my life and look that's straight up miracle straight up miracle we're
[00:16:55] gonna give him glory for the miracles all right but i know from that he's done more and i'm gonna give you a second chance at this. Let me ask you a question before we do this. How many of us watch
[00:17:20] YouTube? And why do we normally watch YouTube? I mean, what's the base reason? Come on. To learn something. To learn something. Am I right? How do I wire this? How do I put in a bathroom fan?
[00:17:36] How do I create this pictogram? How do I do this? How do I do that? Right? And the wild thing is, is within, I don't know, maybe three minutes to maybe 11 minutes, you learned something
[00:17:50] that you needed and didn't have the confidence in yourself to do.
[00:17:56] How many of you ever found yourself like sitting maybe underneath your house and you got your phone up and you're like, okay, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
[00:18:04] And then you get tore up because the spinning wheel of death, like it's not downloading fast enough or you're right in the middle of it and a commercial comes through, right?
[00:18:14] But the idea is that when you watch that guy, you watch that girl do what you didn't have a knowledge to do. And within three or four, maybe five or six minutes, you learn how to complete this task. How awesome is it?
[00:18:29] Like you can't ever unlearn that. You can't ever unlearn it. And you use it as a reference point for every time that you hear somebody say, hey, you know how to do this? You know, one time I
[00:18:42] watched and your testimony about what you witness God do is like a YouTube clip. You turn around and you say, man, I've witnessed God pull me out of darkness and you not even know it. Deliver me
[00:19:03] from temptation. And that person you're sharing that with, they hear it and they go, man, if God could pull that dude out, he probably could pull me out. You tell somebody, I witness God restore
[00:19:18] my marriage and you're telling that to somebody and you don't even know that they're struggling and you go you know if god could do that with them i bet he could do that with us
[00:19:30] you tell somebody you know we we went through the roughest time of our life with our children we parented different we disciplined different our kids were going bonkers god we should watch god show up get us on the same page just turn our drama around his divine plan
[00:19:50] God did that for you.
[00:19:51] And it transfers.
[00:19:53] You tell somebody, let me tell you what I've witnessed God do.
[00:19:56] I had the worst case of anxiety about couldn't go into work every day.
[00:19:59] And somehow or another, God, through his word, started showing me who I was in him.
[00:20:03] And I'm more than a conqueror through him that loves me.
[00:20:05] If he be for me, who can be against me?
[00:20:07] I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.
[00:20:09] And I can't tell you the day that I got set free in that anxiousness.
[00:20:14] He said, be anxious for nothing but by prayer and petition.
[00:20:17] Let your requests be made known unto God.
[00:20:19] and there'd be somebody standing around you here that go he did that for you if he could do that for you he might do that for me and then it becomes the reference point of just how awesome
[00:20:34] God is that God is no respecter of persons red yellow black and white rich or poor little or big educated or uneducated where we surrender to him he works and even when we're not surrendered he
[00:20:52] still works. And so I'm going to give you another shot at it. I want you to find two people that you don't know. And I want you to say, let me tell you 10 seconds or less what I've seen God do for
[00:21:08] me. And I hope it might help you. Two seconds of insane courage. Ready, set, go. Those of you who are listening online right now, I want you to do this to the people in the people that are in your
[00:22:13] living room. If you were listening to this on radio, 92.9 at 5.50 AM, I want you to pull over a gas station, walk in, tell somebody, Hey, look, if you go, if you're going to listen to us and
[00:22:26] watch us online, you're part of us and we want you in this building, but you just heard this word.
[00:22:34] You never know what God might do. You might walk into that grocery store and that cashier ready to go home and check out, finish it just by the witness of your word, the witness of what God has
[00:22:49] done, his faithfulness in your life. It may give that girl the hope to, to get rid of those thoughts See, I know some of us may be like, man, they better quit talking.
[00:22:57] We're never gonna get out of here tonight, today.
[00:23:01] Whoa, whoa, whoa.
[00:23:03] Yeah, yeah, yeah.
[00:23:03] I was trying to figure out why y'all quit clapping.
[00:23:06] Like, you went to the wrong church.
[00:23:08] Hold on.
[00:23:10] But I don't know if you paid attention to the noise, but it wasn't noise, it was praise going up.
[00:23:15] It was praise going up.
[00:23:21] See, sometimes, sometimes praise sounds beautiful like it does from these called and gifted people right here, but sometimes praise sounds like, hey, let me tell you, my name's Brian Burgess.
[00:23:32] I got saved when I was 15.
[00:23:34] God did something big in my life.
[00:23:36] I've never been the same.
[00:23:38] He's still working on me.
[00:23:39] I witness him speak to me all the time.
[00:23:42] He's still, he's providing.
[00:23:45] He's helping me through seasons I didn't even know I needed help in.
[00:23:50] And what you did is you shared with that person a word that is not just based off of you having a good story.
[00:24:01] This is what blows my mind.
[00:24:02] So many believers will say, Pastor Brian, I don't have a story. I don't have a testimony like you do. If you are saved, you got a story. You got a story. And it's not, it's not even really your story. It's his story in you.
[00:24:20] That's the best part. You ever, you ever watched a movie or a Netflix and you're just like, get to the good part. Wherever Jesus enters your story, that's the best part. That's the best part.
[00:24:38] And the reason I wanted you to do that in this house today is I want you to know that you're around people who are as desperate as you are to witness God do the immeasurably more than all we could ask or imagine.
[00:24:57] And if we could do this in this room where it's safe among our family, our faith family, we can do it anywhere.
[00:25:09] And to tell these stories, remember, this is the big thing of the Old Testament.
[00:25:13] I don't mean to be preaching right now, but there's a word.
[00:25:17] The Bible says, and there arose a generation that did not remember the Lord nor retell of his great deeds. And guess what? They fell away into captivity. The answer to the chaos in our world
[00:25:32] today is not more money, not a better lottery, not better education. The answer for the chaos of our world today is a Christian standing up and saying, let me tell you what I've seen and
[00:25:45] witness God do in this rebellious heart. And if he could do it in this heart, he can do it in yours. And when we give praise, the atmosphere changes. Lead us, guys. Sing that with us again.

[00:26:32] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_06]
[00:26:32] Come on lift your hands across this building

[00:26:39] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[00:26:39] Declaring I'm witness

[00:26:41] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_08]
[00:26:41] Come on pour out your praise this morning

[00:26:55] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_06]
[00:26:55] Can we find

[00:28:27] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_08]
[00:28:27] Of exaltation

[00:30:26] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_07]
[00:30:26] I was born We were created But there's a song of praise

[00:30:45] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_08]
[00:30:45] That only we can bring God this morning

[00:35:00] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_07]
[00:35:00] The mighty, mighty God this morning is the God of the breakthrough.
[00:35:07] I want to declare this, who else is worthy?

[00:35:10] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_08]
[00:35:10] That's it, church.
[00:35:20] Lift your hands to the Lord like this, if you would, as though we're surrendering and making room to receive.

