From Surviving to Thriving: A Blueprint for Abundant Life

[00:00:00] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]:
We are so excited to have you guys here and join us in praise and worship

[00:00:38] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_08]:
A thousand generations falling down in worship To sing the song of ages to the Lamb And all who've gone before us and all who will be near Will sing the song of ages to the Lamb
[00:01:05] Your name is the highest Your name is the greatest Your name stands above them all Above all thralls and dominions All powers and positions Your name
[00:01:37] Holy, you are lifted high Holy, holy forever If you've been forgiven If you've been redeemed Sing the song
[00:02:57] Holy, to the King of kings Holy, you will always be Holy

[00:03:55] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
Your name

[00:05:10] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_08]:
You will always be holy, holy forever Thank you Jesus
[00:06:11] Before the stars were set in place Father, You were made You were there Your wisdom shapes the painted skies Your goodness never dies You were there
[00:06:37] As far as the east is to the west, your faithfulness abounds, you were there Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, Godhead three in one, you were there
[00:07:04] Friend Father, Savior, Spirit Come again Father, Savior, Spirit
[00:07:44] All this love, all life in grace, forever still the same, You are here No shadow turns, no love runs dry, You're flying pure of eyes, You are here
[00:09:37] My sweet Savior, Holy Spirit Won't you come and dwell We invite you into this place Come and dwell in us When I see you face to face My lips will always praise No place I'd rather stay
[00:10:09] I'm in Your glory When I see You face to face My lips will always praise No place I'd rather stay I'm in Your glory When I see You face to face My lips will always praise No place I'd rather stay I'm in Your glory
[00:11:58] I hear you, baby
[00:12:40] Father, Savior, Spirit, won't you come and dwell Father, Savior, Spirit, won't you come and dwell

[00:13:13] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_07]:
My sweet Saviour, Holy Spirit, we want you to come and

[00:14:19] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]:
Here is where I lay it down Every burden, every grip This is my surrender This is my surrender

[00:14:47] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_08]:
I will make room for you To do whatever you want to To do whatever you want to I will make room for you
[00:15:22] Here is where I lay it down Every burden, every harm This is my surrender
[00:16:00] This is my surrender
[00:19:23] Do whatever you want to And I will make room for you To do whatever you want to Lord God I give you my life

[00:19:51] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]:
because my life is not my own i don't deserve it god you trust me to do what you want me to do lord god and i'm so humbled for that lord i just ask you that the hearts that are here today god that you would just touch them touch them for the hurting god let them see your glory jesus let them know that you
[00:20:20] Lord, let there be room in their life that they would know that it was only you who made a way.
[00:20:29] That they would have no doubt in their mind that it was you.
[00:20:35] You're such a good Father.
[00:20:38] You love us so much.
[00:20:40] We don't deserve that.
[00:20:42] So humble.

[00:20:45] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]:
Thank you, Jesus, for this opportunity to just worship freely.
[00:20:54] Bless this service, Lord.
[00:20:56] Let the hearts and minds hear exactly what you want them to hear.
[00:20:59] In Jesus' name I pray.
[00:21:01] Amen.

[00:21:10] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]:
His way is better.
[00:21:11] His way is better.
[00:21:14] Welcome to Transformation Church.
[00:21:15] You guys can go ahead and have a seat.
[00:21:18] We are so glad that you're here.
[00:21:20] My name is Winnie Erb.
[00:21:21] I wanna give a special good morning to those of you that are here.
[00:21:24] Maybe you're here for the very first time.
[00:21:26] and if so welcome we're so so glad that you're here we'd love to invite you out to the lobby at the end of the service the team at the next steps area would love to meet you answer any questions that you have about the family here at transformation church but they'd also love to give you a gift a copy of pastor derwin's book the good life really this is just our way of saying thanks so much for hanging out with us today we're so glad that you're here
[00:21:51] Well now, no matter how long you've been here, I wanna invite you to get better connected.
[00:21:56] We were not created to live this life alone.
[00:21:59] God created us for community.
[00:22:02] So I wanna invite you to get in and get plugged in and be a part of what he's doing here.
[00:22:07] A quick way to do that is to grab that connection card that's on the seat back right in front of you.
[00:22:12] You can fill that out.
[00:22:13] Let us know how we can pray with you and how you wanna jump in and participate in what he's doing in and through Transformation Church.
[00:22:21] It's gonna be an incredible year, y'all.
[00:22:23] 2026, it's gonna be amazing.
[00:22:26] Yeah, amen.
[00:22:27] Well, now we have worshiped in incredible ways already.
[00:22:31] We've worshiped through music.
[00:22:32] We've worshiped through connecting and getting to know each other.
[00:22:36] And now we have an opportunity to worship through our financial generosity.
[00:22:40] We serve a good and generous God.
[00:22:43] He has done so much going over and beyond and giving us His first and best.
[00:22:49] and we have an opportunity to worship through our financial generosity and be an incredible reflection of that by going over and beyond and giving our first and best.
[00:23:00] There are multiple ways that you can give here at Transformation Church.
[00:23:03] You can hop online, you can utilize our app, or if you're here in the room, you can also use our generosity drop boxes on the way out.
[00:23:11] But ultimately, it's an act of both obedience and worship through our financial generosity.
[00:23:17] What a gift that is.
[00:23:19] Well, Transformation Church, we're so glad that you're here helping us wrap up 2025, but we're also having a time today of preparation and prayer.
[00:23:29] So why don't you put your hands together and welcome Pastor Derwin with me.

