You are called to move beyond hearing the word and into doing it by establishing yourself in a local church community. Commit to spiritual disciplines like fasting to silence the flesh and hear God's voice more clearly for your specific purpose. Let your life reveal your belief as you pursue Him with authentic obedience and sacrifice.
It's an honor to be here. My name is David John Phillips. I have the joy and honor of getting to be the pastor of this church, and I'm so thankful. I'm so thankful that God sent our family here 6 7 and a half years ago, launched the church 6 and a half years ago, and we're having the "time of our lives". Amen.
Amen. And the best is yet to come. I mean, it just is. And if you if this is your first Sunday, our prayer is that you encounter the power and the presence of God in a very real way. You count encounter the love of God.
And I know that when that happens, you will be forced into the "valley of decision", where you have to choose whether or not you're gonna follow Jesus all the more with deeper levels of obedience and surrender, looking more like him day by day, or you're gonna have to choose to stay comfortable, to stay the same. And in doing that, you're rejecting Jesus and choosing yourself. My prayer, and I say it unashamedly. My prayer is that you walk away with your flesh offended, with a deeper desire to walk by the spirit of God. Because that's the only thing that's gonna last for eternity.
The things in your life that were initiated by the voice of God and you said, yes, Lord, and and learn to walk like your *father* in heaven. Amen? Amen. We're a church that will do whatever it takes for you to know the love of Jesus and live out your God given purpose. And that's our vision statement.
That's who we are. That's why we exist, to do whatever it takes for you to know the love of Jesus and live out your God given purpose. For you, anybody that God puts in front of us, whatever it takes. Why? Because Jesus laid his life down for us.
He did whatever it took, and then he invited us as we he invited us into friendship with him. He said, greater love has no man than this than to lay down His life for a friend. And He demonstrated that by doing it first for us. And then He commanded His disciples to love each other as I have loved you. So He invited us into the same type of love, a love that sacrifices itself for the sake of another.
That's true Christianity. If you're in Christianity and you're in church for your blessing, you're in it for the wrong reason. Now, is reward in following Jesus, don't get me wrong. There is reward in being a son. There is or a daughter.
There is reward. And anybody who comes to him must believe that he is, and he is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him. So don't get me wrong, there is major benefit to being a son. You become more than a conqueror. You know what more than a conqueror is?
I always wondered that growing up. I read that verse in Romans-8, you are more than conquerors, and I just see myself as a as a warrior or something. And, like, I'm bigger than a warrior. I'm a big warrior or something. You know?
That's not what it means. *Jesus* is the conqueror. You're more than a conqueror because you're an heir. You're an heir to what he conquered for you as a son and a daughter, which is a big deal. Like, that song, this is what freedom looks like.
This is what living or this is what living looks like. This is what freedom feels like. Do you really know what freedom looks and feels like? Have you experienced? Have you tasted and seen that the Lord is good?
Because whether you know it or not, that's why you're here today, to taste on a deeper level and to see that the Lord is better than you could have ever asked, thought, or imagined, and to draw you into deeper relationship with him. See, we named it a real church for a reason, guys. It's been my motto since I was 14. I'm a real person living a real life for a real Jesus, having a real good time. I knew we would really walk in the "authentic power" and presence of God, and we see it all the time.
We're gonna do it in a real way, not a weird way. Just authentic. People in authentic pursuit of Jesus. You wanna be a part of that? Get established.
Part of our our mission statement is to establish the believer in the local body of Christ. If you're just here visiting from another church, praise the Lord. That's awesome. If at that church, it challenges you to grow in the Lord and gives you a place where you can help make disciples, then, man, stay connected to that church and keep doing it. And if it's a "dead church" where there's no power of God in the place and God hasn't specifically called you there, go to a church that's alive and get established and quit making excuses.
Oh, I watch I watch this church online or I listen to this church online. You need to be healthily connected to a local body of Christ established in it. And here's why. It's the body of Christ. To be disconnected from the body is to make excuses thinking that you're alive, but deceiving yourself.
You're disconnected from the head. You can't be unhealthily connected to the body, the local body, and be healthily connected to the head at the same time. Here's why. Because there are things in you that *Jesus* put there for a reason. Good works that he prepared for you to walk in before you were born, and has been training you and raising you up in ways that you didn't even know about.