[00:37:56] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]
[00:37:56] Heavenly Father, we humble ourselves and say thank you for a song like this, that while we sing it, we answer the question, who is like you?
[00:38:07] Who is worthy?
[00:38:08] And Lord, as we sing it, the resounding, no one, no one is like you. No one has the power and the authority. No one has all knowledge and all presence, all power, Lord, to be what we need
[00:38:24] in our lives, to hold the world together. No one, Lord Jesus, can offer us salvation like you do.
[00:38:31] the redemption of our sins, the discipleship of an old dead man and dead woman coming to life and to being born again. Only you can do that. Only you, dear Father, can reconcile sinners to
[00:38:47] yourself. Only you can reconcile sinners to one another. Only you, dear Heavenly Father, can take homes where there has been bondage and demonism and destruction. And Father, make it a house of praise. Only you can do that. Only you, dear heavenly father, can take bodies that were
[00:39:03] created in your image, but have been broken through the brokenness of this world and restore them, Lord, to hundredfold where cancer is demolished and diabetes is done away with and depression and disease, dear father, is canceled out because you alone are the divine physician.
[00:39:18] Only you, dear father, are the greatest banker who can sustain your children, dear father, with no matter how much or how little you have the capacity to sustain them and to grow them, dear father in their stewardship of what you bless them with only you can do that
[00:39:31] only you can open the doors only you can close the doors dear father that are according to your will only you dear father can take clouded minds and break away the fog and bring light and shine
[00:39:41] light on the hearts and minds and so we give you the glory you are the father of lights that all good and perfect gifts come down from above only you are worthy and father we ask today for the
[00:39:54] forgiveness of our sins for why we bear so much needless pain, why we carry the weight because we do not carry it to you in prayer. So Lord, you know the needs of your people here today. You
[00:40:05] know, dear heavenly father, what they're facing, what they are seeing your father, what, what they're going through and Lord, they've given testimony this morning of, of how they've seen you and witnessed you. But God, I pray for every need that is in this house and those that are
[00:40:19] listening online and by radio, dear father, whatever that need may be, father, would you answered according to your will, that they may witness your power and your sufficiency because no one is like you. So Lord, as we enter into this time of teaching and hearing and receiving your
[00:40:35] word, let us not just be hearers of your word, but let us be doers. That dear father, you would speak to us that we would experience you. And Lord, from that experience, we would be forever
[00:40:45] changed by truth and by the power of the Holy Spirit. We believe you for these things and we thank you. And it's in the strong name of Jesus that we pray and all God's people said, amen and
[00:40:57] amen. Amen. Let's praise our Lord. Man, you find some people around you, welcome them to church this morning. Thank you. Wheels on this thing. You do it well. Thank you, brother. It was so very good to see you this morning and grateful for you being here. Can we praise God for all
[00:41:24] of our team members all across this campus for serving this morning? Super, super grateful.
[00:41:30] Guys, there are a lot of things that are ahead of us this week.
[00:41:35] Many people who've been prayed for with sicknesses.
[00:41:38] I want you to be mindful of Lenuel Forsyth.
[00:41:42] Lenuel and Joanne have been members here for decades and have served this church in so many different ways.
[00:41:47] And now both of them being in their 90s, Lenuel is not far from seeing Jesus face to face.
[00:41:53] And they've asked that today only the family come in.
[00:41:55] But I want to ask you to pray over them.
[00:41:57] they have prayed for you and you didn't even know who they were they have served in years past to help us get to where we are today and many of you don't know who they are
[00:42:06] but they're a sweet sweet group and I'm very blessed by them so pray as we minister to them and also yesterday I got a call very early a new family that is new to the church
[00:42:18] the Hamricks got a call that no mama and daddy want to hear and their 19 year old daughter Skylar who we're familiar with and their family was tragically killed in a drunk driving accident where a drunk driver crossed the middle road
[00:42:33] and hit them head on and killed her and her boyfriend on the scene.
[00:42:37] Fletcher is his name.
[00:42:39] And they took their last breath here and their first breath in the presence of the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.
[00:42:44] And I wanna ask, if you will, to pray for them.
[00:42:47] Pray for them in their new journey of drawing close to Christ, that God would, the God of all comfort as the Corinthian correspondence tells us that God is, would gird them up as the old school preachers would preach and undergird them and hold them
[00:43:02] close together. They're actually watching this morning online from their, oh yeah, some of the families here. Hey guys. And so we want to be definitely praying for them. And as we do the celebration of life for Schuyler, if you could be a part of that, I would be grateful. Let me say
[00:43:18] one last thing. Guys, I'm hugely thankful for all of our serve team members, but for the men and the women who sit behind the double pane window back there in production. They have a long
[00:43:32] day when they serve. And I'm asking God to challenge that God would allow at least five of our church folks here, of our serve team members to step up and say, Pastor B, I'm going
[00:43:46] to answer the call of God on my life, and I'm going to learn what it takes to help run and help serve in production, to follow you in your sermons with a presentation. And guys, I'm just amazed at
[00:43:57] these guys. I'm super grateful for Alan and everybody that's back there. Alan's been doing this for decades as well. And when the services go back to back and I preach along, sometimes these guys don't even have a break to go to the restroom. So I want to create such a deep bench that even on
[00:44:12] one Sunday morning that they can rotate in and out.
[00:44:15] I'm sure following me is trying to follow like a corn crib full of rats with a pack of hound dogs and Indiana Jones running through the temple of lost souls or whatever it is.
[00:44:27] But I'm grateful for them.
[00:44:28] And so I'm asking before the end of the day, we already had one person step up in the eight o'clock service that they would commit to it and do what's necessary.
[00:44:36] So I need four more to get involved, to ask Vedas over there to call the office and say, hey what's my next steps to get involved we'll take care of the training we will help you be
[00:44:47] effective in it and have a great time serving the lord together amen amen all right y'all ready let's pray together pray this with me jesus speak to me today that my reflexes would be patterned
[00:45:04] in truth and not reaction rewire me that i may honor you in every season in jesus name we pray and all God's people said, amen.
[00:45:23] Years ago, after we graduated from the Atari 2600, they issued a new game console.
[00:45:29] It was called the Nintendo.
[00:45:31] You better remember the Nintendo.
[00:45:33] And when Nintendo came out, it came out with a pile of awesome games.
[00:45:36] One of those being the game called Contra.
[00:45:41] You might know what I'm talking about.
[00:45:42] When Contra came out, man, it came out at the perfect time because it was just right after Arnold Schwarzenegger had released Commando.
[00:45:50] Does anybody remember, or it was Predator, I think.
[00:45:53] No, no, it was Commando.
[00:45:55] And then Predator was in line.
[00:45:56] You know, you have so many of them, it's hard to keep them all together, right?
[00:46:00] I remember when it came out, man, Commando, the first scene of the movie, his homeboy coming out of the woods.
[00:46:07] It's the first time we saw cargo pants that actually look cool, right?
[00:46:10] His boots, he's got his chainsaw in his hand.
[00:46:13] He has the big biceps and the triceps and he's carrying a tree, not a log.
[00:46:17] He's carrying a tree with the top and the roots cut off and i'm like yes right and then it just progressed from there that that uh from commando be predator to where uh to where they fight this alien force right and then contra came out i mean
[00:46:32] look at the dude on the front got the he's got the the flat top he's got the buzz the muscles right and then he's got like billy jacks in the back it's like the native american who was the craziest