[00:23:37] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]:
All righty then.
[00:23:39] Heller.
[00:23:39] No, no, no.
[00:23:41] Heller.
[00:23:43] Okay, on the count of three, Caucasian people join in.
[00:23:45] One, two, three.
[00:23:47] Very good.
[00:23:48] If you're new here, I joke all the time.
[00:23:49] So glad to see everybody.
[00:23:52] So per our tradition, let's take a moment to welcome all of our guests at Transformation Church Indian Land, Transformation Church Lake Wylie, and those who are tuning in online as well.
[00:24:01] Let's give it up.
[00:24:02] Thank you so much for being here.
[00:24:05] We really, really mean that.
[00:24:07] Thank you so much.
[00:24:09] Now, probably my favorite welcome
[00:24:13] Let's welcome the over 1,400 correctional facility partnerships in 49 of the 50 states in America.
[00:24:24] Hoping to get 50.
[00:24:25] I think it's Alaska is the only state that our messages don't go into.
[00:24:30] So Alaska, y'all know what's up.
[00:24:31] We trying to get the gospel up in there, you know what I'm saying?
[00:24:34] All right?
[00:24:35] And to the TC family, so, so good to see you.
[00:24:38] Now this is our first ever Preparation Sunday.
[00:24:43] Well, what exactly is Preparation Sunday?
[00:24:45] What are we preparing for?
[00:24:47] Glad you asked.
[00:24:48] Check this out, teenagers, young adults, everybody.
[00:24:51] In 2026, let's pause here for a minute.
[00:24:53] Y'all, I remember in 84 when Prince came out with a song, said, we're gonna party like it's 1999.
[00:25:04] That's a long time away.
[00:25:06] 2026, that is bananas.
[00:25:10] So watch this, okay?
[00:25:11] So in 2026, we're gonna move from surviving to thriving.
[00:25:16] On the count of three, I want you to say thriving with me.
[00:25:19] One, two, three, thriving.
[00:25:21] We're gonna move from surviving to thriving.
[00:25:25] So for those of you who have been around for a while, for those of you who are new, welcome once again.
[00:25:28] but I prepare my sermons about a year in advance so every summer I take about six to seven weeks the first few weeks are rest and recovery and prayer the next weeks after that are preparing for the entire year so sitting in a coffee shop in Hamilton Montana as I was praying like what is it that we kick off the new year with and I was overwhelmed with this idea of us learning how to thrive because if we're honest and I'm talking to those who are committed to Jesus if I'm honest
[00:25:58] We've gotten really good at faking it.
[00:26:01] And many of us are merely surviving and God is going to know, I actually want you to thrive.
[00:26:09] So where do we get this from?
[00:26:10] Am I just pulling it out of the air?
[00:26:12] No.
[00:26:13] Scripture.
[00:26:13] We love the Bible here because it points to Jesus.
[00:26:16] In John chapter 10, verses 10 and 11, Jesus is having a conversation with the Judeans of his day, the Judean religious leaders, and he drops this.
[00:26:25] He says, a thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy.
[00:26:29] Let me pause here.
[00:26:31] There are dark demonic powers that want to steal, kill, and destroy your life.
[00:26:39] Typically within the church world, we tend to get on a seesaw and go to extremes.
[00:26:43] So one extreme is everything has a demon in it.
[00:26:46] Like, oh, my phone don't work.
[00:26:47] That's the demon of the phone don't work, right?
[00:26:51] You know, it's like you're driving at the mall and you can't find a parking spot.
[00:26:56] It's like the demon who took all the parking spots.
[00:26:59] But then if you do find a parking spot close, you're like, oh, praise God.
[00:27:02] But then if you come out and somebody break in your car, do you still praise God?
[00:27:07] I don't think God's all that concerned about our parking spot.
[00:27:10] He might be more concerned about us not flicking people off when we're driving or honking a horn like we're crazy, but that's another sermon for another time.
[00:27:17] And then the other point is, the other distance we go to is, well, there's no demons at all.
[00:27:26] No, there are demonic forces.
[00:27:30] that don't want you to survive.
[00:27:32] They definitely don't want you to thrive.
[00:27:34] And so we wanna learn how to thrive.
[00:27:38] This is gonna be the foundation of the series we're going into, and look what Jesus says.
[00:27:43] I have come
[00:27:45] so that they may have zoe.
[00:27:48] That's the Greek word for life.
[00:27:50] And that word literally means God's kind of life.
[00:27:54] In Christian theology, it means that we're all born spiritually void of God's life.
[00:27:59] That's why we have to be reborn.
[00:28:01] And as we allow Jesus to forgive our sins, he comes to indwell us and we have a new power.
[00:28:07] The way we say it at Transformation Church is this way.
[00:28:10] Jesus gave his life for us to give his life to us to live his life
[00:28:14] and Reincarnation.
[00:28:15] That's what it means to be reborn.
[00:28:17] And it says, have life and have it in abundance.
[00:28:22] And he says, I am the good shepherd.
[00:28:24] You guys remember Psalm 23?
[00:28:27] Matter of fact, I pray that every night before I go to bed for you, that we would be a people that rely on the good shepherd.
[00:28:36] The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
[00:28:40] So Jesus says, I have abundant life for you, but the way you receive this abundant life is I lay my life down for you.
[00:28:50] And in John chapter nine says that Jesus is the door.
[00:28:53] So on the cross, it is a doorway into not only forgiveness, but the thriving life you and I were created to have.
[00:29:01] Now, because we're American people,
[00:29:03] And because we live in a certain situation and context, immediately we think that abundance is more stuff.
[00:29:13] That's not what God is saying here.