Your history your history, even the things before Christ, he put those gifts and talents and abilities, and he's he's got a plan, and he's gonna work all things out for good because he's calling you into relationship with him. All you gotta do is love him back. Loving God is obedience. 1 step at a time in obedience, and he's gonna work it out for good. And part of that obedience is being healthily connected to the body because there are things in you that the local church needs, whatever church he's called you to.
And that church won't be all God's called it to be without you being there. And there are things in that local church, if this is the church, there's things in me, but not just in me. There are things in the people in the seats around you. Look around. Look around.
Go ahead. Look at some people. Look at them. It's awkward. Just look.
Look them in the eyes. No, I'm just kidding. Don't be weird. Those people you saw, *God* has deposits in them, in some of them, that you're not gonna see aspects of Jesus until you connect with them. Aspects of Jesus that he's reserved until you step out of yourself and your comfort zone and into relationship with others.
With others that he's called you into relationship with. And that's why coming to church on a Sunday, man, I celebrate the fact that you're here. It's a big deal. I mean, I'm I celebrate it. And I in no way am I trying to condemn anybody, but I am trying to spur you on into more because there is more for you.
And that more happens in the context of relationships. Amen? Amen. And and the body of Christ is kind of a big deal to Jesus because it's called his bride. So, man, maybe those relationships that that that are gonna challenge you on are in the local aspect of the bride of Christ, and you need to connect there.
Amen? Amen. Hey. I know I've I've said it before. I hadn't said in a while, if I'm stepping on your toe, that's a place your toe shouldn't be.
Just move it. Change the way that you're living. Right? Repentance is, oh, pastor, what you're saying is biblical. It's right.
I'm gonna shift my life and begin walking in obedience in those areas because you can't walk in obedience to Jesus without life change, without choosing to shift what you're doing. Sacrificing your flesh, picking up your cross and saying, yes, Lord. That's the mark of a believer. Anybody who wants to be my disciple must **pick up his cross** and follow me. Right?
And that's that's what it looks like. That's that's how you know. There's aspects in your life where Jesus told you to do something and your flesh didn't wanna do it, but because he's Lord, you said yes anyway. Can you think back to those times? The supernatural abundant amazing wonderful life of a son or a daughter of God is on the other side of yes, Lord.
Amen? Amen. It's my intro. Man. So it's Father's Day.
It's Father's Day. Before I address that, just just to lighten the mood, what kind of milk do you get from a short cow? It's my favorite dad joke of all time. What kind of milk do you get from a short cow? Half, finally.
Dragon milk. Y'all getting it. It's the best dad joke of all time. Anyway, the last verse of the Old Testament. Matthew I mean, not Matthew.
Malachi. Malachi-4:5-6. After this verse, the Old Testament was closed. For 400 years, God didn't speak through a prophet, because that's the way he spoke in the Old Testament. Through prophets, moved on certain people supernaturally.
They spoke. Other people heard the word of God through them. 400 years, God didn't speak. Silence until a voice of 1 calling into the wilderness. Prepare ye the way of the Lord.
Last 2 verses of the old covenant, the old testament, Malachi-4:5-6 says, behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes, and he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers. Lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction or with a curse. When the hearts of children are turned away from their fathers, the lack of honor is a curse. When the hearts of fathers forget their children, there's a curse on the lamb. We see that in real life in America.
1 in 4 children don't have a father in the home. That's well over 18,000,000 kids without daddy being home. When dad isn't there, the kids are 4 times more likely to grow up and live in poverty. 85 percent of youth in prison don't have a dad at home. Teenage girls are 7 times more likely to have a teenage pregnancy when they don't have daddy at home.
Kids are at a much higher risk of having behavioral and mental health issues when dad isn't there. Dads, you matter. Your role is important. And there's a promise in scripture. *Ephesians-6:1-4*.
Children, obey your parents in the Lord for this is right. Honor your father and your mother. This is the first commandment with a promise. And the 10 commandments, this was a commandment, honor your father and mother. And then there was a promise attached to it.
That it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land. *Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in discipline and instruction in the Lord*. So there's there's the implication here that if children do not honor their fathers and and their mothers, it may not go well with them. They may not live long, have a long life, and live long in the land. But the promise is, if there is honor for your father and mother, there will be a long life and you will live long in the land.