[00:46:43] dude to all the predator and when that game came out i was like yes this is so cool the problem was that game in the first stage was very difficult. Very difficult. Until I learned the
[00:46:55] cheat code. It had a cheat code that was thebomb.com. Baby, let me just tell you, it was the junk that killed Elvis. You better recognize. Up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, A, B, A, B,
[00:47:06] start. And it gave you 30 lives before the game ever began. Before the game ever began, it rewrote the code and bro we played contra like king kong playing ping pong to the break of dawn let me just
[00:47:22] tell you 30 lives rewrote the experience and i use that illustration this morning to help us understand that in christ jesus he has rewritten the game before the game ever began for you if you know christ is your lord and personal savior it's because before the game of life
[00:47:39] began he wrote rewrote the code for you and even if you're sitting here you're listening to this you've been invited by somebody to keep them off your back or satisfy your mom or your daddy or your girlfriend
[00:47:49] or your grandma or whoever it may be, I want you to know that's not just an invitation.
[00:47:54] That is a sovereign Lord using an invitation from a friend or a relative or maybe you just heard somebody talk about Beulah or you're just listening in.
[00:48:03] It's a sovereign God working to rewrite the code of your heart to draw you to Christ.
[00:48:08] I want you to understand what kind of unseen heavenly business is going on in your heart and mind right now so it's not just you trying to figure this out if this is for you this is god at work and i'm just going to tell you save some time
[00:48:23] and go ahead and surrender and say here i am lord forgive me save me change me send me and your life will be a life worth living like you've never seen in what you've lived up to this very moment
[00:48:39] Now, let me take you back a little bit further and ask if you remember this game.
[00:48:44] Anybody remember the game Simon?
[00:48:46] Oh, yeah.
[00:48:48] Simon, y'all remember, didn't it have those big D batteries?
[00:48:51] Y'all remember?
[00:48:52] Yeah, huge, right?
[00:48:53] That your parents would just complain if you left it on accidentally.
[00:48:57] Well, Simon was set up off of a noise cue, a light cue, and then a speed to where it would give you a pattern.
[00:49:05] So it would boop, boop, boop, boop, boop, right?
[00:49:07] And it would show, it would light up either red or yellow.
[00:49:11] And the patterns were slow at the time.
[00:49:14] So it may give you like one, boom, you got that one, right?
[00:49:17] And it would give you three in a row and you might get three in a row.
[00:49:19] And then it would work its way up to like eight or nine patterns.
[00:49:22] And depending on how well you could keep up, you stayed in the game, right?
[00:49:26] And it got faster as it went along.
[00:49:29] And guys, once Christ rewrites the code in your heart and your mind and in your life, discipleship is a lot like Simon.
[00:49:37] It's a lot like Simon, that God wants you to have cues and prompts that are traceable by the power of the Holy Spirit so this isn't guesswork, but that this is a traceable way of living truth so that you grow and accomplish God's will for your life.
[00:49:56] And this is where I want you to understand as we step into our series this morning, a little bit further, this is sermon number four of this series, is that truth is a pattern that must be guarded and lived.
[00:50:10] Truth is a pattern that must be guarded and it must be lived.
[00:50:15] Let me illustrate it like this.
[00:50:17] Over the years, I've had people come up to me and they're like, I don't care if you talk about the ESV or you translate it from the Greek, brother.
[00:50:25] I'm a KJV only kind of guy, right?
[00:50:29] Into which, hey, I got no problem with it.
[00:50:31] KJV is a great translation.
[00:50:33] My problem is this, you tout the KJV, but you ain't cracked that Bible in a month of Sunday since the day you got saved in vacation Bible school when you were six and a half,
[00:50:40] and all you were interested in, the pretty girl in front of you in the dress and the Rice Krispie treats and the Kool-Aid that was three times sugared up.
[00:50:48] So you can guard truth all you want to, but you ain't never lived it.
[00:50:53] You ain't never lived it.
[00:50:55] Years ago when I was a youth pastor.
[00:50:57] Well, let me ask you this.
[00:50:58] How many of y'all remember like in days, and nobody feel weird about this right now, but if you came into a sanctuary like this and you had a hat on, oh, see the response?
[00:51:08] You already know.
[00:51:09] Yeah, so don't feel weird if you got a hat on, okay?
[00:51:12] All right?
[00:51:13] Somebody's like, I got a beautiful hat on.
[00:51:15] It's okay, right?
[00:51:16] No, no, no, no, no.
[00:51:17] What was the truth?
[00:51:18] The truth was guarded.
[00:51:20] You're supposed to bring your best before the Lord.
[00:51:24] No covering, right?
[00:51:25] I'll never forget when I was a youth pastor, we had maybe 120, 130 students in the room and praising and lifting the name of Jesus.
[00:51:33] And there was kids in there that had their hats on.
[00:51:36] There was a stalwart saint of God came in and were like, there's kids in here with their hats on.
[00:51:42] What in the world?
[00:51:43] And I was like, well, let's back this up.
[00:51:45] This is a word problem.
[00:51:46] Let's identify the most important parts of this sentence.
[00:51:48] There are kids in this room praising the Lord.
[00:51:53] Praising the Lord.
[00:51:55] And see, it's easy for me to make that transition because I learned this from fishing.
[00:52:00] I have never skinned a fish that I didn't have in the boat.
[00:52:06] Trust the science, homie.
[00:52:07] I have never skinned a fish that I didn't have in the boat.
[00:52:15] And the skinning process is not my process.
[00:52:19] It's the Holy Spirit's process because it ain't my boat.
[00:52:22] It's Jesus' boat.
[00:52:24] He just lets me ride in it and fish for it.
[00:52:27] He said, I'm going to make you a fisher of men.
[00:52:32] Amen?
[00:52:34] So red, yellow, black, and white, baby, they're precious in its sight.
[00:52:37] Give me that gospel bait.
[00:52:38] And when you fish with the gospel, it's like fishing with dynamite.
[00:52:41] Boom!
[00:52:42] Them babies are coming up out the bottom.
[00:52:45] Amen?
[00:52:46] So you can guard all kinds of truth, but baby, if you don't ever live truth, you are missing the power.
[00:52:53] I love this time of year because this is static time of year.
[00:52:57] Anybody know what I'm talking about?
[00:52:58] You walk by people in your house, right?
[00:53:00] Walk by people at work, pow!
[00:53:01] You get close to one another and you shock one another, right?
[00:53:05] You get something out of the dryer and it's got that static clean, it's like, right?
[00:53:10] You put your clothes on, they're all stuck to you.
[00:53:12] Why?
[00:53:12] Because there's a power, there's electricity.
[00:53:15] Church, I want us to be like that.
[00:53:17] I want us, man, we get in there, somebody don't have the good news of Jesus Christ, pow, they gonna feel it on you, right?
[00:53:26] And you get around another believer and maybe their spark's a little low, pow, bro, oh you shocked me you better believe it shocked me i mean why else would we want to live for jesus
[00:53:39] but to experience that power come on y'all coming to church and not wanting to live for jesus i'm like what are we doing now i ain't trying to say this to discourage us in any way i want you here
[00:53:54] when i was lost if we were going to a party i want to take as many people to the party as i could I'm going to the biggest party ever.
[00:54:02] It's called the Marriage Ceremony of the Lamb.
[00:54:04] And I want to pack out as many seats as I can.
[00:54:07] When I get there, I want the Lord to say, well done, faithful servant.
[00:54:10] You have helped pack this house according to my will.
[00:54:14] Come on.
[00:54:15] But, amen, come on.
[00:54:16] Yeah, celebrate it.
[00:54:17] Get over.
[00:54:19] So here's the deal.
[00:54:20] Like coming to church and not wanting to live for Jesus or not caring about applying these things, It's like sitting at the dinner table, knowing your mama told you you're not going to get up
[00:54:28] unless you eat your green beans. And you're trying to feed your green beans to a dog that will vomit at the smell or sight of green beans. Like how futile is that? You're stuck, homie. So instead
[00:54:39] of being stuck, let's get an appetite for green beans and biscuits. Green beans aren't the only things on the table, babe. Mama brings it and God brings it. Coming to church and not wanting to
[00:54:51] for jesus is like going to a pool party where people inside are like don't splash me what did

