Don't Cherry Pick

God, I know that what you promised, yeah, will be better than I thought, cause you will direct it, it's who you are, it's who you are We're not three days away from an empty grave Another stone is rolling in the room right now It's you right now, but you right now Another stone is rolling in the room right now It's you right now, but you right now Another stone is rolling, it's rolling Jesus come and move in power, yeah Miracles are what you do, it's what you do If you said it, I expect it, yeah It's an easy thing for you, oh it's easy for you We're not three days away from an empty grave Another stone is rolling in the room right now It's you right now, but you right now Another stone is rolling in the room right now It's you right now, but you right now Another stone is rolling in the room right now It's you right now, but you right now Another stone is rolling in the room right now It's you right now, but you right now Another stone is rolling It's rolling, It's rolling Say oh, oh, oh Say oh, oh, oh Come on, sing it out, church If you're looking for the stone It was rolled away If you're looking for the old me It's long gone

No, I'm not the same If you're looking for the stone It was rolled away If you're looking for the old me It's long gone No, I'm not the same If you're looking for the stone It was rolled away If you're looking for the old me It's long gone No, I'm not the same If you're looking for the stone It was rolled away If you're looking for the old me It's long gone It's long gone Another stone is rolling in the room right now It's you right now, but you right now Another stone is rolling in the room right now It's you right now, but you right now Another stone is rolling in the room right now It's you right now, but you right now Another stone is rolling in the room right now It's you right now, but you right now Another stone is rolling Rolling Say oh, oh, oh Say oh, oh, oh Come on, let's sit close in the room The Grave is Selected

The Grave is Selected The Savior lives in me The Grave is Selected The Savior lives in me The Grave is Selected The Savior lives in me The Grave is Selected The Savior lives in me The Grave is Selected The Savior lives in me The Grave is Selected The Savior lives in me If you're looking for the soul It was thrown away If you're looking for the old me It's all gone No, I'm not the same We've been looking for the soul. It was thrown away. We've been looking for the only strong dog. Strong dog. Strong dog. Strong dog. Come on, sing it out, church, if you believe it. We're not three days away from an empty grave. We're not three days away from an empty grave. We're not three days away from an empty grave. We're not three days away from an empty grave. Another song is rolling. Come on, give him praise, church.

He's alive. Thank you, Jesus. Church, you may be seated. Pay attention to the screens. When we had girls, I never envisioned the dad life being coaching them in various sports. I love the highs and the lows. I love the teaching. I love the learning. Most of all, I just love the special time that I get to spend with him. He always gives me confidence when I'm about to play a game. I love him, and I love the person that he's made me today. And I'm really happy that he's a part of my life. Jesus definitely gives me the peace and the patience with being a parent. But more than that, the grace that he's shown me. If I can't show that to my kids, then what kind of an example am I setting? Happy Sunday! Yeah, that's good. Thank you, Clay and girls, for doing that for us. Happy Sunday. Welcome to the local church. And happy Father's Day to all you great dads out there. And listen, if you're a guest in the house, a special shout out to you. Thank you for being here. We don't take it for granted. We love guests at the local church. We really do. And we're so glad you're here with us today. But we want to know that you're here with us today. So if you haven't done so already, take out that Connect card. It looks something like this.

It's in the seat back right there in front of you. Give us a little bit of information. The best thing to do with it is as you exit in the lobby, turn left. There's the Connect corner. Hand it to a team member. They're going to give you a free gift. It's just our way of saying, again, guests, we love you. Thank you for worshiping with us today. And if you're looking to get connected, maybe you've been here for a little while. You've yet to make what you think is a good connection with the local church. I just want to remind you it all begins in our Connect Track class. It's the last Sunday of each month from about 830 to 11ish, right in there. We talk about Jesus. We talk about the church, ourselves, how we're hardwired and spiritually gifted, and ways to connect here at the local church. It's a great class. It's a lot of fun. It's free. But you do need to register. You can register on the app. You can register on the website. And it's right here. Again, next Sunday is the last Sunday. So, 830 next Sunday in the living room right here on campus. Connect Track, the best and first way to connect here at the local church. Hey, it's Baptism Sunday. And we are so excited. Baptism Sunday, one of the most exciting Sundays of the month here at the local church. And we've got folks to be baptized. By the time this day is over, we'll have baptized over 30 people.

