But What's in Your Heart - JJ Vasquez

♪ ♪ ♪ Yo, yo, yo, hello, hello. What's up, Journey Church? Hey, Journey Online family, how y'all doing? Good afternoon, morning, evening, wherever you're watching from. We're so glad you could be with us today. To introduce ourselves, my name is Julian. We're honored to be with you. That's right, my name is Kyla. And my name is Jaylene. And we are so excited to be here with you on this Sunday. That's right. We have so many good things happening this week, but we had a great thing happening last week. That's right. And that's because Pastor Liz preached. She brought the house down. What did y'all get from it? I would say for me, to pursue pain. I feel like the world tells us that we should avoid pain, we should avoid uncomfortability, but God wants us to grow, and sometimes that's why they're called growing pains, you know, full circle moments. That's good, that's really good. What about you guys? Mine was definitely unforgiveness,

because that was a part of my testimony. So when she said that unforgiveness is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to get sick, it made me very quiet. That's right. I was like, that's so true. And I don't know why it makes it silly, but unforgiveness is a very real feeling that a lot of us deal with. Yes, it's true. Yes, absolutely. No, I loved it. I loved the part where she was talking about humility, and just being humble and thinking of yourself less. Yeah. Well, how do you think of yourself less? That's so true. That's good. If I think more about God's people, the burden is more about how can I minister to them, how can I live on them, and less on what am I getting. And the more I think about what I'm not getting, the more unhappier I am. Yes. So it's just so good. The whole message is good. It's shifting your focus. That's really good. Absolutely. Amen.

And it's a very exciting day, because a new series is beginning today. Oh, really? Yes. Pastor JJ is up there, and it's an incredible work. It's really going to bless your life, as well as baby dedications today. There's a lot going on. Baby ditties. Yes. So let's head on down to Sasha. She's in the lobby of our Fern Park campus. Sasha, how you doing down there? Happy Sunday. How's everyone doing? I'm so happy to be here and share this beautiful day with you guys. My name is Sasha, if I haven't had the pleasure of meeting you yet. And I'm one of your new online hosts. And I'm so excited. As you can see, the lobby is filling up. Everybody is ready to receive God's word. Pastor JJ has our message today that came from the Lord. And also, today is child dedication. And I think that's such a beautiful opportunity. And say, Lord, thank you for giving me this gift. And now I give them to you. And just to be able to teach them and build in a relationship with Jesus.

And God, it's just so exciting, because I didn't get that growing up. I grew up Pentecostal, and it was like, go to church on Sundays, and that is it. And you can't do this, and you can't do that. You can't do this, and you can't do that. I didn't build a relationship with Jesus until I was in my mid-20s. And just to be able to have that community and building relationships with Jesus and those around me. And if you're looking for community, download the Journey Church app. We have different types of community there. We have Her Story community group chat. We have online community group chat. I mean, you guys are already here watching online together. You might as well get to know each other, get to know where you guys are watching from, pray for each other, and just build that community. And it also has resources of how to learn how to fast. And they also have small groups and dream teams if you want to know what dream teams are available, like, go ahead and do that. Download the app right now. Also, we have YouTube speaking about apps. Go ahead and subscribe. Get the notifications every time we have new content coming up. And we also have the After Talk that you guys have been asking for

since Love, Sex, and Marriage. So now it's out there. Pastor Liz preached last time, last Sunday, and there's the After Talk right there. So if you want to get in her brain and what she didn't get to speak about on Sunday, go ahead and subscribe to the YouTube channel because it's going to be there, and we're so excited. And right now, I'm going to send you guys to Chantel, who's going to lead us to worship and prayer. So I'll see you guys after. Thank you. Thank you so much, Sasha, for letting them know that I am not going to be singing today, but I will be praying for the people on the other side of the screen. And if we have not gotten the pleasure of meeting, my name is Chantel. I get the absolute joy to be in the house of the Lord today. And I've been here all weekend, and I can't get enough. I'm filled with the spirit, and I hope you are as well. So I am in the auditorium, and look at the people filling it up to get the house, be in the house of the Lord, but most importantly, get the word of God today. And it's so beautiful to see what everybody is just waiting for. You might be on the other side of the screen today, and you might be asking God for something.

You might be looking for something. You might be searching for something. But I guarantee you that you are here for a reason, and God already ordained the day that you were going to watch this live stream. So we're so glad that you're here. Now, something that the Lord put on my heart that I would love to share with his people today is John 8, verse 12. It says that, God, I am the light of the world, and anybody that follows me will not stumble in darkness. So what does that mean for you? That means that even if your situation situation looks dark even if your situation looks low even if your situation looks like it's not gonna turn around let me remind you that the Sun always comes back up and in Jesus name he's able to redeem he's able to replenish he's able to restrain and give you the strength to be able to go through whatever you're going through right now so in that same heart posture I would like to pray for you and if you feel comfortable let's pray together father God thank you Jesus for all the people that you have on your live stream today God let them be able to encounter you father God let their spirit be filled today let them be able to feel you hear you see you God and at the end of the message God they are more and more and more willing to follow you Christ Jesus we love you so much we lift you up we glorify you and we give you all the praise and all the honor and Jesus mighty name amen so guys we're about to worship and however you worship if you sing if you dance if you praise if you stand let's do it together and let's glorify the Lord and receive the Word of God and we will see you after service

good morning good morning Jenny Church who's happy to be in the house of the Lord this morning father we welcome your presence here for being here with us have your way in Jesus mighty name Oh Fix my heart Yeah Now every lie… sing it all Now every lie is broken because of the words you spoke I trust the way you handled me I was made for you And now every curse is broken because of the words you spoken I trust the way you made me I was made for you I've got a spirit of grace for the heaviness I've got a song to raise in the midst of it I've got a sound mind Yeah, I've got a sound mind Sing it, you can You give a spirit of grace for the heaviness Give us a song to raise in the midst of it I've got a sound mind Yeah, I've got a sound mind Yeah Everything we need we find in Jesus Oh In spirit of fear you know power here You must leave In spirit of shame you don't know my name

You must leave I'm seated above with power and love Oh, I'm free Greater, greater is He who reigns over me Yes, He reigns Receive joy Receive joy this morning It's available to you No matter what you're going through Use your sound mind Receive joy Yeah Receive joy Give us a sound mind I've got a spirit of grace for the heaviness I've got a song to raise in the midst of it I've got a sound mind I've got a sound mind ♪ I've got a sound mind, you give ♪ ♪ You give a spirit of praise for the heaviness ♪ ♪ Give us a song to rest in the wisdom in it ♪ ♪ I've got a sound mind, I've got a sound mind ♪ Yeah, anybody got a song to sing this morning of how God has brought you through? Thank you, Jesus. ♪ Receive joy, receive it, receive it, receive it ♪ ♪ Receive joy, you give us a sound mind ♪ ♪ Receive joy, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah ♪ ♪ Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah ♪ ♪ Receive joy, you give us a sound mind ♪