[00:54:59] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[00:54:59] you expect us to do here i don't want to get wet go in the house does that make any sense to y'all

[00:55:11] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]
[00:55:11] i know my brain works a little different but that's logical to me let me show up at a pool party we're having a pool party a pool party yeah everybody bring their bases i'm in my bathing suit
[00:55:20] don't get me wet stop slashing why do you have why you got why you got to bring up hair gary my why you got to make it so personal this morning gary right that's insane that's crazy no baby we
[00:55:38] had a pool party foosh pinball i'll give you a chance to get wet on your own okay fine ready pow it's coming that's the idea of what of why we're there is to fellowship and that
[00:55:53] in that category and in that context that brings about the joy that we get to experience mutually we don't hold nobody under the water the few of y'all should have been held under the water but
[00:56:03] but i i wasn't responsible for baptizing you okay you just you got to me late no it's a joke that's a joke that's a joke okay but this is where truth in our life is to be is is a pattern it's not a
[00:56:16] reaction and it's to be guarded that we actually care about what we believe but we don't just care about it we live it so let's back up as a way of reminder and say in second timothy chapter one
[00:56:31] and let's uh let's go back through real quick what paul tells us he says remember now because of his own purpose and grace he which he gave us in christ jesus before the ages began
[00:56:45] this game of life and this work of salvation is aged it is before the world began I know some of you like aged cheese and aged wine and aged bourbon.
[00:57:02] You know, I don't drink it, Pastor.
[00:57:03] I just collected my $300 bottle.
[00:57:05] It's worth $8,000 to $18,500 by three weeks.
[00:57:09] Sell it anywhere in the world.
[00:57:11] You tithing on it, right?
[00:57:13] Now watch this.
[00:57:14] Watch this.
[00:57:15] Just making sure y'all paying attention.
[00:57:16] This is a sermon on buttons, triggers, and truth, okay?
[00:57:19] Right?
[00:57:21] It's so funny.
[00:57:22] Like we love aged lumber.
[00:57:23] You know, we'll go tear down a building so we can have that aged black walnut, you know.
[00:57:27] So beautiful, gonna build a table out of it, right?
[00:57:30] Isn't it crazy cool?
[00:57:31] We love that aged stuff, but we do not like an aged brow, an aged forehead, do we?
[00:57:38] Uh-uh, no, we'll Botox that thing up, son.
[00:57:41] I was at my optometrist a couple months ago and we were talking about my eyes, they kind of sag right here, you know, they're looking like droopy.
[00:57:48] And they were like, you know, you can Botox that.
[00:57:50] I was like, do you know how fast I would look like Frankenstein if you Botox these brows right here?
[00:57:59] Are you kidding me?
[00:58:00] Watch, there's gonna be an internet troll that's gonna be like, Pastor Bula gets Botox.
[00:58:04] No, I don't.
[00:58:05] Pastor Bula eats.
[00:58:07] Right?
[00:58:09] So this is where he says, you can trust what God's doing because what he's been doing existed before you existed, before time began.
[00:58:18] And he said, not only that, but you can trust it because he appeared.
[00:58:22] Our Savior, Christ Jesus, appeared.
[00:58:27] You and I can trust the plan of God because he just didn't say it from heaven and issue it through his prophets.
[00:58:34] He took on flesh and became a man and lived sinlessly, died sacrificially, rose victoriously, and he's coming back again.
[00:58:42] The very fact that we know Jesus walked on this earth is the fact you can trust God's plan for your life and the salvation that he is working out for you.
[00:58:54] And he did it by abolishing death.
[00:58:56] And he brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, the good news of Jesus, what I just shared with you.
[00:59:03] And Paul says, verse 11, for which I was appointed a preacher, apostle, and a teacher.
[00:59:07] He said, from this great news and what God was doing before the foundation of the world before the ages he already set aside that this was my calling in life this is my role to play in the game i always wonder what it'd be like to be a division
[00:59:21] one athlete and and and like if i was a division one basketball player to be playing the ncaa college basketball game using my character how crazy would that be if you were like a division
[00:59:34] if you were a football player for alabama or tennessee then you were playing ncaa you know touchdown or what college college game day and you could actually play with your like your character in the game that you're getting nil money for how crazy would that be here's where you and i get to
[00:59:50] play our part we get to play our part and we do so by the power of god and this is where paul says for which i suffer as i do while we he calls us and we as a body of believers suffer together
[01:00:05] there will be times in our calling that to honor God we will endure suffering and that is the pinch point of our life is when we get to the place of honoring God fully in our calling
[01:00:20] that there are moments that are not easy but we are called to those moments and it is either in those moments that we will honor God or we will actively sin and guess what either way we're
[01:00:32] going to suffer. You're going to suffer for righteousness sake, or you're going to suffer because of sin and both pay two different dividends. So the idea is you're going to suffer which one you want to pay. When we got to Buick and we began to grow, people were like, what are
[01:00:51] we doing? What are we doing? I said, look, there's dying pains and there's growing pains, which ones we want to pay. Now I'd much rather pay the growing pains. Amen. So, so he lists us out for us that
[01:01:01] truth is is is a pattern go forward with me guys that we understand that buttons reveal but programming determines what they reveal so when you're in your responsibilities as life as a man as a woman as maybe a student as a college student maybe as a single maybe as a married person as a
[01:01:22] husband as a wife as a as a child as a parent as God has put these responsibilities in these roles and callings in your life, are you holding down the save button and the fact that you're called to this
[01:01:35] and seeking to live a holy life because honoring God is not about playing the game better.
[01:01:40] That's what the world's saying.
[01:01:41] Just play it better.
[01:01:42] And whatever tactics you gotta do to play it better, just use those, even if they are anti-Christ.
[01:01:47] But it's not about that.
[01:01:49] It's about being a new creation.
[01:01:50] And this is where, if you and I are new creations, but we got old order stuff hanging around that we grasp this is where we got to do some work with jesus because why if jesus has rewritten your
[01:02:04] heart then faithfulness means playing the role god gave you even if it cost you i remember my granny out of loo leg burgess said anything worth having is going to cost you something and i don't know about you but having this salvation that god graciously gave us
[01:02:26] is worth the cost and all God's people said. So what do we do with this? Now let's watch Paul take it a step further to encourage this young pastor. He says, Paul writes to him and says,
[01:02:41] but I am not, read it with me church, ashamed. And notice what Paul's going, he's trying to help Timothy. Timothy is feeling the pressure of life right now. He's a young man in Messtown, Mediterranean where everything under the sun is going on and it's in his face every day. How many
[01:03:03] of you have ever been in a season of life where you just feel like you take one hit after another, after another, after another? Anybody been there or maybe currently there? So Timothy's in that
[01:03:11] season. Here's the other thing. He's got an entire chamber of commerce mad as blazes at him because since Paul came to Ephesus and they had what we call the Acts 19, 19 party, where the
