A Heart That Can Tell The Difference - JJ Vasquez

Come on. Let's go. Buenas. Bienvenido. We here in the building. Yes. The house of the Lord. In case you didn't know. Now you know. Welcome in guys. Is that New York? That's New York I heard. New York stand up baby. Off the triple. No pun intended. Sit down. No you sit down. That's crazy. You should sit down. Yeah. Well guys I'm sorry. Well you guys just came in on a great conversation on how the Knicks won last night. Yes. But most importantly we made it back in the house of the Lord. Amen. And so did you. And we're so glad that you are here today. Yeah. On this lovely Sunday. Thank you for inviting us into wherever you're watching from. That's right. Even Texas. We love you and we're so glad that we can be with you today. We should introduce ourselves y'all.

Yeah. We haven't met yet. My name is Julian. I get the honor of serving as part of this online team. That's right. My name is Alistair. I have the privilege of being here as well on this lovely Sunday. What about you? My name is Chantel and I get the honor, the joy, the privilege and so much more of being in the house of the Lord today. Amen. Amen. Come on somebody. Glory to God. Yes. Glory. Well guys, we are so excited that you got in today. Let us know what you guys are doing. How are you guys are preparing for service? Where are you at? Let us know where you're watching from. We want to know. Yeah, because it is a powerful day here at Journey. We say that a lot, but truly this series that Pastor JJ has been preaching on the Sermon on the Mount through Matthew 5, 6 and 7 has been truly, it's been about the heart. It's been about the heart and he's closing it out today and y'all got to prepare yourselves. Get the pen ready. Get the notes ready.

You're going to want to make sure you take this message down for sure. Yeah, absolutely. I just love this series because it really just makes us identify with what's going on in here and whatever is going on in here reflects that what's going on out there. Everything else. Yeah, and it's important. What did you get from it, Alistair? You know, it's so hard, especially when you're going through situations day in and day out. And one of the biggest things is how he was like, you can be sad or frustrated on Thursday, but be expectant for Friday. Come on. Because that's where the joy of the Lord is. And it reminds me of a Bible verse. Weeping comes through the night, but the joy comes in the morning. That's just a powerful word because we have to be expectant for what God is going to do. So I just, amen. Yeah, amen. Yeah, absolutely. And one thing that stood out to me is that the joy of the Lord is our strength. Like you have the ability to have that happiness through God's eyes, through his vision, through his will. So even if you're going through a hard time right now, you got to remember that the joy of the Lord is your strength as well. And he's always with us. That's good. I have a question for you before we head on into worship.

Yeah. Last week, Pastor Stephanie came in for you. Powerhouse. Yes. Okay, girl gang. Okay, nothing against the fellas. But she came in with a fire message. And I just wanted to just like reiterate just the fact that we have a real enemy out there. But you also got to know that you're able to fight the enemy with knowing your authority through Christ and knowing that God is God. He's the King of Kings. He's the Lord of Lords. And then he's your Lord and he's always with you. So just that message alone made me feel powerful. It made me feel nude. And I just want to know what you guys got from it as well. Yeah. You know, it's so crazy how we, you know, try to fight the enemy off our own strength. But we got to know what the word of God is because the Bible says the word is a lamp for our feet and a light for our path. And if we just trust really what the word is saying, then we can operate where God wants us to operate and fight it. Come on. That's so good. What a word. What a word. What a word. And what a God.

Ain't that so? She knows the worship songs we sing in the day. She said, what a God. What a God. You guys gotta stop. Oh yeah, you guys gotta stop. Go ahead, hashtag whatagod in the chat because we wanna know that you know who he is, all right? Yeah, so Julian, go ahead and tell us what's on your heart today, man. Absolutely, let's prepare our hearts for worship online, family. There's a verse that came to mind. I'm sure you know it. It's from Psalm 91. It says, whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. And I will say of the Lord, he is my refuge and my fortress, my God in whom I trust. It's the first part of that verse, Psalm 91, verse one. It says, whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High. And that spoke to me because that word dwell doesn't mean just visit, doesn't mean just go whenever I need help or whenever there's emergencies or anything like that. It means I dwell there, I live there. And I just wanna encourage you online, family, to live in God's presence, to dwell there, to stay there for the rest of your life

because we can put our eternal hope in that. So good, my goodness, brother, man, Julian, what an absolute word. You know, that's my grandmother's favorite verse right there. Really? So is my mom's. Yeah, she's a warrior. I love that verse. The thing about it that really speaks to me is the fact that it's the stuff that stops us from dwelling. It's the stuff, the shame, that everything that we get attacked with that stops us from thinking that we're worthy. But I just wanna tell you online, family, you are worthy to be in the presence of the Lord when he wants to be with you. Let's lead each other in a prayer before we head on into worship. Heavenly Father, we thank you for the opportunity, God, to worship you. We thank you, Lord, that we can bring you everything, every broken thing that we have, every great thing that we have, Lord, anything, Lord, that is in our possession, God, we can lay it at your feet, God. And that's what we're gonna do with our worship today. We thank you for the opportunity to praise you, Lord. I pray over everyone watching, wherever they're watching from, God, let them be encouraged, Lord,

in knowing, Lord, that we can dwell with you and we can be safe there. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. Guys, I'm so excited for us to go into a time of worship. So however you do it, let's do it together and we will see you after service. Bye, guys. See you soon. Welcome home, Journey Church. Come on, if the Lord woke you up today, that means you've got a reason to praise him. Let's see those hands. Come on. Sing it. ♪ Hallelujah, hallelujah, you get all the praise always ♪ ♪ In the season, in spite of my weakness ♪ ♪ He gave me a song I could sing ♪ ♪ I came to praise ♪ Come on, as you come to praise. ♪ I came to praise, that's why I woke up today ♪ ♪ That's why I woke up today ♪ ♪ Oh, I came to praise ♪ ♪ We say, sing it ♪ ♪ Hallelujah, hallelujah, you get all the praise ♪ ♪ We say, hallelujah, you get all the praise always ♪ ♪ I've got a king who is risen ♪ ♪ And he put my shame in the grave ♪ ♪ Went to hell and back and now I never have to ♪ ♪ And he did it all in three days ♪ Sing it.