♪ Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah ♪ God, we thank you for moments like this where we could receive your joy in your presence. And God, we thank you for your presence, presence that changes, that fulfills. Lord, we thank you because you're here. Your word said that it's better to be in your house than a thousand elsewhere. Come on, could you lift your hands in response to his comfort, his goodness? We sing. ♪ Even the sparrow finds a home ♪ ♪ There is a shelter when there's nowhere to roam ♪ ♪ There is a covering from the storm ♪ ♪ I'll find my refuge in the house of the Lord ♪ ♪ In the house of the Lord ♪ Come on, we sing. ♪ So draw me close, let me stay here, Lord of hosts ♪ ♪ I'll find rest here in your courts ♪ ♪ I'll find rest for my soul ♪ ♪ I'll have a home in the house of the Lord ♪ Come on, we sing. ♪ There is a table where I belong ♪ ♪ Set by my Father, close to me ♪ ♪ Safe in his grace, under his wings ♪ ♪ I want to dwell there for eternity ♪ ♪ So draw me close, let me stay here, Lord of hosts ♪ ♪ I'll remain here in your courts ♪ ♪ I'll find rest for my soul ♪ ♪ I'll have a home in the house of the Lord ♪

♪ I hope I find peace in your presence ♪ Come on, if you enjoy his presence, could you give him a shout of praise? Could you worship him? Could you lift his name up right now? Come on, we sing. ♪ Right here, here in your house, I was lost, now I am found ♪ ♪ And there isn't a doubt that you love me, Lord ♪ ♪ Here, here in your house, I was lost, now I am found ♪ ♪ And there isn't a doubt that you love me, Lord ♪ ♪ Here, here in your house, I was lost, now I am found ♪ ♪ And there isn't a doubt that you love me, Lord ♪ ♪ That you love me, Lord ♪ ♪ Right here, here in your house, I was lost, now I am found ♪ ♪ And there isn't a doubt that you love me, Lord ♪ ♪ You love me Lord, oh yeah God ♪ ♪ I would put my peace in You Lord ♪ ♪ To get down, You love me Lord, oh yeah God ♪ ♪ I get down, I get down, I get down, I get down, I get down ♪ ♪ You love me Lord, how I love You Lord, how I love You Lord ♪ ♪ How, how, how I need You Lord, so draw me Lord ♪ ♪ Let me stay here, with the Lord above ♪ ♪ The Lord above, how I need Him right here right now ♪ ♪ I can feel, I can hold the Lord's arms around me ♪ ♪ He's all the hope, He's all the hope in the house of God ♪ ♪ So draw me close, draw me close, let me stay here with the Lord above ♪ ♪ Let me stay here with the Lord above, Lord above, Lord above ♪ ♪ Stay right here in Your courts, in Your courts, in Your hearts ♪ ♪ I have rest for my soul, yes I have the hope in the house of the Lord ♪ ♪ In the house of the Lord ♪

♪ In Your courts, I have rest for my soul, yes I have the hope in the house of the Lord ♪ ♪ In Your courts, I have rest for my soul, yes I have the hope in the house of the Lord ♪ I just want to pray at this time. There's someone on our hearts to pray for her name is Isha. She's a member of our online community. And right now she would like prayer over provision and her career decisions. If you feel comfortable, we're just gonna extend our hands toward her and anyone else dealing with this at this time. Heavenly Father, we come to You, Lord, and we thank You and we praise You first and foremost, God. We thank You, God, that we can find refuge in You. We pray over Isha and anyone else dealing with provision at this time, God. Lord, I pray that You give them the peace, God, that if You care for the sparrows, Lord, how much more You care for Your children, God. We just pray, Lord, that right now, wherever Isha or anyone else dealing with provision is watching from, God, that they receive that peace because You don't promise an absence of storms. You just promise Your peace within them. We thank You and we praise You. In Jesus' mighty name we pray. Amen. Amen. And online family, if you're dealing with something that's tough or if you're celebrating something that's amazing, we want to be walking with you. You can share this with us by submitting a prayer request or a praise report. You can do that by scanning the QR code below or even going on our Journey Church app. That's right. Happy Sunday, Journey Church Online. What's up? We are so happy that you decided to join us on this very special Sunday. If I haven't had the honor and privilege of meeting you yet, my name is Jaylene, and I get to serve here as the online director. That's right. My name is Kyla, and I get the pleasure of serving as one of your online hosts today. And my name is Julian. I also get to be one of your online hosts today. We also want to shout out a couple other members of our online team, Janelle and Diana.

We appreciate y'all. They're the chat moderators in the chat with y'all right now. And another special group we want to shout out, y'all. Those watching via the Pando app. Our friends and family watching from correctional facilities across the country, hear me when we say this. We love you, and we're so glad that we can be with you today. Absolutely. I also want to shout out our first-time guest, FTG. If you're a first-time guest, please type FTG in the chat, and we will make sure to connect with you all and make you feel welcome today. We're so glad that you're here. It's your first time, but it does not have to be your last time. That's right. Absolutely. Listen, if you want to take that next step, we make it super easy for you, because it's called Next Steps. Go ahead and scan the QR code below, because today we're having a class at 1.30 p.m. with me, and I'm going to be able to hear your story, hear what God has done in your life, but most importantly, help you discover your God-given purpose. Make sure you scan below so I can give you a call and get to know you a little bit better. Praise the Lord for Next Steps. That's why all of us are here. Absolutely. Next Steps is what we all went through. Even the director, Jaylene, went through Next Steps back then. except for those four steps that Pastor JJ used to teach it. That's a throwback. Super throwback. Truly, and there's only two steps now. Yeah, so it's easier now. So we made it easier. It's not easy. Yup. There's also something else coming up online, family, and that is the Her Story Conference. Women of God, if you've not heard of this or attended this, if you're in the Central Florida area, you want to be here.

We have a special guest coming from across the country to be a part of this. It's called Radiant. It's on June 6th. Scan the QR code below for more information. It will bless your life. Yes, it will. Absolutely, and if you feel the tug of God this morning, letting you know that someone in your life needs to hear the gospel, I want to encourage you to take this time to share the link with someone. It's easy as clicking two buttons, and you can change someone's life forever. Yeah. That's right. We'll actually go back into a time of worship, but before we do, we are going to see some children being dedicated to the Lord. Amen! What a cool day. My pregnant hormones can't take it. You know, these cute babies. I love it. So comment down below the names of any children that you're watching get dedicated, and we cannot wait to see them honor the Lord today. We'll see you guys later. Love you. See you later.