[01:03:23] entire province of Asia Minor has heard the gospel, and they're turning from witchcraft and wickedness, and they pile up in the street all their books and all their witchcraft books, and the Bible says it came to the sum of 50,000 pieces of silver. That's a pile of do-re-mi,
[01:03:43] which lets us know when the power of God is exerted in the life of believers, it can change the economy of a city and a nation do you hear that to where you go from buying things and
[01:03:56] purchasing and supporting things of wickedness of wickedness this is the real work of a believer in the marketplace to where you shift the focus from spending our money on wickedness and that which produces life and liberty and the pursuit of good christians are salt in that we are salt
[01:04:21] and light in that so you got the silversmith that made all these uh made all these uh uh idols uh to artemis going after timothy wants to cut his head off right then you got people in the church
[01:04:36] elders of the church that are looking at timothy this young guy i'm like look dude you green behind your ears what what do you know to tell us about life timothy's got his own temptations because
[01:04:45] Paul says, flee sexual immorality, flee youthful lust.
[01:04:49] It's a world of lust all around him.
[01:04:53] And he also knows his best buddy and father in the Lord is about to die because Paul's writing this letter to him from where?
[01:05:00] Talk to me.
[01:05:01] From prison.
[01:05:03] So this is dialing down Timothy's spiritual climate.
[01:05:09] It's throwing some water on his fire that Paul's saying, no, you gotta fan this into flame, baby.
[01:05:15] And you can't wait on them to fan it into flame for you.
[01:05:18] You and Jesus gotta do some work to get this, anybody ever seen a potbelly stove, old school potbelly stove get red, scald, and hot?
[01:05:29] That's the imagery here for you and I in our walk with Jesus.
[01:05:34] And this is where Paul tells Timothy, Timothy, here's the difference though, babe.
[01:05:38] He said, I suffer, but I'm not ashamed.
[01:05:42] He said, you're suffering right now and it's causing you to think about dialing back your walk with Jesus and to press pause on your calling.
[01:05:52] And he said, son, that's not what I'm interested in, what God's called me to.
[01:05:56] And then he lets us see how his buttons have been rewired.
[01:06:01] Read this next part with me.
[01:06:02] He says, but I'm not ashamed, ready?
[01:06:04] For I know whom I have believed and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that day what has been entrusted to me.
[01:06:22] Paul gives us his, what do they call it when it's your magnus, your magnus opus.
[01:06:29] He gives us the new written downloaded plan in his life.
[01:06:35] He says, Timothy, I'm not, but, and that's a big but, I'm not ashamed. Because why? I know in whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to keep that which he has entrusted to me against that day. Paul says, I got a new dashboard of
[01:06:54] buttons. Here's the point. Go forward with me, guys, if you will. See, this is where truth is a pattern. It's not a reaction. Truth is a pattern. It's not a reaction. He says that he wants us to
[01:07:07] understand that truth is something, is not something you improvise in the moment. It's something you practice until it becomes an instinct. You see, buttons are activated in moments, but truth is formed over time and patterns determine your reflexes. So buttons
[01:07:26] don't reveal new problems. They reveal existing patterns. Hear that? Buttons reveal existing patterns when you light up when you get triggered that's not a new problem that was in you that was wired in you and you're going to have to ask the question if i mash this button am i going to walk
[01:07:47] faithfully in my calling or am i going to walk in sin either way i'm going to suffer but the suffering pays two different dividends does that make sense so here's the point you what you repeat
[01:08:01] in peace is what you reach for under pressure. Let me say it again. What you repeat when things are going well is what you will reach for when you're under pressure. Briggs, can I use you as
[01:08:19] for an analogy? So most of my kids' experience, they've wrestled. They don't wrestle now.
[01:08:28] Brixton took it further than anybody and I was able to coach him for a while.
[01:08:32] When he went off to school and he wrestled at the Division I level, it was a game changer, wasn't it, son?
[01:08:40] Come on, talk to me a little bit.
[01:08:42] Yeah, like came back the first fall break and was like, man, if I just knew three of the things I know now, I would have wrecked kids.
[01:08:52] Absolutely wrecked them.
[01:08:54] So now when we get in the kitchen and I'm very aware I'm near 50 and I'm very aware that I cannot contend with a division one wrestler.
[01:09:03] I can't do it.
[01:09:04] I just cannot.
[01:09:04] I need a gun or he's gotta lay down and go to sleep at some point and I have a handy stick, okay?
[01:09:10] And a cattle prod.
[01:09:12] But what is crazy is that there are some things I've learned in not living for Jesus and street fighting other years that are my go-tos to which Brixen has exposed and says, dog, when you get in this situation,
[01:09:26] why do you do that? And I'm like, I don't know. Cause it's always worked. He said, well, let me show you why it's not going to work. And I realized right then and there that in peace,
[01:09:37] I developed some patterns that do not help me under pressure. Fair to say bricks. And then I get to be retrained. When this happens, do this. When this happens, do this. Now you've got three
[01:09:52] for our options. See the difference? What you and I practice in peace, when we get under pressure, that's exactly what we're going to reach for. This is where Paul says, because Christ is my peace,
[01:10:06] I now have new buttons. And these buttons just didn't happen the day that he went into jail.
[01:10:12] Guys, do you realize by this time, Paul's got scars on his back? He's been snake bitten. He's even beat 39 times, saved the 40th at least three times by now, homeboy is wearing the scars of his
[01:10:27] faith on him. And when he says, I am not ashamed of Jesus, that didn't happen just because he's writing a letter to a young man and he don't want to let him see him sweat. No, all this is building
[01:10:39] from all the Old Testament knowledge that Paul has. Those of you who are in my Beulah Academy, here's the opportunity. What do we call the law, the prophets, and the writings?
[01:10:49] Anybody remember?
[01:10:50] Starts with a T.
[01:10:52] Tanakh, the law is the Torah.
[01:10:54] Tanakh, it's all put it together, right?
[01:10:56] There's gonna be a quiz tonight.
[01:10:58] Yeah, get ready.
[01:10:59] Get ready, y'all gonna get it tonight, right?
[01:11:02] All right, so it's the Tanakh.
[01:11:03] All that was built into him, but then it was confirmed when he met Jesus on the road to Damascus while he realized, I am totally living opposite of the call of God on my life.
[01:11:14] And through the power of the Holy Spirit, he learned the things that he would suffer.
[01:11:17] So this is where he's not only saying, I'm not ashamed of Jesus, I believe in Jesus.
[01:11:21] And not only do I believe in Jesus, I have convictions formed by Jesus.
[01:11:25] And here's my convictions.
[01:11:26] He is able.
[01:11:30] And I am convinced he is able.
[01:11:34] And he is able to keep everything he has entrusted to me against that day.
[01:11:41] And I'm gonna follow those sound wisdom.
[01:11:44] How does this work out?
[01:11:45] How many of us, truth is not a pattern for us, we have reactions?
[01:11:51] Come on, confession's good for the soul.
[01:11:53] Oh yeah, yeah.
[01:11:54] Traffic, I mean, you're not a bad driver, but they definitely are.
[01:11:59] Everybody else is, right?
[01:12:03] You don't believe that?
[01:12:04] Just ride a motorcycle down the road and you pull out all the idiots.
[01:12:07] No, no, that's bad, that's bad.
[01:12:08] Okay, okay, just making sure you're following, all right?
[01:12:12] So traffic cam.
[01:12:15] Your spouse do something that you don't care for.
[01:12:17] They say something, smart off, give you the silent treatment, right?
[01:12:22] Your kids do something, no appreciation, they won't listen, right?
[01:12:28] Is it a pattern or is it a straight-up reaction, right?