♪ I came to praise ♪ ♪ I came to praise, that's why I woke up today ♪ ♪ That's why I woke up today ♪ ♪ Oh, I came to praise ♪ ♪ We say, hallelujah, you get all the praise ♪ ♪ We say, hallelujah, you get all the praise always ♪ ♪ We say, hallelujah, you get all the praise always ♪ ♪ I'm singing in the morning, I'm singing at night ♪ ♪ I'm singing in the battle, and that's how I fight ♪ ♪ I'm singing it holy, I'm singing it twice ♪ ♪ I'm singing it holy, I'm singing in the morning ♪ ♪ I'm singing at night, I'm singing in the battle ♪ ♪ I'm singing that, oh that's how I fly ♪ ♪ I'm singing it all day, I'm singing it twice, twice ♪ ♪ I'm singing it all day, I'm singing it all day, oh ♪ ♪ Hallelujah, you get all the praise, we sing ♪ ♪ Hallelujah, you get all the praise, we sing ♪ ♪ Hallelujah, you get all the praise, we sing ♪ ♪ Hallelujah, you get all the praise, we sing ♪ ♪ I'm singing in the morning, I'm singing at night ♪ ♪ I'm singing in the battle, oh that's how I fly ♪ ♪ I'm singing it all day, I'm singing it twice, twice ♪ ♪ I'm singing it all day, I'm singing it all day, oh ♪ ♪ Hallelujah, you get all the praise, we sing ♪ ♪ I gave you praise, I gave you praise ♪ ♪ Never get out of my way, never get out of my way, oh ♪ ♪ I gave you praise, I gave you praise, I gave you praise ♪ Come on, if you came to praise this morning, could you lift your hands and celebrate a risen Savior? God, we thank you for the cross.

We thank you because you gave it all. We give every breath back to you this morning. Come on, let's sing church. ♪ It took three long days to roll the stone away ♪ ♪ It took Friday night to Sunday's empty grave ♪ ♪ It might be dark now, but dawn's about to break ♪ ♪ Just wait, just wait, come on we sing ♪ ♪ Come on we sing ♪ Come on, we declare. ♪ Come on my soul, the King is on the move ♪ ♪ The joy we have is breakthrough's coming soon ♪ ♪ To see a miracle that only He can do ♪ ♪ Just wait, just wait, watch Him work all things together ♪ ♪ Just wait, just wait, watch Him work all things together ♪ ♪ Like He said He would, watch Him turn our trials and troubles ♪ ♪ Into something good, it's never been a moment wasted ♪ ♪ The waiting is a place where faith is, so watch Him work ♪ ♪ Watch Him work ♪ Come on, how many know that He's good? Come on, we worship Him. ♪ He's good, we've seen it, when He starts, He completes it ♪ ♪ What He says, we believe it, we believe it ♪ ♪ He's good, He's good, we've seen it, when He starts, He completes it ♪ ♪ What He says, we believe it, we believe it ♪ ♪ He's good, He's good, we've seen it, when He starts, He completes it ♪ ♪ What He says, we believe it, we believe it ♪ ♪ So watch Him work all things together ♪ ♪ Like He said He would, watch Him turn our trials and troubles ♪ ♪ Into something good, it's never been a moment wasted ♪ ♪ Waiting is the place where faith is ♪

♪ So watch Him work, watch Him work ♪ ♪ Just watch Him work, watch Him work, oh ♪ ♪ Watch Him work, watch Him work ♪ ♪ Cause you're a good guy, you're a good guy ♪ And I love you. That song, watch him work. Amen. Because at this moment, we're gonna go into a time. Amen, glory, hallelujah. Yes, that's right, I love that song so much. It makes me hot. Watch him work, yes. Because the heat of the Lord, the fire of God is inside me. So with that same heart posture, I would love to pray with you right now. If you feel comfortable, pray along with us. Father God, thank you. Thank you for allowing us to be able to serve you today, but most importantly, hear from you, Father God. Lord, help us forgive ourselves, Lord. Allow us to reconcile relationships or friendships that are broken right now. But God, we know that you are a big God and you can do big things, whether it's broken, whether it's not healed, you can do it through your name, Father God. We decree and declare that all these things will be so in your mighty, majestic name. Amen. Amen. And if you guys have a prayer request

and you wanna submit it to us, we wanna pray with you and for you. So scan the QR code below so we can get connected in the spirit and lock in in prayer. Amen. Amen. That's right. And I guess we should reintroduce ourselves, y'all. Let me reintroduce, wait, I couldn't say it. Let me introduce myself. Ben, that was my inner Ben, go ahead. But y'all, we are so grateful to be with you. That's right. My name is Julian. I get the honor of serving as part of this online team. And my name is Alistair. I get the honor and privilege of serving with this online team as well. The boys are so poised. My name is Chantel and I get the honor, the joy, the privilege to be in the house of the Lord today. Glory. Hallelujah. Let's go. I love it. And we have also a special group of people that we would love to shout out right now. It's our Pando app. Let's go. Okay.

Shout out to the Pando app. We see you guys. We're so happy for your walk in Christ and keep going, keep pushing. And we see you working and the Lord loves you. Another group of people we got is the FTG guys. The first time guests, we are so excited that you chose today to tune in. I feel like you're gonna receive a powerful message today. So scan the QR code if you are a first time guest so we can get connected with you as well. Amen. There's another special group that we wanna shout out and we're so excited to do so. It's called those of you who are eligible for next steps, whether it's your first time, your second time or your 85th time joining us here at Journey. We want you to get plugged in. We all did it. And it's why we get to serve today. Go ahead and scan the QR code below for more information. Step two is done once a month live and it'll be done today at 1.30 p.m. Eastern time. Man, do you guys remember when you did first next steps and also being a first time guest? I would have never met you guys. Yeah. Yeah, man. We're here. The day that the Lord ordained that day

and he brought us all together and he could do the same thing for you if you're trying to figure out your God-given gifts. But another thing that you guys can do being a part of our family is download the Journey Church app. That's right. You can go to your app store, your Google Play store, whatever you got, we are there and willing and ready to be accessible for you, okay? You can do prayer requests, you can do all types of things and it's the best way to stay connected to Journey. Absolutely. And there's so much going on here at Journey. A lot of it, in fact, all of it is made possible through your generosity, Journey Church. In fact, there's a story I wanna tell you. It comes out of our East Orlando campus. They gather every week in a local high school and recently that school's PTA association named Journey Church Community Partner of the Year. Not because we're the biggest, but because you, Journey Church, have been faithful. It's your generosity that has made it possible to honor over 200 teachers at the start and end of the school year and fueled our back to school bash. I remember that. Yeah. Where we serve the students and the parents

that need it most with school supplies. That again is made possible by you, Journey Online family. If you wanna partner with us through your giving, just scan that QR code below for more information so that we can continue to be a blessing to our community and the world around us. Man. And guys, do not forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel. That's right. We have all the sermon recaps from this series and everything going on here at Journey Church. So we really want to plug in. So subscribe today so you can keep up to date with everything that Journey Church has going on. So good. Man, love Journey Church so much. And right now we are about to go into one more song of worship. So- But wait, hit the share button. Oh. You scared me. You saw the spirit of the Lord came over me. But look at, listen guys, share the message, but get ready to- Let's worship together as we love the Lord. See you guys soon. Love you guys. Bye.

