Built to Last- Pastor Matt Ferguson

Well, good morning again, men and women. So good to be with you this morning on the Pando app with you in whatever facility that you're in right here from Life Fellowship Church in McKinney, Texas. We love you. We just want to tell you every chance we get that you are part of our church family. My name is Logan Williams. My TDC number was 1490218. I got four numbers after that, spent nine and a half years going in and out of prison and drug abuse and crime and all the stuff that comes with that. I just had just sort of resigned myself to this must be my lot in life because I wanted to change but couldn't really seem to be able to do anything about it. And then I had an encounter with Christ in a hotel room in Irving, Texas in August of 2021. And I'd been out about six months, was back on it really, really hard. And man, Christ left the 99 to come after me. But I had to say yes. And I had to do some really difficult things. But I'm telling you, man, he's after you. He wants a relationship with you and he wants to change and transform your life. But he needs you to say yes, he's not going to force himself upon us. He's a gentleman. He wants us to make that choice. And guys, I want you to make that choice. Like that's why we do these videos, do these things. I was in and out, in and out, in and out for a couple decades, man, and with no change. And I'm just telling you, if he can change me, if he can do it for me, he can do it for you. My question is, who's next? Who's next? Because he doesn't just want to save you.

He wants to change and transform you and use you to make much of his name and enlarge his kingdom. And you might think to yourself, if you're not saved, well, why would I want to do that? Because it's like the best thing ever. I've done all the drugs. I've done all the sexual encounters and all the stacking the paper and buying all the material things. Guys, nothing touches being used by God, being in your calling, being used by him to make a difference in someone else's life. Nothing can touch that. And I just want so much. The desire of my heart, it burns. I want you to experience that. And you can experience it right there. You can experience it right there. I love one of my pastor friends, his name is Scott Graham. He goes into the Michaels unit and he says it all the time to those guys because those guys have big sentences. And he's like, hey, listen, man, you change your life. God wants to use you when you get out. But if you're never getting out, God wants to use you to pour in to the men and women who are getting out. And that's your legacy. He can use you right where you're at, right where you're at. He will meet you right where you're at. He's so awesome. And he's so graceful and generous. Listen, you can get your friends and family to download the same Pando app on their phone. They can watch the same videos that you watch, the same services that you watch. They can be part of Life Fellowship's family as well with you.

And then when you talk to them on the phone or see them in visitation, you can talk about, you know, what that message say to you. This is how we grow together. This is how we grow spiritually as a family, as friends, as the people who love you that are willing to come visit you. Yeah, man, encourage them. Grow together. We were never meant to do this thing alone. I was thinking about you guys and putting myself back into all the facilities that I was at. I know it can be difficult, it can be trying, it can be hard, especially when you choose to walk this out, especially when you choose Jesus, especially when you choose Christ to do something different, to go against the grain, to get off the wide road and get on the narrow road where there aren't many people. Yeah, I know, especially in the places that you're at, people are going to hate on you. People are going to come against you. Principalities and rulers of darkness are going to start attacking you. They don't like that. And so I want to encourage those people today. I want to encourage you with James chapter one, verse two, consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, lacking nothing. Now I know when you're there and it's hot and people are coming against you, people are hating on you, people are talking about you. I know it's. When you're in the midst of a trial, right, it's hard to hear this scripture. When you're on the mountaintop and things are going good and you got plenty of commissary in your locker

and you got a good job and you got a good schedule and time is easy. Yeah, man, it's easy to say, okay, yeah, let's consider it pure joy when we go through stuff. But when you're going through it, sometimes it's hard to consider it pure joy and to have that mindset shift of looking at it like, hey man, this is going to produce perseverance in me. Guys, perseverance is a very, very valuable gift or an attribute to grow in your life. It will help you in all aspects of your life. Perseverance, just staying with something. In fact, we were just in a staff sort of prayer meeting and encouragement meeting and this guy was talking about, man, when you're in a trial, he quoted a line out of the movie Beauty and the Beast, which I'm sure I've seen it, but I can't remember it. But one of the things was that they were coming against this king or whatever, he was trying to rally the town and his statement to them was screw your courage in to where the sticking places are. And what he's saying is, hey man, this is gonna be hard. This is gonna be a difficult walk. This is gonna be trying. And he's like, man, glue's not gonna get it. You need to bolt that courage in. He's saying, what is he saying? Hey man, it's gonna be hard, but we need to stick with it. We need to stay in there. We need to continue to fight.

And that's what I wanna say to you guys that have chosen Jesus in prison, that have chosen to say no to the drugs and the gangs and all the stuff that would just make time go so much easier. Man, stay with it. Stick with it. It's worth it. Well, how do I do that? You might ask. How in the world? Man, you don't understand Logan. You're not at this unit. You're not on this wing with these crazy people. You're not surrounded by drugs and K2 and all the crazy people that come with that and all the erratic, stressful things that produce so much anxiety. Yeah, I'm not right now. How do I do that, Logan? The very next verse says, he just switches gears. And he's like, if any of you lack wisdom, you should ask God who gives generously without finding fault, and it will be given to you. What he's saying is, man, another translation says he gives it without reproach. Guys, if we just ask God for wisdom, he hands it out like candy on Halloween. We don't have to be righteous. We don't have to argue.

