Running the Race: A Call to Endurance and Freedom

• Letting Go of Burdens [00:05:29 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor encourages the congregation to release burdens and hindrances to run with endurance, citing Hebrews 12:1-2.
• The Metaphor of the Marathon [00:08:47 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor uses the analogy of track runners and marathons to illustrate the need for discipline, focus, and shedding unnecessary weight to run the 'marathon of life'.
• Distinguishing Sin from Weight [00:12:23 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor clarifies that not everything weighing a person down is 'heavy sin'; it can also be burdens, labels, or past wounds, but the result (slowing down) is the same.
• Five Keys to Letting Go [00:14:00 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor introduces a list of five things to let go of, starting with 'checking the weight' and identifying burdens that do not belong to the individual.
• Checking the Weight [00:14:10 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor argues that not all burdens are sin, but rather misplaced responsibilities, labels, and other people's expectations that slow us down, urging listeners to let go of what is not theirs to carry.
• Breaking the Lie [00:17:39 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor distinguishes between guilt (what you did) and shame (who you are), asserting that identity is found in Jesus Christ, not in past mistakes or the enemy's accusations.
• Replacing the Noise [00:24:07 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor encourages replacing cultural and media noise with Scripture, empowering the congregation to speak life, healing, and deliverance over their own lives.
• Speaking Life Over Oneself [00:25:32 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor urges the congregation to actively speak scripture and life-affirming words over their lives to counteract negative internal narratives.
• Replacing Negative Thinking [00:27:22 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor argues that spiritual weight comes from 'stinking thinking' and that knowing one's identity in Christ changes one's disposition and perspective.
• Freedom and Letting Go [00:28:23 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor defines the current season as a time to release burdens, break lies, and step into freedom by letting go of what holds one back.
• Identity and Self-Knowledge [00:28:54 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor contrasts external opinions with internal self-knowledge, asserting that what one knows about themselves matters more than what others say.
• True Freedom and Salvation [00:33:49 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor concludes that true freedom is impossible without eternal conviction and knowing Jesus as Lord and Savior, urging those who don't know Him to come to faith.

• Sermon Illustration [00:08:58 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor shares a personal anecdote about his high school track experience, where he refused to run the eight-mile warm-up because he didn't want to run for eight minutes, contrasting his lack of endurance with the athletes he admired.
• Sermon Illustration [00:10:52 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor uses the analogy of track runners who do not wear heavy clothing or extra weight (like Jordans or hoodies) to illustrate that believers must shed unnecessary burdens to run effectively.
• Sermon Illustration [00:15:55 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor shares a personal anecdote about his son CJ, who was an athlete but lazy in high school, making excuses for his lack of effort, to illustrate the need to own one's responsibilities rather than blaming others.
• Sermon Illustration [00:17:03 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor references the cultural trope of 'Debbie Downer' to illustrate how people project their drama onto others, urging listeners to check the weight at the door.
• Sermon Illustration [00:22:15 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor shares a personal story about his wife holding him when he is stressed or 'spazzing out,' illustrating the concept of releasing burdens to God rather than trying to manage them alone.
• Sermon Illustration [00:29:18 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor references the Disney movie 'Frozen' and Queen Elsa's journey of concealing her powers out of fear of what people projected over her, using it as an analogy for living in shame versus living in freedom.
• Sermon Illustration [00:31:12 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor recounts a moment in the movie 'Frozen' where Queen Elsa decides to stop living in shame and fear, singing 'Let It Go,' which he uses as an analogy for the congregation's need to let go of burdens.

• Pastoral Charge [00:05:23 ▶️ 📄]
  > Let go of burdens and weights
• Pastoral Charge [00:14:00 ▶️ 📄]
  > Identify and release burdens, labels, and misplaced responsibilities
• Pastoral Charge [00:22:55 ▶️ 📄]
  > Physically open hands and throw them away as a symbolic act of releasing burdens.
• Pastoral Charge [00:22:55 ▶️ 📄]
  > Physically open hands and throw them away as a symbolic act of releasing burdens.
• Pastoral Charge [00:22:55 ▶️ 📄]
  > Physically open hands and throw them away as a symbolic act of releasing burdens.
• Pastoral Charge [00:27:08 ▶️ 📄]
  > Footnote Philippians 4:8 and think on pure, holy, just, excellent, and praiseworthy things.
