Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow. Happy Sunday.
[Applause]
Good morning, church. Man, you guys, you guys look great. What a great uh
opportunity on a Sunday to be in the house of God. And I’m so glad all of you showed up. I’m just looking across the
room. We kind of rearranged the room a little bit. And uh I like this like fresh, new,
different people all around me, not just in front of me. And all of you at other locations, your room may not be different today, but it is a new day.
There’s never been a Sunday like this Sunday. I hope you came with expectation wherever you are. We’re glad you’re
there in Yakama. We’re glad that you are with us in DuPont.
I hear Dupont screaming right now. I think we’re glad you’re with us online. We’re glad that you are. You ready?
Belleview, we are glad you are in the house today.
And then right here in Tacoma, we’re glad that you are at Champion Center.
[Music]
And we had an awesome time of worship here today. And I was uh I was thinking as as we were praying and and prayer and
prayer lines were forming and people were coming forward for prayer. And I just I just thought to myself, God is God is working. God is doing something.
It’s not visible to us. But God is doing what only God can do. God is hearing prayer right now. God is answering
prayer right now. Does anybody believe me? believe that with me today that God still answers prayer.
So, we are kicking off a new series today and the series is called Summer in the Psalms. And we’re going to go, we
did this last summer, we’re going to go at it again. I think we could do we could do this the rest of our life and never exhaust the Psalms. Um, but I’m
excited to jump into some of the things that we’re going to share today. And I’m going to ask you before you’re seated, just say with me, “My heart’s open.” My heart’s open.
And my mind’s ready. My mind’s ready. Make me better, God. Make me better, God. By your word. By your word. I receive it. I receive it. I believe it.
I believe it. I won’t be the same again. In Jesus name. In Jesus name. Shout a great big amen.
Amen. And you may be seated.
I want to thank all of our givers today who tithed the champion center. I want to just give you a shout out and we
thank you for your giving and uh I want to just say as a church we rely completely
completely totally we don’t have corporate sponsors. Um we rely on the
giving to create the spaces and the places and the people that are involved in ministry. And at the end of our
service today, you’re going to have an opportunity to give. And I just hope everybody who is receiving is giving. I I hope that if this is your church that
you have adopted a percentagebased plan for giving. That is God’s will for your life. And I want you to know we’re
grateful um for all of you who partner with us financially and uh make it happen here. That’s the way it’s
supposed to be. We can’t do it without you. We are doing this together. building the house of God. Amen.
I want to uh I want to just start today by declaring that we are we’re going to have the best summer ever.
[Music]
I I say that knowing that some of you are like, “Well, I don’t know. We had a good one last year.” I kind of like 1994, Pastor Kevin. That’s when, you
know, whatever that I understand. But I think when you’re living life and you go through things that it’s good to expect
something that is better. Not in the sense that it’s it’s going to necessarily compete with all your past
experiences, but because it is the the experience God has for you right now, which means it’s the best. It’s the most
timely. It’s the right thing. And as a church, we have every right to believe and continue to believe that there are
better days ahead. So we just call it best summer ever. Best summer ever. Say it with me. Best summer ever. People are
going to get saved this summer. Young lives are going to get changed this summer. People are going to turn to God this summer. Healing is going to happen this summer. Best summer ever. Best
summer ever. Amen. Doesn’t have to take away from the past to be thankful for the future.
this the the the the the message that I want to give you today is uh it begins with with some talk about psalms. Just
let me introduce it and there’ll be other contributors throughout the summer. But the Psalms are a collection
of songs and poetry and praise. That’s what the Psalms is. If you go to the Psalms in your Bible, it’s a collection
of songs and poetry and praise. And it provides a window into the life
experiences of a man named David and the nation of Israel. And it gives you a window into
their life over many years of experiences.
And like all of our lives, their experience was a combination of hardship and blessing.
Good times and bad times, difficult times and seasons of great victory.
The Bible refers to David as a man after God’s own heart. And I want to point out that scripture in the book of Acts,
chapter 13. It it it says after removing Saul, talking about God, God removes.
How many of you know God removes people and God sets up people? God brings people and he moves people.