We don't have to negotiate. He just gives it to us. That's what the word says. And so, guys, I wanna encourage you, man, to pray and seek God's wisdom. Seek God's wisdom and, man, how can I stay in this fight? How can I lay down this thing that I don't wanna lay down? God, how can I discover what my calling is on my life, what the purpose is on my life? I have no idea what it is. Ask him. He says he's gonna give it to you. But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, okay? Because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea blown and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all that they do. What he's saying, man, is believe and not doubt. And the way I would like to do that, the way I kinda practice that is I'll ask for the wisdom and then I'll say, hey, God, your word says you're gonna give it to me. I'm holding you to your word. Your word says in James chapter one, verse five, if any of us lack wisdom, we should ask. And so I'm gonna believe it and I'm not gonna doubt because you say it. Guys, when you pray God's promises back to him,

it's a very powerful thing. And so I don't know where you're at in your journey. Some of you have just gotten arrested and you're sitting in the county jail and you don't know what the path is that you're about to have to navigate. Some of you are sitting in maximum security prisons with a 50-year sentence. Some of you have threes and fives and tens and you're gonna be going home. Man, wherever you're at, God will meet you right there. And I wanna encourage you, man, to continue to pray and ask for his wisdom and find other promises in his word that he says about us, that he says about you, who he says you are. Speak those out and pray them back to him. It's a very powerful thing. It will change you. But I want you to continue to fight and not give up. I want you to continue walking with our eyes fixed on him, knowing that when I'm in the valley, the way to get out. out of a valley is you just keep walking and eventually you're gonna go up the mountain. And so I love you guys. Life Fellowship Church loves you guys. We pray for you. We pray over all your letters. We pray over all your prayer requests. And I mean that.

And I wanna tell you that, man, if you're ever anywhere near the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex on a Sunday after you get out, man, come visit us. We wanna meet you. We wanna see you. We wanna introduce you to everyone, get you a coffee. We wanna just celebrate you because it's just one of the best things, man, when I get to see one of you guys that just come in and say, hey man, I just got out. I just did X number of years and I've been watching Life Fellowship. It's such a blessing. And everyone here will rally around you. Father, I thank you for the men and women who you have drawn to this video, to this page. God, no one comes to the Father unless he is drawn. So God, I pray perseverance over them. I pray that they can somehow, even if it's just a small shift, that they can begin to shift their thinking from, oh man, this sucks and I'm going through this crazy thing. And instead of focusing on the negative, man, that they could have a little shift or maybe a big shift into, hey man, this is gonna produce perseverance in me. Maybe I'm not to the point where I can consider it pure joy, but this that I'm going through, maybe I didn't get arrested. Maybe I got rescued.

Maybe I would have died in my sin. Maybe I would have overdosed on drugs. Maybe I would have got shot, got run over, got, who knows? But I know that God has a plan and a purpose. And so God, I just declare your plans and your purposes over the men and women that are watching. I just declare freedom and peace and perseverance over them, God, that you would do a work in them right now, that you would just, your Holy Spirit would fall on them and they would have fresh fire. They would have a fresh anointing. They would have a fresh idea of what their calling is, even in the places that they're at, God. Man, just pour out your wisdom on them, God. We are asking for your wisdom for all of us, not just the people incarcerated. And so God, meet them where they're at. Let them know how much you love them. Let them know that you just desire more than anything because it's a relationship with them. And even if they can take 30 seconds and just put their attention on you, man, that makes you so happy. It makes you smile. And God, bless them. Bless them in the place that they're at. We love you and we give you the praise and glory in Jesus' name, amen. Amen, one more question.

Whose house? God's house. Let's give him some praise. Amen. Good morning, Life Fellowship. I'm so glad you guys are here with us this morning. Psalm 146.1 says, Praise the Lord. Let everything that I have praise the Lord. So let's give him our all this morning, amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. ♪ This is where worship starts ♪ ♪ Here in the temple of my heart ♪ ♪ Remembering who you are and all you've done ♪ ♪ This is your majesty ♪ ♪ All I have tasted and I've seen ♪ ♪ Remembering who you are and once again ♪ ♪ I see the Lord, forever glorified ♪ ♪ Exalted and lifted high ♪ ♪ And all of the kingdom it cries, you are ♪ ♪ You are the Lord, oh ♪

♪ You are the Lord, oh ♪ ♪ You are the Lord, oh ♪ ♪ This is eternity, deep calling, deep inside me ♪ ♪ I'm right where I'm meant to be, here with you ♪ ♪ This is your family, stretching as far as I can see ♪ ♪ I'm right where I'm meant to be, once again ♪ ♪ I see the Lord, forever glorified ♪ ♪ Exalted and lifted high ♪ In all of the Kingdom He cries, You are, You are the Lord. Sitted upon the throne, with God who is three in one. The Father, the Spirit, the Son, You are, You are the Lord. Worth, you are the Lord. Worth, holy, You are, You are the Lord. Worthy, You are, You are the Lord. Holy, You are, You are the Lord. Worthy, You are, You are the Lord. Holy, You are, You are the Lord. Worthy, You are, You are the Lord. Holy, You are, You are the Lord. Worthy, I see the Lord. Forever glorified, exalted, lifted high. In all of the Kingdom He cries, You are, You are the Lord. Sitting upon the throne, with God who is three in one. The Father, the Spirit, the Son, You are, You are the Lord. Holy, You are, You are the Lord. Worthy, You are, You are the Lord. Holy, You are, You are the Lord. Worthy, You are, I see the Lord. Forever glorified, exalted, lifted high. In all of the Kingdom He cries, You are, You are the Lord.