Bye. At this time, we wanna welcome all of our locations into worship. Come on, give it up for all of our locations. God, we love you. Lord, we thank you because you're the great I am. Everything we need, you are love. Lord, we thank you because you give us peace. Whatever struggles we came in with today, Lord, we declare you God over any situation. And whatever victories, we declare you God over every victory because you deserve the honor and the praise. Come on, we sing. ♪ Who thought I'd find you at the lowest place ♪ ♪ Who thought you'd feel me in the crowd ♪ ♪ And who knew you'd make good of my mistakes ♪ ♪ You're nothing like I thought you were, you're better ♪ ♪ What a God, what a God, yeah ♪ ♪ What a God, what a God, it's who you are ♪ ♪ What a God, what a God, yeah ♪ ♪ What a God, what a God, yeah ♪ Come on, we sing, church. ♪ I thought you'd show me full of perfection ♪ ♪ Because what a kind of God looks for the lost ♪ ♪ They say it's over for a sinner ♪ ♪ But you said, no, it's not, no, it's not ♪ ♪ But you said, no, it's not, no, it's not ♪ ♪ What a God, what a God, hey ♪ ♪ What a God, what a God, it's who you are ♪

♪ What a God, what a God, hey ♪ ♪ What a God, what a God, what a God you are ♪ ♪ What a God you are, you're everything we need ♪ ♪ You're everything we need, what a God, what a God ♪ ♪ What a God, what a God, hey ♪ How sweet it is to be at his feet. Come on church, if you know that, could you open your mouth and worship him? How sweet it is to be in the presence of a father. ♪ If the highest place I reach is at your feet ♪ ♪ Then I've done it all ♪ ♪ If the best thing that I've seen is your glory ♪ ♪ Then I've seen it all ♪ ♪ Your love has changed my life forever satisfied ♪ Come on, sing it out church. ♪ If the highest place I reach is at your feet ♪ ♪ Then I've done it all ♪ ♪ If the best thing that I've seen is your glory ♪ ♪ Then I've seen it all ♪ ♪ Your love has changed my life forever satisfied ♪ ♪ God, you are my head ♪ ♪ If one word is the only thing you need ♪ ♪ Then I've heard it all, if I feel your heart ♪ ♪ I may never see your hand, I still have it all ♪ ♪ No treasure of this life could ever satisfy God ♪ ♪ You are my everything ♪ ♪ You are my everything ♪ ♪ You are my everything ♪ ♪ What a God, what a God, hey ♪ ♪ What a God, what a God, you are the Alpha and Omega ♪

♪ What a God, what a God, ooh ♪ ♪ What a God, what a God, in the highest place ♪ ♪ If the highest praise comes from Jesus ♪ ♪ If the best thing that I've seen is your glory ♪ ♪ Then I've seen it all ♪ ♪ Your love will have us satisfied ♪ ♪ God of the world ♪ ♪ If the one word is the only thing in me ♪ ♪ Then I've heard it all ♪ ♪ If I feel your heart and never see your hand ♪ ♪ I still have it all ♪ ♪ No treasure of this kind ♪ ♪ You are, you are mine ♪ ♪ Cause God you are, you are my everything ♪ ♪ Everything ♪ ♪ You are mine everything ♪ ♪ You are my everything ♪ ♪ You are mine ♪ What a God, what a God. ♪ You are mine ♪ I know that when you think of Jesus, you might think of the little baby in the crib. You might think of the man on the cross. You might think of the resurrected or the teacher. I wanna show you what the apostle John sees in heaven in the book of Revelations, when he gets a picture of Jesus. Chapter 19, verse 11, what a God. Like he says, I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse

whose rider is called faithful and true. That's Jesus. With justice, he judges and wages wars. His eyes are like a blazing fire and on his head are many crowns. Come on, not one crown, not two crowns, many crowns. That means you name it, he rules it. He has a name written on him that no one knows, but he himself, he is dressed in a robe. I like this part, dipped in blood. And his name is the word of God. The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses behind him, all dressed in fine linen, white and clean. And coming out of his mouth is a sharp sword with which to strike down. And on his robe and on his thigh, he has this name written, king of kings and Lord of lords. What I love about this description of Jesus is the Bible says that his robe was dipped in blood, looked like it was dipped in blood. That means that he was bleeding. Now, typically when you see someone bleeding in a battle, you would think that they were losing the battle. But the reason why Jesus is bleeding and it's on his, because Jesus's blood is not a picture of his defeat. Jesus's blood is a picture of his victory. And so when he shows up to the battle, with his robes dipped in blood, it's really a championship trophy

to communicate that he's already won. Now, this is what he looks like in the future, not because this is who he is in the future. This is what he's looked like since he's resurrected. His blood still drips. He's still in control today. I mentioned that, I mentioned that, I don't know if you heard, but last night there was this basketball team in New York. All the New Yorkers losing their minds that won a championship. Go New York, go New York, go. And they won a championship. We won a championship and it's pretty cool. They won a basketball championship. And I woke up this morning and I was trying to research, when was the last time they won the championship? Because I wanted to talk to y'all. And I looked it up, but the problem was, I did it this morning. This morning I Googled, when was the last time they won a championship? Google was like, last night, bro. And I thought, oh man, everybody who's from New York is losing their mind, wilding out, celebrating because they won the championship last night, but they won 50 years ago. And when nobody excited, because when you win the championship in basketball one year, that means nothing about all the other years.

Not so with Jesus. Here's what I would love to see. I would love to see every Christian wake up this morning and worship God, not like Christ died 2000 years ago, but like today, because today his blood still drips. Today, he's still got many crowns. Today, he's still. seated on the throne i need you to wake up not like jesus resurrected 2 000 years ago but like you woke up this morning with the victory you woke up this morning with the championship you woke up this morning knowing that there is no devil or demon who can defeat you because jesus is on your side come on let's worship this amazing god is your heart and never see your hair. I still have it all. No treasure of this life could ever satisfy. God, you are my everything. You are my everything. You are my everything. One of you believe that one more time when you give the Lord a handclap of praise. Father, we thank you for the victory. We thank you that it wasn't just 2,000 years ago, but the robe is still dipped in blood. You rocked out like a trophy, like a chip, because you defeated the devil yesterday, today, and tomorrow. We love you, Jesus. What a God. What a God. Amen. Amen. Well, listen, before you take a seat, I think it's so important. I want you to find three people you did not drive to church with today. Give them a big old high five and remind them. Tell them, we won. Come on. We won. We won. We won because of Jesus. Yes, Lord. Thank you, Jesus. Amen. Well, how many people are excited to be in the house of God today? Amen. I'm excited to be here, too. My name is J.J., and alongside my wife, Liz, we have the opportunity to serve Journey Church as its lead pastor. I just want to take a second to introduce myself. And if you didn't know that, we always do that every Sunday, because every Sunday they are first-time guests. And if you didn't know who I am, then you probably were a first-time guest. And we're so glad that you chose to be at church today. I just want to let you know, if you're looking for a home church, look no further. We think you walked into it this morning, not only because you were surrounded by the presence of God in this place, and he sure is beautiful, because you are also surrounded