Today, I'm so excited because it is Child Dedication Sunday, and so joining me on this stage, yes, give it up for every single one of them, their beautiful fits. It is an exciting Sunday here at Journey. We believe in child dedications. We believe in the biblical model. Actually, you see in the Bible that this, Jesus was baptized. I mean, baptized. He was, but Jesus was dedicated to the Lord by his parents at a young age. Even other prophets like Samuel were brought to the house of the Lord as a sign of commitment from the parents to raise their child in the ways of the Lord, teaching them the Bible, and so that's what we're being an example of today. We have all these beautiful families that are making that commitment before their church, and more importantly, before their God, and so actually here with me, look at this beautiful family. Yes, I love the matching outfits. You look good today. I have parents Sheridan and Carlton with us today, and their sweet babies. This is Miss Julie here. This is Mr. Jamie, and this is Mrs. Jane, and we believe because we see it in Scripture

that names are usually in the Bible. They tell us meaning, purpose, and calling about someone's life, and so here we have Miss Julie right in the middle. Her name's youthful and bright is what her name means, and we're just believing that this little woman of God will be a bright light everywhere that she goes, that she will bring a fresh encounter of the Spirit of God everywhere that she moves, and my friend, Mr. Jamie, his name means may God protect, and I'm believing that you're gonna be a protector everywhere you go, that you're gonna protect the holiness, the integrity of God everywhere that you go, man of God. Do you believe it? Amen, and here's Miss Jane. Here's Miss Jane, and her name means God is gracious, and I just believe that she's gonna carry the grace of God everywhere that she goes. When she walks into a troubled room, or has conversations with those that are facing anxiety and depression, that she's gonna bring in the grace of God, and his fresh presence will surround her. Amen, God bless you guys, and we have another beautiful family. This is my friend, Allie, and her husband, Brendan. Hey, Brendan, and they have a beautiful little princess. Look at her, and her name is Victoriana. Yes, and her name means victory or conqueror, and I just believe that she is gonna be more

than an overcomer in Christ Jesus, that everything that she faces, she will overcome by the grace of God, by his power, that she knows the God that goes before her, that he is a conqueror, that he is strong, that he is her protector, so she will not fear any day of her life. In Jesus' mighty name. Well, we have a special opportunity to be able to pray over these beautiful families together, because church, this is our call now. Us as the church, it's our responsibility to pray over these families, to partner with them as they raise up their children in the ways of the Lord, and so we're gonna pray over them to see what God is doing, and then they're gonna make some declaration statements before you, so would you extend your hands towards them right now as we pray? God, I thank you for these two beautiful families. Thank you for their life. Thank you for what you're doing. I pray that you would protect them. I pray that you would give the parents wisdom to grow their children in the ways of the Lord. Give them wisdom when hardship comes. Give them creativity, God, to raise their children in the way that you have called them to. Give them strength and boldness in this day, as we ask. I pray that you would protect these babies.

Protect them, God. Be their defender and go before them, and then help us as the church to rise up to support these parents, and it's in Jesus. name that we pray together come on someone say amen and amen that's right well we are going to witness these beautiful families say a declaration statement today together today and so we believe that parents have two responsibilities spiritually speaking one is that they are to tell them who Jesus is tell their babies who Jesus is and what he did for them and so families do you promise to share the good news with your child if you do say we do amen your second responsibility is to be an example of who Jesus is before your little babies and so do you promise to do your best to be an example of a godly man and a godly woman before your children amen amen come on give it up for these beautiful beautiful families and Journey Church I don't know if you know it but because of your generosity we were able to purchase every single one of these sweet children their first Bible and so thank you for being such a generous church we honor you thank you for making ministry happen if you want to partner with us in generosity there's a few different ways that you can do so you can give online journeyorl.com forward slash give you can give in the Journey Church app or even in the black boxes on your way out today well I encourage you to stand to your feet as we go back into a moment of worship and church lean in the God of heaven and earth is in the room and so lean into all that he has for you he wants to meet you in a powerful way so come on let's worship journey let's welcome all of our other locations as we continue in worship this morning father we've witnessed your faithfulness goodness we ask that you continue to just work in our lives it was lonely in the dark but you

it was painful it was hard but you were working all things for my good couldn't feel you at the time but you were working full of questions wondering why but you were working all things for my good when I look back over my life and I think how good you have been yeah my soul says great is great is your faithfulness when I get your love on my mind I get grateful all over again and my soul sings great is great is your faithfulness you've been so great Jesus through the valley through the storm you are working you are working I will worship all the more you are working all things all things for my good when I look back over my life and I think how good you have been yeah my soul sings great is great is your faithfulness when I get your love on my mind

I get grateful all over again and my soul sings great is great is your faithfulness yeah my soul sings great is great is your faithfulness my soul sings out to you you've been so kind so good so faithful oh yeah thank you father you'll turn it around do you believe it you'll turn it around ♪ Don't know when, don't know how ♪ ♪ You always do it somehow ♪ ♪ You're turning around, you always do ♪ ♪ You're turning around, yeah ♪ ♪ Don't know when, don't know how ♪ ♪ But you always do it somehow ♪ Declare it this morning, sing it. ♪ You're turning around, I may not know how, Jesus ♪ ♪ You're turning around, but I can trust in the one who knows everything, yeah ♪ ♪ You always do it somehow ♪ ♪ You're turning around, you're turning around ♪ ♪ Oh, you're turning around, you're turning around ♪ ♪ Yes, you're turning around, don't know when, don't know how ♪ ♪ You always do it somehow ♪ ♪ When I look back over my life and I think how good you have been, yeah ♪ ♪ My soul sings praise, praise your faithfulness ♪ ♪ And I get your love on my mind, I'll be grateful forever and ever ♪ ♪ My soul sings praise, praise your faithfulness ♪

♪ You're turning around, you're turning around, don't know when, don't know how ♪ ♪ You always do it somehow ♪ ♪ You're turning around, you're turning around, don't know when, don't know how ♪ ♪ You always do it somehow ♪ ♪ Yes, you do, you always turn it around ♪ ♪ Thank you, Jesus, you always do it somehow ♪ I know that God is great. Give him a hand, God, please, this morning. You believe that God is great and that nothing is impossible for God. If you've been around Christianity, Christians, people who follow Jesus, any part of your life, you'll know that worship is kind of our go-to. Having a bad day, things are tough at work, put on a worship song, and it's amazing how things will shift in the room and in your heart. And if you're real cynical of faith, you'll look at that moment and you will categorize faith, you will categorize worship songs like the ones we're singing today as a distraction from our problems. You'll go, I see why you worship, you're just trying to get your mind off your problems. And in doing so, we really are diminishing what worship is. When I worship because things are hard, I'm not getting my mind off of my problem. I'm getting my mind on the answer to my problem. That's why I can say things like, you'll turn it around. Come on, let's sing that one more time. Because in my worship, I'm reminding my troubled soul that there is a stronghold, that there is a refuge. Oh, my soul, find rest in the Lord. Remember His works. Remember His wonder. Remember His glory. Remember His strength. Remember how He split the sea. Remember how He raised Christ from the dead.