Right? It says here after removing Saul who had had many many years of oppressing David and and and God’s
people, God made David the king. And God testified concerning him, I have found David, son of Jesse, a man after my own
heart. He will do everything I want him to do. He doesn’t say, “I have found a perfect man.” He said, “I have found
David, who is a man after my own heart, who is an obedient man. He’s obedient to
my will and he is he’s got my heart.” So, I’m just going to talk today from that reference to kind of set up what
we’re going to do and a little background on the uh book of Psalms, how it David wrote about half of the Psalms
himself, but he oversaw all of the writing of the Psalms. So, in other words, he had a team of writers and he
oversaw it all. And all of the so all of the Psalms have his fingerprint on it.
And and the idea that he was a man after God’s own heart
is an interesting concept because he was a lot of things.
I mean, he was a he was a husband, he was a father, he was a shepherd, he was a king.
And so you wonder, what does it mean to be a man after God’s own heart or a person after God’s own heart? Like like
why does God call him that? And that’s what I want to explore today and just kind of kind of flesh it out a little
bit on some things that I I think really are the epitome of of what it means when
the word says he was a man after God’s own heart. Let me first say he grew up at a time where there was this thing
called Moses temple. And in Moses temple, which is the Old Testament temple,
there were there were lots of ritual there. There was lots of animal sacrifice and only the priests could go into the
Holy of Holies. But David saw glimpses of what was in God’s heart
for the future of the house of God. So it starts with just a prophetic sense that he knew that there were things in
God’s heart and he began to practice those things in his own life. In other words, he saw a place where God’s people
would come and they would offer sacrifices of praise. Not sacrifices of animals, but sacrifice, what the Bible
calls sacrifices of praise to worship God, to celebrate him. Lots of people think that when it comes to worship and
praise, that the people who are doing all this praise and worship, they they just they just come in feeling like doing it.
And I want you to know that every worshipper I know, everyone who prays the Lord doesn’t feel like praising him
every weekend when they come to the house of God. And I’ll be the first one on that list.
Don’t always feel like it. So what does it become then? It becomes a sacrifice of praise.
It becomes something we do outside of what we what we feel we want to do in the moment. and we offer it. And in
the New Testament in Hebrews, it calls it the sacrifice of praise, the fruit of our lips, giving praise to his name or giving honor to his name. So, so David
saw sacrifices of praise and and David saw this God as a as a God that longed
to be worshiped, that long to be celebrated. And so David would write songs on the back side of the desert.
David had a harp and he had instruments and he would just sing to the Lord when no one was listening. And he would sing,
“Thou Lord, art a shield for me. D,
you’re my glory and the lifter of my head.
nothing there but sheep and hills and he was the beginning of the whole deal like it he pioneered praise.
Yeah, that’s cool.
Both personal and corporate praise. So, anytime you’re in a gathering of believers in a small group and somebody
just leads a song or grabs a acoustic guitar and they start to sing a song to the Lord or anytime you’re in a church
service and we’re worshiping and praising. If you’re going to a Christian concert and the arena is filled with
people praising God, just just remember it all started with David. Right.
Yeah.
I said it all started with David. He was the pioneer of praise.
And so today I want to give you five reasons why David is known as a man after God’s own heart. And the first one is that he was a worshshiping warrior.
Now last year I did a twoeek series on that topic and you’ll you can get more out of you know more of that. I just
want to I want to mention it because um and I may talk about it even a little bit in the weeks to come, but I just
think for for for those of us who think that being a worshipper would eliminate you
from being a warrior, I want you to eliminate the the line that says if you are a fighter, you can’t be a worshipper. Good.
And there’s a lot of worshippers who don’t really they they don’t really know how to fight.
But David was submitted to God. He worshiped God without inhibition.
And at the same time, he was he was bad
as in like wrapping a bandana around his head,
grabbing some weapons and saying, “Let’s go to a giant for example.”
He grabs a weapon, a Philistine giant. And when all the trained soldiers were scared and staying
in the tent, David said, “Let’s go.” And while he was going at him, he might
have been singing, “What a mighty God we serve.” I mean, I don’t know. It’s like
I know what he said. I mean, he it could have been a little bit of melody to it.
I don’t know. Oh, he just said, “I’m going to feed you to the birds of the air and the fowls of the air.” Like, I’m going to cut you up. I’m going to take
your head off. He was not a nice guy when he was in warrior mode.
That’s kind of hard for some people to accept that he was a dangerous man.
He was a savage.
He was a threat to those who would seek to harm his people, his nation, his family.
It’s quiet.