And that, church, is a blessing. Remember, baptism, amen. Amen. Baptism is the outward expression of an inward event. Christ has already come in. He saved us, redeemed us, and brought us back. It's symbolic of his death, burial, and resurrection. Going under the water, buried with Christ, raised to walk in new life. So, it's awesome. Man, it brings so much meaning and texture, really, to your walk with Christ. If you haven't been baptized yet, we would love to baptize you today. So, if you haven't been, but you are a believer in Christ, come talk to us. We'll be in the lobby or we'll be outside there. Pastor Garland, Pastor Dan, myself, come talk to us. And we would love to baptize you in the next service. But for now, we put it in the middle of worship because we feel like that's where it belongs. So, let's stand to our feet. We're going to worship together. And be encouraging as we make some noise for these folks being baptized today. Amen. ♪♪ ♪ There was no way until you made me one. ♪ ♪ Grace upon grace, hallelujah. ♪ ♪ Even though I don't deserve it, you did it. ♪ ♪ Even though I couldn't earn it, you give it. ♪ ♪ Who am I that you keep me on your mind? God, I'm just grateful for you. God, I'm just grateful for you. ♪ ♪ All my life, you've been right here by my side. God, I'm just grateful for you. God, I'm just grateful for you. ♪ ♪ Holy, holy, there's only one. I give you glory for all that you've done. ♪ ♪ Even though I don't deserve it, you did it. Even though I couldn't earn it, you give it. ♪ ♪ Who am I that you keep me on your mind? God, I'm just grateful for you. God, I'm just grateful for you. ♪

♪ All my life, you've been right here by my side. God, I'm just grateful for you. God, I'm just grateful for you. ♪ ♪ Who am I that you keep me on your mind? God, I'm just grateful for you. God, I'm just grateful for you. ♪ ♪ All my life, all my life, you've been right here by my side. God, I'm just grateful for you. God, I'm just grateful for you. Yeah. ♪ ♪ And I'm so grateful for your faithfulness. You're a good, good father. And I, I'm lifting both of my hands. ♪ ♪ Cause you gave me chance after chance after chance. And I, I'm giving all that I have. Cause you gave me chance after chance after chance. And I, I'm lifting both of my hands. You gave me chance after chance. ♪ ♪ After chance. And I, I, I'm giving all that I have. You gave me chance after chance after chance. Said who am I that you keep me on your mind? God, I'm just grateful for you. God, I'm just grateful for you. ♪ All my life. All my life. You've been right here by my side. God, I'm just grateful for you. God, I'm just grateful for you. Who am I? Who am I that you keep me on your mind? God, I'm just grateful for you. God, I'm just grateful for you. All my life. All my life. You've been right here by my side. God, I'm just grateful for you. God, I'm just grateful for you. Say, I survived. I survived. And I'll be tested by God. I'm just grateful for you. God, I'm just grateful for you. I'm alright. I'm alright. If they say I'm out of my mind, God, I'm just grateful for you. God, I'm just grateful for you. I'm lifting both of my hands. You gave me chance after chance. And I, I'm giving all that I am. Because you gave me chance after chance. After chance. And I, I'm lifting both of my hands. Because you gave me chance after chance. After chance. And I, I'm giving all that I am. Because you gave me chance after chance. After chance. And I, I'm lifting both of my hands. Because you gave me chance after chance. After chance. And I, I'm giving all that I am. Because you gave me chance after chance. Who am I? Who am I? Who am I that you keep me on your mind? God, I'm just grateful for you. God, I'm just grateful for you.

And all my life you've been right here by my side. God, I'm just grateful for you. God, I'm just grateful for you. Who am I? Who am I that you keep me on your mind? God, I'm just grateful for you. God, I'm just grateful for you. And all my life you've been right here by my side. Come on church, if you are grateful. If you know what I know, that I don't deserve to be here today but because of the grace of God, the forgiveness of God, the blood of Jesus, that I'm able to stand here with confidence that I'm loved by Heavenly Father. If you know that's true in your life, would you just give a praise in this place? Father, we're so grateful. We're grateful for all that you've done for giving us breath in our lungs, for giving us freedom in our lives, Jesus, that we can come and freely worship you and to hear your voice and to learn from your spirit and to grow into all that you desire us to be, Father. We're grateful. We're grateful for this time. We're grateful that you so love us, that you are a Heavenly Father that is good to us, God. And as we spend this time hearing from you, Lord, I pray that you would grow us, you would teach us greater than any teacher could teach, Father. We're not here for the amusement of man.