[00:29:15] And by the way, stuff isn't bad.
[00:29:18] Houses, cars, money.
[00:29:19] That's not bad.
[00:29:20] It only becomes bad when it becomes your God.
[00:29:24] But if you use it for God's glory, it's a good gift.
[00:29:28] It only becomes a blessing
[00:29:32] By the way you use it.
[00:29:34] If you get a raise, is that gonna increase your standard of living or your standard of giving?
[00:29:41] One is a blessing, one is a curse.
[00:29:43] If you get that job promotion, is it a blessing if you spend more time away from your family and neglect them?
[00:29:49] So a blessing is what we do with it and God wants to give us abundant life.
[00:29:56] And so what does abundance mean?
[00:29:57] What does abundance mean?
[00:29:59] So I'll put the Greek up here so you guys can know I have a doctorate and just messing with y'all.
[00:30:03] But anyway, it looks cool.
[00:30:06] But the word abundance, means overflowing.
[00:30:14] Saturated.
[00:30:16] I'm gonna use the word overflowing.
[00:30:19] And here's the premise for the series we're gonna be going through.
[00:30:24] Thriving then is living from the overflowing of Christ's life in you.
[00:30:31] The word Christ is simply the Greek word Christos for the Hebrew word Hamashiach, which means Messiah.
[00:30:38] Christ is not Jesus' last name.
[00:30:41] That's a divine title originating in the Old Testament.
[00:30:44] So Christ wants to live in us through the power of the Holy Spirit.
[00:30:50] Thriving then is living from the overflow of Christ's life in you, not striving to manufacture meaning, worth, or security on your own.
[00:31:00] Let's pause here really quickly.
[00:31:02] If you're new to Transformation Church, the way we preach the gospel here is we don't paint the barn.
[00:31:08] and what I mean by that is we don't give you a lot of go, go do this, go do this, go do this, go do this.
[00:31:13] No, we're gonna get to the heart of the issue.
[00:31:15] God's grace only works from inside out.
[00:31:18] So a lot of my preaching and teaching is gonna go to heart motivation because if we don't dig up the root, the weed is still gonna grow.
[00:31:26] You ever pull up a weed and it comes back?
[00:31:28] You gotta pull up the root.
[00:31:29] Well, the gospel gets to the root and here's an example.
[00:31:33] So finding our security
[00:31:36] and our own worth.
[00:31:38] That may mean this.
[00:31:40] Well, I'm not gonna give generously, I'm gonna work a lot and I'm doing these things because, not because the job is important, it's because maybe you grew up poor and you don't ever wanna be poor again.
[00:31:54] I'm finding my worth in what I do.
[00:31:58] So maybe you're a person and you love physical fitness and it's an obsession, but it's not for the glory of God, it's because you've seen unhealthy people in your family of origin going up.
[00:32:09] Nothing wrong with being in shape, but if that's your idol.
[00:32:13] Another one, finding or manufacturing meaning.
[00:32:18] That's a big one for this day and age.
[00:32:20] We're all looking for meaning and typically we think meaning means if I have more stuff.
[00:32:28] I was in my garage and I was getting my fishing stuff prepared, you know, because I be slaying them bass, y'all.
[00:32:35] I be slaying them bass.
[00:32:36] I ain't slaying too many right now.
[00:32:38] It's cold.
[00:32:39] They look at my lure like, bro, it's cold.
[00:32:41] I ain't moving.
[00:32:41] It better drop right in my mouth.
[00:32:43] Anyway, a guy from Amazon pulls up.
[00:32:47] He was a young guy.
[00:32:48] He said he was 23.
[00:32:49] And he said, excuse me, sir, can you tell me what you do?
[00:32:53] And I said, well, I'm a pastor.
[00:32:55] And he looked at my house and he was like, pastor?
[00:32:57] I said, no, no, I played in the NFL for a few years.
[00:32:59] We bought this house a long time ago.
[00:33:01] We paid for it in cash a long time ago.
[00:33:04] And he was like, really?
[00:33:09] He goes, man, I dropped packages off at big houses.
[00:33:12] And I said, well, let me pause you here.
[00:33:15] Just because the house is big don't mean there's big love in the house.
[00:33:20] I said just because the house is big don't mean there's big happiness in the house.
[00:33:25] I said it's better to have a small house and big love than to have a big house and no love.
[00:33:31] Now it's potentially you can have both, but the point I'm trying to make is we think that meaning is found in the meaning of what we have instead of who has us.
[00:33:43] And so we want to learn how to
[00:33:45] Flourish.
[00:33:47] Now, you need to know this.
[00:33:49] I'm a football coach disguised as a pastor.
[00:33:52] If you haven't figured that out yet, you're the team.
[00:33:55] And whenever you start a season, what a head football coach does is he says, this is where we're going.
[00:34:00] This is what's gonna happen.
[00:34:02] This is how we're gonna do it.
[00:34:03] That's called vision.
[00:34:04] Well, as a pastor, vision casting means painting a picture so awesome and beautiful that Christ is exalted and you go, I wanna be a part of that.
[00:34:13] And as a result of that, you run into the future metaphorically and you bring it into the present.
[00:34:18] So what I wanna do is I wanna cast a vision for us
[00:34:22] of where we're going in this new series.
[00:34:25] First of all, 40 days of prayer.
[00:34:28] We're gonna have 40 days of prayer.
[00:34:30] What does that mean?
[00:34:30] It means that we're gonna have handouts in our worship guide.
[00:34:34] Every day for 40 days is gonna correspond with the sermons we're going through, and together, collectively, wherever we are, we're gonna pray in one accord.
[00:34:43] Also, it's gonna be downloaded to our Transformation Church app.
[00:34:48] On the count of three, say, the app.
[00:34:50] One, two, three, the app.