by some of the most amazing, honest, open, and transparent people in all of Central Florida. Journey Church, will you prove me right by putting your hands together and welcoming all of our first-time guests one more time? Hey, keep it going for Journey Church Online. What's up, Journey Church Online? Keep it going for Journey East Orlando, winners of the Community Partner of the Year Award, East Orlando. Keep it going for Journey Kissimmee over at Gateway High School. What's up, Journey Kissimmee? And finally, keep it going for all of those who are currently incarcerated, watching in jails and prisons around the United States. We're so glad that you're with us through the Pando app. All right, you guys ready to get another word of God today? Amen. I'm ready to preach it. So we are wrapping up today a series. We've got a three-week talk, a teaching series, a collection around the greatest sermon ever preached, and it's the sermon that Jesus preached. Jesus really only preached one sermon from beginning to end, intro, body, and conclusion, like you and I would be used to hearing sermons in church today. Not because Jesus did not teach or preach. Jesus taught and preached his whole life. But because, this is important to know, Jesus preached more with his life than he did with his words. Wish we had more people following Jesus who preached more with their life than with their words, real loud on Instagram, but real quiet when it comes to serving, real quiet when it comes to helping, real quiet when it comes to correcting, but real loud on social media. And this was not Jesus's way. Jesus was just, he was a servant. But he does teach us, and he also does preach. And this sermon is called the Sermon on the Mount, and it's located in Matthew chapter 5 all the way through Matthew chapter 7. And if you're joining us for the first time today, don't worry. I'm going to give you a quick rundown recap. Matthew chapter 5 and 6 are really about one thing. Someone say one thing. The heart. Someone say the heart. It's really about the heart. How many people know that Jesus absolutely cares about the heart? What doesn't he care about? Poverty? Yeah he does but he cares about the heart. Doesn't he care about war? Of course he does but he cares about the heart. Does he care about sexual purity? Of course he does but he cares about the heart. The reason why Jesus cares about the heart

and makes it about the heart is because if we had the right heart there'd be no more poverty. If we had the right heart there'd be no more war. If we had the right heart we wouldn't wrestle with purity like we wrestle with purity. The reason why Jesus makes it about the heart is because Jesus knows if he could get to the heart he can get to everything else. For from the heart comes everything. From the heart is where our actions come from. From the heart is where our words come from. If you can get the right heart you'll do the right thing. Jesus is super big on the heart. Now we turn to Matthew chapter seven and the reason why we feel now looking at chapter seven the reason why Jesus made it about the heart for chapters five and six is because like a good preacher Jesus is trying to prepare you for when the sermon ends. Because Jesus knows you can't live in church and you can't live in a sermon. And I believe his hope is that he would have prepared you enough, changed your heart enough that when you get out of the sermon you can live what you listened to.

Does that make sense? I do think that is God's heart for you by the way when it comes to Sunday mornings and I do think that is God's heart for you when it comes to reading the Bible in the morning. I think that God wants you to learn these lessons but more importantly than learning these lessons he wants you to be able to apply these lessons when that moment is done. He wants you to take what you hear on a Sunday and apply it on Monday. He wants you to take what you hear when you read your Bible waking up in the morning and apply it throughout your day. That's how it's supposed to work. But how many people can testify that it don't always work like that? That sometimes you can have a great Sunday and a not so great Monday. You could have a awesome time with the Lord even Monday morning opening up your Bible just seconds before you shout at your children. What a God, what a, clear your room. I told you three times. I don't have to tell you so much. God, what a kid. What a kid. Just finish worshiping the Lord in your car. You could be worshiping the Lord in your car and then yell at the person

who stopped at the green light on their phone. And they deserve it. But you gotta curse them out, you know, like in your heart but like in a Christian way. You're like, oh Lord, I pray. Let's open their eyes, God. Flat tires, Jesus, just teach them a lesson. It's crazy how quick it can happen. How many people can testify sometimes it's not even a great Sunday and a not so great Monday. Sometimes it's a great Sunday morning in church and a not so great Sunday afternoon after church. Sometimes it can happen just like that, huh? I wonder how much time passes from when you hear me finish speaking to when you hear the devil start speaking. Wow. I wonder how much time passes between you hear me say amen and you hear him say, hey man, hey, hey man, hey. And what you're going to need, listen, is a heart that can tell the difference between God's voice and the enemy's voice. Because you can't live here. I know you love me, I love you too, can't take me home. Can't take the worship team home. I love my Christian brothers and sisters. I honestly think the reason why I come to church other than serving you guys

is so I can just hang with you guys. I love the way you encourage me and the way I get to encourage you. But how many people know we can't take each other home? When you go home, you only have your heart. And you better hope that when I'm done preaching, listen, it continues to preach. We need a heart that keeps preaching. A heart that can tell the difference between good and evil when you don't have the sermon, when you don't have the presence of God, like we feel it in the worship. You gotta have a heart that can be able to tell the difference between the right way and the wrong. You gotta have a heart that can tell the difference between an angel and a devil dressed up like an angel. A heart that can tell the difference between an opportunity and a trap. You gotta have a heart. Here's the title of the message, and I believe it was the end product of the Sermon on the Mount. What was Jesus moving towards? From chapter five through chapter seven, here's what I believe he was moving towards. Developing, here's the title. message, a heart that can tell the difference. A heart that preaches. He wanted to get your heart right, because he knew if he'd get your heart right,

you'd do right, even when the message was over. There's a word that we have that defines this phenomenon, this ability to sense and tell and know right from wrong. It's kind of a church word, but not really. It totally exists outside of the church word as well. And it's a word I want to teach you today and teach about today. It's the word called discernment. Somebody say discernment. Discernment is a compass for navigating life. Discernment is the thing that when you meet someone and you get to know them, helps you know after you get to know them, this could be a friend, or this could be somebody who is not good for me. That's discernment. Discernment is the ability when you get approached with a business deal, to be able to tell the difference between a bad deal and a deal that could be good for you and your family and your company. That's called discernment. And in chapter seven, Jesus tells us there are three things we need to be able to discern to be able to tell the difference. And he wants to make sure your heart is right to be able to do that. And so the first is, he goes, you need to be able to tell the difference between the right way and the wrong way. Matthew chapter seven, verse 13 and 14, Jesus says, enter through the narrow gate,

for wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction. And many enter through it, but small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life. And only if you find it, Jesus is saying, you gotta be able to discern the difference between what is the right way and what is the wrong way. And how many people know there are a lot of ways in life? Yeah. And you gotta make sure you find the right way. There are a lot of ways to raise a kid. And there are a lot of ways to raise a serial killer. Make sure you're doing the right way. There are a lot of ways, good ways, there's a right way to communicate. And there are ways to argue and fight. There are ways to make money. And there are ways to get poor. And you gotta know the right way and not the wrong way. Then Jesus goes on to say, you gotta know the difference between the right voices and the wrong voices. Matthew 7, 15 and 16, watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing. See, the whole theme of the chapter is, watch out, be able to tell the difference, which is sheep's clothing. But inwardly, they are ferocious wolves. And by their fruit, you will recognize them. Jesus is saying, be careful

because you got some enemies that are dressed up like friends. And you gotta be able to tell the difference. You got some false prophets that are dressed up like parents, that'll say things over your life when you grow up. Oh, you are just like your dad. You're gonna be just like your mom. You are never gonna be this. You are always gonna be that. And I just wanna come against that voice right now and say that was a parent and not a prophet. They do not contain the authority of God to be able to declare who you will be or what you will be or who you will become. I rebuke every lie of the enemy spoken to you through them and declare truth over your life. They did their best, but they didn't know what they were talking. They were projecting their own. Don't let them prophesy death over your life. Be careful because in life, especially on social media, you got a lot of TikTok celebrities dressed up like theologians. And you gotta be able to tell the difference. Well, I saw on my feed that Jesus is gonna come back in April. Don't stop following that person. You gotta be able to tell the difference finally, Jesus goes, between the right faith and the wrong religion.

Verse 21 to 23, Jesus says, not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of the Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, Lord, Lord, do we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles? Then I will tell them plainly, I never knew you. It is one of the scariest verses in the Bible. I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers. Now I want you to notice in this passage, they were doing a lot, but Jesus is telling the difference between religion that is work-based and faith, which is trust and relationship-based. And Jesus is saying, you are never gonna be able to work your way into heaven. The only way. You won't get into heaven is if you are loved and loving by Jesus Christ. You gotta be in relationship with Jesus. You're never gonna do this this way. He's discerning what we've been talking about all year, y'all, that you gotta be able to tell the difference and you gotta, in yourself, between being a Christian and a follower of Jesus. I carry his name, but I don't look like him.

And Jesus is like, that's different. You gotta be able to tell the difference because if you're not careful, you could work this church thing. But you gotta be able to tell the difference between working this and this working in you. And be able to call it out in you. That I'm doing, I'm working it, but it ain't working in me because I haven't submitted to relationship with Christ. I'm trying to earn this thing and I gotta receive this thing. We know that chapter seven is about discernment because in Matthew chapter seven, verse one, before this whole thing begins in Matthew seven, he's getting into his conclusion. He says something in verse one. He says, do not judge or you too will be judged. Now, it's really important to study the Bible in its context because if you just look at this passage, you go, well, Jesus is telling us to not have judgment, to not judge, but that can't be exactly what he's saying. It's kind of funny because he says, don't judge, don't judge. And then when you read it on the chapter, he goes, hey, but be able to judge them false prophets from them true prophets. And be able to judge them fake disciples from the true disciples. And be able to judge the true from the wrong way and the right way.

And so, because he's telling us to judge, but yet opens up with don't judge, you gotta reconcile those both because Jesus never contradicts himself. That must mean, listen, not that we are not to pass judgment, I hope you receive this, but that there is a difference between bad judgment and good judgment. And if you're gonna have discernment, you gotta have good judgment and not bad judgment. And I'm gonna just show you some bad judgment really quickly so we can understand what this is and we can grow from here. Here's bad judgment. You meet somebody for five minutes, barely, and you walk away talking about, I don't like them. Why? I divide. I didn't like the vibe. Holy Spirit was telling me, no, don't put down the Holy Spirit. Five minutes, you didn't ask them about themselves. You didn't get to know them. You talk for five minutes and you got a vibe all of a sudden. It's not the Holy Spirit. I'll tell you why you didn't like them because their name is Jerry and you used to go to school with a dude named Terry.

And that's why you don't like Jerry. And that also explains why you don't like Harry, Larry, Barry, Carrie, all of them because they remind you of somebody that hurt you. That's not discernment. You didn't even get to know them. That's judging them before you get to know. We have a word for that, prejudice. When you prejudge somebody because of the color of their skin, the texture of their hair, their name, their gender, their faith, their religion. That's not discernment, that's prejudice. Here's bad judgment. Making a decision for you and your family before praying about it. That's bad, that's bad judgment. And now we're gonna go to good judgment because Jesus is about to teach us, right after he tells us do not judge, he's gonna teach us now how to judge. Before Jesus tells us what we need to judge, right way from the wrong way, right voices from the wrong voices, right faith from the wrong religion, he gives us three arguments that at first glance seem disconnected from the topic of discernment. But as you look deeper, you realize, oh no, no, what he's actually doing is giving us the tools of discernment. He's actually teaching us how to have good judgment.

And so we're gonna learn those today so that we can equip you to go out into the world to be able to make the right choices, hang with the right people, make the right decisions. Here's the first thing that Jesus tells us. Matthew chapter seven, verse four. How can you say to your brother, let me take the speck out of your eye when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite. First, somebody say first. Take the plank out of your own eye. Then you will see clearly, discern to remove the speck from your brother's eye. Jesus is saying, you can't see good out there if you got something stuck in here. Are you ready? Step to discernment. You got to discern your own heart first Discern your own heart first Or glasses That's not a surprise The surprise might be that I didn't always wear glasses I actually made it to my late 20s Not wearing glasses and then I got married And One day we were driving on the highway past the Liz and I and the GPS was like get off at this exit and I was reading for the signs to see what the exit was and She said it's the next exit and I was like, there's no way you could read that sign It's too far. She's like I'm reading it right now. That's the exit and I was like, yeah We'll see

So we got closer closer by the time I could see the sign it was too late the cars when we missed the exit I Looked I said you got great vision She said no You have terrible vision I was like that can't be That's that you're you know, you're like a superhuman. You have like eagle eyes She's like no. No you you need to go get checked. I was like, so I was like I humored her So I was like, I'll go get checked. I'll go get just to humor you and I went and and they did the thing with the And when they got to my prescription Anybody with glasses know what I'm talking about the first day you put them on You were like, oh lord. Is this what the world is supposed to look like? I Had no idea. I was so taken aback. I kid you not for years I just thought this is not a joke. I for years. I thought my TV had bad signal Hush is like I guess we're gonna have to upgrade to the ultra HD 4k 5k, I can't I'd be playing video games with my friends. I'd be all the way up on the screen They'd be back there. I'm like you guys gonna lose you can't see anything from back there So now I have glasses Why do I share that story because Liz would poke fun at me a little bit, you know You know just lovingly be like yeah get your glasses on you can't see you don't have glasses on my god Well now pastor Liz is 44 years old and fine But ever since she turned 40 I saw her one day she went like this she was reading something she said I Said what you so what you doing? She goes I can't someone's with the words She can't see close I can't see far God knew what he was doing Put us together Watch out I got you And now she's got glasses and now I like to rub it in her I Here's why I share that story listen Because I don't have 2020 and she found out she don't have 2020 and I need you to know nobody's heart has 2020