Remember how He opened the eyes of the blind. I remember how He healed me as a child. I remember how He guarded me through my teenage years. I remember how He restored my marriage and brought blessings in my life. I'm not distracting. I'm fighting. I'm not distracting. I'm reminding. I'm not losing sight. I'm fighting my sight on the one who is the answer to my problem. Come on. Come on, one more time, if you believe that God is great and able, put your hands together and remind your soul, come on, remind your soul, if clapping ain't doing it, go ahead and just pound your chest and just remind your soul who God is. Remind your soul how big He is, how able He is, how strong He is. Nothing is impossible, no matter the wall, no matter the ocean, no matter the trial. God, I know you're able. You're the answer. In Jesus' name, amen and amen. Come on now, one more time, if you believe it. Amen. Well, before we continue today's service and take our seat, I'd love it if you'd get just a little uncomfortable and find three people that you didn't drive to church with today and remind them, come on, just remind them, God is able, come on, God is able. Give them a high five, God is able. Woo! Who's excited to be in the house of God today? Amen. Me too, love being at church. If we haven't met yet, my name is JJ, and alongside my wife Liz, we have the honor and

the privilege of serving Journey Church as its lead pastors, and if you didn't know that, that probably means you're a first-time guest today, and I just want to say thank you so much for coming. If you are looking for a home church and a place to connect and be in the presence of God and meet great people, I want you to let you know I think you found it, not only because you're surrounded by the presence of God, but 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, meeting at University High School. What's up? Keep it going for Journey Kissimmee, meeting in Gateway High School. And finally, keep it going for all of those who are currently incarcerated, watching in jails and prisons throughout the United States through the Panda app. We're so glad that you're with us. All right, who's excited to get another word of God today? Me too. I really want to preach, and I really want to encourage you. Today, I'm beginning kind of a brand-new sermon series and a collection of talks, and I got to be honest. I just want to be honest, open, and transparent here. I haven't really done this often, but I just, I got to be honest. Today, I've decided I want to begin a series. I want to preach, and listen, before you judge me, just hear me out. I want to preach another man's message. Now, before you judge me, let me just say a couple things. Number one, it's a really good message. Number two, I'm honestly more impressed with the preacher than I am the preaching.

I looked up to this preacher my whole life. Some would even call him God, because I'm talking about Jesus. Yeah, you can put down your blasphemy meters. Now, you might have heard that, and you go, well, don't you preach Jesus every week? Absolutely, I preach Jesus, but I don't often preach one of Jesus' messages. You see, Jesus doesn't have many of his messages, like intro to conclusion, beginning to end, recorded in Scripture. Most of the things that we see Jesus' teachings, there's snippets, there's parts, there's portions, and they bless us, and they minister to us. But one of the main reasons why we don't see them is because Jesus was the kind of guy, listen, who preached more with his life than he did with his words. This is why this year we were on the vision of follow me, because the spirit of the Word of God is not that you would listen to the Word of God, but that you would live the Word of God. Not that you would just listen to the words of Jesus, this is it, this is it, but that Jesus would live in you. When we say follow me, we're saying, I want to talk like Jesus, I want to walk like you, Jesus, I want to care like you, Jesus, I want to be kind like you, Jesus, I want to see the way you live your life, and then model mine accordingly. However, that does add more weight to the one message we do have from Jesus, beginning to end in the scriptures. Intro, body, and conclusion, you will find it known as the Sermon on the Mount. In Matthew chapter 5, verse chapter 6, and chapter 7. And I'm gonna be preaching on this message for three weeks, and I'm gonna preach on chapter 5 today, and the next time it'll be chapter 6, and the time after that it'll be chapter 7. And I'm really excited, because listen, if this was the one sermon that Jesus made sure that you heard, beginning to end, it makes me wonder that if you could give the mic to Jesus, and it'd be only... He had one message to preach. I like to wonder, man, would this be it? Would this be the message he would preach to us today?

Matthew chapter five, verse 17. To get to the heart of Jesus's message, we're gonna get to the heart of this introduction. Matthew five, he's kind of laying a lot out and I wanna go right to the middle of it, Matthew 5, 17, because I think in it, we're gonna find what Jesus is trying to talk to us about today and in that sermon on the mount that day. Matthew chapter five, verse 17. Do not think I, Jesus, have come to abolish the law or the prophets, that's the Bible. I have not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them. Now, the reason why Jesus had to state that he had not come to abolish the law and the prophets, but to fulfill it is because he would go on to say and do things that looked like he was abolishing the law. One of the things he was often accused of was violating the Sabbath, that is, working on the one day of the week you're supposed to have off to honor God and rest. And the reason why he was accused of working on the Sabbath, it wasn't because he was mowing his lawn on the Sabbath, it was because he healed somebody on the Sabbath. And his enemies, his critics, called miracle working work. And so they looked at him and they said, you're breaking the law. And Jesus looked at them and he was like, are you for real right now?

Are we really upset that this guy's hand is like it's fixed? Are we really upset that this blind guy can see right now? And then he gives them a story, he goes, if your farm animal falls into a hole on the Sabbath, do you pull him out on the Sabbath or do you wait till tomorrow when he's dead? And they stay quiet. He goes, no, no, no, follow up question. Is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath or not? Silence. And I think Jesus is looking at them going, guys, you're missing the heart of the commandment. When Jesus said, I did not come here to abolish the law but to fulfill it, he's saying, I didn't come to change the words, I came to show you what the words really mean. I'm here to fulfill the heart of the commandment. Another day, he grabbed a piece of grain, the head of a grain off of a stalk. Bro is hungry. He grabbed it, he's gonna eat, he's gonna eat. And then someone saw him and go, oh, he's farming on the Sabbath. He's like, come on. He goes, you guys got it twisted. He goes, and he says this question, do you think that man was made for the Sabbath or Sabbath for the man? This day is for us to rest. I'm resting, I'm chilling.

You chill. He's looking at them going, I think you're missing, this is important because it's what I'm gonna preach about today, the heart of the commandment. I get this a lot today even in the lobby. I have the privilege of passing a very diverse church and not just in skin color or age but also in religious background. And every once in a while, I'll meet a Seventh-day Adventist. A Seventh-day Adventist is someone who comes from, it's a different denomination of Christianity. And they'll meet me in the lobby and they'll be like, hey, they go to church on Saturday and they're here on Sunday and they're like, hey, I come to church journey and I really like it but I grew up a Seventh-day Adventist and so I'm like, I'm here on a Sunday, don't tell my mom. And when they feel the pressure and they're like, I don't know, is it biblical, am I doing the wrong thing? And I just look at them with compassion in my heart and I'm like, bro, I think we're missing the heart of it. I don't think the heart of it is it's gotta be Saturday, it's gotta be, I think the heart of this is that we gotta set aside one day for the Lord and make sure that we're spending it, giving to him. I said, I love Chick-fil-A but Chick-fil-A and heaven are not the same. Heaven ain't closed on Sunday. You can speak to God on Monday, you can speak to God on Tuesday,

you can speak to God on Wednesday, you can speak to God on Thursday, you can speak to God on Friday and Saturday and Sunday. We gotta come back to the heart of it. And Jesus is saying, I'm not trying to take you away from the Bible, I'm trying to take you to the heart of the Bible. I'm not trying to take you away from the words of God, I'm trying to bring you into the heart of God which is the real point because when Jesus makes it about the heart, he's also exposing the Pharisee's heart. He tells them this in Matthew chapter five, verse 20, for I tell you, he's in the Sermon on the Mount, that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven. Now when he says this, he's not saying that you gotta be better than the Pharisees and the teachers of the law because there's no. Way that you could nobody kept the Bible more strictly than a pharisee or a teacher of the law What he's saying is that doing what they're doing is not the way to get saved because what they're doing is focusing on the external But inside their heart is corrupted The Pharisees never cared that Jesus was taking a day off or not taking a day off You know why they were upset they were upset because they were jealous They were upset because they were insecure They were upset because Jesus was gaining more followers and becoming more popular than they were and they were the rulers of Jerusalem It's culture in that day. And now Jesus has come and he's taking away their platform They were envious and Jesus looked right past their righteousness right into their enviousness Because man we look at the outside but God God looks at the heart When Jesus is opening up the Sermon on the Mount, here's what he's saying