[00:34:52] Please download the app.
[00:34:54] Now, I know some of you who are over 60 going, well, pastor, I'm not into technology.
[00:34:59] You're on your Facebook all day.
[00:35:00] You're into technology?
[00:35:03] You own it all day.
[00:35:05] Listen, please, please, please download the app.
[00:35:08] Here's why.
[00:35:08] Number one, we can connect better.
[00:35:11] We can have the prayers together, but also you can create your own personal spiritual formation growth guide.
[00:35:20] Like we're literally preparing you with resources to help you grow.
[00:35:25] Download the app.
[00:35:26] How many times in the New Testament are Jesus' followers called Christian?
[00:35:31] You ready?
[00:35:32] Uno, dos, tres.
[00:35:34] Three times.
[00:35:35] You know the word to describe Christians the most, followers of Christ?
[00:35:39] Disciple.
[00:35:41] It's the word student, and it actually comes from a Greek word, gymnasium.
[00:35:46] because as a student, you're learning.
[00:35:47] What are we learning?
[00:35:48] We're learning to live from the indwelling life of Jesus through the power of the Holy Spirit for the glory of God manifesting his kingdom through our lives.
[00:35:58] And we wanna help you to be able to do that.
[00:36:03] The goal of preaching, the goal of music is so that we can live this thing.
[00:36:07] What happens in the seats, we wanna take it to the streets.
[00:36:12] 40 days of prayer.
[00:36:15] Then we're gonna dive into the sermon.
[00:36:17] On January 4th, we're gonna have a message call, From Surviving to Thriving, God's Blueprint for a Flourishing Marriage, and Queen Vicki is gonna be up teaching with me 33 years of marriage.
[00:36:28] We are so looking forward to it.
[00:36:30] Now, I know right now men are going, oh, I ain't coming to that one.
[00:36:33] I'm not gonna beat you up.
[00:36:35] I'm not.
[00:36:37] Most of the time, the way sermons are preached, it beats up men.
[00:36:41] It'll be like Ephesians 5.25 says, husbands, love your wife as Christ loved the church.
[00:36:46] And wives are like, yeah, Pastor Derwin, get him.
[00:36:50] But then Ephesians 5.33 says this, but wives, see to it you respect your husbands.
[00:36:59] It got quiet in there.
[00:37:01] Vicki and I, when we were at Forest Hill Church in the olden days, we did a class called Love and Respect.
[00:37:08] First part of it was to men.
[00:37:10] Husbands, love your wife as Christ loved the church.
[00:37:12] Man, the women loved it.
[00:37:13] Man, we got to that Ephesians 5.33, wives, respect your husband, attendance dropped by half.
[00:37:22] It was like, what just happened?
[00:37:25] It's like, well, I will respect him if he loves me.
[00:37:27] Well, what if he said he will love you if you respect him?
[00:37:30] And that's what disintegrates a marriage, is it's called the crazy cycle.
[00:37:34] No one's mature enough to come to the cross.
[00:37:36] So we're gonna pour theology and scripture into you, and it's gonna be encouraging.
[00:37:41] Now, whether if you're single or married, it doesn't matter.
[00:37:43] The gospel's gonna be all over it, and there's gonna be people in your life who are married that you can help and point them to as well.
[00:37:50] Then we're gonna move to January 11th.
[00:37:52] We're just cruising along to whole, loved, and thriving, finding purpose in your singleness.
[00:37:59] Listen, according to Pew Research, 46% of Americans are single.
[00:38:04] That's almost half.
[00:38:06] 40% of followers of Jesus are single.
[00:38:10] We have a lot of brothers and sisters who are single and here's what I want you to know.
[00:38:15] You are not deformed, you are not less than if you're not married.
[00:38:20] As a matter of fact, I know somebody who was single and God used greatly.
[00:38:24] His name is Jesus of Nazareth.
[00:38:27] Also know another person God used who was single.
[00:38:30] His name is the Apostle Paul.
[00:38:33] But we also need to reckon with there is loneliness and there is a desire for relationship.
[00:38:39] But sometimes we as Christians will overemphasize being married as though that's a part of salvation.
[00:38:47] It's a picture of salvation, but marriage doesn't save you, Jesus does.
[00:38:51] And so, we wanna equip you, we want to help you to flourish in your singleness.
[00:38:57] And then, cruising along, January 18th, Beauty After Brokenness, How God Helps You Thrive After a Divorce.
[00:39:06] Divorce is painful.
[00:39:07] on multiple levels.
[00:39:10] Not only for the people who got divorced, but the family members who love the person you got a divorce.
[00:39:15] And it's hard.
[00:39:16] Well, praise God, I've got some really good friends, Lisa Turkhurst, Jim Kress, and Joel Mutamale have written a book called Surviving an Unwanted Divorce.
[00:39:25] I'm gonna use that resource to equip us and to help us learn how to flourish and pick up the pieces.
[00:39:32] Also, this is really important, put this in your pocket, wherever you go, you take you with you.
[00:39:38] So if you don't work on the things that caused the divorce in the first place, you're gonna carry them into the next relationship.
[00:39:45] So what we're gonna do is we're gonna kick the devil in the face and we're gonna learn how to grow in who God's called us to be because many of us do life and we do marriage and we do everything out of what we were taught as children.
[00:40:00] So some of you watched your parents argue like cats and dogs.
[00:40:05] Some of you watched
[00:40:06] And so we want to do this as a church.
[00:40:19] We're gonna be healthy and we're gonna get through this together.
[00:40:24] January 25th, Peace Over Panic, How to Thrive Financially with God's Wisdom.
[00:40:32] The rival God to Jesus Christ in the United States of America is money.
[00:40:40] You can dress it up in whatever you want to.
[00:40:42] Here's what politicians do.