I wish, how many of you wish you would have honored your father and mother better when you were a kid? Maybe you wish you would have honored them better in the way that you understand what honor means now? I do. I was a I was a pretty good kid, but man, there were some times that I really dishonored my mom and dad. To honor means to give weight to, to value, as if their opinion matters.
And I just think about, you know, the epitome of most teenage conversations with their parents is your opinion doesn't matter. I know. Right? Man, I wish I wouldn't have done that as a I would have learned so much more and been on such a stronger found I was already on a strong foundation. I mean, God God was good to me, protected me a lot, but but man, I would have learned so much more.
Wouldn't have done some of the stupid stuff that I did. Amen? And then as a parent, we're all growing in our understanding of how to be good parents. All of us. I got 4 children, 13, 11, 10, and 3, and a 7 year old little baby church.
And now, I'm learning how to lead well. And I know you are too. And parenting ain't easy, is it? It's not. You know why?
Because you grew up in a world that's not perfect, and the power of sin is everywhere. But you got a good heavenly father. So I wanna do something that I think is important for today. I wanna participate. I wanna invite you to participate in honoring your father.
Everybody in here has a father. Maybe you your dad, you never met him. Maybe he wasn't there. Maybe he didn't act like a father. The Bible doesn't say honor your father if he was good.
The bible doesn't say honor your father if he deserved it. Honor is given. It's not earned. The bible commends the believer to honor, to give honor to their father whether or not they deserved it or they earned it. A lot of times, when you give what's not earned, they live up to what you give.
I wanna take a moment to give all of you the opportunity to honor your father, earthly father. I think maybe for some of you in the room, that's impossible without first doing something. If you have given your life to Jesus, really if you haven't, Jesus died on a cross and rose again to pay for the sins of the whole world, and it's a free gift for everyone. Just not everybody receives it. Not everybody confesses Jesus as the Lord of their life, and they die separated from experiencing that forgiveness and live in eternal separation from the "heavenly Father" because they rejected the Son, Jesus Christ.
Don't do that. *Surrender to Jesus as Lord*. He loves you. I guess, before we go into the next part, I might as well. As the worship is happening, as I'm speaking up here, is there anybody in here that you'd say, man, I've never really known God as my father because I've never really surrendered to Jesus as Lord.
I've went to church maybe or maybe I haven't, but I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that God wants more than for me than just some supernatural encounters. He wants me to have a relationship with him that I've never had. And I'm ready right now to say, Jesus, I wanna make you the Lord of my life. When you do that, if you do that, He will forgive you of all of your sin, past, present, and future because Jesus paid for that. You receive that gift He paid for.
He'll take the weight of sin and shame off of your shoulders, and he'll put the Holy Spirit inside of you to lead you like a father leads a son or a daughter. Or it's more than just some religious game. It's more than just some principles that you live by. It's a relationship with the God of the universe. If I was I'm saying that in your heart, I'm not gonna call you to come up front right now because we're in the middle of the message.
I still got a lot more to preach. I got a lot more to do. But I want you to be able to participate in this. I want everybody to. And and I'm gonna ask you, if this is you, I'm gonna ask you to do something crazy bold.
I'm actually just to raise your hand. If if you know you need Jesus in and your heart and and you know now is the time, I'm ready to surrender my life to Jesus. I never have, but I need a relationship with him. And I'm I'm I'm I'm at a place in my life where I don't care who knows. I'm ready.
Is there anybody in here? That'd be you. I'm all in. Raise your hand. I see you, sir.
Keep your hand up just for a second. It's gonna give some other people boldness because there's other people that want to. Anybody else? Raise your hand high if that's you. I see you, ma'am.
Keep your hand up. It's gonna give some other people boldness. Hold on. Wait. Wait.
Wait. I see your hand. There's another 1. Who else? Say, I need Jesus.
I'm ready. *God*'s moving on my heart. Okay. I want all of you to pay attention to this. I'm gonna speak to you too for a second.
I want all of you to pay attention to this because you need to either do it too or lead others in the same way. K. Do you believe that Jesus died on a cross and rose again for you? Just shake your head yes or no. K.