• Pastoral Charge [00:33:49 ▶️ 📄]
  > Let go of sin and burdens holding them back from freedom.
• Pastoral Charge [00:35:05 ▶️ 📄]
  > Know Jesus as your Lord and Savior.

[00:00:00] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[00:00:00] He is a leader, part of an organization called Student Leadership University out of Orlando, Florida.
[00:00:04] They herald from Orlando, Florida. And he is leading a ministry that is impacting thousands of leaders.
[00:00:12] And God has uniquely gifted him, not just as a thought leader, but a pioneer in Christian movements that actually transition into marketplace thinking as well.
[00:00:22] But he's our friend, he's our brother, and it's an honor to welcome to the stage Dr. Jeff Wallace.
[00:00:28] us right now. Come on, ladies and gentlemen, put your hands together. Show some love for the man

[00:00:32] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]
[00:00:32] of God selected for this hour. Come on, while you're standing, while you're standing, CBC, while you're standing, can we make some noise for Jesus in this place, man? Worthy of all the glory and the honor. Come on, come on, come on, come on. Amen. Amen. Why don't you high-five your neighbor
[00:01:02] and tell him Jesus is all that in a bag of chips. Amen. You may take your seats in the presence of the Lord. CBC, what's good? Man, it is such an honor and privilege to be back in a place that
[00:01:18] I love and adore. And I don't say that lightly. I don't say that because I am here on the platform.
[00:01:26] I say it because I mean it. And I have to say, you know, there's a leadership guru by the name of John Maxwell, and he would say that we teach what we know, but we reproduce who we are. And
[00:01:40] when I think about the spirit of CBC, when I think about just the amazing ministry that's going on here, not just here in San Antonio, but the impact that's being made globally for the kingdom,
[00:01:54] I think of the fact that this church, this beautiful church with beautiful people, has such a beautiful spirit because they share the DNA of their leader. So, Pastor Dr. Ed, I honor you. And Ms. Stephanie, my friend, I love you dearly. I love you dearly. When I made a
[00:02:16] transition from Atlanta to Orlando, the first phone call I made was to Pastor Dr. Ed Newton, who's been a friend and a hero of mine. I love you and your amazing wife. And he's right. I'll
[00:02:30] I love Jesus, but I'll fight you over my nieces and nephews. And, uh, and so I love, uh, the whole Newton clan. And, and, and for me today, I'm really excited and I'll make sure I behave myself
[00:02:42] because I got my bae, my boo, and my best friend with me. And so, uh, my girlfriend, Ms. Quo, so thank you. Many, her, her name is Quo Vadis and, and let me just go ahead and get it out the
[00:02:53] way. It's not hood, it's Latin. And, uh, it means where goeth thou. And, uh, and so, but we have, three and just get that out the way, you know. But we have three amazing boys. My oldest and
[00:03:06] our daughter-in-law, my oldest is a youth pastor in a church, an Atlanta church I actually served in for 23 years there. And so we have a daughter-in-law, Deja, and our oldest son is Jay, and he's doing an incredible job. Our middle son is 27. He's CJ, and he's getting married in July.
[00:03:24] I praise Jesus.
[00:03:25] Yep.
[00:03:27] So we're just getting them out of the way.
[00:03:30] And so super excited about that.
[00:03:32] And then our baby boy, our baby boy just graduated from University of Florida with his electrical engineer degree.
[00:03:38] And now he's making a lot of money in Naples.
[00:03:43] And, you know, Cameron is the one that we're going to have to have an arranged marriage.
[00:03:48] But don't worry.
[00:03:49] Pastor Ed and I have been talking.
[00:03:52] Hey, we got that covered.
[00:03:55] Oh, man. Listen, church, it is so good to be here with you today. And to my people on the south side and the west side, what's up? And so, man, I'm just so glad to be in the house of the
[00:04:13] Lord. Well, friends, can I just tell you tonight, my opinion means absolutely unequivocally nothing.
[00:04:19] What I have for you that I believe is life-giving, transferable, and that will change the trajectory of your life forever is God's word and God's word alone. Can we say amen? And so what I want us to
[00:04:32] do, I want to draw our attention to two verses in the book of Hebrews, Hebrews chapter 12. And I just want to look at two verses that are very familiar. I know the shepherd of this house,
[00:04:46] And I know, I know that my beard is getting us all tangled up, but I want to draw us to two verses in Hebrews chapter 12, which is verses one and two.