Sitting upon the throne, with God who is three in one. The Father, the Spirit, the Son, You are, You are the Lord. Surely the presence of the Lord is in this place. Surely He has come to meet us here this morning. We can feel Him all around us. And He has come to meet us here once again. Can't go back to the beginning. And I can't control what tomorrow will bring. But I know here in the middle is the place where You promised to be. I'm not enough unless You come. Will You meet me here again? Cause all I want is all You are. Will You meet me here again? Come and meet us here again Come and meet us here again As I walk through the valley Let your love rise above every fear Like the sun shaping the shadows In my weakness your glory appears I'm not enough Unless you come Will you meet me here again? Cause all I want is all you are Will you meet me here again? I'm not enough Unless you come Will you meet me here again? Cause you're all I want I want everything you want Will you meet me here again?

Come on take a minute right there and just let it know Lord would you meet us here again? We need you, we need you Jesus We are nothing without you Without your presence Without everything that you are God Come into this place Lord Show us that you are with us Father God And not for a minute Was I forsaken The Lord is in this place So come Holy Spirit Drive us awaken The Lord is in this place And not for a minute Was I forsaken The Lord is in this place Come Holy Spirit Drive us awaken The Lord is in this place And not for a minute Was I forsaken The Lord is in this place So come Holy Spirit Drive us awaken The Lord is in this place Yes he is, yes he is He's not forgotten He's not forsaken you He takes you by the hand

And he walks with you And he talks with you Yes he does, yes he does You were not forgotten the Lord Yes, yes And not for a minute Was I forsaken The Lord is in this place So come Holy Spirit Right now and wake us up Wake us up, wake us up Wake us up to the brilliant light The Lord is in this place And not for a minute Was I forsaken The Lord is in this place Come right now Holy Spirit Come right now Like a crashing wave The Lord is in this place And not for a minute Who was I forsaken? The Lord is in. Right in the middle. The Lord is in this place. Right in the valley. Come Holy Spirit. Dry bones awaken. Oh dry bones awaken. The Lord is in this place. The Lord is in this place. And not for, not for a minute, not for a second, were you ever forgotten? The Lord is in this place. The Lord is in this place. Come Holy Spirit. Dry bones awaken. The Lord is in this place. The Lord is in this place. And not enough, unless you come, will you meet us here again? Cause all I want is all you are. Will you meet me here again? We are nothing without you Jesus. Nothing without you Jesus. Come meet us here again. Thank you. Thank you. We recognize your presence in this place. Recognize your love, your grace, your mercy over us. We are here. And we are here to enthrone him. We are here to give all glory, all honor, all wisdom because you deserve, you deserve it. And all this is for you. Let your name Jesus, in your name alone, be glorified through death. We've come to join the song. Someone before us to raise our voices. Heaven and earth are alive.

I see your faithfulness. Your mercy without end. I keep the blade and I've got your sacrifice. I'm being thrown upon the praises of a thousand generations. You are worthy, Lord of all. I'm being thrown upon the praises of a thousand generations. You are worthy, Lord of all. All through this life we live. And on to eternity. For in this praise we'll cry, Jesus be glory. Let your name alone be glorified. All through this life we live. And on to eternity. For in this praise we'll cry, Jesus be glory. Let your name alone be glorified. Jesus be glorified. Be enthroned upon the praises of a thousand generations You are worthy, Lord of all To you the slaver is the king We live God's voice, we never sink You are worthy, Lord of all Be enthroned upon the praises of a thousand generations You are worthy, Lord of all To you the slaver is the king We live God's voice, we never sink Sing it one more time We give our God's praise We praise the Lord We sing of the Lord Come on people of God, let your voice We give glory, we give power, we give wisdom We praise the Lord We praise the Lord We sing of the Lord Come on people of God, let your voice Sing it one more time We give our God's praise We praise the Lord Be enthroned upon the praises of a thousand generations You are worthy, Lord of all

You are worthy You are worthy of everything that we have Every breath of our lungs Every piece of our life What we build our life on God is you and you alone You are king You are throne You are higher Higher than anything God God these shouts of praise are for you This is what works in us God May we see more of you in our homes In our lives, in our nation God we are desperate for more of you You are worthy God God may thousands of generations To come, may they know your name May we be a people so enamored with the things of God That it doesn't make sense to the world But God it makes sense to your kingdom God may your kingdom come to earth and reign God may we decrease so that you increase This is not about us This is not a dramatic moment God This is the cry of our heart of your people Come Lord Jesus come God fill us with your spirit God may that spirit be so full in us That it overflows into our homes And our workplaces and our neighborhoods

God our country, God this world We need you God thank you, thank you for being with us today God thank you for being in this moment God may we continue to chase after you today And it's because of his name that we pray That all of God's people say Amen, Amen Let's give the Lord a shout of praise As you guys are finding your seats I just want to say we're so glad that you've chosen to spend Your Sunday with us here at Life Fellowship If this is your first time, your 10th time, your 100th time But you've never had a chance to meet us, to meet our staff I want to encourage you to text the word NO new to 51010. It's a great way for us to meet you, for you to meet us. Or maybe you want to go like one step further. You want to come take part in our GrowthStrike classes to learn more about our history, how we're governed, what we believe, and how you can become a part of what God is doing here at Life Fellowship. You can text the word growth to 51010 as well. Can I just tell y'all a secret? You could almost text any word to 51010 and somebody's going to text you, okay? So just 51010, whatever you want to say, we got you, okay? It's going to be a phenomenal, phenomenal day. Man, worship was thick this morning, as you just saw. Man, it is good to be in God's house. We're kicking off a brand new series today called On the Rock. We're going to look at the early days of the church, how what they did 2,000 years ago is still relevant today. And I actually have the privilege of bringing God's word today. So if we've never met, my name is Matt Ferguson. I have the pleasure of serving as the Next Gen Pastor, which is just a fancy way of saying that I get to hang out with the cool kids who lead our kids, students, and young adult ministries. That's y'all, okay? That's okay. I'll beg for it. I don't care. Anytime I have the mic, I'm going to say this. Man, I've been doing this for many a decades,