Nobody's heart I Don't care how long you've grown up in church. I don't care how many Bible verses you can memorize I don't care how many people you raised from the dead No Human being has 2020 in their heart and unless you put on the lens of Scripture Unless you put on the lens of the heart of God Unless you you will never see the world clearly It will always be filtered through your biases through your pain Through your history through the way you grew up through your ethnicity through your financial background It will always be for here's if you're taking notes write this down discernment begins with humility Discernment begins with humility Discernment begins with the revelation. Are you ready? You might be wrong No, he didn't Yeah, I did You you might be wrong because if you don't accept that that the possibility Exists then pride is gonna become an obstacle for you receiving truth Because you think you're right and you might not be right You got to make sure you have looking inside first This is gonna help you because one day you're gonna see somebody post something on social media Okay, and it's gonna be a friend and you're gonna see it and when you see it and go they're talking about me Did they tag you? No, they didn't tag me, but it's obvious. What do they call that? Sub, subbing, they subbing me. Did I say it right? Okay. They're subbing me. They didn't tag me, but it's about me.

They're not talking about you. You saw that post through the lens of your insecurity. You did not discern that. That was your pain. They saw that. Can I help you? Listen, God's telling me to take that job. Maybe, or maybe you just pick the one with the higher salary. Maybe, but did you even think that? Did you ask yourself that? How about this one? This person is for me. I know that the one for me, they're the person God has to me. Really? But they don't love Jesus and they don't have a job. Maybe they're the one for you, or maybe, just maybe you're desperate, but you gotta look in first before you can see out. Clearly, can I flip it? Ready? They're not the person for me. Oh, pastor, they are not the person for me. Really? How come? They got Jesus. They got a career. They're respectful. They did so good about their mama. They don't got abs, pastor.

They're not for me. They don't got what? Abs? What? Maybe they're not for you, or maybe you're afraid of commitment, or maybe you're afraid of getting it wrong because you got it wrong before and you don't wanna get it wrong again. I am helping people today. Thank you. Look in. Look in, look in. Somebody say look in. Before you look out. After you finish discerning your heart first, listen, then you get to discern their heart. Discern their heart. Matthew 7, verse 6, this is one of the most hardest verses to preach as a pastor because it does not sound like Jesus, and I'm honored that I get to walk you through this scripture because it is a challenge. Matthew 7, 6, do not give dogs what is sacred, and do not throw your pearls to the pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet and turn and tear you to pieces. Now, here's what's crazy. Jesus just finished saying, don't judge people. And then he's like,

but be able to tell the difference between a dude and a dog. Be able to tell the difference between a person and a pig. And I'm like, it sounds a lot like judging. Jesus. But it's not judgment, it's discernment. Why? Because judgment is about answering the question. Discernment is about asking the question. It's about taking the time to understand who it is you're speaking to before you pass judgment. Does that make sense? You gotta discern. Taking time to understand who you are investing in. Well, I ain't got no pearls, but you have time, you have energy, you have love, you've got the gospel. And Jesus is saying, before you deposit any of that into anyone, discern their heart. Are you getting a return on that investment? Be careful. I remember going to New York and I was partnering with this organization called Jews for Jesus. I was in a Bible college and we were partnering with them for the weekend. And if you're not familiar with the organization, really cool. If you're not familiar with Judaism or the Jewish people, the Jewish people believe that the Messiah is returning to restore all things. Christians believe the same thing

and that he has come already and will come again and his name is Jesus. And so Jews for Jesus are Jewish people who are Jewish by birth, by faith, who have recognized through scripture that every prophecy that was ever made about Jesus, Jesus fulfilled, that he is the Messiah. Jesus himself said, I am the Messiah, the savior of the world. And so they're sharing the gospel, preaching to anybody. So I go out on the street and by the subway, waiting for people to come out the subway. I have a little pin on and anybody who says Jews for Jesus and they want me to wear the pin, and I think they want me to wear the pin because they probably thought I was Jewish. So I just, I was like, I get it. I get that a lot. So I had the pin and one guy came up to me and started talking to me about evolution. And he was like, well, I don't believe in God because of evolution. And he wanted to debate. I love a good debate. So I was like, let's debate. So I started debating and he started debating and I started talking about stuff and he started talking about stuff. And at the end, when we were done debating, he was like, ah, whatever.

And he walked away. 20 minutes. It's 20 minutes, we were talking to each other. Walked away. And when he walked away, the Holy Spirit convicted me and said, while you were talking to that man for 20 minutes, 1,000 people walked by. This man was never gonna receive what you had to say because he never wanted to listen, he wanted to argue. But there were hundreds of people that passed by that were ready to receive. But you threw your pearls. Wow, come on, wow. And they got trampled because you could not discern what relationship was worth investing in and which one was not. Listen to me, stop talking to people who are not listening. Stop giving to people who keep taking. Stop pouring into relationships that keep leaking. And for the love of God, stop feeding people who keep biting. You gotta learn the difference. Not everybody you're texting, not everybody you're fighting with, not everybody, you gotta be able to say, I'm gonna say, I wrote this down five different ways because I had to get it right, but I need to get it right, and you need to hear this. Every human is valuable, but not every relationship is. Wow.

Yeah, that's so good, that's so good. Every human is valuable, but not every relationship, and you know why every human is valuable and not every relationship is? Because every human comes from God, but not every relationship does. Some come from the devil. And you gotta be able to discern the difference between rich relationships, and here's the wisdom, ready, to know that your wife ain't one of those, that your wife is worth investing in, that your kids, as troublesome as they might be, are worth investing in, that your church, as stressful as church people might be, are worth investing in, because you need a community of godly people around you, you gotta be able to discern the difference. Here's the last thing you gotta be able to discern, your heart first, their heart, here's the last tool for being able to have discernment out there when this sermon is over, to be able to discern God's heart. Discern God's heart. Not why God did this, or why God didn't do that, because when you're out there, things are gonna happen in life that are gonna be confusing, but if you know who God is, Matthew chapter seven, verse seven through eight, Jesus is speaking, still speaking,

he goes, ask, and it will be given to you. Seek, and you will find. I want you to see who God is. Knock, and the door will be opened to you, for everyone who asks, receives. The one who seeks, finds, and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. Here's some things you need to know about God, number one, God is powerful. You know how I know God is powerful? Because it said, ask, and it will be given. Ask what? Don't matter, if you ask it, I got the power to give it. What a God, what a God, he didn't put any qualifiers. He said, ask it, I give it, powerful. Here's what you need to know about your God, he's generous. He said, knock, and the door will be opened. Not gonna make you wait, knock, it'll be open. I'll open the door if you knock, that's generous. And here's the last one, you need to know that your God is indiscriminate. He said, everyone who asks, whoo. Everyone, everyone who asks, but I didn't grow up in church. Everyone who asks, but I'm 12 years old. Everyone who asks, but I'm 71. Everyone who asks, but I'm going through some things right now, I got sin in my life. Everyone who asks, everyone.