[00:05:02] And this particular verse, I just want to set us up tonight and let you know, here's the deal.
[00:05:08] Pastor A has already kind of set us up.
[00:05:11] I believe that in this place, there are some of us who are weary and we're burdened and we're carrying weight and we're coming in here. You look amazing, but you got a lot of stuff
[00:05:23] that you're dealing with. And tonight, I just want to encourage you to just let it go tonight.
[00:05:29] Tonight, I just want to encourage you to let it go and know that the Lord your God is with you.
[00:05:34] And he's given us a pathway of understanding how to let go of the things that have been holding us hostage for so long. And so I want to look at Hebrews chapter 12, verses 1 and 2. And this is
[00:05:49] what the word of God says here. It says, therefore, since we also have such a large cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us lay aside every hindrance and the sin that so easily ensnares us. Let us
[00:06:03] run with endurance. Let the race that lies before us, keeping our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith. For the joy that lay before him, he endured the cross, despising the shame,
[00:06:18] and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Let us pray. Father God, we thank you for being so good to us. I thank you for what you're doing here, CBC. I thank you for the global
[00:06:33] impact that you're making, God, here through this ministry. And oh God, I pray right now that I decrease so that you can increase. God, I pray that no one hears from Jeff, but they only hear
[00:06:46] from you, oh God. I pray that you open up our eyes, open up our ears, open up our hearts so that we can receive your word tonight, oh God. Whatever it is that people have come into this
[00:06:56] place with, God, God, I pray right now that there was a willingness to lay it at the feet of the altar, not to pick it up again. We love you and we honor you in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen.
[00:07:13] The writer of Hebrews, many scholars would say is unknown. There are a lot of ideas of who might have written the book of Hebrews, but that's really not important right now. I want to just
[00:07:25] say that this writer here, when we get to this particular chapter, chapter 12, the writer has just in chapter 11 spent some time dealing with what is often called the hall of faith.
[00:07:41] And in chapter 11, what we have seen is there is this powerful list of men and women who trusted God in the midst of uncertainty, in the midst of ambiguity, in the midst of a lot of trials,
[00:07:53] tribulation, troubles, and pain. People like Enoch, people like Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Jacob, Rahab there's so many people Moses that that that have been people of faith and in chapter 11 is this chain this long chain of testimonies that really teaches us what faith can do but then when
[00:08:17] you jump over to chapter 12 where we just read these two passages of scripture you see that that chapter 12 there is a shift that takes place because we move from their story to to this thing
[00:08:29] called our race. We move from their faithfulness to understanding what is our responsibility. And notice that the imagery that is used here, it is that of athletic conversations, athletic conversations. And the athletic conversations is dealing with the one who's running a race,
[00:08:47] a marathon race. Now, I don't know about you. I know that Pastor Ed is a runner. I've never been much of a runner myself. When I was in high school, I'm not ashamed to say it because, you know,
[00:08:58] I've conquered a lot of things in my life. And so I'm not ashamed to say I ran track in high school for three days. And I quickly realized that that was not my thing because I remember
[00:09:12] the first day I wanted to run with the long distance runner because they seem to have this like little jog or whatever. And I was like, cool, I can rock with that. And I remember asking the
[00:09:24] guys, when we were warming up, it's the first day of practice. I was like, hey, hey, how do we warm up? And it's like, hey, what we do is we run to the mall and back. And I remember thinking to
[00:09:35] myself, and I actually asked the question, I said, so where does the bus drop us off at?
[00:09:42] Because where my high school was, the mall was four miles from our high school. Now, I've never been the smartest man in the room, but I know four plus four equals eight. And I told him the devil
[00:09:55] is a lot and the truth ain't in them. I ain't running eight miles. I don't even want to run for eight minutes. And I was always at all with these men and women who had this endurance.
[00:10:09] And so when we see this imagery here in chapter 12, this imagery that is used of this athlete that's running, this imagery is important for us to understand this marathon that we're seeing is not some casual stroll. It is a long distance endurance run that requires discipline. It
[00:10:30] requires faithfulness. It requires focus. It's the marathon of life that the text is talking about.