And are you ready to say, I'm gonna follow you instead of myself? I'm a follow what you say instead of what I feel. Not saying that you know exactly what that means at this moment, but you trust him enough to say that with the understanding that if you mess up, he's gonna help you forward. Are you ready to surrender in that way? Yes?
Yes. Okay. So we're gonna pray a prayer. And in this moment, only say it out loud if you mean it with your whole heart. Okay?
So if you believe it. Right? Because out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. So so but then you say it because you believe it and supernatural something supernatural happens. Okay?
So say this with me just only if you believe it. And in this moment, what's gonna happen is you're gonna feel the weight of sin and shame fall off. Your past. He's gonna make you new, give you a new heart, and put the whole you're gonna sense the presence of God coming to live inside of you. Okay?
It's gonna be powerful. I want everybody else, just just close your eyes and just thank God that he's your Father. If you didn't raise your hand, pray this with me in a real way. Okay? Alright.
Just close your eyes, you 2, and just say this out loud. Nobody else has to say this unless you're praying it for the first time. But for you 2, you already raised your hand, you might as well say it out loud. Say, Jesus, I've been living for myself. And right now, I choose, say it out loud, to follow you instead of myself.
Forgive me of my *sin* and change me. I believe you died for me, and I believe you rose again. Right now, I receive your life and your forgiveness. Thank you, Jesus. Let me pray for you.
*Father*, pray for these 2 and anybody else. *Lord, that they would sense the presence and the power of God*. Lord, that they would understand that you are their father, and you're gonna father them like a father, father's a daughter, or a son. Lord, I pray that the weight of sin and shame leaves. Lord, this is the beginning of an amazing life, walking towards the purposes you have for them.
For anybody else that prayed that prayer, Lord, I pray they're just bold enough to stand for you in Jesus name. Amen. Let's give a big old hand clap. Now, I know that was real for you 2. I know it was real.
And the and the rest, I wanted you to be able to participate in this next part because it's important. Is there anybody else to say, I'm unashamed to declare that I prayed that for the first time, and I was just I just gave my life to Jesus too. I wanna Is there anybody else? I just wanna give you the opportunity. Because the Bible says, you deny me before men, I'll deny you before the Father in heaven.
So it's it's a big deal. This isn't a personal religion. It's a it's a personal relationship that's a public faith. You understand? So is there anybody else that say, that was me, I prayed too.
Amen. Okay. Well, praise the Lord. God just moved in in you 2. Now, for you 2, you can freely participate.
I'm a I'm a assume all of you have given your life to Jesus, which means you are forgiven. Make sense? And if you are a 100% forgiven, what right do you have to not forgive? If you are a 100% forgiven of everything that you've ever done, Jesus forgave you, what right do you have to not forgive? You have no right.
*Jesus said the parable of the unforgiving servant*. There's a lot of people that say, I'm forgiven, but they don't forgive, which shows that they don't really understand forgiveness. They don't understand how much they're forgiven. Either they don't know the Father, or they need to learn about how much he really loves them. Because when you see him as the Father who forgives, you can't help but to forgive.
Amen? Amen. And when you don't forgive, it allows the enemy to attack you. And you Demons are real. And it opens the door to demonic attack in your life in multiple different ways.
When when deliverance happens, and deliverance is real, about half the time, maybe more, it's because of unforgiveness. And a lot of times, it's daddy wounds. It's because of what dad did to them, and they're still repeating the same mistakes or putting up the same walls because they've never walked in true forgiveness. And I wanna help you with that because we're about to honor our fathers, every single 1 of them. I'm 1 of you, if you're willing.
And to honor your father, you have to forgive. Not all of you need to need to do this. I'm not saying every 1 of you have daddy wounds, and I'm not trying to put that on you. I'm not trying to any any like, but there are some that that is the case. For the rest of you, just learn this so that when you're talking with a friend and you notice it, you can walk them through healing.
Amen? Amen. Alright. So if you need to forgive your father, I just want you to close your eyes. Just everybody close your eyes.
And Christians, pray for the person beside you or pray for the people around you because the enemy doesn't want this to happen. And I want you, you can say this under your breath. We're gonna take a moment to lean in here for a second. Just just say, thank you, Jesus, that I'm forgiven. Thank you that you love me.