[00:40:45] Politicians get you to think other Americans are the enemy.
[00:40:49] Whatever other political aisle you're on, that's the enemy.
[00:40:52] By the way, whenever someone tries to goad you into making a human being that Jesus Christ died for an enemy, that's of Satan.
[00:41:03] The Bible is very clear in Ephesians 6.12.
[00:41:07] Our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and dark powers.
[00:41:13] So, we want to understand money's not bad.
[00:41:19] It's a good gift, but it becomes a curse when it replaces God.
[00:41:24] A good thing turns into a God thing, becomes a curse thing, and it deforms us.
[00:41:30] And so we're gonna learn, we're gonna teach you how to steward and how to manage God's resources.
[00:41:36] We're gonna teach you how to get out of
[00:41:39] Debt.
[00:41:40] We're going to teach you how to be generous.
[00:41:42] We're going to help you not live with anxiety.
[00:41:46] Oftentimes, we think that money and greed is a rich person's thing.
[00:41:50] Well, I grew up on welfare.
[00:41:51] I grew up near the projects, and we were greedy.
[00:41:55] You don't have to have a lot to be greedy.
[00:41:58] Everybody was always scheming to get their hands in somebody else's pocket.
[00:42:03] So please don't be like, well, you know, those billionaires.
[00:42:05] Well, how's your generosity?
[00:42:08] Every time I wanna point at somebody else, God's like, count them fingers pointing back at you.
[00:42:13] How you doing, little Dewey?
[00:42:15] How you doing?
[00:42:16] Clean up your own bed before you tell somebody else to clean up theirs.
[00:42:20] So we're gonna learn how to manage and steward God's resources.
[00:42:26] Money should not be something that we have anxiety over.
[00:42:31] Learning to trust God.
[00:42:32] Parents, one of the ways you wanna disciple your kids
[00:42:37] Teach them by the way you allow God to use his financial resources through you.
[00:42:42] Because you can say a lot of stuff, but money does the talking because where your heart is, your treasure will be there also.
[00:42:52] Man, we're already in February.
[00:42:55] February 1st.
[00:42:56] Healing the mind, restoring the soul.
[00:42:58] God cares about your mental health.
[00:43:00] God cares about your brain health.
[00:43:02] Transformation Church is friendly to people who are wrestling with mental health and brain health issues.
[00:43:11] Mental health, brain health is health and spiritual formation and discipleship.
[00:43:18] Please understand that we have seen people who thought they had a character problem and they just needed medication and therapy because they had a chemistry problem and their lives have been changed.
[00:43:29] One of the things that bothers me a wee bit, I'll control my emotions when people go, well, you shouldn't take medication, but they're the same people that get immunization shots when they go on mission trips to India.
[00:43:41] It's like, well, why don't you just go over there without your little malaria shot then?
[00:43:46] I mean, your face so big.
[00:43:48] and it crushes people from getting help.
[00:43:51] And so what we're gonna do is we're gonna walk through just some basic things for our brain health.
[00:43:58] Just a little bit, some things that may shock you.
[00:44:01] The things you eat can affect your mental health.
[00:44:03] If you eat a lot of processed food.
[00:44:05] How many InShape people do you see drinking Diet Cokes?
[00:44:11] Just do a little survey.
[00:44:12] InShape people, that stuff is bad for us.
[00:44:18] Man, if you walk 30 minutes a day, it'll change your life.
[00:44:24] There's some other things we're gonna learn.
[00:44:25] We're gonna learn how to kill ants, automatic negative thoughts, a digital detox.
[00:44:35] Hey guys, these companies do not care about your mental health and our mental health.
[00:44:41] Research is clear.
[00:44:42] Steve Jobs wouldn't even let his own kids have an iPhone, but your kids can.
[00:44:47] because they knew the damage.
[00:44:49] If you look at the research, this ain't scary preacher stuff, this is research.
[00:44:52] The research shows in 2010 with the advent of the iPhone, the mental health particularly of young ladies begin, girls begin to tank and suicide went up.
[00:45:03] The frontal lobe is not created to get that much information and stimulation all the time.
[00:45:11] And so we're gonna learn how to have a digital detox.
[00:45:15] For some of you, Gen Z and millennials, you are the first generation in American history that was a social experiment to see the effects of social media and what it was do.
[00:45:25] They don't care about you.
[00:45:26] Instagram ain't giving you that free.
[00:45:29] You are the product.
[00:45:31] I'm the product.
[00:45:32] Don't let it use you, use it.
[00:45:35] And so we're gonna learn how to take our life back.
[00:45:39] And then on February 8th,
[00:45:41] which will be our 16th anniversary celebration as Transformation Church, yeah.
[00:45:48] We are gonna learn about the transformation journey.
[00:45:53] What is the transformation journey?
[00:45:55] It's gonna be a process to help us to help you become more mature disciples of Jesus.
[00:46:05] The part I wanna talk about now is our growth track.
[00:46:09] So it's a three-week class every month on the same time, class one, two, and three.
[00:46:14] Class one is gonna be who we are and join.
[00:46:17] This is who we are as Transformation Church.
[00:46:19] This is why we are, become a part.
[00:46:22] Step two, why we are.
[00:46:24] You're gonna discover your spiritual gifts.
[00:46:28] You're gonna discover how God has uniquely wired you.
[00:46:34] Some of you have been sitting on a bench for far too long not thinking you are able to actually get in the game because you don't think God gave you anything.