I just think we need we need to get back to an understanding that loving God. Let Let me give you I’ll go on with my
scriptures. I got a lot of scriptures today. Psalms 97:10 says, “Let those who love the Lord hate evil.” Part of loving God is hating evil.
I said part of loving God is hating evil.
The reason we have camps going, the reason we have for youth and for for young people, the reason we have parent
nights, the reason today we’re going to have at all of the all of our locations in the lobby, everybody who’s willing, there’s
a bill right now, a bill in our state, Senate Bill 5599,
which is a new law being passed in Washington that undermines parental authority.
And it allows minors being able to to be able to have transition surgeries without parental consent.
So all the nice little Christians can be nice little Christians or you can be a warrior.
[Applause]
Thank you. We need as many signatures as possible.
Bottom line is we’re fighting for our families.
And warriors understand that hating evil is part of loving God.
We’re not a threat to good. We’re only a threat to evil.
Warriors fight by speaking up, standing up.
And you can’t have real love without hate. Hear
[Music]
me out. Those who love truth hate lies.
[Music]
Those who love children hate child abuse, the sexualization of children, taking advantage of our children.
Absolutely hate it.
I’m not advocating all kinds and sorts of behavior. I just wanted to sink in to many people who are passive
and who are kind of turning their head to the evil that is on the front porch
of your home right now and walking into your living room. That hating what is evil is part of loving what is good.
Don’t Don’t be mad at people who hate evil.
Maybe you should hate evil a little more than you hate evil.
[Applause]
Okay, we’re going to put some of these verses on the screen that describe him in his warrior mode.
Lord, how many are my foes? How many rise up against me? Many are saying of me, God will not deliver him. But you, Lord, you are my shield. You’re my glory
and the one who lifts my head. Psalm 68, may God arise and all his enemies be scattered. You mean God has enemies. God still has enemies today.
Everybody is not a friend of God.
Psalm 18:29, “For by you I can run against a troop, by my God I can leap over a wall.”
Psalm 144, praise to the Lord, my rock, who trains, look at that. God trains my hands for war, my fingers for battle. He
is my loving God, my fortress, my stronghold, my deliverer, my shield, in whom I take refuge who subdues people
under me. You’ve got a worshipper who’s talking like a warrior. You got a worshipper who is saying, “God is with
me. I’m going to fight battles on behalf of my God, my king, my kingdom.” And today we we are engaged and and really
Christians have always been, but the battle has come to your living room right now in new and different ways.
Let’s fight for our families without apology. Let’s fight for our children without having to say and apologize,
well, no, I am really a Christian. You know, Christians can hate evil.
Christians can hate taking advantage of of our kids. It’s okay for you to worship and be a warrior at the same time.
I just got to tell you, when we Thursday night, we were in Yakimal, had such a fun time. Shout out to the Yakimal family today. Uh, but there was a guy on the platform from the DuPont location.
We had two or three that went from other locations and his name was David. And I don’t know, I think David’s probably I I
don’t know, David. You’re you’re there in Deont. You might be a military guy. I don’t know. You just got you got some you got you got that going on like um
and you’re a big guy. And what I was so blessed by was the the services as I’m in the front row. Like I’m watching
David who’s bigger than me, taller than me, stronger, handsome, and he’s like no inhibition.
He is bouncing around. He is praising God. And I thought, there’s a modernday David right there.
He’s not.
So, I mean, I got on this. One of the first things I did was give them high fives and cuz so so often, it’s so rare
to see men who can get outside of themselves enough to be comfortable raising hands and
worshiping God. And and and there’s nothing God needs more right now than
men who will be models of worship. Men who will Yeah. nothing God needs more. Thank you,
David, and thank you to every worshipping man at Champion Center.
You see, it just I know it’s kind of feels weird, but you think about this.
You step on an elevator and and what happens is everyone freezes and you don’t talk to people. I don’t understand
all that stuff. I’m just talking about human nature. Like, everybody Yeah. Okay. Floor two.
Look straight ahead. What is that? My point is that that’s kind of what happens to men a lot of times when we’re self-conscious.
We’re kind of framed in a mindset of real men don’t cry. Real men don’t lift hands. Real men don’t.
Real men don’t do that.