He's saying I'm not looking at the outside y'all. I'm Looking at the heart and you might look good on the outside today. You might got all the right measurements and all the right places You might have a fresh fade you might have a perfect outfit But none of the perfection you walked into church today is enough to cover up your pain none of it You might smell good today I came out the green room smelled you you smell great Smell like Chanel number five Acqua di Gio if you were a 90s teen boy curve But you know what God smells God smells the fear the anxiety and the worry Because God sees past the exterior. Maybe you go to church you do the right things you read your Bible You got a family. I hate to say it but God sees who you are when your family's not home Devil wears Prada Not because Prada is evil, but because Prada is protection Because if I can impress you on the outside enough, you won't look too much to the inside The heart of Jesus's sermon the Sermon on the Mount is is I see you I See you coming to church. I see you with your Bible app open. I see you in the pastor I see you listening to worship. I see you trying to be a good mom. I see you trying to be a good brother and also I See you oh I see the you they don't see I See the emptiness in you. I see the worry in you. I see the doubt in you I I see the the living for the applause of other people sometimes in you I see you pastor JJ and I see you preaching but I also see what's inside of you make sure that's right I see you look good on the outside, but here's the title of today's message, but what's in your heart? Wants you to tap two people tell them but what's in your heart? Come on, but what's in your heart? The Sermon on the Mount is very obviously about the heart even when he begins when he says blessed are the He says happy are the humble happy are those who are peacemakers happy are those that pursue pain, you know what he's doing He's summarizing the whole Bible. He's going. Hey, just so you know, this whole thing is here to make you happy If you do the thing that the word says you will be happy

Pastor Liz said that in her message last week when she low-key kicked off this series By the way, she did a great job last Sunday. Amen The Bible is here to give you true happiness, even if what it asks you in the moment makes you momentarily unhappy In fact, I think as parents we could probably take a page out of God's parenting playbook Sometimes we have to do things to our kids for our kids There are in a moment unpleasant There are some things that we gotta sometimes we got a system guidelines are on their social media use that isn't gonna make them happy Sometimes we got to draw some lines in the sand when it comes to dating and those lines in the sand aren't gonna make them happy Sometimes we gotta we gotta make sure that we're being we're being honest that they got a bedtime for them And the bedtime is definitely not gonna make them happy But take a page out of God's playbook and understand that as much as you care about their happiness Listen, you don't care as much about their temporary happiness as you do their eternal happiness And so sometimes I gotta I gotta do it and I know it hurts you But if you only knew I love you a lot of times I tell my kids to do things and and I gotta wrestle with them because they always think I'm like like evil I Remember when they were real little I told him to do a chore and and he stopped the chore and looked at me He said you don't care if this floor is clean He said that's where he said this he goes you just want free labor You know what I said when I look back at my said Oh Papi I said if you only knew my heart If you only knew that this was not a command, this but an opportunity to build responsibility. You only saw how I was using it to mold you and shape you, but he couldn't see past the unpleasantness of the command and then assign a wicked motive to my heart because he didn't enjoy the word. Sound familiar? We gotta understand.

Here's what I want you to know if you're taking notes. You can't understand God's word if you don't understand God's heart. Can't understand God's word if you don't understand God's heart. Every once in a while, I get a message about tattoos. People are like, are tattoos a sin? And I say, you got a tattoo, but did you get saved after that? And I always ask them, why did you think getting a tattoo was a sin? It does so well in the Old Testament, it says, do not tattoo. I say, yeah, but right before that verse, it says, don't shave your beard. And you look pretty trimmed. So what happened? Why did you apply the last one but not the first one? If you don't understand God's heart behind that commandment, you will misapply it. The heart behind that commandment was that the people were coming out of Egypt and moving into a land of pagans who did tattoo themselves. And so God wanted them to look different on the outside than the people around them, but not because he cared about how they looked on the outside, but because he wanted how they looked on the outside to communicate that they were different on the inside, that they're not your regular people,

that they've got a joy that you can never experience, a peace that you can never experience outside of God. That was the same thing with circumcision. This is why circumcision was a thing, which by the way, you never hear the people saying tattoos are sin, calling back circumcision. You never hear the guys be like, yeah, we need to bring that back. Uh-uh, why not? Because it's not convenient. No, because Jesus abolished circumcision. No, he didn't, he fulfilled it. Romans chapter two, verse 29, look. No, a person who is a Jew, who is one inwardly Jew, this means a believer in God, and circumcision is a circumcision of the what? Of the heart. It's a separation, not of skin. It's a separation of sin. It's a separation of the way you live and the way I live according to God. It's a separation of the heart by the spirit, not by the written code. Now I'm gonna give an example here, and I just, to illustrate the heart, and I just need you to know in advance, it's gonna be offensive to some people, and it's gonna be tense in here, and I just need you to breathe a lot. I need you to just, I also need you to suspend your opinion

for five minutes while I finish preaching this part, and then you can jump back in and jump into your opinion, but just suspend it, and I feel like I needed a disclaimer, because I wanna get to the heart of the law, and I wanna talk about one of the most confusing laws in the Bible for a lot of people, and that is same-sex relationships, and I wanna speak about this, and the reason why I wanted to speak about this one, I think it aligns with the Bible, but also because a staff member came up to me recently and was like, hey, Pastor JJ, I don't know if you know this, but Journey Church got a one-star Google review, and I was like, oh, I didn't know. I don't read the reviews. It's not that I don't care. It's just that I'm not trying to be a good pastor for reviews. I'm trying to be a good pastor because he views. I'm just, I don't, I can't live for that. So, but now that I know, what was it for? What was the one-star review about? And the person said, this is the review, he said, I don't go to Journey Church no more. I came in the lobby, and I just had a hard time seeing gay couples holding hands and having to explain that to my children. So one star, and I'm not going back, and I was like, oh, okay. And so I wrote just a reply, and I had to write it down

so I don't get too animated. I got, I just got, just three things I wanted to say to whoever, if anybody in the room feels like that. Number one, so you don't take them to church, Journey Church, because you see gay people holding hands. All right, so you don't take them to school either? You don't, you don't take them to Walmart? Oh, your Walmart only sells to straight people? Well, I just don't know how to explain it, Pastor Judges, when I see it. Well, they're gonna see it anyway, and what better place to explain it than in the house of God, where we say, everybody's made in the image of God. We love people who look different than us. We love people who act different than us. Number two, I don't mind being persecuted for the things Jesus was persecuted for, and he was persecuted for having dinner with sinners and tax collectors. So if that's the worst you can say about me, I'm like Jesus, yeah, I'm cool with that. Number three When Jesus was asked what the heart of the Bible was Jesus said the heart of the Bible the most important commandment if I were to summarize all of these letters It would be love the Lord your God with all your heart your soul and your strength and the second is like it love your neighbor as you love yourself Now before you go well neighbor means the person who lives next door to you Well neighbor means the person who believes what you believe because they asked Jesus Well, who is my neighbor and he gave a whole story about this Samaritan?