Thank you that you've set me free. So I have no right not to forgive. So I choose to forgive my father. Can call him by name if you want, whatever you called him, dad, daddy, father, or you call him by name. Or if you don't know him and you never got to meet him, just bring whatever you've ever thought about him to mind and say, I forgive.
Call his name. I forgive him for Now, under your breath, be specific. Whatever you've held against your dad, no matter how bad. You're not saying what he did was okay. But you're saying I'm releasing it to the Lord.
I'm releasing it to God. I'm letting it go so I can love him and I'm letting you deal with it, heavenly Father. So I can honor him like your word says. So again, right now, I choose to forgive my dad for now be specific. Whatever the Holy Spirit brought to mind.
Say it out. Say it say it under your breath, but say it to the Lord. I'm I'm forgiven. We're leaning in here for a second. I'll say this.
I release him, and I release this to you. Teach me how to honor my father. Now, we're gonna honor him. I want you right now to pray for your dad and pray for him with the same fervor you pray for yourself. Pray that God would bless him.
If he's already passed away, thank the heavenly *father* for that that that you're here. Thank him for your dad or for whatever you remember, whatever you can. Just take a moment to do that or pray for him. I would pray, Lord, I thank you for my dad. I thank you for what you've done in my my life because of him.
I bless him. I pray he grows in relationship with you every single day. *Lord, bless his life. Bless him with peace and a long life, Lord Jesus*, because of your grace and mercy. Go ahead.
Pray for him. *Lord Jesus*, I thank you for this congregation and every attack on the of the enemy over these people because of the unforgiveness that was let go. I rebuke it and I say leave now in Jesus' name. *Holy Spirit*, I pray you bless them. Lord, let them be the recipients of a long life and living long in the land because they learned and are learning more and more how to honor their father and their mother.
In Jesus' name, thank you for your goodness. Everybody say, Amen. Now, if you're if you are a father, if you are a father, I want you to stand up. I wanna pray over you. *Lord* Jesus, and children and and mothers, just agree with me in prayer.
*Lord Jesus, I thank you for these mighty men of God*. You've called them to be fathers. You've gifted them. I gotta say this too. If if you're wanting to be a father and you're not yet, what you honor is multiplied to you.
Don't feel all bitter and left out. Instead, honor these men. Pray for them from your heart. Don't be offended. Amen?
Alright. *Lord Jesus*, I thank you for these men. Bless them. Lord, I pray that they understand the love of the Father more deeply every single day so that they can reflect that to their children. Lord God, turn their hearts to their children.
Teach them how to father their children well. *Lord God, that they're raising up generations of world* changers, which means they gotta be a world changer themselves. Lord, I pray they begin to pursue you in ways that they never imagined possible. Lord God, give them a deeper hunger for you than ever before. Give them a hunger for your word.
*Lord God*, that they would wake up and desire to be in your word. Lord, they would choose to get in your word instead of the distraction, that their brain break would be prayer. Lord God, that that you would fill them with your presence and your power, Lord God, in ways that they didn't think possible. *Father, you would fill them with the willingness to surrender* and be disciplined. Lord God, develop in them the discipline and the character necessary to live out every aspect and every purpose of the call that you have for them, and to overflow that into many others.
They wouldn't just be physical fathers, but they would be spiritual fathers of many. Lord, they would be disciple makers in Jesus' name. Lord, I thank you, father. Teach them how to lead their wives in a in a healthy and and healthy way, Lord God. To be the spiritual head, the spiritual leaders of their household, which are servant leaders that lay their life down so their wives can can grow and understand every purpose that their wives have for them.
That they would lead their wives like you led the church, Jesus, where you said to your disciples, you'll do the same things I do and and even greater. Father, let them be servant leaders, servant fathers in Jesus name. Let them discipline well, and let them love completely. Let them be comforters of their children, but at the same time coaches and leaders In Jesus name. And everybody say, Amen.
Amen. You can be seated. Alright. Let's get back to that verse. That last verse of the Old Testament was Malachi-4:6, the last verse of the old covenant.
And he will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers. It's prophetic. After that silence of 400 years, Jesus was born. And John the Baptist, crying out in the wilderness, prepare the way. Prepare the way.