So, we have we have this thing that I would just encourage you work on maybe a
little at a time,
like just a little bit at a time because you’re you’re as important to
the worship of your family, maybe even more so than your wives are. Don’t leave
all the expressionfilled worship to the women. And we really don’t do that at Champion Center. So, I can’t really be
beating up on anybody. I’m just reaching for someone who’s still too self-conscious that you’re missing out on the blessing of being free to worship
God and acknowledge who he is in your life. Amen.
The second thing about David is that he had an eye for God’s goodness.
He had an eye for God’s goodness. In other words, Jesus said that he taught that your eyes
are the lamp of the body. You remember that Jesus said if your eyes are bad, your whole body is bad or full of darkness. But if your eyes are good, then your whole body is full of light.
That that’s what Jesus and he wasn’t talking about natural eye. He was talking about seeing the good. Seeing the good in life. If you have good eyes,
then you’re going to see the good and you’re going to you’re going to you’re going to say, “Thank you, God, for my family. Thank you, God, for this day.
Thank you, God, for your strength in my life. Thank you for the job that I have. Thank you for my friends at church.
Thank you. You’re going to see the good.” David had good eyes.
And and I want to show you some scriptures, some some Psalms. He he said in Psalms 119 and 68
he said you are good and you do good.
Psalms 34 he said taste and see that the Lord is what?
He wasn’t so cerebral and deep that he was always having to sort through
you know to the why am I struggling? Why is the enemy doing this? Why am I doing Hey, by the way, I will tell you, I
meant to say this earlier that part of the Psalms is what’s called lamenting psalms.
Okay, actually I think I was going to say this on my next point, but I’m there now. So, it’s lamenting psalms and and
the beauty. Why don’t we why don’t we look at the next verse? Says, “Oh, give thanks to the Lord for he is good.” So, everybody shout good.
Good. But number three, the thing about him is that he had this lifestyle of praise. Meaning that he was consistent
and continually praising God. Look at those verses. From the rising of the sun to the going down of the same, the name
of the Lord is to be praised. He said, “I will bless the Lord at all times. His praise will continually be in my mouth.”
Now, here’s I’m going back to the lamenting. Living a life of praise doesn’t mean you don’t have problems.
It doesn’t mean you wait till everything is perfect to praise.
And praise is not just for perfect times. Praise is for all times. So you have the lamenting psalms.
There’s two types of writings in the psalm. You have lamenting psalms. And these are psalms that David wrote in
times of sorrow, times of grief, times of anger, times of shame.
times when he was being pursued by Saul, the years when his son Abselum tried to overthrow David as king. Like that would
be heart-wrenching, right? He wrote about he wrote about his pain. He wrote about he poured himself out on paper
times of personal failure and sin. And I’m bringing that up because I just wanted to interrupt your thought. If you think that praise is not being
realistic, I wanted you to understand that there’s the lamenting praise. Uh I’m sorry, there’s the lamenting psalms and there’s also the psalms of praise.
And these are the psalms that capture David’s expression of praise to God that God is mighty, God is powerful, God is
all knowing, God is strong in battle, God is full of love, God is full of compassion. What he did artfully that is
worth it is a model for all of us to follow is that he integrated and maintained praise even when life was
hard. So I’m not advocating that you don’t have a diary uh you don’t have I call it a diary you don’t have a place
to write down. I actually think it’s a good habit. I do it when I’m in my greatest time of sorrow. The paper gets it.
The paper gets it. When I’m in my deepest, darkest moments of doubt, the paper gets it. I tell the story how my
acronym of faith, F AI T, came out of a really dark time in my life where I’m
writing stuff down and I’m saying, God, where are you? And I said, God, how do I have faith? And I found myself writing f
a t. And then I found myself, focus on the positive. Affirm yourself.
Imagine God doing something good. Just self-directing. I believe led by the Holy Spirit in that moment. And now
that’s of course in books. And you know many many people around the world have have had the mind monster book and other
books that have helped them with the acronym of faith. And my point is that if you’ll allow God to be present even in your dark moments, there’s not there’s not a conclusion of darkness.
there’s an interruption of light or there’s an integration of goodness. It you can’t see the world like as all bad
and actually be realistic. And yet a lot of people who don’t want you to see good will say you’re not being realistic. We got problems, man. Things are hard, man.
This is tough, man. They’re not being realistic either. You know what’s realistic is an integration that life is
hard and God is good. Life is hard and God is good. Life is hard and God is good. Life is hard and God is good. Life is hard and God is good.
So it’s okay to lament.