We're not here simply to celebrate our earthly fathers. We're here because you are a Heavenly Father that has done everything so we could be called your beloved children, Jesus. We're grateful. Thank you. Let your will be done in this place. In the name of Jesus, we pray and all the people of God who love him said, Amen. Come on, church, let's continue to give him praise as we have a seat in this place. I want to welcome you to the perfect place for imperfect people to experience the presence of God. Before we jump into God's word today, we want to continue to show our gratitude and give thanks by the giving of our tithes and offerings. And I want to let you know, if you're a guest with us this Father's Day, this isn't for you, but this is about you. We're not asking you to give today, but for those of us who call this place home, we gladly give so that we can see the ones that we love saved and set free. So if you come prepared as part of your worship to give, our service guys are going to be passing down some buckets. We also have a giving kiosk out in the lobby, some boxes in the back. The most important thing, the thing that we remind ourselves often is that God says that when we give,

we give out of a cheerful heart, not out of compulsion, not out of guilt or conviction that we give because we are grateful for him. Amen. Again, happy Father's Day. Can we just give it up for all the dads in this place today? The fact that you showed up on a Sunday when you could have slept in, done whatever you want. We're grateful for you. I'm Eric, and for as long as I remember, from a very young age, I had a very significant and serious drug problem. My mom, every Sunday, she drugged me to church. And I'm so grateful that she did. Now I know some of you are here today because you want to be, and some of you are here today because you were forced to be, but for whatever reason you're here today, I'm glad that you're here. And I'm grateful because I believe that God wants to grow you and God wants to give something to you that's worth you showing up today. So dads, they dragged you because they love you, but God is gonna do something great here in this place. Do you believe that? Now I'm sitting today because this morning I sneezed and threw out my neck.

And so it's gotten a little bit better throughout the day, but the first few services I felt like old school Batman, like having to move my whole body. So I'm sitting down so I don't fall out during service or go into more pain. So I just wanna let you know that there's nothing wrong with me, except I kinked my neck from sneezing. We're in week three of this teaching series we started titled It's All in God's Word. We're in our year of being all in for the ones that we love. And we're in this series because everything that we're looking for in this life, the answer to every question, peace for every day, joy for every circumstance, all of it can be found in God's words. It's all in his words. Now today for Father's Day, I wanna speak specifically to all the men who are in this room today. Dads, grandpas, sons, uncles, coaches, spiritual fathers. I believe, and I hope you believe and you receive that what we're gonna talk about today can change the trajectory of our life and our parenting and everything about us if we put it into practice. I wanna speak to the dads today. But just because it's Father's Day and I'm speaking specifically to the dads, ladies, it doesn't mean that this isn't for you today.

Don't tune out because today's Father's Day, or even worse, don't elbow the guy next to you and say, hey, pay attention, this is for you. Don't do that, okay? In fact, here's what I want us to do. Everyone turn to the person next to you, look at them in the eyes and say, today is for me. Today is for me. I've titled today's teaching Don't Cherry Pick. Don't cherry pick, and based off of when you grew up or where you live, that term cherry picking can mean several different things. If you're in the business world, cherry picking is when you choose only the best deals and you leave the risky ones alone. If you're in a debate or in a courtroom, cherry picking is when you pull evidence that supports your argument and you quietly ignore all the evidence that doesn't. But in basketball, cherry picking is perhaps the most disrespectful thing that you can do on the court. Cherry picking is when you stand near your opponent's basket while the rest of your team plays defense. You don't do anything. You don't help, you don't guard anybody, you just stay by the opposite hoop waiting for someone to throw you a long lob and then you make a basket without breaking a sweat. That's what cherry picking is, disrespectful. Now, as a lifelong Heat fan, it's hard for me to admit,

but I will give honor where honor's due. Many of you know that the New York Knicks, they won the NBA championship. Perfect place for imperfect people, it's okay. Again, as a lifelong Heat fan, it's hard to admit that, but I'll say this, no one on the Knicks organization won that championship from cherry picking. You don't get a ring that way. You get a ring by doing the hard work, by playing both offense and defense, by doing what you're supposed to do, even and especially when it costs you something. Now, the reason I talk about that today is because if we're honest, a lot of us, we've been cherry picking our faith. We stay around for the easy stuff. We hang around for the blessings, the comfort, the parts of God's word that feel good to us. But the moment the word of God asks us to repent, to be humble, to sacrifice, then many of us, we have the tendency to drift for the easy basket. Again, you don't win a ring that way. Not in basketball, not in life, and especially not in faith. So I wanna talk about that today. If you have your Bible, would you just lift it up right now? I encourage everyone in this room throughout this series, and you know what? Continuing on after this series,

if you have a physical Bible, bring it with you. If you don't, fill out a Connect card. Say, I need a Bible. We wanna give you one free as a gift because this is not just some book that's supposed to collect dust on our shelf. This is the living, active word of God that he's given for us to grow in. So in this series, I said, we're gonna do something different. I want you to bring your physical Bible, and when we read our key passage, I want you to stand for it. So everyone, stand to your feet right now. Turn your Bible to the book of James, chapter one, verses 20 through 22 to 25. We're gonna read this together out loud. Can we do that? You can find. along on the screen, if you don't have a Bible with you. Says this, read it with me. But be doers of the Word and not hearers only, deceiving yourself. For if anyone is a hearer of the Word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forget what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets, but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing. This is the Word of God. You may have a seat. There are three things that I want us to understand and to apply today that will change the trajectory of our life from this point. The first one is this, write it down. Hearing doesn't change me. Hearing doesn't change me. James says don't be a hearer. He says be a what? Doer. Doer requires doing something. He doesn't say be a feeler.