[00:10:39] And this race that the text is bringing us to is telling us that if you really want to run this race, you got to let go of some stuff. And if you've ever seen track runners, you don't see
[00:10:52] track runners running a marathon dressed like I'm dressed. They don't have on a lot of things that are holding them down. They don't have on extra clothing or extra weight or things that are unnecessary because every runner knows that the smallest weight can become a massive hindrance
[00:11:08] over time. So they let go of things that are holding them back. Runners don't run in Jordans and they don't run in hoodies and sweatpants.
[00:11:21] And the writer is making it clear that we can't run effectively the race of life by carrying unnecessary weight.
[00:11:30] And as followers of Jesus Christ, we must be willing to throw off the sin that slows us down and focus our attention on Jesus, who is the author and the finisher and the perfecter of our faith.
[00:11:45] We must be committed to keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus. We spend too much time worrying about the peripheral, what's going on around us instead of focusing our attentions on Jesus. The writer uses two words to talk about Jesus. The
[00:12:03] writer used the words pioneer and perfecter. That word pioneer means that he's gone ahead and opened the way. That word perfecter means that he brings the journey to completion. But he helps us also understand, but there's two things that we're struggling with. He talks about the hindrance.
[00:12:23] He says that we need to lay aside every hindrance, which is the weight that's holding us down. But then he also talks about the sin that's in our lives. I need you to understand that's a distinction.
[00:12:32] Some of us will say, well, I don't have that kind of sin in my life. I don't have heavy sin in my life, but you got some weight in your life. And what the writer is trying to get us to understand,
[00:12:42] at CBC is that if we really want to run this race with endurance, we got to shed some things in our life. See, not everything that weighs you down is sin. Some things are just simple weights like
[00:12:58] burdens, labels, past wounds, misplaced responsibilities, things that we're holding on that we were never meant to carry long term. We got to understand that whether it's weight or whether it's sin, the result is the same. It still slows you down in this thing called life.
[00:13:23] I love what the scholar N.T. Wright, he said. He said, this isn't just about running harder. It's about running the right race with the right focus and with the confidence that Jesus has already gone before us. So the question isn't, can we carry it? The question is simply, what are we
[00:13:43] carrying that is keeping us from running the race that's before us. So friends, there are just five things that I believe this text really kind of helps us understand. Five keys that are so essential. If we're going to let go of some things, if we're going to drop some things,
[00:14:00] if we're going to run freely, there's five things we got to let go. The first thing is simply this, is we got to number one, we got to check the weight. We got to check the weight. See, not
[00:14:10] everything you're carrying is yours to carry. Some of us in this house and those of us who are watching online on our campuses, you are so exhausted, but you're exhausted not because life is heavy. You're exhausted because you're carrying stuff God never assigned to you.
[00:14:28] You're carrying stuff that doesn't even have your name on it. You're holding on to other people's expectations. You're holding on to past failures that you've already been forgiven for. You've holding on to labels that have been spoken over you. You are not what they said about you. You are
[00:14:45] who God says you are. So, we're going to let go of some stuff. We got to check the way at the door.
[00:14:56] See, you got to hear me clearly when I say this, that just because you picked it up don't mean you got to carry it. Just because it's in your hand doesn't mean it is yours to own. See, if God didn't
[00:15:10] give it to you, then my question is simply, why are you still holding on to it? What's in your hands, CBC, right now? If you look at what's in your hand, if you think about what's holding you
[00:15:21] down, if you really check the weight in your life, my question to you is simply this, is it your weight? Is it your weight? Some of us, what we do is we let people project things onto us and put
[00:15:37] things on to us that's not really ours to own. It's not ours to hold on to. I mean, you think about this. You know, my son, CJ, our middle son, he's the athlete in the family. But when he was
[00:15:55] in high school, he was super lazy. It made me mad because he had all this athletic ability, but he was just kind of lazy. And what he would do is he was good at kind of making excuses for
[00:16:08] things of why he couldn't do this and why he couldn't do that. And I'm like, CJ, can I just tell you the reason why you're not excelling at what you want to excel in, it is not that person's
[00:16:19] fault. It's not this person's fault. It's your fault or you got to own what's yours. And the reason why you can't be all that God's called you to be is because you're too busy holding on to
[00:16:29] this and hold on to that and you're not paying attention what is really yours. Until you are willing to do business with yourself based on your own stuff and not other people's stuff, you will never be able to release the weight in your life. You're tired because you're dealing
[00:16:48] with somebody else's drama. I mean, let's be honest. How many of you have people in your life and you see them coming around the corner, you're like, oh, here they come. Everything is beautiful.