It’s okay to say, “God, this is really hard for me. God, I’m really struggling right now.” It’s okay as long as but I
will give thanks unto the Lord. like you bring it out of your own mouth when it doesn’t even feel like it’s there or it doesn’t feel appropriate or it’s not in
sync with your feelings or your emotions, but you dig deep and you say, “But I know God, you are still faithful.
And I know that God, you are still for me. And I know you never leave me. You never abandon me. You never forsake me.
You are with me always.” And that’s where reality exists for the man or the woman of God.
Bible says in all circumstances give thanks. Yes.
It doesn’t say for for all circumstances give thanks.
Like God, I thank you that I just lost that money. You know, I God, I thank you that I no longer have that job. Like I thank you, God, that I just really
messed up. Royal. Thank you. That was really great. Cool. I messed up. No. No.
You’re not giving thanks for the Bible is so beautiful. The word of God is so accurate, precise. It says, “In all things.” Somebody shout, “In all
things.” In all things. Say it again. In all things.
So, it’s in all things give thanks.
In social media, there’s a thing called algorithms.
And be careful what you press that you like or that you press and
watch over again because it thinks that that’s what you want more of. Right.
So, if you’re if you’re noticing a certain kind of feed is coming into
your social media and you used to have Kevin Gerald there and you haven’t seen him in two months, it’s not because he’s
not there. It’s your algorithm is following what you it thinks you want more of. That’s good.
Okay.
Be careful what you accentuate, what you like. And what I found is that if I will be smart about it, I end up
getting a whole lot of good stuff coming into the reals on Instagram or coming into my social. I get a lot of
good stuff. Why? Because the algorithm is working in a way. And this is the way you are as a human being. That’s the way
we all are wired by God. You have an internal algorithm. And when you say, I you hit something and you watch it, your mind goes, well, he wants more of that.
Show Kevin this, show Kevin that. Show Kevin more of this. Show Kevin more of that. If I hit the right, you understand what I’m saying, young people, if you’ll
hit the right stuff, you’ll get a whole lot of praising God. You’ll get a whole lot of people who are honoring the Lord.
You’ll get a whole lot of people who have songs to sing. You’ll get a whole lot of good stories and testimonies of people who are saying, “God’s been good
to me. God is with me.” It’s the algorithm.
And then think about it in your own life. There’s an algorithm you set by the pattern that you keep. If you have a
pattern of praise, it becomes an algorithm internally. And I’ve told these stories a lot. I grew up in a home where I would get in the car and I had
first of all my grandpa two generations up from me. Southern man, Louisiana alligator fighting like rugged man. Here we go. Praise the Lord.
God so good. Hey Kevin, how you doing today son? I’m good grandpa. Thank you Jesus for good day today.
My grandfather, he was he was a man’s man and he was in he he climbed the ladder from nowhere to in in Exxon oil
to have wealth and and then my dad comes along he’s called to preach and I remember my dad’s little red Corvair and
it was the same thing over again like my dad was like I thank you Jesus for this day.
I thank you, Lord. You’re going to give Kevin a good day today.
I grew up with an example like that. And my point is that the
algorithm the al algorithm kicks in on me.
I’m sorry my grandsons that you have to hear it all the time, but sorry my do I’m really not sorry, but my family hears it all the time.
you.
My wife, I wake up in the morning, she’s very much this way. The music goes on before really before anything happens,
worship goes on, but my feet hit the floor and I’m like, “Thank you, Lord, for this day.”
What is that? It’s not because I’m so good. It’s not because I’m, “Oh, I’m so holy.” It’s an algorithm. It’s a habit
of praise that I created that just is flowing out of me. It doesn’t make me perfect. It doesn’t mean I don’t have problems
throughout the day. Do you understand what I’m trying I’m trying to help some of you today that if you’re waking up and going, “Oh my god,
another day. Oh my god.” No wonder you’re having a horrible day. Like you need to change the algorithms in your
own voice and what you say and how you greet the moment and how you greet the day. And if you do, when you do, praise
become something that is of habit in your life. Don’t be afraid of that.
Don’t be intimidated by that. Don’t be worried about what somebody hears.
Number four thing, I got to get through these really quick. is that the thing that makes David a man after God’s own heart is that he honored God’s word. He
honors God’s word. I want you to read a little bit of what he wrote in the in the Psalms. This is Psalms 19.