He doesn't say be an admirer. He doesn't even say be a quoter. He says be a doer. And that word doer is not passive. What that means for us is that it requires movement. What we hear in this, what we hear in here, must take place out there as well. That's what it means to do God's Word. And one of the biggest disconnects in our church right now is that we have produced a generation of very informed, very inspired, and oftentimes very articulate non-doers. People who can remember what was taught on Sunday, but on Monday they're still left unchanged. And James, he makes this even clearer in chapter 2. James chapter 2 verses 14 through 16. Let me read it together. It says, what good is it my brothers if someone says he has faith, but does not have works? Can that faith save him? Is what he asks. He gives an example. Verse 15. If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, hey, go in peace. Be warmed and filled. Without giving them the things needed for the bod, he asked, what good is that? Verse 17. So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, it is what? Dead. Not sick. Not struggling. Dead. Dead faith hears a good Word and is still left unchanged. Dead faith may, may even agree with everything that says theologically, but is not living it out practically. I want to ask you this Father's Day. Is your faith dead? Do you nod your head and agree with what's being said, but don't live it out? Is your faith dead? Or is it living? Is it alive? Live faith hears the Word and then does it. Live faith says, God if you ask me to do it, I'm actually going to walk in it. Turn your Bibles to the book of 1 John. It's toward the end of the Bible. 1 John chapter 2 verses 3 through 6. This is John. This is the loving Apostle. We're reading the book of John right now together as a church. One chapter a day asking, Holy Spirit, what are you teaching me? What do you want me to do about it? And you may, as you're reading the book of John, you may notice that he talks a lot about his relationship, his personal relationship with Jesus. He shares a lot of language of love and grace. Listen to what he says in 1 John. He says, and by this we know that we have come to know him. He says, by this we can have confidence that we are in relationship with God. He says, if we keep his commandments. Whoever says, I know him, but does not keep his commandments is a liar. Mentiroso. Mentiroso. Pantalones en fuego. You're lying. You're, you're, you're not telling the truth. The truth is not in him, but whoever keeps his word in him, truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him. Whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked. Again John, the nice loving gentle Apostle is saying, if you say you love him, but you don't follow his word, you are lying.

He's teaching us that, that obedience is an optional proof of faith. Obedience is the actual evidence that you have faith. Are we obeying what God is asking of us? Now I want to make this clear. The goal isn't perfection. Okay. We're never going to be perfect on this side of eternity. We're imperfect flesh. The goal is not perfection. The goal is direction. Are you actually headed in the direction of what God asked of you? Dads, what that means is you don't have to be perfect theologians for your life. Children, your kids aren't expecting you to win every online battle. Your kids aren't expecting you to answer every question, every difficult question like a pastor would answer. What your kids need more than anything is for them to observe what obedience looks like to God in everyday moments of our life. My oldest son, Ethan, he's 13, he's serving in the tech booth right now. I'm so proud. But listen, I made a lot of mistakes. I told someone last service, Ethan, our oldest, he was our experiment. We're trying to figure out how to parent and parenting. It has a way of exposing if we actually believe what we say we believe. Isn't that right? I share that because like me, many of you in this room, you have shared something with your child that you yourself struggled with yourself. I know I'm not the only one who has told my kid, put your phone down when I struggle with scrolling, right? Am I the only one? I know I'm not the only one who has said, hey, watch your attitude, young man. And then raise my voice at the Comcast service representative on the other side of the line, because my Internet is down at my house. I'm not saying whether or not I've actually done this. Maybe you have. We tell our kids, hey, be honest, always tell the truth. And then when someone shows up at your door that you want to talk to,

you say, hey, tell them I'm not home. Or even worse, again, I may or may not have done this. You're at the ticket line at Disney World and you tell your kid who's 10, say you're nine years old so we can get the discounts. I love what Jessica reminded us on Mother's Day. She reminded us that that our faith is caught more than it's taught. That our kids are watching our lives, learning about what faith looks like, not by what we say, but by how we live our life. Dad, your children notice when you pray when things get difficult. They notice when you open up God's word on days other than Sunday. They notice when you forgive somebody when they hurt you. They notice when you talk about this and when you serve, when no one else is watching. Long after our children forget most of what we've actually said to them, what they're going to remember is what we consistently showed them with our life. Legacy is caught more than taught. Dad, I'm telling you, one of the greatest gifts that you can give your children is the example of a life that actually lives what it says it believes. Hearing alone, hearing doesn't change me. It requires doing. Amen. Second thing I want you to write down is this, cherry picking deceives me. Cherry picking deceives me. James, he says in verse 22, but be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving who? Yourselves. He puts the responsibility right where it belongs. He doesn't say we're deceived by other people. He doesn't say we're misled by our exterior circumstances. He says we're deceiving ourselves. And then he illustrates it very clearly in the next two verses. He says, verse 23, if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror and then goes away and at once forgets what he was like.