[00:46:45] There's not a person who follows Jesus who he has not given a spiritual gift to help what the Bible says, edify.
[00:46:51] That means to build up the body of Christ.
[00:46:54] I am so excited for some of y'all.
[00:46:56] He is gonna blow you away.
[00:46:57] Now you understand this, when God gives you a gift, to put that gift into practice, there's a distance and that distance is called faith.
[00:47:05] And we're gonna help you learn how to walk in that.
[00:47:09] Step three, what we do.
[00:47:13] As you learn your gifts, you're gonna learn how to serve on a team.
[00:47:15] You're gonna learn how to serve at your job.
[00:47:18] Servant leaders are the go team.
[00:47:22] Go and make a difference.
[00:47:24] We're going to equip you in order for our church.
[00:47:27] Oh, this is from my throat lodging.
[00:47:29] In order at our church, for our church to be able to grow and for a big church to feel small, there has to be connectivity.
[00:47:38] And we wanna be able to connect us together.
[00:47:43] I wish I could know everybody's name, but it's impossible because I would forget it.
[00:47:48] Now, I remember your face, but not your name.
[00:47:51] But you, together, all of us, can get to know each other and support each other and strengthen each other.
[00:47:59] And by the way, you would be incredibly bored if you hung out with me.
[00:48:03] I am a introvert.
[00:48:05] No, y'all don't understand.
[00:48:07] Like, I go home and do nothing and hang out with my wife and go fishing.
[00:48:13] Be like, man, this dude's boring.
[00:48:14] I'm like, yeah, I told you.
[00:48:16] I am not an exciting hang.
[00:48:19] You be like, man, this is boring.
[00:48:22] But I tell you who is an exciting hang, the Holy Spirit, through your brothers and sisters in Christ.
[00:48:29] And so really, really excited about what our teams are doing to connect us and where we're going.
[00:48:40] I'm gonna teach you something that I do for prayer.
[00:48:42] I didn't really know that these were breath prayers.
[00:48:44] This was just something I started doing years ago, is if I would feel stress or anxiety or if I was in a meeting where there was conflict, I would just go, breathe in the Father.
[00:48:56] That's not literal, that's metaphorical.
[00:48:59] Breathe in the Father, breathe out love.
[00:49:03] Breathe in Jesus, breathe out grace.
[00:49:07] Breathe in the Holy Spirit,
[00:49:09] Breathe out God's presence.
[00:49:11] And now it's just become a way of being.
[00:49:14] So when we talk about 40 days of prayer, and I'm about to get to pray now, prayer is not something we schedule.
[00:49:20] Prayer is a way of living in communion with God constantly.
[00:49:25] Prayer is a way of inviting intimacy with God.
[00:49:29] Intimacy into me you see.
[00:49:31] He wants us to see us.
[00:49:33] Prayer don't change God's mind.
[00:49:35] Prayer changes our will to God's mind.
[00:49:39] So I'm gonna have us do three breath prayers and then we're gonna close our eyes and I'm gonna read a prayer over you.
[00:49:46] It's probably gonna take about four minutes and 20 seconds.
[00:49:50] It may feel a little awkward because we're used to picking up our phones at that time, but I think you're really gonna benefit from it.
[00:49:57] Let the words fall on your soul like a morning mist on a garden making the flowers of grace bloom.
[00:50:07] All right, let's breathe.
[00:50:09] Ready?
[00:50:26] God the Father, we come to you right now with open hearts and open hands.
[00:50:33] We confess that we have often lived in survival mode
[00:50:38] Just trying to get through the week, just trying to hold it together, trying to not fall apart.
[00:50:45] And yet Jesus tells us the truth about reality.
[00:50:49] You named the enemy clearly.
[00:50:51] You said the thief comes only to steal, kill, and destroy.
[00:50:56] Some of us feel that destruction in our marriages, our finances, our minds, our past, and even our self-worth.
[00:51:05] But Jesus, you didn't stop there.
[00:51:08] You said, I have come so that they may have life and have it in abundance.
[00:51:15] Not barely enough, not exhausted life, not numb life, but abundant life.
[00:51:21] Lord Jesus, You are the Good Shepherd.
[00:51:23] You did not come to shame us into obedience.
[00:51:26] You laid down Your life for the sheep.
[00:51:28] You absorbed the violence of sin so that we could receive the fullness of Your life.
[00:51:34] So in 2026, as we step
[00:51:38] It is by faith that we are moving from surviving to thriving.
[00:51:46] Holy Spirit, teach us what abundance really means.
[00:51:50] It's not accumulation of things.
[00:51:52] It's not hustle.
[00:51:53] It's not perfection.
[00:51:54] It's overflowing life, more than enough life, life that spills out because Christ lives within us.
[00:52:02] From this truth, deepen our souls.
[00:52:05] Thriving is not striving to prove ourselves.
[00:52:08] Thriving is not manufacturing worth.
[00:52:11] Thriving is not chasing security apart from you.
[00:52:14] Thriving is learning to live from the overflow of Christ's life already given to us by grace and the Holy Spirit's power.
[00:52:23] Father, for marriages that feel tired, strained, or disconnected, we pray that you would breathe the gospel into them.
[00:52:31] Teach husbands and wives to stop striving
[00:52:35] and surviving on destructive habits and to start thriving in grace and tenderness and forgiveness.
[00:52:43] Be the blueprint for flourishing love.
[00:52:46] For those who are single and wondering if they matter, remind them that they are whole, deeply loved and purpose-filled in Christ Jesus.
[00:52:55] Free them from the lie that life begins later.
[00:52:58] Let them thrive now in intimacy with you.
[00:53:03] For those carrying the pain of divorce, loss, or broken promises, meet them in the ashes.
[00:53:10] Show them the beauty that can rise again.