more than I want to admit. The Lord is doing something in the lives of young people. Gen Alpha, Gen Z, they're going to bring the house down in the name of Jesus. And what's happening on Wednesday nights, what's happening in kids on Sunday mornings, our Thursday night young adult gatherings, it is nothing other than holy. It is a holy, holy fire that is burning. And I hope that you're connected to it in some way. I hope your kids are connected. I hope your young adults are connected, your students are in. And if you don't have any of those things, then I would pray that you would join us in the trenches. Because let me tell you, these kids are hungry, and they are looking for people who will look them in the eye and help disciple them and help encourage them. And there's not a better seat in the house than on the front row of watching kids and teenagers chase after the Lord. Amen. Amen. So there's my plug. I can't talk and unlock iPads at the same time. I apologize. We're going to be in the book of Matthew today, Matthew chapter 16. So as you're turning in your Bibles there, we are going to unpack some of Jesus's teachings and how he how he led the disciples. We're going to apply that to our lives and see what the Lord wants to do today. But before we get there, I wanted to show you a picture of my family from what Gen Z would refer to as the late 1900s, or what I would call just the 90s. So this is peak 90s right here. This is my mom, my dad, my little brother. This is, I don't know if y'all know what this is. Maybe maybe Gen Xers can help me. Do y'all know what Olin Mills is? Okay. So once, okay. Back in the day, before we had phones and cameras in our pockets, your mom made an appointment at like Olin Mills or Sears or JC Penney's, and you went and got a family portrait done. Now I can guarantee you in this picture, my mom has a coupon in her purse for a free eight by 10. And my dad had no idea that we were getting family pictures done. He just knew he was supposed to be at this address at five o'clock. So this photo is just very peak 90s. When I think about my family, this is the season that I think about. And what I would love to tell you is that that handsome stud in the back there who got those glasses at Pearl Vision down at the mall, who really thought he had it going on, but did not have any actual game. I would love to tell you that I was in like the fourth grade, but I'm pretty sure I'm a freshman in high school in that picture, possibly a sophomore. So that explains a lot, doesn't it? So that's my mom and dad. My dad, who I wanted to talk a little bit about today. Excuse me, you guys can take that down. Nobody else wants to see that. My dad was a car enthusiast. And I don't just mean like my dad was a fan of cars and went to car shows

and read car magazines and watch car documentaries. Yes, he did all of those things. But he spent most of his weekends slugging through junkyards, collecting pieces of certified junk, hauled them to our garage, and then would build and restore cars from the ground up. Now, if you are a car fanatic, or if you've been raised by a car fanatic, you know that these group of people that God loves and created, they take their cars super duper serious. So somebody said amen. So my dad would try to teach my brother and I how to like work on cars. And I'm like, sorry, dad, these hands are silky soft and they're staying that way. Neither of us got the car gift, the car bug. But one thing that my brother and I... both agreed on was that obviously dad is building these cars because he's going to give us a car when we turn sixteen because you know so it made sense in our brains at the time and my dad, it was true, my dad wanted to see us get vehicles and that sort of stuff but he had a bunch of rules you had to change your own tire, you had to do an oil change, yadda yadda yadda, all that but lo and behold his biggest rule was if you want to drive a car you have to have a job shocking revelation isn't it so at fifteen my dad took me down to the local grocery store and I got a job as a courtesy clerk which just meant I stood at the end of the register and I said paper or plastic and then I bagged your groceries wrong and all the things so I have this job as a whatever you call it, bagger, courtesy clerk in Tennessee where I'm from where I was raised when you turn fifteen at your sophomore year of high school you have to have your permit before school starts because they taught driver's ed as a part of the curriculum

so at fifteen in Tennessee you can go get your permit and all you have to know to get your permit is which one's the gas and which one's the brake and that's about it they then hand you your permit and a can of tobacco and send you on your way hill people, that's kind of how we do it so I had my permit, I probably even had my license at this point and I had been working for a couple years, I was probably sixteen or so and one spring night I had a shift down at the Kroger's, I'm going to work and we had a really severe thunderstorm in fact it turned into a couple of tornadoes that were kind of historic for the area people still talk about that tornado at ninety four, like it was some big thing but I was working that night on the night the tornado came through and it had been bad weather all day and it was a Friday night and our store manager, Mr. Kersheeder came down and gathered up all the courtesy clerks and said, okay fellas I'm closing the store, I'm going to send you guys home, I want you to go straight home don't stop anywhere, just go straight home okay now again in the nineteen hundreds we did not have cell phones so the rule was I was supposed to call on the pay phone to tell my parents, hey I got to work, hey I'm about to leave work if you didn't have a quarter you called collect and you just said hey I'm on my way home and you hung up real quick before they could charge you some of you know what I'm talking about but this night because it was an emergency I jumped in the car, off I go, I didn't tell anybody I was coming I got this figured out and so let's just be honest, it's raining, the roads are wet, we know where