Think about how ridiculous that illustration actually is. Imagine you woke up in the morning, you look in the mirror, and what you're looking at is unnatural. Your hair has bed head and is in positions that it should not be. You have a little bit of like sand in your eye. You have some dry drool on the corner of your mouth. You have lines on your face from your pillow or your CPAP machine. And you look at it, you analyze it. You even agree with what you see. You say, you know what? Something needs to change. This right here, I got to clean this up. I got to fix this before I go out. But instead of actually doing something about what you see in the mirror, you put on your clothes and you head straight to work. If we saw someone that looked like that in a public space, what would we say? They're crazy. What's wrong with them, right? But James is saying this happens every single week in churches all across America. We do the same thing. We hear the preaching of God's Word. Of God calling out our sin, putting a finger on our gossip. And how do we respond? I'll tell you how this church responds. Oh, good sermon. Pastor, preach it. I've had people tell me multiple times, when you call out our sin, when you bring. Conviction. Our church needs more of that. That's how you respond. The Bible, we open it up and it exposes our greed and our lust and our selfishness and our prayerlessness and our sin. And we say, man, that was a good sermon. That was for me today. And then we walk out of here unchanged. Church Familia, the Bible is not simply a book that we are supposed to agree with.

This is a mirror that we're supposed to respond to. James shows us that this man who's looking in the mirror, he's in danger. He's not in danger because he doesn't know. No, he knows God's word. Remember two weeks ago, we talked about two different builders on two different foundations. They both heard the same thing. This man looking in the mirror is the same way. He knows the word of God. The deception for him is an ignorance. What it is, is comfortable delay. He's in danger. Because he knows the word of God and he assumes that that's enough. He's in danger because he's convinced himself that awareness is the same thing as obedience, that being convicted of our sin is the same thing as actually changing our lives. And the problem with this comfortable delay is that the longer the delay goes on to do something without us doing something, the more natural it feels for us, the more comfortable we get. Eventually, where we open up the word of God and read a passage that used to wreck our lives every time we read it, and now it does nothing. Not because God stopped speaking to us, because we have gotten comfortable delaying obedience. And that's what the Bible calls the hardening of our hearts. Listen to what Hebrews 3.13 says. It says, but exhort one another every day as long as it's called today. Encourage one another. Lift up one another with God's word. Every day you get the opportunity that none of you may be able to do that, none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness, the lies of sin.

Church, I'm telling you, there's a version of cherry picking that doesn't look like rebellion to God. It looks like someone who's a good man, who loves God, who knows God's word, who cares for his family, but has slowly stopped allowing the word of God to convict him to move. He's heard it so many times without doing anything about it, that now there's a major gap between hearing and doing. And that gap in between has become comfortable. And that gap is where our hearts get hardened. Where now we still hear, but we don't care. So what does that actually look like? How do we know if selective hearing on our part has hardened our heart? I'm going to give you four common ways that I see it happening. First one's this. We cherry pick by category. We cherry pick by category. Meaning we obey the commands that touch areas that we care about, and we ignore the ones over the parts of our lives that we're protecting. When we cherry pick by category, it asks the question, which parts of my life actually belong to me? Which parts of my life actually belong to God? When we cherry pick by category, it says things like, listen, I'm great with encouragement. I'm great with, with, with, with loving and forgiving. But we don't talk about giving. We don't talk about my generosity. We also cherry pick by convenience. By convenience meaning we obey when it's easy for us, and we seek theological reasons why we're not when it's difficult. When we cherry pick by convenience, it asks, when do I have to obey God? And it says things like, listen, I know I should forgive, and I would forgive them, but you don't know what they did to me. It's cherry picking by convenience. We also cherry pick by comfort. Write that down.