[00:17:03] You know who it is. They come into the office and you're like, oh, here go Debbie Downer.
[00:17:08] If your name is Debbie, I'm sorry. I'm not talking. It just, but you got to check the weight.
[00:17:16] You got to check the weight at the door. You got to say, hey, listen, this is not mine to carry.
[00:17:22] So we're going to let go. The first thing that we got to do, friends, we got to check the weight.
[00:17:26] the second thing that we need to do is we need to break the lie we need to break the lie because what you did can I just say this and hear me closely CBC what you did is not who you are
[00:17:39] can I just tell you that the enemy is such a drama queen and what the enemy wants to do is he wants to hold you hostage to lies but how many of you know that God has called you into a new identity
[00:17:56] and can I just say this to some of you in this room and those of you who are watching at our campuses can I just say this to you you are not what you've done you are not can I say
[00:18:09] you are not what you have done you are not your worst decision you are not your lowest moment you are not your past mistake your identity is not your history your identity is in Jesus Christ
[00:18:25] and Jesus Christ alone. See, what happens is guilt says you messed up. Shame says you are a mess, but God says you've been redeemed. Oh, I can just go home off of that right there,
[00:18:48] is that we spend so much time focusing on the guilt, focusing on the shame, and not realizing that we've been redeemed for what Jesus did on Calvary's cross. And if you're going to let go,
[00:19:03] If you're going to let go, you cannot walk into your future while you're still gripping and holding on to your past.
[00:19:09] See, forward progress requires a release.
[00:19:14] You got to release it.
[00:19:18] You got to release it and stop trying to manage it.
[00:19:21] You got to release it and stop trying to hide it and hold on to it.
[00:19:24] You got to release it because you cannot have peace if you're holding on to anxiety.
[00:19:32] you you you cannot you cannot embrace your purpose if you're clinging to the pain of your past so cbc will you will you break the lie that the enemy is speaking on you right now and
[00:19:49] when will you refuse to when you refuse to listen to the lie that he's constantly telling you that you're nothing you don't matter no one will take you seriously how how can you love again after
[00:20:02] what happened to you. It's your fault. Can I tell you, that's all a lie from the pits of hell.
[00:20:10] We got to break the lie. This is the moment, church, where we have to really have a defining moment and a conversation with ourselves. And we got to say, do I want to relieve myself and
[00:20:23] release some stuff or do I want to hold on to it and keep rehearsing the stuff over and over and over again? Can I tell you yesterday is gone? You can't go back to it. And can I tell you tomorrow's
[00:20:35] not promised to any of us. All you got right now, baby, is this day right here, right now, this moment. So you got to, you got to get to a place, friends, where you're saying, hey, listen, I'm
[00:20:49] going to just, I'm going to break the lie. I'm going to break the lie. So number one, we got to check the weight. Number two, we got to break the lie. But the third thing we got to do is we got
[00:20:58] to release the burden. We got to release the burden. So you can't move forward while you keep holding on to stuff that god told you it's time to let go it's time to let go and there's some
[00:21:11] things that are holding you down it feels like a ton of bricks on you you gotta just release it you gotta release it too often what we do is we we spend our lives living closed-fisted instead
[00:21:27] of open-handed until we get to a place where like god hey i'm gonna release this i love i love what what what the writer says and he says we got to run the race with endurance that lies before us
[00:21:41] keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus the the pioneer and the perfecter how we release the burden is we keep our eyes fixed on Jesus and we say hey you got it you got it you you you got it what I love
[00:21:56] about my amazing wife is there's so many times where if I'm stressed or I'm spazzing out or or or I crash out, you know, she'll say, hey, come here. And she'll just hold me. I got it.
[00:22:15] You know, now it's no, some of you guys are looking at me like, bro, it's supposed to be the other way around. I'm there for her too. But there are some times, man, where I just need to
[00:22:24] just release and just kind of just be with her. But can I just tell you as much as I love just releasing and being with her, there are some things that she can't take from me in the release.