And what's he doing? He's baptizing people in the Jordan River. People are coming from all around repenting, preparing their hearts to receive God as Father. They don't know that yet. As a matter of fact, it's very weird in Israel if somebody would call God their father at this day and age.
In the Old Testament, *God* isn't looked at as a personal *father*. Instead, he's looked at 4 or 5, 6 different verses as the father of Israel, the nation as a whole, but not as an individualistic type of father. As a matter of fact, when *Jesus* claimed that, the Jews wanted to kill him. *John-5*, let's go there. Verse 16, and this is why the Jews were persecuting Jesus because he was doing these things on the Sabbath.
So he's healing and doing other stuff. But Jesus answered them, my father is working until now, and I am working. This is why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him. Because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was calling God his own father, making himself equal with God. So this was anathema.
This was like *heresy*. How in the world can Jesus say, my Father to God? That's that's meaning that Jesus has the same nature as God. What's going on? And Jesus responded to them.
He didn't back down. He stood up. Truly, truly, I say to you, the son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the father doing. For whatever the father does, the son does likewise. For the father loves the son and shows him all that he is doing.
*Jesus, John-3:16*, you guys know the verse? For God so loved the *world* that he gave his only begotten Son that whoever would believe in him would not perish, but have eternal life, foreverlasting life. eternal life is knowing God. *John-5:19 and 20, we see that Jesus honored the Father*'s will above his own. Jesus trusted his Father.
*Jesus spoke of the Father. Jesus taught what it looked like to live as a son of God*. Nothing. I can do nothing of my own accord, Jesus said, but only what I see the father doing. For whatever the father does, the son does also.
*Jesus, the God* who through all was created, all was created by him, for him, and through him chose to limit himself, become born as a man, lived as a man led by the Holy *Spirit* in perfect submission to the will of the Father. What the Father showed Jesus was an invitation to him to imitate his heavenly Father and what he was doing. Remember, I can do nothing apart from my Father, but what the Father shows me, that's what the Son does. I get the picture of me working on something and my 3 year old tripper man coming out, daddy, daddy, can I do it? Daddy, daddy, let me try.
Daddy, daddy, I wanna help. He's 13 now. He's probably like, dad. Our river going in with mama sweeping, trying to grab a broom, know, and do what mama's doing. Eden used to try to sweep and she'd hold the broom between her legs and pull it like this.
That's my Eden. When God reveals himself, when the heavenly Father reveals himself, it's intentional. You don't notice that God's moving unless he wanted you to. And when he reveals himself to you, it's an invitation for you to join him in what he's doing. What did Jesus say next?
For the Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing, and greater works than these he will show him, so that you may marvel. The implication is that when the Father showed Jesus greater works, it was an invitation for Jesus to do those greater works to show the glory of the Father. So the things that God has revealed to you, it's an invitation. Ephesians-5:1, you guys have heard me quote it all the time. Be imitators of God as dearly loved children.
When the father reveals something to you, it's an invitation. That revelation of Him is an invitation for you to participate in what He's doing, and He takes your hands by the Holy Spirit and empowers you to do the very thing you're doing. And if you slip up, He doesn't kick you while He's down, but He picks you up and says, "come on, keep going". Let's keep rolling. I'm showing you this because I'm leading you into the purposes that I've created you for.
When I share about to someone about being born again, or when I share the gospel, I always always put it in the context of *father and son*, father and daughter, because that's the relationship you're invited into. Like, did you hear when I shared there? The Holy Spirit comes inside of you to lead you like a father leads a son, like a father leads a daughter. Well, we know this is the relationship Jesus had with God. He's the Son of God.
And I'm not just pulling this family dynamic out of thin air. In John-20, Jesus just died on the cross. And Mary goes before the break of dawn to the tomb. She's gonna take care of the body and Jesus's body isn't there anymore. So she she drops her stuff and she runs back, guys, guys, Jesus isn't isn't there.
And Peter and John both take off sprinting. John beats Peter. John wrote about it in his gospel. That old dog, I'm gonna ask him about that when we get to heaven. Yeah.
Hey. John's probably gonna laugh. Yeah, did. Anyway, so Mary Magdalene comes behind them. Peter and John get there, see that the body's not there, and they leave.