We embrace the parts of God's word that make us feel good, and we avoid the parts that call us to change. When we cherry pick by comfort, that asks us, how much will this sacrifice cost me? How much will this obedience cost me? And it says things like, man, I love the promises, but the price I have to pay, the sacrifice I have to make, I'm not sure about that. Number four, we cherry pick. by culture. When culture says one thing and the Word of God says another thing, oftentimes we are tempted to reinterpret Scripture instead of submitting our life to it. When we cherry-pick by culture, it asks the question, who gets the final word in my life? Is it me? Is it my feelings? Is it the circumstances I'm in? Or is it God's? When we cherry-pick by culture, we say things, and maybe you said it, we say things like, yeah, I believe the Bible is true. And I know what the Bible says. But it's 2026. No one believes that anymore. No one actually lives that way. And what we're building with all this selective hearing is a faith that's exactly as strong as we've decided that it's going to be. And not as strong as God designed it to be. It's not the faith that you can build your life upon when we cherry-pick it. Dad, the reason I'm sharing this is because our selective listening, our selective hearing, it's, it's not just personal as a father. It's not just individual to us. It's generational. When your kids see you engaging passionately about the parts of your faith that, that cost you nothing, and then be silent and quietly avoid the parts that actually require something in your life, they learn for themselves by your life that their obedience to God is optional. That you get to decide what parts of God's Word apply and which parts don't. And they'll make the same calculation with even more reasons to justify it in their generation. The question that, that every kid is really asking when they, when they watch their dad living a life of faith isn't, does my dad go to church? The question that they're asking is, does my dad believe this? And if he really believes this, is anything changing in his life? Cherry-picking deceives us. But here's the last thing I want you to know. Write this down. Obedience. Obedience frees me. Obedience is what frees us. James 1.25,

But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets, but a doer who acts, he will be blessed. Say blessed. Blessed in his what? Doing. The blessing is attached to the action. I want you to hear this today. Every, every dad, every guest, every person in this place. God loves you just the way that you are. And his love for you costs him everything. But it is a free gift. He, he, he loves you with an everlasting love. And it doesn't cost you anything. His salvation is free. But God's blessing, his blessing comes at a cost. The cost of God's blessing is our obedience. He loves you. His salvation. His relationship with you. Eternity is free. But if you want God's blessings, the cost is our obedience. And let me make this clear. God's blessings isn't necessarily what we think it is in America with more commas in our bank account, a new flashy car in our driveway, more rooms in our house. No. All throughout Scripture God's blessing is seen as provision for everything that we need. Peace in every circumstance. Joy that no, no person can take away. A legacy being left down to our kids. That is God's blessing. Open doors that no one else can imagine. That blessing has a cost. And that blessing is obedience. I want you to notice what, what, what James calls God's Word. He says it's the law of what? The law of liberty. Liberty. This brings freedom. But a lot of us when we see this, when we think about this, we think this restricts us. We think God's Word is guardrails to, to fence us in, to keep us from having fun. James says the opposite. He says it's the law of liberty. This actually is the pathway to our freedom. Amen. Like four of you said amen. I get it. Listen. I get it. When we look at God's Word, we think it restricts. I understand why, why we don't, enthusiasm. When I was a little kid, my parents had a rule that I absolutely loathed. I hated this rule. My parents would not let me eat whatever I wanted whenever I wanted it. For many years, I grew up with my abuela, and she always had pudding in the fridge. She always had a pantry stocked with Oreos and potato chips. And after a meal, I'd say, can I get a dessert? And my parents would say, you can have one. One?

What kind of wicked, evil number is one? One cookie is good, which means six cookies is even greater, amen? It's simple math. And they would say, you can only have one, no more. I felt like they were taking away my freedom. But now, as a parent, I realize they weren't taking away my freedom. What were they doing? They were protecting me from myself. Because little kids, they're not known for operating with wisdom, right? Left to their own devices. A little kid would eat frosting for breakfast every day. They would stay up until 3 a.m. watching YouTubers and TikTokers do dumb things, right? Little kids, they climb up on things and jump off just to see what's going to happen. But for those of us who are now older, and hopefully a little bit more wiser, we realize they weren't taking away our freedom. They were protecting us. We realize that just because we wanted it doesn't mean that it was good for us. But when it comes to things of God, we tend to be like little children, right? We feel the same way with God's commands. When we read something in Scripture that convicts our sin, that confronts something we've been doing, that corrects us, that limits a desire that is inside of us, we automatically think, God's taking away my freedom. I feel this way. Why won't God let me act on it? He's taking away my freedom. No. God's not trying to take away your freedom. God's trying to lead you into real freedom. Into a life that does not hold you captive, that does not chain you down,