[00:22:38] the way that the Lord can. But in the same vein, man, we got to release some stuff. We got to release some things. We got to just release it. Hey, can we just do this? Everybody put your hands
[00:22:55] up all over, all over the building, all over our campus. I just want you to, I just want you to take your hands. I just want you to just do like this, open, open, and just throw it, just throw
[00:23:04] it, release. Can I just tell you this? If you want to be healed, if you want to be free, you got to start releasing some stuff. And as you're actively just kind of throwing your hands, can I just tell
[00:23:14] you right now, I want you in your mind to start thinking about those things that you've been holding on for so long. You say, hey, I'm releasing it. I'm letting it go. I'm checking the weight at
[00:23:24] the door. I'm releasing it right now and let it go. And here's the thing. Here's the thing. All right, put your hands down. You know a lot of us do. You know a lot of us do. We release it and
[00:23:33] then we go run and we try to catch it and then we start holding on to it again. Can I just tell you stop picking up what you've been delivered from. So friends, you got to check the weight.
[00:23:52] You got to break the lie. You got to release the burden. But oh, I love number four. You got to replace the noise. You got to replace the noise. How many of you know that life be lifing?
[00:24:07] And the reason why we have so much weight that's holding us down and so much that's burdening our soul and our spirit is because, because we, we, we listen to the noise. And I wonder what will happen if we will stop listening to Fox, CNN and MSNBC and start listening to the
[00:24:27] word of God. I wonder, I wonder what would happen if we will block off, block out all of the divisiveness and all of the rhetoric around us and start listening to the word of God. And if we
[00:24:42] begin to speak the word over our lives, then what happens is we replace the noise with God's word over our lives. You don't need a preacher to come and speak to you from Orlando, Florida.
[00:24:57] You just need to speak the word over your life. Oh, can I tell you, CBC, can I just tell you the power of life and death is in your tongue. You got the ability to speak life over yourself.
[00:25:09] You got the ability to speak healing over yourself.
[00:25:12] You got the ability to speak deliverance over yourself.
[00:25:16] You got the ability to say anxiety, you got to go.
[00:25:19] Depression, you got to go.
[00:25:21] Suicidal thoughts, you got to go.
[00:25:23] Guilt, gone.
[00:25:24] Shame, gone.
[00:25:26] Unforgiveness, gone.
[00:25:27] I'm going to let it go.
[00:25:28] I'm going to speak the word over my life.
[00:25:31] Come on, come on, come on.
[00:25:32] We got to begin to be committed to speak life over ourselves.
[00:25:36] oh friends when you're feeling overwhelmed when you speak Matthew 11 28 that says come to me all who are wearied and burdened and I will give you rest when you are allowing your your past to try
[00:25:50] to define you when you begin to speak Philippians 3 and 13 and 14 it says forgetting what is behind me and reaching forward to what is in front of me I press on when anxiety and worry rise up in you
[00:26:04] Will you anchor yourself in Psalms 55 and 22 that says, cast your burdens on the Lord and he will sustain you. He will never allow the righteous to be shaken. And when you feel like giving up
[00:26:17] and giving out, Pastor Ed already prayed it and spoke it over you. But will you begin to proclaim Isaiah 40 and 31 that says, trust in the Lord with all your heart. Trust in the Lord. He says,
[00:26:31] listen. He says, those who trust in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles. They will run and not be weary. They will walk and not faint. You need to speak the word of
[00:26:41] God over your life, friends. You got to speak the word over your life. I'm about to run. I'm trying not to. I'm trying not to. I told you I don't run track, but I'm just telling you, you got to speak
[00:26:57] the word. If you don't know any other verse of scripture, I want you to just footnote Philippians four and eight, that you need to think on those things that are pure, that are holy, that are
[00:27:08] just, that are excellent, that are praiseworthy. You got to speak life over yourself. The reason why you got so much weight in your life is because you are refusing to change your stinking thinking.