And it specifically says in John-20 that they didn't yet understand that Jesus had taught them that he needed to raise from the dead. So Mary Magdalene's there weeping, and these 2 angels appear at the where the body, the head of the body was and where the feet of the body was. I don't even know if Mary Magdalene realized that there were angels there because they say, woman, why are you weeping? And she says, because the body's not there. And she turns around, like almost ignoring the angels.
I mean, it's kinda crazy to me. And then Jesus is standing behind her and she doesn't recognize him. She thinks he's a gardener. Wait a second. Here's that point again.
When God reveals himself to you, it's on purpose. Don't think that anytime that you want to, you know, you can see God in whatever way that you want to. No. He reveals himself to you on purpose intentionally. You can draw near to God.
The promise is he will draw near to you. But when he reveals himself to you, it's an invitation to lead you more into aspects of your purpose that you've never experienced before, or that you need to be that need to be reinforced in your life. *Jesus* didn't reveal himself immediately. She thought he was the gardener. And then he spoke, Mary.
Rabb and I, I think is what she said. Rabb and I revealed himself to her. And you know what he said? *John-20*. Let's read it.
Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, sir, if you've carried him away, tell me where you've laid him and I'll take him away. And Jesus said to her, Mary. She turned into him and said in Aramaic, Rabboni, which means teacher. Jesus said to her, do not cling to me for I have yet not yet ascended to the Father, but go to my brothers. What?
*Jesus* is unashamed to call his *disciples* his brothers. He's our "elder brother". Not only is our Lord, is he our Lord? Not only is he the King of Kings, but he's also our elder brother. Jesus said, but go to my brothers and say to them, I'm ascending to my *father* and your father.
To my *God* and to your God. Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, I've seen the Lord, and that he said these things to her. *Jesus* died on the cross and rose again, not just to forgive you of your sins, but so that you could be born again. Born, John-01/1213 says, of God. Not of the will of the flesh or of passion, but born of God.
To have the Holy Spirit inside, to interact with God. As I said a couple weeks ago, that's deeply personal. I think maybe in my life or in my circles, just gotten used to saying heavenly Father, Father God. But man, that's deeply personal to know God as Father, And *Jesus* paying the price, and then is unashamed to call us brothers, sisters? I mean, that's big.
So now, we can crawl up into our heavenly father's lap. You know, he's he's a better father than the 1 that you grew up with. You might have had a great dad, you might have had a terrible 1. But I know this, your dad wasn't perfect. And he is.
And he wants to fill in every gap that your father missed out because he's the "perfect father". And he wants to turn your heart back to your father. Not only that, you're not a perfect father either. I'm not. We probably said some things out of frustration to our kids.
Messed up in different areas. Maybe in the past before you gave your life to Jesus or maybe you're just growing and really screwed up a few times. Feel like you damaged your kids. He's a good heavenly father. Introduce your kids to the father.
He'll fill in every gap that you missed. He'll heal heal their wounds so that they can be led. So you know, you gotta not just forgive your dad, you gotta forgive yourself, mothers and fathers. And know that he can he can fulfill your mistakes. That doesn't give you an excuse to continue making them, but to grow in relationship with him.
Because here's the promise. We love because he first loved us. So to the extent that you know him as father, that's the extent you can love with his love as a son. Amen? Amen.
And he's called you. I mean, I'm not Look, don't get me wrong, like, I'm not saying this out of like pride in any way. I'm just quoting scripture. In this world, 1 John-4:17, we are like Jesus. I mean, the religious man wants to fight that scripture so hard.
Yeah. You're a new creation. He gave you his nature. That's what it means to be born of God. You're not a filthy rotten sinner anymore if you've given your life to Jesus.
You've been transformed. And to the extent that you are like my friend Bart says, understand that you're just a turtle on a fence post. How's a turtle get on a fence post? He didn't get there himself. Man, I just wanna be a confident turtle on a fence post.
I understand that *Jesus* put me here. I didn't do it. This is not self righteousness, it's his righteousness. But man, I better stand confidently in what he where he put me. And the position and the place that he put me in this life, confidently trusting in him.
Amen? Amen. A *son of God*? An heir more than a conqueror? An heir?
What does it mean to be an heir? I'll leave you with that question. Go figure it out. Go read scripture. He's given you 2 Peter-1, he's given you so many promises that through them you may participate in the divine nature.