Who was not who the Jewish people were in fact that was a marginalized person that was an outcast and Jesus said that marginalized outcast That's your neighbor Love them and what breaks my heart listen to me is that you thought you were following the law and you completely missed the heart of it Now Let me speak to those who are in same-sex relationships Because we have to get to the heart of that too The first commandment Was love the Lord your God With all your heart with all your soul and with all your strength it starts with heart because everything starts with heart That's why Jesus is preaching this message, but it ends with strength and it goes through soul In other words, Jesus is saying and it's not just enough to love God emotionally You also have to love them with your strength and you know what strength means strength means even when it's heavy to obey But It's not easy and let me tell you something all throughout Scripture all throughout Scripture God clearly defines Sexual sin that is not as God designed it as any type of sex that takes place outside of marriage defined as between Under God a man and a woman now you might listen that you go What is that like the Sabbath like how Jesus like kind of undid the Sabbath or food? Like, you know how Jesus kind of undid kosher food and all that No, actually the challenge with this command is not only did Moses say it in the Old Testament But Jesus said it in the Gospels and Paul said it in the Epistles Well, is it like, you know we can kind of get looser because now we live in an era of grace and so we can go actually know because even though The food laws got looser and the Sabbath laws got looser when it comes to sexual sin God's laws actually get stricter as the Bible goes on to the New Testament in the Old Testament You can have as many wives as you can afford in the New Testament. Jesus was like chill do one Are you crazy one? He actually gets stricter with the sexual laws of the Old Testament not not looser Now if you disagree, let me just tell you you are free to disagree. I'm a still love you

Liz is gonna still love you journey churches still gonna love you anybody who was gonna make you feel weird Listen to me anybody who was gonna make you feel weird. They're already gone. They left the one-star review Those people aren't here But if you're arguing with me about this I think you're missing the real question because the real question is not a hetero homo issue The real question is but if you were to see it in the Bible like it's clear as day that God says that this is His plan or better yet if you were to come down in a cloud and be like, hey, this is not the plan I have for you. Here's the better question if you were to come down in a cloud look at you be like This is the plan I have for you Would you love him enough to lay it down? Or Would you look at God and go well, then that's not my God Because I can't serve a God that doesn't allow that I can't serve a God that doesn't this because God is love and that is not love and I want to tell you I'm sorry But that's actually not the way to interpret it. It's not that God is love. God is love the real issue What's really happening? Is that you love what's in your heart? More than what's in God's heart And that's a shame because you know what God's heart is God's heart is you And if that offended you and by the way, I offended everybody just now Gay people straight people every time I preach on this topic, even if it's a five minutes 30 people leave the church 15 from that side 15 from that side leave the reviews. It's high. Yeah, I don't read them So, you know, it's cool But I just didn't know I need you to know what you getting offended means you getting offended is probably one of two reasons one because you don't know my heart and Two ready you got offended Because it exposed your heart I Must say it again. This is not a homo-hetero issue that I'm not even preaching on that today. It's a hard issue I tried to go to something that I know people love and I'm asking you and by the way There are a thousand things in all of our hearts

There are not in God's heart and my question to everybody and anybody is and do you love those things more than God? Would you lay those things down if God asked you to lay them down? That's That is the question, because this isn't about obedience or sacrifice. This is about what obedience and sacrifice represents, the heart. Look at what Psalms 51, 16, and 17 says. You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it. You do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. My sacrifice, me following the Bible, oh God, here's what you really want. My sacrifice, oh God, is a broken spirit, a broken and contrite, what? That's all he's ever been after? Your heart. Because in saying, no God, I'm gonna do this anyway, you go find, and that means you won't care what I think. That means you don't want me, that means you don't love me, or if you do love me, you just don't love me as much as, fill in the blank. But it was never about following the law. It was always about falling in love. It's always about putting God first in your heart and in your life. Honestly, what does God get out of your tithe? He ain't broke. What does God get out of your service? If you do something for me, I thank you, because I had a lot of things I'm about to do in this, and I got limited strength and limited time,

so thank you for you. But if you do something for God, you saved him no time, because he doesn't live in time. You saved him no effort, because he is omnipotent. You do nothing for him when you obey, other than show him how much you love him. It's the only thing we do when we obey. My kid, my oldest son, has started making coffee for me in the morning. It's the awesomest thing. It's like living with an in-house barista. He's starting to learn how to make the specialty drinks. I'm like, yo, this is dope. He's getting real good, too, man. And some mornings, I'll say, buddy, can you make me coffee, and he'll obey. But I can tell he would have rather done something else in that moment. He's like, yeah, okay, but he'll do it. Other days, I ask, hey, buddy, can you make me coffee today? And he smiles. He goes, yeah, Dad, absolutely, I'll get to it. But the other day, he did something he never did, and that was we both got up in the morning, and before I could say a thing, he said, hey, Dad, would you like me to make you a cup of coffee? Oh, it blessed my heart. You know why it blessed my heart? Don't miss it, don't miss it. Listen, because in that moment,

he wasn't trying to obey me. He was trying to please me. Do you see the difference? See the difference? He wasn't thinking, what rules do I gotta follow? He was thinking, how can I make my dad smile? Oh, listen, it was really hard for me to preach what I preached just a couple seconds ago, and I don't need any empathy, and I don't need any compassion. Maybe a little prayer, because I'm gonna get a ton of reviews. So maybe just a little prayer from my soul. But you know why I did it? Listen, I didn't do it because I'm this, or I'm mean, or I'm a curser, or I'm hateful, or I'm if you only knew my heart. I did it as hard as it was on Saturday night. I woke up, I did it because I woke up this morning wanting to please God, and I cared more about pleasing him. I loved more pleasing him than I did about my follower count on Instagram, or our YouTube subscribers, or even the attendance on Sunday morning, because I'm only out here to please God. That's it. God wants your heart. Let me tell you why God wants your heart. God also wants your heart because your heart hides.