this is headed right I'm driving at the prescribed speed that all the road signs said, plus about thirty because it's an emergency, it's safe in an emergency to speed and so I'm turning on to, I'm almost home and I'm turning on to one of our back country roads there and the radio cuts off and the national weather emergency starts to play, hang on a second the radio is basically like Spotify except you just had to listen to whatever was playing, you couldn't skip anything so the radio cuts off you know what I mean like so the radio cuts off and the national weather emergency and it always said the same thing this is a test except tonight it said this is not a test seek shelter immediately so this is happening while I take this turn and being a sixteen-year-old with a fully developed frontal cortex let go of both hands off the steering wheel to turn up the radio instantly lost control of the car you know I'm bouncing between guardrails I'm spinning, there's a gas station kind of at the curve as well and I'm headed towards the retaining wall and I'm, it's just like the movies everything slows down this is it, like I'm sixteen, all I can think of my dad is going to kill me and I'm watching the bumper go one way, a tire went the other, a glass, all the things and I'm like

and so I did what any mature, masculine guy would do in my scenario I just closed my eyes and screamed like a girl and it's funny now because as I'm spinning towards the retaining wall just assured that my life is over there are many of us in the room today who are in that same boat who feel like life is spinning out of control and we're just headed to disaster maybe it's the anxiety that you can't shake maybe it's, maybe it's the phone call maybe it's the diagnosis or maybe you're like some of us you're a duck you've got it cool, calm, and collected on top of the water but just below the surface kick, kick, kick, kick, kick as fast as you can with panic, with anxiety, trying to control it control everything. And here's what I want you to see today. The God never promised us, Jesus never promised us a storm free life, but he did promise us if we would build our lives on a solid foundation that he would stand with us and that we would always have that to stand on. So I wanna invite you to turn to Matthew 16, starting in verse 32, says this, when Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, who do people say the son of man is? Well, they replied, some say John the Baptist, some say Elijah and others say Jeremiah

or one of the other prophets. And here's a really key point we're gonna come back to here in a second. Then he asked them, but who do you say I am? And Simon Peter answered, you're the Messiah, the son of the living God. Jesus replied, you are blessed Simon, son of John, because my father in heaven has revealed this to you. You did not learn this from any human being. Now I say to you that you are Peter, which means rock. And upon this rock, I will build my church and all the powers of hell will not conquer it. And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you forbid on earth will be forbidden in heaven. And whatever you permit on earth will be permitted in heaven. Now, before we jump in to what he's saying here, let's back up and let's get a little context about what's happening in this passage of scripture. So what you see here in Matthew 16, as you know, Matthew is one of the gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, those are our four gospels. Those are the accounts we have of the life, ministry, death and resurrection of Jesus. And so by the time we get to Matthew 16, in this account of the gospels, he has already taught the Sermon on the Mount. He's already done the Beatitudes. He's fed the 4,000, he's fed the 5,000. He has healed, he has delivered, he has cast out, he has done all of those things.

He is culturally at the top, he's at the peak. And he knows something the disciples don't know, that we know because we have the scriptures, that his death, his crucifixion is on the horizon. And he needs to begin building up the disciples and teaching them some things so that they can be prepared to handle that inevitable storm. Now, culturally, what was going on was that Jesus was teaching and thousands upon thousands of people were coming to hear his teachings. And there was a ton of confusion about who Jesus was. He even asked the disciples, who do you, who do people say I am? And they say, well, they think you're this, they think you're that, you're a moral leader, you're a prophet, you're this. The religious leaders of the day, they were threatened by Jesus. So they were saying that he was a false prophet. There was all this confusion. In fact, culture was very, very divided into an us versus them and nobody really knew what to believe. That kind of sounds vaguely familiar. I mean, they didn't have Facebook to post their opinions on, but there for sure was confusion. And the thing I love about Jesus

is also the thing that drives me the craziest. Is sometimes I just want Jesus, I want the Lord, I want the Holy Spirit to just give me the whole plan. Give me all 32 steps, let me know which step I'm on and what I gotta do to get to the next one, right? But Jesus doesn't work like that. And even with his disciples, as he's pitching this, as he's asking this questions, he's teeing them up for what's coming. And it isn't until Peter jumps up and says, oh, you're the Messiah, you're the son of God. And Jesus responds, the only way you know that is because God in heaven, my father has told you that. Not because I've told you, not because someone else has told you. And so what's interesting here is that, by the way, I grew up like Baptist, like super Baptist. Any other super Baptist in the room? Boom, okay, we'll have a support group after church. I used to be taught this passage of scripture in vacation Bible school and Sunday school and growing up over the years. And I was always taught that Jesus picked Peter and Peter built the church on Peter the rock, right? Or at least that's the way I heard it. But as I've gotten older, I've realized that that thought doesn't really pass what I call the Hobby Lobby test. Anybody familiar with Hobby Lobby? Men, Hobby Lobby is a place that your wife goes