Like 2 Peter-1:4 or 5. Like, this ain't this ain't, you know, just some namby pamby, gutless Christianity. More than a conqueror, a son of God, daughter of the king, an heir, called to live an abundant life in relationship with the heavenly Father. Do you believe it? Yeah.
Well, your life reveals what you really believe. *James-1* says, don't just be mere hearers of the word and deceive yourselves, but be doers. So meaning, you can hear and say with your mouth, I really believe what you're saying. But without doing it, you can deceive yourself into thinking that you believe something that your life declares you don't. You're a son of God.
Get to know the Father. Pursue him. And watch how not only your life changes, but everyone around you does everyone's around you does as well. Amen? Amen.
I'm mostly done. I get the feeling that there are people in here that feel stuck in their life. Like, don't know the purposes that God has created them for. And, they feel like they're just circling the drain or circling, you know, stagnant, and they want to know more of the purposes that God has for them. God has called you to a many many amazing, wonderful things.
I know that because he created you in his image. But your purpose and my purpose are different because we're different people, which means the father reveals himself to me differently. Now, don't get me wrong. The same in many ways. But if you're a businessman, *Jesus* is gonna reveal himself to you as the the ultimate excellent businessman inviting you to imitate him in that way.
Because he he can coach you better in business than anybody can through the Holy Spirit. He's probably not gonna reveal reveal himself to me in that way as much because that's not what I'm called to do. I'm called to equip you in this. You understand? So in the purposes that God has for you, if you feel stuck, you need a clear revelation of the Father.
You need the heavenly Father to reveal himself to you more. Because when he does, he's gonna reveal himself to you in a way that will help you to live out the purposes he created you for in the body of Christ and in the world. If you feel stuck, it's probably because you're missing out on aspects of God that will help you to fulfill your purpose. That make sense? Does that help?
Alright. So I wanna invite this whole *church* to join me in fasting. Did he say fasting? No. Like sacrifice something?
Yes. Most churches, and I'm not downing most churches, I think that the way that they fast is great. It's just a different way that God's called me to lead our church in a fast. Most they do a 21 day fast, beginning the year. Wonderful.
Sometimes we may do that. Or they have something coming up and they fast for something specific, and I think that's great. You know what fasting does? It helps you to hear God more clearly. Forsakes aspects of the flesh that you crave in order to hear his voice.
So fasting increases faith because faith comes by hearing. And what you hear changes how you see, so you begin to see by faith too. So I wanna encourage you, I am I'm not telling you this to brag on myself. Not bring it being braggadocious, but I'm telling you this in discipleship. I'm fasting every Wednesday.
Just simply breakfast and lunch. Okay? I'm not eating food for breakfast and lunch. From after dinner on Tuesday night, and then I eat dinner on Wednesday. I have to adjust my schedule to do that.
I have to adjust what I normally do. Normally, going to run-in the mornings, I don't do that on Wednesdays. I know I mean, there's a bunch of stuff that I adjust. Why? Because my relationship with God is more important than my routine.
K? So I'm setting aside those things in order to pursue him. Now, in my fast, when I'm hungry, I don't let everybody know and complain about it. Because that's just making myself a martyr for Jesus and I'm getting glory from what they think about me instead of really from him. Instead, I go about my day as normal.
But I take some time to seek him and to pray. You'll notice if you do this, sacrificing yourself for him, it's an act of worship. Do it out of obedience if he leads you to. K? But you'll notice if you do this, you will begin to hear him more clearly.
It will begin to be easier to say no to the leadings of the flesh and yes to him. And I'm gonna pray for you. I believe God's gonna reveal aspects of the purposes he created you for that you've never seen before or never seen as clearly. So I invite you to fast with me. You're gonna get a "hunger for God" like you've never had.
It's gonna cause a fire for God in your belly like you've never had, which is gonna overflow out of your mouth and impact the world around you. And then on Thursday nights, because of summer shift, we have boiler room prayer. *Fasting* is always combined with prayer. When you can, come to "boiler room prayer". 8 to 9PM, it's "prayer and work".
We had 89 people in prayer and worship from 8 to 9PM this last Thursday night. 89. If it happens at "real church", it's birthed in the boiler room because "prayer precedes movement".