So thankful that God doesn't play favorites because I'm not sure that I'd be it. Everyone who asks. However, life takes turns. I don't know about you, but I have too much experience as a Christian to take that verse at face value. Because I have asked sometimes, and not received. Please don't let me preach up here alone. I see, is there a Christian in the room who knows what I'm talking about? Any sick people ever prayed for healing you didn't get? I knocked. Stay closed. Seek and you will find. I went looking, and I could not find it. Could not find it. So there seems to me, between, there's a gap, a disconnect between what God says and what I'm experiencing. But the next verse reconciles that tension. He keeps going, look at verse nine. He's gonna close the gap now. For which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish? will give him a snake. If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask Him?

Here is discernment, ready? You gotta be able to discern the difference between God didn't answer my prayer and God knows what's best for me. Yes, come on, that's right. That's right. That's right. That's right. That's right. That's right. That's right. That's right. Meaning God doesn't love me and God loves me so much that He was willing for me to suffer temporarily so that I could be saved eternally. And God loves me so much. He didn't answer my prayer. He did answer your prayer. You just didn't like the answer. Come on, that's right, come on, come on. He said no, or not right now. And you gotta have the difference to know God abandoned me and God is still with me. Between God lied and there's a deeper truth that you just don't grasp yet, but you will one day. Sometimes my wife be doing stuff I don't understand. And it bothers me. She calls it organizing. I call it, where's my things?

I go to the office. I know where I put it, but it's not there no more. Babe, did you throw it out? Babe, did you? No, no, I organized it. And the tension, the stress of her organizing. Leave it there. I work good in chaos. It's my chaos. But then months later, I go looking for something and I know exactly where it is because now it has a place. So what didn't make sense in the moment ends up making sense later because her way was better than my way. Sometimes I'll come home and furniture has been moved. That's a big deal. She's a little girl, like a lady. Like she weighs 120, 130, I don't know how much she weighs. Like, and she's moving. I come home, couches have been relocated. One day I came into my bedroom. There was a whole couch. It'd never been there before. A whole couch in the bedroom. I woke up in the middle of the night to go use the bathroom, almost died. Wasn't expecting it to be there. But now, months later, I realize, oh, the couch is there. Now we have intimate time sitting on the couch.

We read, we fold the laundry. Oh, it makes sense that it's there. But in the moment, it was painful. Here's what I've learned about my wife. She loves me. And if she does something I don't understand, it's not because she's crazy or is trying to kill me. There's always a reason. Even if you don't understand it right now, can you discern that when you know the heart of God, no matter what life throws your way, you're gonna be able, see it? Because you're gonna know. I don't know where this is going necessarily, but I'm sticking with Jesus, because I trust him and I know he's got it. I'm not gonna abandon God because I know his heart. I know God's heart. Hopefully you've been catching what I'm saying. I'm gonna give you the whole sermon in a summary. Here it is right now. When you have the right heart, you can tell the difference between the right way and the wrong way. The right voices and the wrong voices. The right faith and the wrong religion, but it always starts with having the right heart. When you have the right heart, you can tell the difference between the right way and the wrong way.

And when you're at work and there's a woman who is not your wife, begins flirting with you, and then you're gonna know, uh-uh, I'm not gonna entertain that. I feel love, but that's not love, that's lust, because I know my heart. See that? I know my heart. When you get invited to go to that party, you go, no, no, I know those people are not for me. They're for them, and if I get in that environment, they're gonna end up hurting me and not helping me. I'm not gonna go that way. That's the wrong way, because I know the heart of those people. When there's an opportunity to be dishonest, lie, cheat on a tax return in business, take something that's not yours, you go, uh-uh, I understand the heart of my God, and I understand that he is generous. Therefore, I don't need to take anything dishonestly. When I serve a God who gives so generously, I will wait upon the Lord, and he will bless me financially, and he will take care of my children, he will take care of my family. I'm not gonna take, he's gonna give, because I understand the heart of my God. It helps you navigate decisions. You seeing it?

The right voices and the wrong voices, you gotta stop listening to people who are giving you an excuse to stay hurt and giving you... You an excuse to stay mad and giving you an excuse to stay divisive in the church and outside of the church because what they say Sounds true, but it's not true. It's just validating your pain, which is true Sometimes we let voices in our life and we go. Oh, but they're not biblical voices They're just validating our pain. And when you leave their presence, you just get more angry And you got to be able to discern your own heart and you go no No, I'm receiving it because I need somebody to tell me that my pain is valid But your pain can be valid and the advice still be bad You see it tell the difference You got to know you were hurt when you started that conversation when you saw that pop up on your social feed Got to tell the difference between the right voices and the wrong voices That voice in your head when you leave church today to tell you you're not different. You're never gonna be the same I just need you to know any voice that talks down to you any voice that tells you you are not enough That is not the voice of your father. That is not the voice of God. That is the voice of the devil That is the voice of the enemy and when you get in your word You know what the voice of God sounds like and the heart of God and when you know the heart of God That doesn't sound like my God. He loves me. Why would he tell me that to come to church anymore? He loves me That's not that's not you gotta be able to tell the difference between the right faith and the wrong religion You know what keeps you in relationship with Jesus knowing your own heart Knowing that I am a sinner and you are a sinner and hopefully you are not offended by that being a sinner and knowing that You're a sinner is the secret staying close to Jesus You know the people that push Jesus away who get real religious but lose relationship are the ones they think that righteousness can be earned And they look at all the good things that they do and they go. I don't need Jesus But you know who stays close to Jesus the sinners Because we know we can't do this without him What keeps you in relationship with Jesus is knowing that if I step away from Jesus, I'm cooked. This is over

That's what I love about Journey Church. If you haven't been a church in a long time come to this church It's full of people who are not here because we think we are perfect. We are here because we know we are not And we need a Savior We need a Savior Here's the final part of Jesus's message, this is the end of his sermon right here We've been preaching on it now three weeks and He's closing his sermon. Here he goes Matthew 7 24 to 27 Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine, remember he just finished preaching so you go say everything you just heard and Puts them in a practice. It's like a wise man who built his house on the rock The rain came down the streams rose and the winds blew and beat against the house yet. It did not fall Because it had its foundation on the rock my words But everyone who hears these words of mine and Does not put them in a practice. It's like a foolish man who built this house on the sand The rain came down the streams rose and the winds blew and beat against this house and it fell down with a great crash Here's what Jesus knows that when you leave church a storm is coming What's in your heart Where is your heart? Get him in the right place Fill it with the right things Jesus's words and when you get out there, you're gonna be able to navigate and survive and thrive in that storm But he says this he says it's not those who listened to the word that will make it It's those who put the words into practice When people Meet me in the lobby and they go. Hey pastor. Just thank you. I've never been there. God has changed my life There's sermons have helped me so much. I always stop my go. Hey, there's a lot of people who can preach good sermons First off all glory to God It's his word Secondly, you went home and did it