[00:53:14] Heal what was shattered, restore what fills beyond repair.
[00:53:18] For those overwhelmed by financial stress, replace panic with peace.
[00:53:24] Teach us wisdom, generosity, truth, and contentment.
[00:53:28] Remind us that you are Jehovah Jireh,
[00:53:33] Our Provider.
[00:53:34] You are more than enough.
[00:53:36] For those struggling with anxiety, depression, trauma, or exhaustion, we declare that You care about mental health.
[00:53:44] You care about the brain.
[00:53:46] Jesus, bring healing where there has been shame.
[00:53:48] Bring light where there has been darkness.
[00:53:51] Bring rest where there has been restlessness.
[00:53:56] Holy Spirit, guide us through these 40 days of prayer.
[00:54:00] Let prayer become a way of being, not a checkbox.
[00:54:04] Meet us day by day, week by week, as we slow down and listen and repent and receive more of you.
[00:54:11] King Jesus, as you heal us, you also send us.
[00:54:16] Lead us in the transformation journey so that we can become mature disciples of yours.
[00:54:23] Help us to know who we are in you.
[00:54:25] Help us discover the gifts of the Spirit.
[00:54:28] Help us step into who you've called us to be.
[00:54:31] Form us into servant leaders, men and women who go, who love, who serve, who make a difference because they're living from the overflow of King Jesus.
[00:54:43] And Jesus, be our shepherd.
[00:54:47] Guide us.
[00:54:49] Restore us.
[00:54:51] Lead us into abundant life.
[00:54:54] We trust you.
[00:54:56] We follow you.
[00:54:58] And we receive your life overflowing within us.
[00:55:02] In the powerful, life-giving name of Jesus and God's people said, Amen.
[00:55:06] Can we give the Lord a round of applause?
[00:55:15] Before we have the worship team come back out, I want to ask you this.
[00:55:19] I don't know where you are.
[00:55:22] But have you asked Jesus to lay his life down for you so that you can experience abundant life?
[00:55:30] Have you personally said, Jesus, I have messed up.
[00:55:35] I am separated from God.
[00:55:37] I have sinned, and I need to be forgiven, and I want your life.
[00:55:43] Have you done that?
[00:55:45] August 2nd, 1999.
[00:55:47] Seven is when I came to faith.
[00:55:48] It wasn't in a local church building.
[00:55:50] It was in a small dorm room, my fifth year in the NFL with the Colts and Training Campus at Anderson College, Anderson, Indiana.
[00:55:57] And here's how it took place.
[00:55:58] It was a culmination of years, but on that moment,
[00:56:02] I called my wife on the phone and I said I want to be more committed to you and I want to be committed to Jesus.
[00:56:06] That was the prayer that I prayed and that's when the life of God invaded me and wrecked me.
[00:56:12] I felt a bodily change.
[00:56:14] I knew I was different.
[00:56:16] Have you experienced the born-again power of Jesus?
[00:56:21] Hey, if you haven't, today is your day.
[00:56:24] Come as you are.
[00:56:26] He doesn't ask you to clean yourself up.
[00:56:28] He says, bring your mess to him and he'll clean you up.
[00:56:31] Come to him in faith.
[00:56:33] If that's you, just right now, you don't even have to close your eyes.
[00:56:37] I did it on the phone with my eyes open.
[00:56:40] In the silence of your heart, just tell him this.
[00:56:44] I believe that you laid down your life for me.
[00:56:49] I didn't deserve it.
[00:56:52] You took my sin upon yourself to put your forgiveness on me.
[00:56:57] I believe that you laid in a tomb for three days but rose again to now live in me.
[00:57:02] And I receive your abundant life and I choose to follow you.
[00:57:07] Hey, if you said that and meant that, this is what I want you to do.
[00:57:10] There's a connection card in the seat in front of you.
[00:57:12] Fill that out.
[00:57:13] Let us know you prayed that prayer.
[00:57:15] And this new series is a great way to start off your new faith.
[00:57:19] We're gonna come around you.
[00:57:20] We're gonna help you to become a disciple of Jesus.
[00:57:25] Not just a church attender, but a disciple of Jesus.
[00:57:30] So here's our soul tattoo.
[00:57:32] Soul tattoo is what do we think about during the week?
[00:57:35] Here it is.
[00:57:35] By faith, thrive by trusting Jesus in all of your life.
[00:57:41] What's our action step?
[00:57:42] What do we do with this?
[00:57:42] Here it is.
[00:57:44] Invite your family and friends that don't know Jesus to our sermon series, Thriving.
[00:57:49] Listen, if you gotta get a tranquilizer gun, if you gotta get one of those things and hit them in the neck, I'm just joking.
[00:57:57] Some of y'all are like, I knew I loved this church, brother.
[00:58:01] Hey guys, listen.
[00:58:04] Listen, I love Jesus more than anything.
[00:58:06] I love Jesus more than my wife.
[00:58:09] But because I love Him more than anything, it allows me to love my wife and my kids and you guys.
[00:58:14] But I also love seeing people who don't know Jesus come to Him because that was me.
[00:58:22] Transformation Church, do you know what happens when someone comes to Jesus?
[00:58:27] Families are reunited.
[00:58:29] In 2015, do you know what happened in a baptismal pool here?
[00:58:34] I baptized my mom.
[00:58:37] Oh no, y'all don't understand.
[00:58:38] She was 17 when I was born.
[00:58:40] There's a whole history back there.
[00:58:43] There's 20 years of praying for God to do a work and to baptize her and to see her growing in her faith in a whole different person.
[00:58:54] I want the whole world to experience that.
[00:58:57] That's who we are.
[00:59:00] And so 82% of people will come to church if you invite them.
[00:59:06] So let's pack out our new services in the new year.
[00:59:10] Why?
[00:59:11] Not just so more people can be here.
[00:59:14] So more people can experience the transformative love of King Jesus.
[00:59:21] All right?
[00:59:22] Okay guys, let's welcome our music team.