He says, “The law of the Lord is perfect, refreshing the soul. The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy, making what? The precepts of the Lord are right, giving joy to the Lord. The
commands of the Lord are radiant, giving light to the eyes. The fear of the Lord is pure, enduring for you believe. You see how he’s flipping it right there? He
could be writing, you know, the the commandments of the Lord are really hard and he could just be saying that, but
he’s saying, you know what, they’re more precious than gold. They’re sweeter than honey.
He just loved he loved the fact that God was guiding him through his word.
By them your servant is warned and in keeping them there is great reward.
My life is better when I know your word and I keep your He just he he he honored God’s word. He said in Psalm 119, “How
sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth.” He said, “Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.” Right.
Psalm 119. I remember reading that in uh
in early days and maybe it still goes on, but the Jewish custom with one of the customs train their children
in their schools would be that they would put honey on a slab
where the scriptural slab and they’re learning it in school. They would they would lick they would lick the honey and
they would quote Psalms 119. How sweet are your words to my taste? They would do that in the classroom
like a like a lesson illustration. And then they would say, “How sweet are your words sweeter than honey to my mouth?”
And they would lick and they would lick like See it it you say, “Well, you’re you’re
you’re brainwashing maybe.” I mean, you could look at it like that if you want, but I’d rather brainwash
kids to love God’s word than the other brainwashing that’s going on.
[Music]
Why? Why? Why are we so intimidated to put into practice things that that create obedience in our life and love
for God? Because if you grow up understanding, really understanding
the scripture and how it benefits us and creates guard rails and brings out the very best possible in
our life. If you really get that, it’s not hard to say it is sweeter than honey to my soul. Like sweeter than the
honeycomb. Do you understand what I’m saying? He loved God’s word. And the fifth thing and last thing is that he had a heart for God’s house.
He had a heart for God’s house. He said uh he said in Psalm 69, “The zeal for your
house consumes me.” Psalm 26, he said, “I love the house where you live, the place where your glory dwells.
Better is one day, Psalm 84, in your courts than a thousand elsewhere. I’d rather be a doorkeeper in your house than dwell in the tents of the wicked.
Psalm 122, I rejoice with those who said to me, let us go to the house of the Lord.
Not like, oh man, I got to go again. He had this algorithm. And he loved God’s house.
Psalm 23, surely goodness and love is going to follow me all the days of my life. I’m going to dwell in the house of the Lord forever. He didn’t say, “I’m going to dwell in the house of the Lord
till somebody makes me mad.” He didn’t say, “I’m going to dwell in the house of the Lord till I get offended. I’m not going to dwell in the house I’m going to dwell in the house of the Lord until I
find something better to do on Sunday morning.” He said, “I’m going to dwell in the house of the Lord the rest of my life. That’s that’s who I am. That’s where I’ll be.
Those who are planted, Psalm 92, those who are planted in the house of the Lord shall
flourish in the courts of our God. So
remember, we’re talking about a heart after God.
God God liked these things about David.
He loved that David loved his house.
He’s like, I just want that’s what I want. I don’t want people moaning and groaning.
I don’t want people coming to church with an attitude of heaviness. I want him to come in with a spirit of praise.
I I I love that. I love that shepherd boy down there. I love that worshshiping warrior. I I love
I love how he loves my word. He brags on my word. He takes boast in my word. He’s not complaining
like man I got to do that like you’re going to make me do. He’s not complaining about it. He’s saying thank you for your word.
It elevates my life.
It brings out the best in me through your word. I learn how to be a better man.
And and God, go back to God. He has He’s like, that’s what that’s what I’m I love. Yeah.
And so I’m saying to you today that I’m giving you just a little snapshot of what I believe merited
scripture calling David a man after God’s own heart.
I want to say one more thing about the house of God. And I know most of you get this but maybe not everybody. So there
there’s many believers today who are lacking commitment to God’s church.
And if they treated their marriage like they treat the church, it wouldn’t survive.
And if they treated their job like they treat the church, they would be without a job.
If they treated their children like they treat the church, they would be guilty of neglecting their children.
If they treated the IRS like they treat the church, they would be in jail.
I’m just being honest.
Churches getting a bun bum bum bum wrap from people who don’t know and then they don’t know what they don’t know.