because she has a coupon for 50% off, but they've already marked everything up 50% to give you that coupon. And she's gonna come home with some new decor and you're gonna have to hang some stuff on the wall. Okay, and in one section of Hobby Lobby, they have like a whole section of like cross stitch pillows and shiplap and like, I don't know. They've just like slap stuff on there. And they have like this, like these Bible. verses they put on there and they always pick the bright, colorful, for I know the plans I have for you. But if you've really studied that scripture, that verse is really, really super-duper heavy and not as encouraging as everybody thinks it is. Or they put on things on that sound really good but don't pass the scripture test. I was in there, my wife was in there a while back. Almost messed up. My wife was in there a while back and I was told that she saw this wooden, I don't know what you call it, plaque sign or whatever, and it said, the Lord won't give you more than you can handle. And I was like, bull. That's not true because I already got more than I can handle and I don't need a $36 piece of shiplap to tell me that. Scripture says the Lord will allow storms to come and that storms will reveal what your foundation is built upon. So it might sound good, it might look good on the wall, it might even look good in your Instagram bio, daughter of the king, not holding too much. But it doesn't hold up to scripture. Who do you say I am? Because what you believe about Jesus determines what you build your life on. So when he drills in with Peter, it's not because Peter was the best one. Hello? In like two chapters he's going to cut off a dude's ear, deny Christ and go into hiding. He didn't have it all figured out. He was a mess. I had a Bible college professor one time tell me that you could just take the word Peter out of scripture and put the word Bubba in and it would be the same. Because I know a lot of Bubbas in my family. We're from the hills of Tennessee. He created the Bubbas. They're loud, they're passionate, they have big feelings, they are

not articulate. But they love people. Peter loved the Lord and he did not always get it right. But Peter knew who Jesus was. And that is what we're building the church on. We're building the church on that Jesus is the Son of God, the risen and living Savior. Now we're going to get into it in a second. I just want to preview this a little bit. I'm not out to hurt your feelings. I'm not out to step on your toes. I'm just telling you this is what scripture shows us. Jesus knew ultimately that there was a storm coming. And what happens when storms come? I'm not going to speak for you on this one. But I know what I do when storms come. I'm just going to be honest. Man, what did I do wrong? God must be really, really mad at me. Because if we're not careful, we will develop this thought that God is just out there with the ultimate radar detector, just waiting for us to mess up so he can give us a ticket. And scripture says that's not as hard at all, but he is the father who loves his children. He loved them enough that he sent the only son he ever had to die for us so that we could experience eternal life and freedom. But if I've built my life around rules, if I've built my life around my preferences, I've already missed the boat. In fact, when Jesus said he was going to build the church on Peter the Rock, he was building it on the revelation that Peter shared. The church was built on the perfect Savior. So Jesus must be foundational to our core beliefs, not just he's an important person in historical times. Sometimes I'll hear, well, he was just a good teacher. He was a great prophet. He had some really good thoughts about how we should live our lives. I hated what would Jesus do. I hated that thing because I was like, yeah, I don't even know. Because we were using that to enforce behaviors to be good. And scripture is clear. We are not good people, but he loved us anyway. And when we begin to build lives and we begin to build things that we can control, we build lives on our success, on what others think of us, on our perfect family, in our perfect Instagram square. I don't mean to keep picking on Instagram. It's just on my brain today. When we go through life shallow and never swimming in the depth of who the Lord is, we don't have the firm foundation. Now, the church was never built on perfect people. It was built on a perfect Savior. And Jesus did that because storms don't create foundations. They reveal them. Here's how I know that. Matthew chapter 7 says this, anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise like a person who builds a house on solid rock. Though the rain comes in torrents and the flood waters rise and the winds beat against the house, it won't collapse because it's built on bedrock.

But anyone who hears my teaching and doesn't obey it is foolish, like a person who builds a house on sand. When the rains and the floods come, the winds beat against that house, it will collapse with a mighty crash. Now, here's what I want you to see. Two builders, two houses, one storm. One. You can be the most spirit-filled, scripture-memory-loving at the church every time the doors are open, serving on all the teams, giving all the things, and it will not be enough when the storm comes if you have not settled this in your heart. If you've ever been with us when we do our baptism celebrations, when I baptize, I used to say this to kids, now I say it to everybody because it's foundational. I tell kids, I tell people when we get in the baptismal water, if I'm baptizing you, here's what I'm going to say. Hey, the water in this pool today is just regular old tap water. There's nothing special about it. We could throw some soap in here and you could take a bath and come out looking good and smelling good and shiny and clean, but that's not what's going to clean you. That's not what's going to change your heart. It's your choice to follow Jesus that you're publicly declaring today. It doesn't mean you're never going to have a problem again. So many of us come to faith assuming that once I get this settled, life is just smooth sailing. Anybody want to be brave enough to say they're in the smooth sailing portion of life yet? Trouble will come. The storm will reveal what your foundation is on. I'm going to be incredibly, this is going to sound silly, but incredibly transparent. My wife, God love her, has removed from me the responsibility of going to the grocery store. It's praise God, but here's why she did that. Sometimes if I'm moving quick, if I'm in, I'm out, I got the list, sometimes I will deviate from the shopping list. It's not my fault it was on sale. So the breaking point was when I came home with eight boxes of Captain Crunch. And she said, honestly, was it free? And I was like, nope, it was buy two, get two. So I bought four, got four. And she was like, we will never eat this much. And so we had an intense time of discussion and fellowship. And when she drove me back to Kroger to return the Captain Crunch, I told her, I said, honestly, you know what I think it is? And I'm being dead serious.