[01:12:31] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[01:12:31] If y'all had half the things that you had when I was your age, I would have said that to my daddy, my teeth would have been knocked into 20, 30.
[01:12:40] And that would have been the only time I got to eat a steak is when I have New Year's Eve, 20, 30, and one at 12.01 in the morning. Who wants a lecture like

[01:12:50] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]
[01:12:50] that? That is a straight up reaction, right? Work. Maybe you work with that person that when it gets tough, they get passive aggressive. They shut down. They walk right past you. They don't say nothing. They're walking to the, you know, they just roll their eyes and you being a different
[01:13:10] kind of person are standing there going, at 52 years old, why in the world can't you act like an adult, go drink a can of alphabet soup, come back in here and just spit out four sentences
[01:13:21] that are cognitive so we can do the job and communicate like we're adults supposed to do.
[01:13:25] That's probably too much this morning, right? I'm telling you, when I get aggravated, I get articulate, okay? So here you are in the middle of that office setting and you're just really torn and they're blowing you up, right? Can I tell you something I'm learning about myself?
[01:13:39] In the past few years, I've realized that I get pre-vacation or pre-day off anxiety.
[01:13:49] Pre-anticipatory vacation anxiety.
[01:13:53] Two or three days.
[01:13:54] Is this not the truth, guys?
[01:13:55] Two or three days before we know we're going on vacation, I wig out.
[01:14:01] I start thinking, we got to do this with the dog.
[01:14:02] It's going to cost this much.
[01:14:04] Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
[01:14:05] We got to do this.
[01:14:05] What if this happens at church?
[01:14:07] Blah, blah, blah, blah.
[01:14:08] And it's not that I don't have a great staff.
[01:14:09] doesn't mean that I don't have people I can trust in or serve team members or a great group of deacons or people that can facilitate in my absence.
[01:14:17] We've structured ourself to be like that, but it just starts working in my mind.
[01:14:20] And almost to the point where I'm just like, and I tell Angie, I said, look, I'm having crazy anticipatory going on vacation.
[01:14:27] She said, well, I'm used to your crazy.
[01:14:28] Which category is it in?
[01:14:29] And I'm like, thank you, honey.
[01:14:31] You're such a woman of God.
[01:14:33] Then I began to tell her and she's like, well, why are you getting so worked up?
[01:14:35] I said, it's because we gotta do this and we gotta do this and when we get back, it's gonna be like this.
[01:14:38] and I would just rather send y'all rather than go and ruin vacation.
[01:14:41] And she's like, in the name of Jesus, stop it, right?
[01:14:45] And so I've learned that about myself in the last couple, three years.
[01:14:49] And so I have to go to my buttons.
[01:14:52] When I'm like, he is able, he is able.
[01:14:57] If I die on vacation and can't ever come back to work, he's still able, he's able.
[01:15:03] When they're not doing like I wanna do, he is able.
[01:15:07] I'm convinced he is able to keep that which he has committed to me against such that day he is able so that truth now becomes a pattern and not a reaction because it's always normally in our reaction
[01:15:21] that we what?
[01:15:21] Do we live for Jesus or do we sin?
[01:15:23] Talk to me.
[01:15:25] Yes, blow it wide open.
[01:15:27] Like if sinning were that bell that you ring at the carnival, ding, like boom, it just blew right off the top.
[01:15:34] Just blew right off the top.
[01:15:36] And this is where Christ wants us to know that truth is a pattern. It's not a reaction so that we can begin to do this. So let's see how it goes forward in verse 13. And let's try to make some sense of this. Read verse
[01:15:48] 13 with me. Follow the pattern of sound words. Some translations have sound teaching that you have heard from me in the faith and the love and love that are in Christ Jesus. So this is where
[01:16:06] Paul saying, listen, Timothy, there are many voices that are competing for your attention.
[01:16:12] Only one of which is God's in the pinch point of life where you got to make a decision and you're under pressure and you're wrestling with, I'm going to dial up the flame of Christ or I'm
[01:16:27] on, I'm going to kick it back a little bit. There are many voices that compete for your attention.
[01:16:33] only one of which is god's and you will know that because it produces faith it is spoken in love and it comes about with the conviction of the holy spirit watch what he says and god will will use familiar voices to encourage it that's why he said what you've heard from me
[01:16:55] watch verse 14 he says by the holy spirit who dwells within us guard the good deposit entrusted to you so here's where he's saying you and i have to actively follow the right pattern of truth the right pattern of truth go forward with me if you will fellas and this is where we
[01:17:19] have to guard it see truth is a pattern and must be guarded by the holy spirit and love and faith in the holy spirit will retrain triggers let me illustrate it like this where are my students
[01:17:33] or my students? Kindergarten, elementary, middle school, high school. All right, let's talk real quick. Those of you who raised your hand, those of you who are student, I want you to ask yourself this question and help me answer this question. In one of your classes that you go to school at,
[01:17:53] how many kids and other students are in that class would you say go to church regularly?
[01:18:01] Maybe five.
[01:18:03] Anybody else?
[01:18:06] Hmm?
[01:18:08] Huh?
[01:18:09] Seven.
[01:18:10] Thank you.
[01:18:10] Sorry, don't let the big ears fool you.
[01:18:12] Can't hear.
[01:18:13] Seven.
[01:18:14] All right, anybody else?
[01:18:16] And that's a class of what?
[01:18:17] 20, 21, 26.
[01:18:20] So seven of the 26, you would say go to church.
[01:18:24] Anybody else wanna help me?
[01:18:27] Huh?
[01:18:27] Half of them.
[01:18:28] All right, now let's ask ourselves this question.
[01:18:31] Of the half, or the five, or the seven, including you, how many of those students actually care about their walk with Jesus, and you can see it by how they treat the teacher, how they treat their classmates,
[01:18:50] by how they do their homework, by how they're active and attentive, and about how they treat, basically, their role as a child of God at that school.
[01:19:01] Maybe five, maybe two.
[01:19:04] You can count them on one hand, maybe four.
[01:19:07] Now this is, some of you are watching online, you're like, that's very judgmental.
[01:19:11] No, it's not.
[01:19:11] I wanna know who's on my team.
[01:19:15] Use the same logic when you put your kid in travel ball.
[01:19:18] If we're gonna be out here all week and all weekend, I wanna be out here with two kids that wanna play and 12 that are picking daisies.
[01:19:27] Same logic.
[01:19:29] So don't be like, Pastor Brown, so judgmental.
[01:19:31] No, no, no.
[01:19:33] I wanna do something with this.
[01:19:34] because here's the point, truth has to be guarded because somewhere along the line of all those students and you're one of them who you say goes to church regularly in your class, somewhere along the line,
[01:19:51] they went down the path of, I wanna be liked, I wanna be accepted, I wanna fit in.
[01:19:58] So I'm gonna take my Jesus and I'm gonna put him on my shelf in my nightstand and I'm gonna go to school and I'm gonna do what everybody else does and I'm okay as long as my grades are up,
[01:20:08] I don't get in trouble and embarrass my family because they're not gonna say anything.
[01:20:11] And then when I get home, I'm gonna put Jesus back in because that's what mama expects of me.
[01:20:16] My students, I wanna tell you straight up, Jesus is not a SD card that you get to pop in and pop out of your soul.
[01:20:25] Just so that you can be off the radar and nobody really cares.
[01:20:28] You go like, Pastor B, we're just teenagers, we're just this.
[01:20:30] No, no, no.
[01:20:31] if you are born again you are a new creation in Christ old things have passed away behold all things have become new look here I want you to be able to dunk I want you to be able to set that volleyball so perfect that the
[01:20:48] girl that comes up behind you looks like I believe I can fly and she what they call that what they call it is that it that's not a dig what's that called I'm still learning y'all help me a spike you spike that thing so hard it goes right
[01:21:00] in the other girl's mouth, like this, right?
[01:21:03] Her teeth are like this the rest of her life.
[01:21:04] You're like, what did you play?
[01:21:06] I play volleyball, right?
[01:21:07] And I'm not gonna fix my teeth, right?
[01:21:09] I want you to learn to cross face so well that every kid you cross face, his nose is sitting over here until his wrestling season is done.
[01:21:16] I want you to learn to splay to where you put that homeboy and stretch his insides and make him look really stupid in front of his mama and his girlfriend and wake up and kiss at his girlfriend at the same time, okay?
[01:21:26] That's just part of it.
[01:21:27] I will scream for you.
[01:21:28] I will yell for you in the stands, But I'm telling you, if you will let Jesus be in you and get a different plan, like how many students can I lead to Jesus before this year and this season is over?
[01:21:43] I will never stop screaming for you.
[01:21:46] Never, ever, ever, ever.
[01:21:49] Years ago, I'll never forget, it was in Mississippi.
[01:21:52] This young lady, she had gotten saved in middle school through a ministry that Clayton King and I, us traveling around and preaching.
[01:22:00] She told us, she said, Pastor B, or she just called us Brian B and Clayton, she said, I have made a commitment that before I graduate, she was a sophomore at the time when she kind of introduced herself to us
[01:22:10] that she got saved.
[01:22:11] She said, I made a commitment that before I graduate, I'm gonna win my class of 134 to Jesus.
[01:22:17] The day she graduated, she let us know she had led 130 of them to Christ.
[01:22:23] Come on, come on.
[01:22:25] That is a young lady who didn't put Jesus on the nightstand until she went to school and then came back and put him back in her heart.
[01:22:32] That is a young lady who guarded the good deposit in her and made a difference.
[01:22:40] And students, I'm speaking to you now because if this becomes your pattern, by the time you're my age, if Jesus doesn't come back by then, you will have led more people to Jesus than most pastors.
[01:22:53] Do you hear me?
[01:22:55] It's about the difference of the good deposit.
[01:22:58] Some of you, I said it the other week, you've never thought about reading a Bible, my young men, and think about giving that along with the ring, but giving that to your bride to be. Last night, Xavier and I were talking as we both
[01:23:11] were studying for, I was studying for Buell Academy and he was studying for his nursing stuff and all that. And he said, if I started reading a Bible now, I said, can you imagine if Jesus didn't come
[01:23:20] back and you live till you're 80 and you start now? That's 60 years of reading Bibles and giving them away and taking notes. What a gift. What a life. Hello? Hello? I wonder how much one of
[01:23:40] Billy Graham's Bibles would be worth on eBay right now. Priceless. Priceless. The notes that he wrote in there that God spoke to him in moments where there was high pressure and he trusted God over
[01:23:54] his feelings. You see, this is where, guys, we must guard truth. And you do it by the power of the holy spirit because he is the deposit guaranteeing what's to come so let me help us