does not make you dependent on what other people say. Every command from God comes from a Father who sees much farther down the line than we ever could. He sees what's coming behind that bad decision. He even sees the blessings that are just beyond our obedience to Him. He sees farther than we can. He knows the hurt and the pain that our decisions can make. And He also knows the blessings of obedience that we can experience when we follow His Word. For example, God knows that when you forgive somebody, you're not just letting go of them. You're letting go of the bitterness that you held onto that's killing you. God knows that if we are actually genuinely generous to other people, the greed, the grip of greed that chokes so many of our hearts loosens in our life. God knows when you respond with humility instead of your pride, that it'll build up a relationship far greater than your ego could ever achieve. I've experienced this one in my life time and time again. God knows that when we submit our plans to Him, when we submit the things that we want to Him, He gives us peace in every circumstance. It doesn't make any logical sense giving what's going on around us. I want you to write this down, but more than that, I want you to receive it as truth. Obedience isn't a cage that traps us. It's a key that frees us. Obedience is the key that unshackles us from everything this world tries to hold us down with. Nope. See, I hear it. Don't do that. Typically, after the last fill-in, I hear pens clicking and folders closing. Don't put away your notes. There's two other things I want you to fill out at the conclusion that aren't there in your notes necessarily. Keep your notes open. Read Deuteronomy 28, verses 1 and 2. Listen to this. If you faithfully obey the voice of the Lord your God, being careful to do all His commandments that I've commanded you today, listen,

the Lord your God will set you high above the nations of the earth, and all these blessings shall come upon you. You and what? Overtake you if you obey the voice of the Lord your God. Overtake you. That, that, that's not a passive word. That's blessings in pursuit. That's blessings moving faster than you're able to. God is not reluctantly handing out blessings to the barely obedient. God is chasing us down with something greater than we can imagine to the person who decides, I'm going to do what you've asked me to do. I'm going to obey what you said in your words. Turn to your neighbor tell them this. Say, obedience brings blessings. Say it a little bit louder like you actually believe it. Say, obedience brings blessings. Dad, what, what is that blessing? One more time for the fathers in this place. Psalm 112, one through two. Blessed, blessed is the man who fears the Lord, who greatly delights in his commandments. Not, oh God, I gotta follow the Bible says it. I can't do it. Bummer. But who delights man. This is God's love letter to me. This is God's wisdom for me to be all that he's called me to be. Blessed is the man who fears the Lord, who greatly delights in his commandment. Here's a promise. Verse two. His offspring will be mighty in the land. Come on dads. Who doesn't want that for their children? That your kids would stand with confidence. That your kids would know who they are in Christ. That the world would not influence them, but they would influence the world with the love of Jesus. I pray that promise for my kids that they will be mighty in the land. But hear this. That prayer will not come to pass simply by praying. This promise comes to pass by doing. Your obedience today produces might in your children for their future. Not your money. We've heard too many stories of people who pass down large sums of money thinking it's going to set their kids up

and their kids go astray. Not your last name. I, listen, I know your family has pride. But we've heard too many stories of kids, of influential parents who pass down their name and authority and the kids lose it. Don't believe the lie that it's, it's a perfect upbringing that provides your kids things that will leave a lasting legacy. No. A legacy of obedience. Obeying God's Word. That's what produces mighty kids. And dads, I want you to hear this. I want to encourage you. For the dads in the room that didn't have that. Whose father wasn't present. Whose father wasn't the, the faithful example that you needed in your life. You're not trapped into what was passed down to you. Today you can break that cycle in your own life and for your family. You can stop that today. The God who blesses the doer is the same God who restores what was lost. He can give you right now what you didn't have growing up. You can be the father that you didn't have. Not because you're going to figure it all out right now, but because you're, you're going to say, I'm willing to do what God asked me to do. Even when it cost me my comforts. And when we obey God's Word, all throughout Scripture we see His blessing, His provision, His protection, His grace, His joy, His strength in our lives. And hear this, that blessing is not just for you. That blessing is for everyone that's connected to you. Your obedience today is your children's inheritance tomorrow. Now the two other things I want you to fill in. What's the Holy Spirit teaching you? Write it down. Don't just leave this place with a thought in your mind. Put it down on paper. Write down, this is what the Holy Spirit was

convicting me when we opened up His Word today. When this was said, this is what He said to me. Write it down. But perhaps the more important question today is, what are you going to do about it? Write that down. Because it's one thing to hear, but unless we do, we'll never grow. Unless we do, we'll harden our hearts and have a difficult time hearing from this Heavenly Father that so loves and wants to grow us. Leave a legacy in our life. It comes with obedience. What's He teaching you? What are you going to do about it? I'm going to ask our prayer partners to come up right now. Whatever the Holy Spirit's asking you to do, I encourage you to do it. See what God does in your life when you, when you obey His words. But one way that all of us can take a step forward in obedience is through a time of worship right now. So I want you to stand to your feet. Our prayer partners are up here. If there's a burden that's heavy on your heart, if there's something that you're having trouble letting go of, the Bible says, come to someone, receive prayer. God can set people free through the agreement of His people praying together. But we're going to, we're going to spend some time responding with a song of worship. A song that we've sung many times before. The song is called Champion. And the song Champion is based off of one truth that Jesus won the victory for us. He so loved us, He came to walk with us. He lived a perfect life. And then He willingly placed all of our sin, past, present, and future upon Himself. He paid the price that we should have paid for our sin. He died a brutal death on the cross.