And even some of you might be a little uncomfortable when I’m just being honest about it. And you can foo it and you can say, “Wow, yeah, you’re a pastor. You
got to say all of that.” Say whatever you want. I’m third generation being raised in the house of God. And I wouldn’t trade it for anything else in my life.
And I watch other people who hear that and they go, “That’s it. I’m raising my children in God’s house. I’m going to
love the house of God. I’m going to celebrate the house of God. I’m going to keep my children grounded in the house of God. We’re going to be planted in the
house of the Lord because the Bible says if you’re planting the house of the Lord, you’re going to flourish in the courts of God. It works.
Like this stuff works.
I just want to encourage you today when I talk about all of this. I just want to encourage you and remind you that God’s plan for your life is that you would be
a worshshiping warrior, that you would have an eye for his goodness, that you would live a lifestyle of praise,
that you would honor his word, and that you would have a heart for his house.
That is God’s plan. All five of them for all of us as New Testament believers. I
don’t know how way back in the Old Testament David got God like he did but
he did right.
I I don’t know how the glimpses in his there was something special that heaven had in mind and he there was an assignment for David to do.
He was far from perfect. In fact, he sinned and he confessed sins and but there was something special that he got
God. Do you do you like it when somebody gets you?
Don’t you don’t you love it? Like when and that’s what happened with God. He’s like he gets me. He He gets me and he promoted him to being a king.
And today he’s a great example for all of us to consider. Look at our life when it comes to really honoring and pleasing God. Yeah.
Amen. Father, I thank you for your word today.
And I thank you that it never returns void. It always accomplishes what it’s sent forth to do. I thank you for every
man and woman who are in your house and a part of our service today.
And I ask you right now, Holy Spirit, that you would speak to each of us in individual ways and use things that I’ve
said as a platform from which you can talk into
our own life and give guidance. And I ask you to convict us in areas where we need to change.
I ask you, God, to give us boldness in areas where we’ve been afraid.
I ask you, God, to encourage the discouraged that are here today.
That together we can all receive what it is that you have for us.
[Music]
But first and foremost, I ask you today, God, by your spirit that you would draw people who are far from you,
who are coming close even on this morning.
You brought every person here not by they’re not here by accident or coincidence. You brought them here by your spirit and by your plan. And I ask
you right now that you would give us the courage, people who who are in a place, Lord, to
commit or recommmit their life to you. I pray that this would be their day of salvation and new beginnings. And I thank you for it.
And I’m going to invite anyone around the room that would say that’s me. I’m not here by accident or coincidence.
God brought me here. I’m at a crossroads in my life.
I’ve not put God first and I know better than that. I want to put him first. Or even pastor, this is really different and unique for me. But I sense a real need for God in my life.
I feel God drawing me into relationship with him. I want to learn. I want to grow. I want to be planted in the house
of the Lord. If that’s you today, I’m going to ask you to boldly raise your hand. Whoever you are and wherever you are at any of our locations, just
boldly raise a hand up in the air. Let God see your honesty and this moment.
Let God, Yep. Hands are going up. People who are saying like, “God, I surrender my life. I surrender my future.” Young
men, moms and dads, good hands are going up all around the room that I’m in. And I’m believing hands are going up all around the various rooms today at
Champion Center. Thank you for that courage. I’m waiting just a little bit longer. Moms are raising their hand. Men are raising their hand. Women are raising their hand. I see hands in the
lower level of the auditorium, mid level, and upper level of our auditorium here. Thank you, God. Thank you, God,
for every hand that is raised. Thank you for new beginnings.
And now, I’m going to ask everyone who would, I know you’re still seated, I’m just going to ask you while you’re seated to pray this prayer with us. And
everybody who has your hand raised, pray it out loud if you would. And we’re going to pray as a sign of support for you. And let’s say it out loud together.
Just say it really bold and loud. Say, “Lord Jesus, welcome to my world. Welcome to my world. Forgive me of my sin.
Forgive me of my s. Come into my life. Make me a new person. Make me a new person. I receive you today. I receive you today.
As my leader as my leader as my Lord.
as my Lord. And I boldly declare I boldly declare that I’ll never be the same again.
By your grace by your grace and with your strength with your strength. I’ll never be the same again. I’ll never be the same.
I’m a child of God. In Jesus name.
Jesus. Now let’s stand and celebrate everybody today. Let’s celebrate new beginnings in the house. Come on, can we? Let’s celebrate new beginnings.