So we clap for you You did it You gotta apply it Here's what Jesus is saying and then we're gonna close and pray it's not enough to discern it At some point you got to do it and Today might be that day how many people know you can deny discernment you can fight conviction Let's do a quick survey How many people? Have ever felt like they weren't supposed to go somewhere do something be with someone and you went there and you did it and you Would anyway, even though you felt it and then afterwards you look back you go, man. I knew it. I Should have listened. I felt it. I went in and I shouldn't I partner with them and I felt it Don't Let that happen today Today do it today receive it and when you get out of here act on it And there are things that God is putting in your heart to do even now I can trust the Holy Spirit to preach the rest of this message Cuz I don't know what it is But God is speaking in your heart right now. There's things you need to do We got next steps at 5 p.m. Here at this campus and some of you have been on the verge of Becoming a part of this church and you take as much time as you need But five o'clock here at next steps. That's gonna be an opportunity and if God's telling you don't fight it. Come on in Some of you guys been calling you to be generous and help other people God's been calling you to forgive somebody it's time to forgive God's been calling you to break up with that person It's time to break up. God's been calling you to get with that person. It's time to call him and ask him out in Jesus name You discern it now do it Now do it By your head and close your eyes God has put something in your heart today. I need you to just tell the Lord I hear you and Your own words. I hear you and I'm gonna make a move. I hear you and I'm gonna make the move I hear you and I'm gonna make the move. I hear you and I'm up

Come on I want to stop preaching and I need the Holy Spirit to preach right now So I need him to finish his sermon if you lean in if you listen to him, he'll tell you what are you discerning? What are you discerning? What are you discerning? What are you discerning? What are you discerning? Go do it Go help that person go pray for that person Go love on that person be that kind of husband be that kind of wife Be that kind of single person be that kind of son be that kind of daughter be that kind of father be that kind of mother Get connected get plugged in join a group whatever it is Do it All over this room there are people who need to make a decisions, you know what you need to do come back to Jesus You've been fighting The voice of God for so long and today is your day to come home So while God is dealing with others of us in one way I want to invite those who he's dealing with in another way to listen to me And if you're speaking to God, you just keep speaking to God But those in this room who are far from God Holy Spirit's calling you home right now God is saying it's time to come to Jesus come to Jesus And it's time to stop fighting Let him take control of your life if you're in this room when you're ready to give your life to Jesus on the count of Three would you raise your right hand high all over this room? It's time to come to stop fighting it. Let him pull you one two Three all over this room. Would you raise your right hand high right now? I see your hand. I see your hand I see your hand. I see your hand. I see your hand so many hands Praise God, you can put it down whether you raise your hand or not I want everyone to pray this prayer out loud. Everybody say father God. I hear your voice Telling me what to do. Telling me who to be telling me where to go

And I'm coming and I'm coming. Come on. Say it again, and I'm coming Jesus I'm coming. I Receive your love. I receive your word. I receive your direction and today I declare that I am a sinner But you are a Savior. I am lost But you are Lord and I put my trust in you even when it doesn't make sense to me in Jesus name I pray amen and amen. Come on. Let's put our hands together. Welcome all those that made a decision To follow Jesus Christ today. Welcome to the family. We love you If you made that decision, make sure you take your phone and tap the little sticker on the seat back pocket in front of you I'm telling you right now. Look at me as I look at you. You just made the best decision of your life Come on, we're so excited for you So go ahead and scan that QR code below so we can walk with you with your new journey. Yeah, let's go Guys, well, what an amazing Service wasn't it? It was just so powerful. I feel like JJ brings it every time. What did you guys take away from it? Mmm, man, he started off man with the holy heat man discernment, man I love that word because a lot of people say it but don't know what it means and when But no seriously, though I love the service because it was just reminding me of you gotta let the Lord make the decisions It's not about what I think it's about what the Lord thinks what you guys get from it. What about you Alice? Do you go first? Oh, well one thing that I got from it is when you ask not everything's your will it's under God's will Yeah, you know and it's like a lot of times we ask and we're waiting for that miracle to happen But if that's not God's will for our life and then we get angry at God wondering God, where are you? But he's always been right by our side. He just knows what's best for us And I just thought that was a powerful word. What about you? Yeah, I didn't know you were gonna say that But I gotta piggyback off of it because he does know what's best for us And that's what I got from it was the relationships that are best for us not everything that gets sent our way is meant for us, even if it's the highest paying job or the relationship that looks like it's meant to be like Discern it and figure it out and just because it is there and you're doubting it That doesn't mean like just turn it away either

It means truly seek God and everything and that definitely really ministered to me for sure. I got one more thing Oh, I gotta tell you guys it's on my heart. I gotta Tell somebody. Let them know. So if you're going through a situation right now, you don't know. This is what the Lord put on my heart with while in my season. God, if it's from you, confirm it. But if it's not from you, help me discern it. Yeah. Amen. Well, if this sermon touched you guys, or even the series and you wanna go back, subscribe to the YouTube channel today. Scan the QR code below, so you can rewatch any sermon that you would like and stay plugged in even with our After Talk podcast. We'd love to see you there. That's right. Absolutely. And speaking of getting plugged in, make sure you check out Next Steps. Go grab something to eat real quick and then head back to your computer because it'll be today at 1.30 p.m. Eastern time. It will truly bless your life. Next Step, Step 2. You can even knock out Step 1 right before. It only takes a few minutes. Absolutely.

And if you want to get involved and you wanna find out more about Journey, go ahead and download that app so you can stay up to date with whatever we're doing. You can join small groups. You can do prayer requests. You get notifications. You can find out all the things. Journey. So go ahead and download that app. I think there's just one more thing to say. Well, two. Oh. Nix in five. Oh. Oh, here we go. Go Nix. Nix in five. Yeah, okay. Here we go. And we love you. And we love you guys. Thank you guys so much for joining us today. We hope to see you guys next week. Take care. God bless you guys. Take care, y'all. We love you. We love you. We love you.

We love you not. Be well. Please give us a thumbs up. Please subscribe. Please leave comments below where you will be taking us next. We'd love to interact with you on the rest of our Hajj stories. Please do. I think it's so important that we stay connected through social media to try to encourage others. You can always reach out to me through TikTok or you can always reach out to me on Instagram. I'll see you next time. Thanks for watching! Bye.