[00:27:22] when you begin to to know who you are and whose you are your whole disposition change your energy change your perspective change your hustle change your grit change when you see the folks who want to oh I almost said a bad word when you see people who you really just don't like
[00:27:46] you can just be in the same room with them because you know who you are and whose you are So you got to replace the noise. You got to replace the noise. Then, friends, when we make
[00:28:04] the commitment to check the weight, when we get to a place where we're breaking the lie, when we get to a place where we're releasing the burden, where we're committed to replacing the noise, you know what number five is now at this moment? Now we get to number five. We get to step
[00:28:23] into freedom. We had to step into freedom. Church, can I just tell you, this is your season of freedom. This is your time to release the weight in your life. This is your time to let go of all
[00:28:41] the things that have been holding you down, holding you back from being who God's called you to be. See, it's not what they say about you is what you know about yourself that matters.
[00:28:54] it's what you know about yourself because people are a little trippy people you know especially them jealous folk you know they they they have a way of just knowing what buttons to push but when you sit in the presence of God and you allow the Holy Spirit to lead God and direct your
[00:29:18] path and you speak God's word over your life friends it is at that moment that you step into a place of freedom. And in November 27th, to be exact, 2013, Disney introduced, incredible, and I'm not a girl dad, but it's kind of a girl dad Disney movie called Frozen.
[00:29:40] And it's a cool little movie, you know, it gives you all the feels and there's Queen Elsa and she she has these powers but she's concealing her powers and she's she's living in fear because of
[00:29:55] what people have projected over her she goes through the movie with a whole bunch of struggles I don't want to give it away hope you'll go and check it out you know but but but there is a
[00:30:08] a very critical song that is introduced into the movie no I will not sing it oh no no no no no no now. Listen. Yeah. You can sing it. Oh yeah. You want to sing it? Oh, come on. Come on. Yeah,
[00:30:42] yeah, yeah, yeah. All right. Beautiful. Tell us your name. Jordan. All right. So Jordan, everybody say, Hey Jordan. So Jordan, I'm going to set you up for this. Okay. All right. So there is a moment in the movie where queen Elsa, she, she has this defining moment where she's like,
[00:31:12] hey, I'm not going to live in shame or fear anymore. I'm not going to let what people speak over me be what defines me. I'm going to live in my freedom. And when she gets to that moment
[00:31:26] where she's really ready to let go of the things that's been holding her back, this is what we hear.

[00:31:33] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]
[00:31:33] let it go let it go can't hold it back anymore the cold never bothered me anyway and can I just tell

[00:32:23] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]
[00:32:23] you that's what life is all about getting to a defining moment where you can stand in the midst of uncertainty, ambiguity, scary moments, but be so confident of the song that's in your soul that you can sing the song and speak the song over your life. This beautiful Jordan, she didn't just
[00:32:54] sing the song. She spoke the song over her life because of the internal conviction that she has and her love for the song and and uh frozen and here's the thing y'all thank you so much
[00:33:12] y'all make some noise for jordan hey i want your autograph afterwards jordan let me get that autograph afterwards and uh but here is the truth church until there is eternal conviction there will never be external freedom until we deal with us we'll never step into that place of
[00:33:49] freedom can I just tell you tonight it's the time and the night for you to let it go and there's some of us in here in this place right now man you've been holding on to some stuff that the
[00:34:05] Lord is just saying, let it go. There's some sin in your life right now that you just need to acknowledge that has held you from really stepping into the freedom that the Lord your God has for
[00:34:18] you. And maybe, maybe for some of us in this room, the reason why those who are watching online, hey, the reason why you can't live in freedom is because you just don't know Jesus as your Lord
[00:34:28] and Savior first and foremost. Because can I just tell you, true freedom starts with understanding who the pioneer and perfecter of our faith is true freedom starts by aligning ourselves with the king of kings and the lord of lords and keeping our eyes fixed on jesus but i can't keep
[00:34:50] my eyes fixed on somebody that i don't know so man maybe there is some in his place tonight if there's some who are at our south side west side campus man you don't know jesus as your lord
[00:35:05] and Savior. Can I just tell you, that's the starting point for getting your freedom.
[00:35:10] Nothing else matters until you know Jesus is your Savior and Lord.