The heart hides. My car broke last week. I preached about it two weeks ago, my car broke down. Last week we got a new car, everybody. Praise the Lord. Thank you, Jesus. Amen. Reason why I had to get a new car is because honestly, I was gonna cost so much money to repair the old car. When I got it checked, they said there's an issue in the engine, we think it's in the engine, and we're gonna have to take the engine out in order to repair it. Well, anybody who does works with cars, you know once the engine comes out the car, forget about it. You get thousands of dollars into the repair just by them taking it out. And so I was like, forget it for that, I'll just get a new car, I put that money that I was gonna put towards taking the engine out. And honestly, though, I probably should've done something a little sooner, because there were lights on my dashboard. There were lights. And Liz would tell me all the time, you gonna do something about that light? You gonna do something about that light? I said, nope. You know why I didn't do nothing about those lights?

Same reason none of us do nothing about those lights, because the car was still moving. You know what I'm talking about. And as long as that car's moving, I'm good. But the issue was hidden. And I didn't deal with it, because it was moving. But then one day, what was hidden, came out. And it didn't come out with no negotiation, it didn't come out with no warning. The warning was the dashboard. It came out. And when it came out, I broke down with it. What is in your heart can stay hidden for a minute. But if you don't deal with what's in your heart, because you're moving, I don't got time to do it, I gotta go to work. I don't got time to do it. I don't know if you ever swallowed your anxiety. Swallow your anxiety It'll swallow your PTSD You have a good depression, you know what I mean? You just go to work and you just like I'm just like I gotta go. I gotta move you can do that for a minute Until you break down Until you blow up and this is what Jesus does in the scriptures He's gonna pull the engine out of the car and he's gonna undo in the next couple verses in chapter 5 He's gonna go. Uh-uh. We got I know it's gonna cost you but you gotta get this engine out And look what he says in Matthew chapter 5 verse 21 You have heard that it was said to the people long ago you shout out murder Anyone who murders will be subject to judgment murder is an outside problem. It's an external issue It's a bad thing to do but Jesus doesn't stop there. He pulls the engine out and he goes deeper ready

He goes, but I tell you that anyone who is angry with the brother or sister will be subject to judgment He goes y'all talking about murder, but murder doesn't start on the scene murder starts in the heart And if you are angry at your brother you already killed them in your heart, whoo, how many people have you killed this week? How many people how many bodies Have you laid out in the past 48 hours Something I killed the coffee person up there cuz they ran out of coffee I Got the campuses y'all got coffees on but sometimes they got a lot of people here. We're not a coffee somebody get killed heart I remember one time I went to the airport and I was gonna use it. I was traveling to Washington and I had a clay. I was doing illustration on clay I was preaching about the clay in the Potter and I put it in my bag and I went through security because I was gonna Use it when I preach on the other side and when when I went through security the alarms went off And they were like, sir, we got to bring you over I was like what happened and they pulled out the clay and they were like we got to bring we got to bring the explosive expert in So the problem was I was late for my flight and the explosive expert was in another terminal There's only one explosive expert that day So he had to come and he's the only one who knows what the clay and I'm trying to tell this person It's TSA agent. God bless. They're just doing their job and I'm mad at him. I'm telling this is I got this clay from Walmart It's clay and they're like no, but it could be c4 I'm like do I look like somebody who could see and I was like, yeah, I think I do I might I just got profile here And then we got so mad I got so the flight was coming leaving and so here's what I told him I said just just I needed it for the illustration, but I told the TSA. I said just take the clay I don't even care if I have the clay. I gotta go and I go to work and she grabs me She was no you can't leave I'm like, but I told you I don't care you can have it. I don't need it anymore. And then it hit me I'm like, oh, yeah but if it was a bomb I

Can't get away with just like you got me. I Got somewhere to be They're like sir, like if it is a bomb, you know, you can't just let you go We're gonna have to handle this and I was like, oh man and I stood there they finally cleared me Here's what I learned that day. You ready? Just because you didn't go off doesn't mean you're not guilty All you really need with the sin that's in your heart is an opportunity and what's inside Will come out This is why laws will never fix the world because laws only suppress evil through consequence and punishment But you can't legislate evil out of a heart Can't resist the of a heart and so all evil needs is to find an opportunity Why I would here's a going ready because it's not just murder 527 you have heard that it was said you shall not commit adultery Don't she on your wife don't show your husband next verse ready But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with their heart You know what? Jesus is saying Jesus go. Oh, yeah, you think you you're good on the outside But on the inside he goes but if you could get away with it Maybe the only reason you haven't cheated is because there hasn't been an opportunity But you sleep with them in your heart before you sleep with them in a hotel and So you got to get it out of your heart This is what God is saying The heart is hiding the real us and if you don't let me into the real you then what's inside gonna come out and It's gonna either break you down or blow you up and blow up your marriage and blow up your mind and blow up your friendships And blow up everything else with it It's in your heart when I was a youth pastor teenagers will come up to me all the time pastor JJ How far can you go with the God? And it not be sin

Real talk they would ask me they would there was a question what part of the body is God okay with You laugh but y'all who grew up in church you asked it They said passage if I hold her hand is that sin I? Said no, but that's that's nothing Is that what if I touch her elbow? If I touch her elbow is that sin and I know if you touch your elbows, it's not sin What if you touch your shoulders, that's it no, it's not saying what are the armpit you're weird what? Passage AJ what part of the body is sin. I'll tell you the part of the body. It's not the hand It's not the elbow. It's not the shoulder. It's not the armpit. It's the heart The heart is where it starts and I can tell by the kind of question you're asking Your heart is not in this to please God. It's figuring out how much you can please you without upsetting God And that's not the right heart And even if you only stop at the elbow if you're given the opportunity it's gonna go further than that Because it's already in your heart Matthew 5 29 so if your right eye causes you to stumble Here's why it's so good to catch the sin in your heart gouge it out and throw it away It's better for you to lose one part of your body than your whole body to be thrown in hell Jesus is not encouraging the dismembering of your body parts Jesus is saying it's easier to get sin out of your heart than it is to get sin out of your habits It's easier to get sin out of your heart than it is to get you out of hell Sometimes we got to get things out while there's still seeds in us Well passage AJ that's not sin. Well, you're gonna have to change your definition of sin This is a me stop looking at sin as an action with your hands and start looking at sin as a seed in your heart This is gonna save somebody Take a picture of that write that down. That's gonna save you stop measuring things as sinful righteous good What is it gonna produce in you? You know the best way to never cheat on your spouses ready don't have intimate conversations with other women that aren't your wife You know, one of the best ways to stop watching porn is because stop watching porn is hard I know I had to go through that battle. Here's it. Let me help you out. Stop watching anime Because a lot of those images are