[01:24:09] with this can we have some fun this morning all right which we're going to talk about which button would you press a button or b button you ready you don't even know what it is hold on hold on
[01:24:22] remember what you repeat in peace you'll go you'll reach for in pressure let's just talk about sound teaching versus feeling good. Button A, follow Jesus even when it's hard. B, if it's hard, God must not want it for you. Hold on. Hold on. It's your decision. It's your decision.
[01:24:46] See, we're conflicted. And this is the reason why I believe that most churches lack power.
[01:24:54] It's because we don't know gospel truth. We don't know sound teaching from unsound teaching.
[01:24:59] So just think about it. You don't have to answer out loud. If it smashes a few buttons, it's intended to, not maliciously, but so that we can grow. Button A, sin destroys you, so repent
[01:25:12] and walk in holiness. Or B, nobody's perfect. God understands, just do your best. Button A, truth doesn't change with feelings. Button B, if it feels right to you, it must be right.
[01:25:30] Button A, God shapes you through discipline. Button B, God just wants you to be happy.
[01:25:36] button a faith cost you something button b if it cost you anything it's not from god where'd you hang out a or b it's difficult isn't it you're like come on pastor b i mean what about
[01:25:56] that first what about that second one nobody's perfect god understands just do your best i mean is that not good well let's just think about it nobody's perfect who here is perfect no not one
[01:26:10] no not one right none of us duh for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God all right so we got real gospel teaching in that God understands does he yeah he has mercy and
[01:26:24] compassion on us but how well do you think if God's gonna handle if I keep taking myself off the hook for holy living well let's just think about it this way when you got saved if you're
[01:26:40] saved. Did Jesus put the wicked spirit in you or the Holy Spirit in you? Did he put the unholy spirit in you or the Holy Spirit in you? So if I live decade after decade, not giving a tinker's
[01:26:55] darn about following Jesus. And I'm like, listen, nobody's perfect. Pastor B, God understands. And I'm just doing my best. Do you think that fans in the flame, the Holy Spirit, or that grieves the Holy Spirit yes sir yes ma'am it grieves the Holy Spirit look none of us can be obedient
[01:27:12] without the Holy Spirit but that's why God gave us the Holy Spirit the good deposit guaranteeing the things and the inheritance that we have in him to accomplish God's will for our life and this is the reason why if we live decade after decade after decade just simply saying
[01:27:27] I'm doing the best I can and there's no active pursuit of Christ no wonder sermons are born to us. No wonder Bible studies are like, no wonder we don't want any kind of Christian accountability
[01:27:37] in our life because why? We're just doing the best we can. But isn't it weird how some things we're doing stop at nothing to be the best. Can we keep going? All right, here we go.
[01:28:01] Button A, how people choose churches and beliefs. Button A, I go where I feel comfortable, where it's not judgmental. The pastor isn't getting loud. He teaches with more story and I don't have to deal with conviction. Or B, I go to church that challenges me.
[01:28:24] A, I just scripture to fit my lifestyle. Or B, I submit my lifestyle to scripture.
[01:28:32] but in a holiness is old-fashioned really unnecessary and never got anybody anywhere except a judgmental church or b holiness is beautiful and not burdensome a my truth is the authority or b god's word is the authority a i'm fine the way i am or b i'm called to grow
[01:29:05] in Christ. Where'd you hang out? I hope so. Man, if I sat under a man of God and I never felt God speak to me or got convicted, that would be like going and hiring a trainer to tell me I could eat
[01:29:28] all the Twinkies I wanted to eat. Just do cardio. I know I look like I have that trainer. You see what I'm saying? Sound teaching versus popular opinions. But in A, the Bible interprets culture.
[01:29:50] B, no, culture interprets the Bible.
[01:29:52] See, some of the things are a little antiquated and we've progressed as a society.
[01:29:58] We need to really have an open mind.
[01:30:02] Button A, forgiveness is obedience, not an emotion.
[01:30:08] Or B, I'll forgive if I feel like it.
[01:30:11] Button A, marriage is a covenant between a man and a woman before God.
[01:30:19] Button B, marriage is just a paperwork and, and feelings. The real commitment is inside. Button A, sex belongs inside the covenant of biblical marriage. Button B, if two people love each other, it's fine. But y'all got quiet. Whoa.
[01:30:42] Button A, identity comes from Christ. Button B, identity comes from vibes, style, and feelings.
[01:30:51] Where'd you live?
[01:30:53] I hope A.
[01:30:55] I hope you didn't vacillate between A and B.
[01:31:00] B is about the most unsound teaching you can have in your life.
[01:31:05] How about sound teaching versus therapy gospel?
[01:31:08] Button A, your heart needs rewiring.
[01:31:11] Button B, your heart is basically good, so trust it.
[01:31:16] Button A, you need to surrender that habit to Christ.
[01:31:20] Button B, just set better boundaries.
[01:31:22] button a your emotions are real but not always right button b your emotions define your truth you feel it it must be right button a god heals wounds and breaks chains button b just avoid your
[01:31:42] triggers button a jesus saves from sin button b you're not sinful you're just misunderstood where'd you live i hope a i hope a you said well pastor b like when you when you're discipling somebody do you not tell them to avoid their triggers yeah you have said avoid your triggers
[01:32:06] but for what purpose because while you're avoiding those triggers you are over in the workshop of jesus going father build me up with truth so that those triggers don't have authority on my life anymore.
[01:32:21] How about these last ones?
[01:32:22] Sound teaching versus Christianity without Christ.
[01:32:26] Button A, Jesus is my life coach.
[01:32:30] Button B, Jesus is my Lord.
[01:32:33] Button A, follow your dreams.
[01:32:38] Button B, take up your cross.
[01:32:42] Button A, believe in yourself.
[01:32:44] Come on now.
[01:32:46] Button B, no, deny yourself.
[01:32:49] button a follow your heart button b follow scripture button a i am the center of my life button b christ is the center of my life where'd you hang out i hope b see sometimes guys in the
[01:33:11] church i'm not talking about the world but in the church we have things that almost sound like gospel and we take them as truth and we wonder why there's so much demonic activity in our life
[01:33:23] so much hard-heartedness and selectivity when it comes to being obedient to Christ so here's the real issue when we get to a moment like this what patterns are shaping my reactions when I sit down I go okay what patterns do I have shape my reactions if I go back and I look at why
[01:33:43] i have anticipatory go on vacation is because i expect everything to be perfect that's me it's my weakness it's my idolatry when reality is is high function is way better than perfection because perfection is not there yet but we will do it all for the glory of god and we will have
[01:34:04] processes and i know those processes but in the moment i'm mashing my buttons what truth have i allowed to go unguarded in my life. Can I tell you how I saw this during COVID? During COVID,
[01:34:20] I watched the total unraveling of a moral culture in our world. People just video and walking up, punching somebody in the face and watch them just fall over. And I'm thinking, man, did that happen in my high school? That dude that just punched that dude for no reason,
[01:34:37] he'd have got monkey stomped in that hallway. They'd have yoked him up and took him to the principal's office and said, get this kid out of our school because nobody around here is going to
[01:34:48] do something like that. We get it if you deserved it, but that kid didn't deserve it. I watched that.
[01:34:53] I talked to several mentors and one of my pastors, I'm like, why am I so angry during COVID? I found myself, I was getting very angry. And one of my pastors spoke to me and he says, because you're
[01:35:05] watching the unraveling of the moral code that we have not guarded. We have not guarded it.
[01:35:12] and then i could take that back and i could begin to see okay what's the pattern of truth in my own personal life we asked ourselves the question where has fear pressed a button that
[01:35:25] truth should control and here's the real point that i want to leave you with go forward with me all the way to the end if you will alan when truth is patterned guarded and lived in love
[01:35:41] triggers lose authority.
[01:35:46] When truth is patterned like Simon and it is guarded and it is lived and loved, what used to be your trigger, it loses its authority in your life.
[01:36:00] Do you see that?
[01:36:02] Think about it this way.
[01:36:03] This is why we have phrases like this.
[01:36:06] You know what your mama's gonna say when she hears that.
[01:36:10] What are we commenting on?
[01:36:11] that is a triggered reaction this is why we hear things say get ready when your daddy gets home and he hears this you know what's gonna happen then what are we what are we addressing we're
[01:36:24] addressing triggers this is the power of being a pastor and when you disciple someone and you can watch them say to you in this one-on-one discipleship they're like pastor i just gotta be honest with you and i'm like oh okay well i hope you will be i love it when somebody says well if
[01:36:41] I'm being honest.
[01:36:42] What have you been before now?
[01:36:45] And I said, Pastor, I just want to level with you.
[01:36:47] I'm like, all right, spit it, man.
[01:36:48] Spit it.
[01:36:49] I love mutual conversation.
[01:36:51] You're the first pastor I ever listened to talk about money.
[01:36:53] Boy, every time when I was growing up, pastors start talking about money or tithing.
[01:36:56] I just want to believe the church.
[01:36:57] I just want to fist fight.
[01:36:59] Why?
[01:37:00] Ain't his call.
[01:37:03] Who told you that?
[01:37:06] I don't know.
[01:37:07] Let's take a look at Malachi 3.
[01:37:09] Let's take a look at 2 Corinthians 9.
[01:37:12] Let's take a look at the Old Testament.
[01:37:15] and you watch that guy that his trigger was, anytime money was brought up in the church, you'd be like, and you hear him go, man, I didn't know I was forfeiting myself with so many blessings.
[01:37:28] When you get to disciple people and you watch them where they used to get mad, like today is a sanctity of life.
[01:37:35] They used to get mad when a pastor would bring up abortion.
[01:37:37] They're like, how insensitive.
[01:37:39] Doesn't he know what people are going through?
[01:37:40] Oh my goodness, why don't we, it's a woman's right anyway.
[01:37:43] And you start watching them listen to the scripture that you are fearfully and wonderfully made in the image of God, that we're not to commit murder, that thou shalt not kill.
[01:37:52] We begin to put the precepts of God together and you watch that person say, even though that was a part of my life, I know God forgave me and God is working through and I'm gonna use that now, pastor.
[01:38:03] Instead of getting mad, I'm gonna use my personal testimony to help women who don't think they have an option.
[01:38:09] Whoa, you know what happened?
[01:38:10] A trigger just lost its authority.
[01:38:14] And you get to watch people that when certain topics and certain things in the church.
[01:38:18] You used to fire them up.