But because He's the perfect Son of God, death cannot hold Him down. Three days later, He rose again. He defeated the power of sin, hell, and death. And He exchanges our imperfect lives for His perfection, for a relationship with Him forever. And so those of us who are His, His victory is now our victory. We get to experience the Champion every day of our lives. Then there's this part of the song, the bridge. It says, and when I open up my mouth, miracles start breaking out. I want to clarify that real quick. Because for some of us, we think that's word faith. We think if I say something, God has to do it. This isn't name it and claim it. What we're actually saying is, when my mouth, when I open up my mouth, and the words on my mouth agree with God's words, then miracles break out. There's no power in our words alone. There are power in our words when we're saying His words. Because His words are truth, and life, and living, and active. Do you know Moses didn't split the Red Sea? Moses lifted up his staff in obedience to what God asked him to do. And then God split the sea. David didn't defeat Goliath on his own power. David stepped out in faith on what God asked him to do, and God won the victory for him. And in the book of Acts, the disciples, they didn't heal the sick on their own power. They took the word of God. Jesus says, I'm giving you my authority, and I want you to speak my name. And they said, in the name of Jesus, be healed. And all the authority, with the name of Jesus, from the commandment God had given them, produced miracles. They weren't perfect. They were doers, though.

They were agreeing with what God said. And so when we sing this song, what we're doing is we're agreeing with God. We're saying, Lord, You are my champion. You won the battle. You are, I am who You say that I am. And I'm standing in that truth today. I'm standing in what the word of God says that I am, and says that I have. I'm standing in that for my family, for my marriage, for my children. And I'm not going to stay silent any longer about the things in my life that I'm trying to protect. I'm going to open up my mouth and declare what You already said. Amen. I want us to pray together. And then after that, if you need prayer, come forward. But all of us, let's declare this. Let's proclaim this. This is the step of faith that all of us can take, to open up our mouths in agreement with what He said, and believe it for ourself, and to walk in it. Father, thank You for what You're doing in this place. Thank You, God, for the fresh start, the new beginning, the legacy that You're allowing us to live as fathers, and husbands, and uncles, and coaches, and spiritual dads, and every person in this place, God. Today is a day of new beginning, of freedom. Not because we're perfect, not because we figured it out, but because we're willing to do whatever it is You ask us to do. And right now, God, we declare Your word, Your truth, that the best is still before us, because You're always with us. Thank You, in Jesus' name, amen.

Let's sing this together, church. ♪♪ ♪♪ -♪ And I've tried so hard to see it ♪ ♪ Took me so long to believe it ♪ ♪ That you'd choose someone like me ♪ -♪ Come on, declare it, Church. You are chosen, not forsaken. -♪ Perfection could never earn it ♪ ♪ We give what we don't deserve it ♪ ♪ You take the broken through ♪ -♪ The reason to glory ♪ -♪ Sing it out, declare it. -♪ You are my champion ♪ Giants fall when you stand undefeated ♪ ♪ If you battle, you've won ♪ I am who you say I am -♪ Don't believe the lie of the enemy. You are His. You are holy. You are forever free in Him. -♪ In the heavenly place undefeated ♪ With the one who has conquered it all ♪♪ ♪ Now I can finally see it ♪ You're teaching me how to receive it ♪ So let all the striving cease ♪ Oh, this is my victory -♪ You are my champion ♪ Giants fall when you stand undefeated

♪ If you battle, you've won ♪ I am who you say I am ♪ You crown me with comfort and try to see it ♪ In the heavenly place undefeated ♪ With the one who has conquered it all -♪ Church, now's our time to lift our voice, to speak His Word. Oh, you may not feel it, but when you declare it in faith, His Word will strengthen you. It will produce the fruit that He set it out for. Declare truth. Speak it over your family, your children. Open up your mouth right now and just start claiming His promises over your life. Say, I am more than a conqueror in every situation. My children belong to the Lord. The enemy will not take my family. It's covered in the blood. Preserved by the name of Jesus. Speak it out. Speak His Word. You can shout it out right now. In Jesus' name, our families will be restored. Our marriages will be reconciled. Our children will grow in faith. This church will change our local community. In Jesus' name. ♪ You are my champion ♪ ♪ Giants fall when You stand undefeated ♪ Every battle.

♪ Every battle You won ♪ ♪ I am who You say I am ♪ ♪ You crown me with comfort as I am seated ♪ ♪ In the heavenly place undefeated ♪ ♪ By the power of Your name I am seated ♪ ♪ In the heavenly place undefeated ♪ ♪ With the one who has conquered it all ♪ Come on, just give Him praise. ♪ Worthy Lord ♪