I think sometimes I'm worried we're not going to have enough. Sometimes the algorithm shows me like doomsday preppers. Next thing you know, I want to be a doomsday prepper. But the scripture says he dresses the lilies in the field. He dresses the lilies in the field. Scripture says that the Lord is my shepherd and I shall not want. He's not talking about Captain Crunch. He's talking about fulfillment of joy, of love, of patience, of being willing to put my life in his hands, out of my control. Because he wants what's best for his children, for his kingdom. The storm will reveal what the foundation, what your foundation is built upon. The pressure of life only reveals what was already there. And so I say those things. So now that we've established that the church was built on Jesus as the Lord and Savior, the Messiah, we want to build a firm foundation. I want to flip over to Acts. The book of Acts chapter two says this. And this is where I want to camp out just for a little bit today. Acts 2 42 says this, all the believers, excuse me, let me stop. Sorry. What's already happened here in this scripture is Jesus has already been crucified, died, resurrected, spent time with his people, has already ascended to heaven. This is now the days of early. Church to go forth and go forth and make disciples and baptize. That's what this is talking about. Disciples are now out Spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ. Here's where we're at Acts 2 all the believers devoted themselves to the Apostles teaching and to fellowship and to sharing in meals including the Lord's Supper and to prayer a deep sense of all came over them all and the Apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders and all the believers met together in one Place and shared everything they had listen to this They sold their property and possessions and shared the money with those in need They worshiped together at the temple each day They met in homes for the Lord's Supper and shared their meals with great joy and generosity all the while praising God and enjoying the goodwill of all the people and my favorite line in all of Scripture and Each day the Lord added to their fellowship those who were being saved. Why did he do that?

Why did he add to their numbers? Because they had already decided who Jesus was They were building a church that honored Jesus that lived out the scriptures the way the disciples had taught them now Here's where I get a little frustrated with what I call the Western Americanized Church Is somewhere over the time We have begun to build churches around our personal preferences I Told y'all I grew up Baptist and now we're here to AG Church and I'm like, this is a whole nother ballgame We have built church we have made it to fit us Well, which service time is most convenient for my schedule today Well, can we get in and get out? Can we like if like when they pray at the end Let's just go ahead and scoot out because we got to get to lunch or brunch or the t-ball field or whatever And I'm not hating on anybody. I get those things But can you imagine Some of the feedback we get on staff the music was too loud We know the music wasn't loud enough tell the other guy You should add this service time I can only come at this time so do a service at this time The message was too long. The message was too short. The room was too crowd. The room wasn't big enough It was too hot it was too cold and again, I'm not hating on anybody and It's not just us. I Have friends that work at other places. I see this developing in our church culture. We have made it about us and Friends it ain't about us Okay, it's not about us I Had somebody that I love dearly love love dearly that came to me and said well I'm not gonna do this this this and this because I'm in a season of receiving and I was like, I'm going to murder you Not because Jesus doesn't call us to rest two seasons of rest two seasons of restoration two seasons of recovery

Yes, he calls us to those things But when you're treating church like the passive act that we do Let me tell you something church is a full-contact sport Sleeves up game on get in the game It's not about us. It's not about our preferences if I'm depending on whoever is standing on this stage to feed me spiritually once a week. I'm already behind the eight ball Cuz what happens if I get hungry? I'm gonna go to the kitchen. We don't have any Captain Crunch. I'm gonna go to 380 I'm gonna go up and down 380 with all with every type of food you could think of if I can't find what I want There I'm gonna go to downtown McKinney and get something twice as expensive and fancy And if that didn't get it, I'm gonna probably wind up at the Waffle House because the Waffle House has never let me down You're treating church the same way I Can get what I want over here and I can do this and I can do that. But in reality, where have you planted yourself? What are you doing to feed yourself? Are we studying the scriptures personally at home on our face before the Lord asking him to reveal himself to us? It's not the church's job to feed you It's our job to challenge you to encourage you to equip you to disciple you and those things are not comfortable Hard to believe it but my wife and I've been working out We go to this like they lock you in a sauna and you do all these exercises and it's Disgusting and it's hot and it's gross and I hate it and I don't ever want to go ever But I go and I sweat and I complain and it's not a good time and I whine and she gives me a dirty look and says shut up and every time at the end I'm like man I'm glad we did that I'm sore I'm sweaty but I can feel my body changing church should be the same I shouldn't be begging you to come serve with us and kids we're raising up the next generation people are going to stand on this stage and teach us God's and you guys want to come ask me again I'm not hitting at anybody it's the same on any other ministry team God's called us to be a family God's called us to stand on this firm foundation because just like the early church didn't build a church around preference they built their labs around Jesus because they understood what John 19 says when Jesus hung on that cross and he said it is

finished he had already completed the work it's our job to go and tell peace will only come from building your life on the one who already finished the work peace will only come from building your life on the one who already finished the work I'm not here to scold you I'm not here to make you feel bad I am just like you I would love to tell you that I get up every day at 5 a.m. and spend two hours weeping and gnashing of teeth as I read the Old Testament that's just not reality I would love to tell you that every time I face a challenge I face a storm that I don't get a little nervous honestly that I don't get a little nervous honestly Pastor Trent can walk by my office and go hey do you have a minute just to step into my office I just I want to run something by you and instantly instantly in my brain it's like well I'm going to Costco to get a job it's not that we're perfect and have it figured out but as for me and my house we will serve the Lord that night as I was spinning towards certain doom towards that retaining wall I just knew my life was over my dad would never forgive this I did all the things he told me not to do I did every single one of them the car came to a stop missed the retaining wall some people from the gas station came out to collect pieces took me inside let me call my dad I would love to tell you it was I would love to tell you it was a gentle conversation snot bubbles tears hyperventilating I'm about a wreck but let me tell you something we weren't far from the house and in less than two minutes my dad pulled up super fast through that carton park jumped out dads have a way of walking when they're angry which is more like a bull charge so this bull is charging at me and I thought okay in fact when he got out of the car he was in his sleep shorts you got me a ratty sweatshirt and his dress loafers and I thought he's so mad he didn't even get dressed and he comes across the parking lot in about three steps and I'm doing the whole thing and I'll never forget my dad the classic 90s Clark Griswold dad grabbed my shoulders boy look at me look at me you okay did you hit your head are you bleeding is your neck hurt are you cut anywhere are you bruised your bumper boy I do not care I do not care about that car tell me you're okay I think I'm okay and on my deathbed I will remember that hug when he grasped me and held me and I could feel his chest beating wildly out of control I realized as dumb as it sounds my dad loved me more than that car and it was also not the biggest storm