[01:38:21] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]
[01:38:21] I don't know why we got to sing these songs.
[01:38:23] Like, man, praise God, I love that song.
[01:38:26] I love that song.

[01:38:27] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]
[01:38:27] It's on repeat.
[01:38:29] That's when you start knowing that truth is beginning to transform them.
[01:38:35] And there's real power getting ready to come out of their lives.
[01:38:39] That power that shocks the dead and encourages the alive.
[01:38:45] And the best part about all of this is this, because Christ is seen clearly.
[01:38:50] Man, when you see somebody's triggers and their buttons get rewired, they'll make statements like this.
[01:38:56] They'll be like, we were somewhere the other day and there was this woman standing in line and she got saucy with mama and mama throw hands.
[01:39:03] I mean, she'll throw knuckles, bro.
[01:39:05] Mama just stood there and said, girl, you just go right ahead.
[01:39:07] I know that something's going on in you and I'm gonna pray for you as you stand there.

[01:39:10] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]
[01:39:10] And we were all like, mama's getting ready to smack the bejeebies out of this girl right here.
[01:39:14] Get to the car, dial 911.

[01:39:16] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]
[01:39:16] one mama's going to jail mama just stood there and went bless you girl go ahead go ahead anyway i can help you i'll help you who are you and what did you do with mama you know what's happening
[01:39:28] christ is handling mama when you when you got that buddy of yours and you're just like man you ain't gonna believe this you know normally we go to the mountain we go to the hunting club
[01:39:39] and we do a whole lot more drinking than we do hunting we're hunting for another another one to pop off and he was the one that normally let us all in drinking he got there he had him a cooler
[01:39:51] full of Mountain Dew and Coke Zeros and we were all trying to give him one he said boys I just don't fit in my life no more and we're all like what what isn't it funny how people do you like
[01:40:03] that over over drinking when you decide you're gonna quit drinking they never do that over mustard or mayonnaise on a hot dog you be at a barbecue and somebody says hey what you want hot dogs like um nothing this is just a hot dog what you want your hamburger uh just cheese

[01:40:23] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]
[01:40:23] they don't ever go you don't want to move hey you ain't going well you think you're better than us oh you just ketchup guy huh yes a1 sauce guy now oh no mayo oh my god oh you've been going
[01:40:39] to that call to beulah there's no mayo people over there how about he ever does that to you

[01:40:45] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]
[01:40:45] boy you show up somewhere you're like no i don't drink anymore don't you oh don't got holier than thou on us now watch out boys gonna be preaching to us whole time here isn't it funny
[01:40:57] you know why because that supercharged demonism going let's get him back let's get her back let's get him back and when those triggers lose their authority you just get to look at them and go you
[01:41:09] know what y'all gonna remember half of this hunting trip i'm gonna remember the whole thing it's different. And when Christ is seen clearly and a whole church is living that out, you won't need a billboard or a flashy sign. The advertisement is experienced every time somebody gets near you
[01:41:33] and all God's people said, pray this with me. Jesus, rewire me. Let truth become a pattern for me and not a reaction. Let me live it. Let me guard it. Let the triggers to sin and hard heartedness
[01:42:01] lose their authority in my life and you become my authority. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.
[01:42:12] I love you church family. God bless you.