Just planting seeds in your heart. Well, that's not sin change your definition of sin You know what? The best way to stop drinking is stop having friends who always take you to the bar It's easier to stop that Are you with me? God cares about your heart and so if you've got hearts today that you want to give to the Lord there's three things you can do if you want to Get right because you can't do it on your own because let me tell you because our heart is sick Our heart is sick. Here's what Jeremiah 17 9 says the heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure This is why you can never get right. You ever heard that say get right. You better get right you can't I can't Because it's not a hand thing it's a heart thing and I can't get in there But the Holy Spirit can Jesus can God can get in there. And if you let God get in there, he'll change what comes out of there Here's the three things I want you to do today I want you to pray this three prayers because it's got to be a God thing. I want you to pray expose my heart Expose my heart Lord if there's anything in me that is not of you. I want it out right now Shine it on me Lord God. I need it out right now This is what David prayed in Psalms 139 search me Oh God and know my heart test my thoughts point out anything You find in me that makes you sad Get it out Get it out God because I can't I tried the rehab. I tried the blockers. I tried it's in my heart get it out Here's the second thing. I want you to pray and once you expose it ready heal it The wounds caused by an absent father the wounds caused by being exposed to things I shouldn't have seen at the age of 12 at 11 the breakup the rejection heal my heart. I Am the way I am not just because I made choices, but because other people made choices for me Heal my heart Heal me Lord Here's the last one I want you to pray finally Give me your heart. Oh I want to love the things that Jesus loves. Are you ready? And I want to hate the things that Jesus hates I

Want to draw near to the things that bring Jesus joy, and I want to run away from things That make him sad. I Want to wake up in the morning Asking how can I please my father? And every decision after that to be led by that. So if you're in this room today and you can sense the sickness in your heart, like I can, I would love it if you could join me in bowing your head for just a moment, closing your eyes, and why don't we invite the Holy Spirit to begin working on this heart. Holy Spirit, you see me. I need you to pray it in your own words, but I want you to find your own version of expose my heart. Just tell the Lord, look inside. What can you see that I can't see? What is in me? Here's a good one. What is in me that is evil that I have labeled righteous? What is in me that is bad that I have said is good? Oh God, expose my heart. And with all of my sin laid bare, with all of my attitude laid bare, with all of my insecurities laid bare, with all of my wickedness laid bare, Lord, heal me. Heal what my parents did to me that made my heart this way. Heal the rejection I experienced in second grade that made my insecurities this way. Heal my comparison that I keep measuring myself up to other people. Heal me like only you can, like I know Jesus can, who binds up the brokenhearted. Finally, Father God, give me your heart. That's a dangerous prayer right there. Give me your heart. I dare you to pray that prayer right there. Jesus, give me your heart. When I leave church today, I want to leave with a hatred for the things you hate and I love for the things you love. I want to see people, even people that don't look like me, the way you see them, sons and daughters of God. If you're in this room today and you can feel the draw to Jesus, maybe you've never made that decision in your life before. Maybe you made it one time when you were a child growing up in church, but today you can hear the Holy Spirit bringing you back. Maybe you're at a campus right now listening to this message and Holy Spirit is just pulling you, saying, hey, I appreciate your attendance, but I want your heart. I appreciate your service, but I want your heart. I appreciate you paying attention, but I want your heart. If you can hear the voice of God calling your heart from hell into heaven, from death into life, and on the count of three, if you want to give your heart to Jesus for the first time or the first time in a long time, I want you to raise your right hand. Jesus is a symbol and a sign. I need you, Lord. All over this room on three. One,

two, three. Would you raise your right hand right now? Come on, I see that hand. I see that hand. I see that hand. I see that hand. In faith, I see those hands at all of our campuses. I know they're being raised online. Amen. Whether you raise your hand or not, I want everyone to pray this prayer out loud. Let's everyone pray this prayer out loud with me. Come on, let's say, Father God, today I give you my heart with all of its pain, with all of its fracture, with all of its shame, with all of its sickness, with all of its hurt, and with all of its sin. And today I receive your heart with all of its hope, with all of its joy, with all of its life, with all of its holiness, with all of its peace, with all of its energy. Today, Jesus, I make you not just the Lord, but the love of my life. Amen. Come on, let's put our hands together and welcome every person in the room and online that made a decision to follow Jesus today. We love you. Hey, have you made it? Most importantly, if you just made that decision to follow Christ, hallelujah, the heavens are rejoicing. And let me be the first one to tell you, you just made a great decision, probably the best decision you could possibly make in your entire life. So go ahead and scan that QR code below so we can walk with you in this new walk with the Lord. And my God, what an amazing message today. Like it was so good. And one thing I want to encourage you guys is that God is in the business of fixing hearts. So with that same comment, I want to know from my good friends in the studio, shout out to Kyla, shout out to brother man, Julian, and of course the one and only Jaylene. What did you guys get from the message? I'm dying to know. Chantel, we're dying laughing at you because you're so funny. She's the best. Hilarious. But it was such a powerful word. We agree. And I think for me personally, it was changing the view of sin from an action to it being a seed in your heart. That's good. Really good to me. How about you two? Yeah, I thought it was so good. The whole message just talking about the heart. And I think we were talking about it yesterday in Freedom Conference. That was something I talked about was the more we hide, the more things grow, the more things fester, and the more things sink in. And I love that we have a God that's like, hey, just invite me in. It doesn't have to be that hard. How about you, Kyla? That's powerful. For me, it was the part where you mentioned, it's not about following. It's not about following. It's not about following. Following the law, it's about falling in love. And I know when I first got saved, I was like,

I got these rules and this checklist, and I just gotta make sure I hit every single point and then I'm good. But as I dive deeper into God's heart for me and for his people, it taught me that, no, it's about falling more in love with him. And then that makes me, just like he was talking about the story about the coffee with his son, it made me want to please him, not just to check off the boxes, but to actually fall in love with him and get to know his heart for us. That's right, yeah. That's really good. Online family, I do too. And we wanna know what you got from this word. Let us know in the chat, in the comments, just not the Google reviews, what you got from this word. We really enjoyed having you here today. Let's head on down to our Fern Park campus, the lobby where Sasha is. Sasha, how about you? How was that for you? Hello, guys. As you can see, it's getting filled. So we're so excited about that. But for me, the sermon, it's kind of the same thing like Kyla was saying.

It's just falling in love with him. For me, when I first found out about Jesus and building that relationship, it was for me at first more like discipline because I didn't understand. So for me, I had to be disciplined, like consistent. And then I just started, as I was being disciplined, I started falling more in love with him. And now it's just like a genuine relationship like what you would have with your parents or even actually even bigger with your parents or your family members or friendship. It's just so beautiful to know that I have a heavenly father that I can come to no matter what, if I'm angry, if I'm sad, if I'm upset, just someone that I can really, really love and truly trust. So I'm so grateful that he's here and that he's brought us here and that I am here. But just to let you guys know, next steps is today. So if you're looking into what is my purpose, if you're feeling lost, if you're feeling like you want more relationship, how can I get involved in the church? Go ahead and go to next steps, step two. That's where you get to meet all the directors from all the teams and you also get to meet the campus pastor. And it's just a beautiful opportunity.

Even if you're not 100% sure, it's okay. Just come in anyways, build our community, get to know everybody and get to know how you can be more involved in the church. And again, Journey Church, none of this will be possible without your generosity. And if you would love to partner with us, go ahead and scan that QR code to give now. And again, guys, it was a pleasure meeting you guys and we'll see you next week.