[00:35:16] Maybe for some of you, you've never had an opportunity to cross that threshold from death to life. You've been living in your sin. You've been living in your guilt and your shame and you want to be free, but you don't know the first step that you need to take. Well, can you allow
[00:35:33] me to walk you through that here really quickly. I just want to lead you into what we call the sinner's prayer. As every head is bowed, every eye is closed, if you're watching us, I want every head
[00:35:45] bowed, every eye closed on our campus, at our campuses. And if you want to give your life to Jesus, meaning you want to be saved, you want to step into eternity knowing that your name
[00:35:58] is signed, sealed, and delivered because your name is written in the Lamb's book of life. I just want you to just pray this prayer with me in your spirit it simply says dear God and I want you
[00:36:14] just to put your name right there and say it's me this is you if you've never given your life to Jesus I want you to do this this is me put your name right there and he wants you to say tonight
[00:36:25] I admit that I am a sinner in need of a savior tonight I believe on this day that Jesus died on calvary's cross for me he died a death that he did not deserve he paid a sin debt that was not
[00:36:45] his but he did it because he loved me i believe that tonight and i want to confess for the first time ever i want to confess jesus i want jesus to be lord over my life i want to give up control
[00:37:01] and let him take control over my life i want to be saved simple admit you're a sinner believe jesus died on calvary's cross and confess jesus lord over your life so every head is bowed every eye
[00:37:15] is closed if that's you i just want you just to slip your hand as a sign of commitment of like i'm gonna give my life to jesus to see you commitment we'll give our life to jesus all
[00:37:25] over our campuses south side and west side man if that's you right now you're in this room right now here at our campus man i want you to raise your hand you know you're giving your life to jesus
[00:37:38] tonight for the very first time if that's you i just want you to keep your hands raised keep it raised oh i see you i'm so proud of you i'll see you keep it raised get your freedom keep it raised
[00:37:51] keep it raised while those hands are raised i want you to keep your hands raised all at our different camps i want you to keep those hands raised but cbc can we make some noise and
[00:38:03] give it up for those who have given their life to jesus my friends i'm gonna ask you to do something it's going to be a little it's going to feel a little awkward but i want you to embrace the
[00:38:25] awkward as you step into your freedom i'm going to ask i'm going to have some of our pastors that are going to be right here in front of me here and here's what i'm going to ask he says you've
[00:38:39] raised your hand man if you said man i want to give my life to jesus which i'm so proud of you man here's the thing we want to make sure that we walk alongside you with that decision that you've
[00:38:51] made and so hey listen I know Spurs are down 0-1 don't worry about it but as our brothers and sisters I'm going to ask you in a moment not right now but I'm going to ask you to to come down
[00:39:09] right here but when I when you come down man I just want you guys can we just make some noise more wait wait not yet not yet not yet not yet I want you to make some noise like
[00:39:19] the Spurs just won the championship but then some right but seriously all jokes aside friends can And I just tell you the reason why I want to do this is because we want to honor you and celebrate you.
[00:39:31] And so if that's you, if that's you, man, I just want you right now.
[00:39:34] If you raise your hand, you want to give your life to Jesus, I just want you to walk down right now.
[00:39:38] And can we celebrate those who raised their hand?

[00:39:49] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[00:39:49] Hey, my name is Ed Newton, pastor at Community Bible Church here in San Antonio, Texas.
[00:39:53] Thank you so much for even turning on to our YouTube channel.
[00:39:57] And if you're not subscribing right now at Community Bible Church here in San Antonio, Texas, you got to subscribe.
[00:40:03] Here's the reason why.
[00:40:04] We believe that God's given us a message rooted in His Word, empowered by the Holy Spirit, that would be an encouragement to you.
[00:40:11] And if you're not subscribing right now, you've got to stop what you're doing and hit that button.
[00:40:16] Also, here's what I'd say to you.
[00:40:17] Every time you watch, would you drop some comments?
[00:40:20] Let us know where you're watching from, how the message impacted you, and how we could pray for you.
[00:40:24] And would you do us a favor?
[00:40:26] One of the things that we believe oftentimes is bless people, bless people.
[00:40:29] And if this message blesses you, how about you send it to somebody else?
[00:40:33] And ask them to click the subscribe button as well.
[00:40:36] And if you are planning any trip to the state of Texas, hear me when I say this.
[00:40:40] You can't come to Texas without coming to see us in San Antonio.
[00:40:43] I'd love to meet you face to face.
[00:40:44] And as always, until we meet again, much love.