I would ever face in my whole life they were much much bigger much much worse but I knew from that moment on not only did my dad love me but God had placed me under his leadership and that God was with me it would be years before I unpacked what all that meant as far as my salvation experience but I wonder if how many of us in this room are in that same boat when life starts to get scary when gas prices go up When you got to take a loan to buy eggs When you're worried that your spouse is gonna see your deepest darkest fears The anxiety that builds in life The storm that is raging it may be loud and the waves may crash against us But when we stand on the foundation of Jesus Christ, we will not fail It may hurt it may be uncomfortable But the truth of the matter is He is with us Let's pray together God today as we Confess these truths God as we stand before you as your children God Would you speak to us in this moment God would you release more of your spirit? Got that whatever the storm we may be facing the storm We may just have come out of the storm that we're entering into God, would you instill in us today in this moment that you are with us? God forgive us For making this about anything other than you God Would you continue To move in us and through us and God may we see your kingdom reign here on earth as it is in heaven And we pray this all because of Jesus. Amen Amen amen, what'd you guys think of pastor Matt's message? Incredible

So many things that we can take away and I want to encourage you no matter who's Preaching what message they give that it's an incredible opportunity when you get a brunch or lunch Maybe you're by yourself and you can just reflect or maybe with your friends or your family but it's an incredible time to ask how the Holy Spirit spoke to you and share that with each other and It'll be interesting to see what the Lord tells you and how he sharpens you So I want to encourage you that every time someone shares a word that you do that So by the way, if you don't know who I am, my name is Trent wood I'm the senior executive pastor here at life fellowship. I also serve on the Board of Elders So I wanted to give you an announcement on behalf of the Board of Elders about our beloved pastors Chris and Tatum Lindbergh Now some of you may have already received an email So Pastor Chris has acknowledged to the Board of Elders and the leadership of Assemblies of God that he has a past personal struggle And so we've come alongside him in unity. We love him. We care for him We love pastor Tatum as well, and we've laid together a plan and a process together That can lead to restoration and healing So we're excited to be here A plan and a process together That can lead to restoration and healing So he has stepped away for a period of time from life fellowship and from the pulpit so he can walk out that plan and walk out that process and Focus on this time together So the best thing we can do is just pray for them and love on them and come together in unity as the body of Christ No, I know some things in the statement may leave unclear and you want some more information and there's some uncertainty But I hope that you can understand we want to honor him With a private matter and not disclose those things as you would want for yourself as well But one thing we're committed to as a Board of Elders is to give you information when we have it available So in the coming weeks, I'm sure we'll get a chance to give you an update on that So with uncertainty, it's uncomfortable I understand we acknowledge that and we're sorry for that Unknowns are not fun But the one thing that is certain and I have a feeling all of you would agree

Is that we serve a great God? That he is on his throne He is in control and his will will be done We can rally around that truth and The best thing you can do in this moment is pray Now a lot of times we think about that We think about prayer as a passive thing rather than an active aggressive thing And I want to encourage you to see it for what it is James chapter 5 tells us that a prayer of a righteous person is Powerful and effective All right, powerful and effective. That's not something that's passive That's something that's aggressive, but we're giving it to the one that's in control so, please Pray for pastor Chris and Tatum love on them. Pray for life fellowship in this congregation. Let's come together in unity and let's put it in the hands of the one that's in control. All right, so with that, on the note of prayer, I want to close in prayer, all of us together. And by the way, when I close, we're going to have our pastors and congregational leaders up front to have you come forward and pray as well. Maybe you want to pray about this situation. It's uncomfortable, it's unknown, it's uncertain, you're hurting, you care for them. Come forward and we'll pray for you. Maybe you have something that's personal. Maybe there's an illness and you need healing. Maybe there's financial breakthrough that you need right now. Maybe there's a new job. Maybe there's some sort of suffering or mourning that you're going through. Please come forward. Please come forward. We want to be a body of believers that pray with each other and for each other. All right, so let's pray. Heavenly Father, we're so grateful that you are on your throne and that you are in control. Lord, the storms reveal our foundation. I love that what Pastor Matt said, the storms reveal our foundation. And let this be a moment that we can reveal that you are our firm foundation. We don't have to know all the answers. We don't have to try to white knuckle and be in control because you are in control. No person, no man, no woman is going to get in the way of your will. So we pray, Lord, for your will to be done. We pray over Pastor Chris and

Pastor Tatum. We love them. We care for them. We pray that you would encourage them during this time. I pray over this congregation that if anybody is hurting or mourning that you would love on them, Lord, that they would just sense your presence and have a peace that surpasses all understanding. And Lord, I want to close with a blessing over everyone. The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord turn his face to you and give you his amazing peace. Amen. You're dismissed.