[01:00:01] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]:
When did I throw away faith for the impossible?
[01:00:10] How did I start to believe you weren't sufficient for me?
[01:00:23] Why do I talk myself out of seeing miracles?

[01:00:29] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_08]:
You are more than able You are more than able You are more than able
[01:00:59] All that I have
[01:01:27] I trust in the One who still does miracles into miracles
[01:02:16] With all of the faith in the room What the Lord can do What the Lord can do He's gonna happen Just like the way He makes it through He's gonna move He's gonna move Can you imagine With all of the faith in the room What the Lord can do What the Lord can do

[01:04:22] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_06]:
Anything is possible for the risen Savior Hallelujah Anything is possible Who are we to deny what the Lord can do?
[01:04:39] We worship you Jesus

[01:04:54] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_08]:
My Savior God to Thee How great Thou art How great
[01:05:29] Then sings my soul My Savior God to Thee How great Thou art How great Thou art
[01:06:07] How Great Thou Art!
[01:06:16] How Great!

[01:06:33] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]:
Transformation Church, who are we to deny what a good and great God can do?
[01:06:38] We serve a mighty God who is more than able.
[01:06:42] I'm not the only one that wants to run around this room right now.
[01:06:46] All right.
[01:06:46] Well, before we run out, let's make sure and do our benediction, which really just means a good word or a blessing.
[01:06:53] But it's the way to remind ourselves of who we are.
[01:06:56] and who God has called us to be.
[01:06:58] And so we say upward because we love God completely.
[01:07:02] We say inward because in Him we can learn to love ourselves correctly.
[01:07:06] And we say outward because we love our neighbors compassionately.
[01:07:10] I point at you, you point back at me and we say Transformers, roll out because this is just the
[01:07:16] And now it's time to go play though!
[01:07:19] Alright, let's do it!
[01:07:21] One, two, three!
[01:07:22] Upward, inward, outward, Transformers, roll out!
[01:07:27] See you next year!