First Things First (Ben Graves)

Come on, Elevation Church, why don't we lift up the name of Jesus all over this room? Come on, anyone got a testimony, a story? Guys, that song, that song. You know, I don't know if you studied church history, but you go back, Welsh Revival, Great Awakening, Azusa Street, go through any of them. The common thread is as darkness began to prevail on a culture, racism, brokenness, division, disunity. It was like at the right time, God would look at the brokenness of culture and say, that's my moment to pour my spirit out. And I just want to prophesy and declare this. Can we just say we're due for another Great Awakening? We're due for an outpouring of God's Holy Spirit. Do it in our children, O God. Do it in our nation, O God. I'm just believing that's going to be like the soundtrack. And I'm just so grateful to be here. God is doing a mighty thing in our day. Before we go a step further, can we just make sure we give honor where honor is due? Just before you cheer, here's the thing you need to know about Elevation Church. This is a church that unapologetically believes that God's got a plan, a hope, and a future for the next generation. So if you showed up to church today and you're like, why are all these young people on stage? I'll just say this, that there is a cultural narrative that maybe the next generation is lost. The next generation is too much on their phone. That might be true. TikTok is infiltrating the culture in their mind and they're lost. I just want to deliver a different perspective. That we're about to see thousands of students from this community say, I'm going to lean into what God's doing. And I just think the darker the world, come on, the more tailor-made anointing God has for this generation. My Bible tells me this, that in the last days, what's going to happen? The old men, but the young men will dream dreams and prophesy. And I just believe the best days are yet to come for the next generation. And you serve at a church that your pastor's heart burns to see young people come to find Jesus. So we'll put resources, we'll put time, we'll put effort, we'll put music. So on behalf of what God has done, I know so this, this is how you honor a movement. You honor a movement by bringing it forward.

And can we just take a moment right now and just give honor where honor is due to Pastor Stephen and Holly Furtick. For creating a space and a room for the next generation. Thank you for being a role model to so many young guys and girls like myself. We all just dream one day. Can we just be like even half as anointed and jacked as Pastor Stephen Furtick. Good Lord. My name is Ben Graves. I come from San Diego, California. And yeah, the land of Shamu, Sea World, really suffering for the gospel. Someone's got to do it. It's 75 degrees year round. And my wife and I, Brooke and our two beautiful babies, I think we have a photo of them. We just send our love. God's been so good to us. That's our daughter Banks and our little one Benji. I was thinking about this last week. I'll let you sit in a moment. I'm gonna read scripture. But the one with the cute pigtails. The craziest moment when she was born was, of course, like when it's delivered. And there's young people in the room, so I'll spare you the details. But there's this moment, parents in the room, you know this moment. Like you kind of live in this fairy tale land of like having nurses and doctors check in on you. And they're teaching you how to change a diaper. And then this moment comes where you kind of sign your life away on these documents. And then the nurse just kind of goes, see ya. And you're like holding a car seat. You learned how to put together on YouTube 15 minutes prior. I'll kind of look at my wife. I'm like, they're just letting us leave. They didn't even background check me. I'm a California driver. Yellow means go. But when that girl got in my car, all of a sudden I turned to 65 years old, leaving my retirement community.

Slow down. And there's this portion of Scripture that just reminds me of this moment. Because I went in one moment from just being Ben to like an instant getting this new title, Dad. I didn't earn it. I didn't really know what it all meant. But every day of my life has been a journey. of growing and maturing into this title I've been given. And Paul writes something in 2 Corinthians, wanna read this text for us today? He says this, that we are now Christ's ambassador. I just felt for someone in the room, like what is an ambassador? It's just someone who represents one kingdom inside of another. And Paul doesn't say one day you will be. He doesn't say maybe when you get a certain degree you will be. He just says you are. And anyone ever struggle with this reality that you go from death to life, but there's still this part of you that sometimes doesn't feel like walking in this call of ambassadorship? When I think of being an ambassador, I think every person in this room, young or old, you have been given a sphere of influence, a domain that you are called to be a leader, an ambassador representing the kingdom of God in this kingdom here on earth. You have been given a family. Moms and dads, catch this,

you've been given young people, children, even the snotty toddlers. You have been given a domain. And what I've just learned culturally, especially around this next generation, is some of us have forfeited or not lived up into this title of a representation of Christ, pleading to a world, come back to God. Because we spend a lot of time looking at the brokenness and the turmoil of the world. And some of us have just become like professional pointer-outers of all the broken things. And what we do when we focus on out there is sometimes we forfeit the territory God's given us here. And I just wanna encourage someone, maybe you felt like this week you didn't live like an ambassador for Christ. Felt like you lived for an ambassador of insecurity, an ambassador of trauma. I just came today to say God's got a special amount of grace that he wants to impart into your heart this morning. Because here's what this next generation needs. It needs moms and dads and aunties and uncles and business owners and workplace leaders that would say, I wanna be a representation to this broken world, saying, come back to God. So Jesus, this morning, we say, use us. Father, we don't wanna vacate what you've called us to lead in. Love the words of Paul.

God, we are, we grab on to that, I am. This is my core duty, this is my role. I'm a son and daughter of God, but then he gives me this mission to represent who Christ is. Not just represent what he's against, but to represent who he is. So God, today, I pray that every individual in this room, the sound of my voice watching online, watching all over the campuses, that today, Lord, their hearts would be softened by the reality that, God, you wanna use me. I didn't see it this way, but you wanna use me. I'm just a mom, but you wanna use me. I'm just a dad, but you wanna use me. Today, God, I pray that your Holy Spirit would move all over this room. God, we don't wanna leave the same. Transform us from the inside out. Jesus, we love you, we praise you, in all God's beautiful people said, amen. Come on, why don't we give God a shout of praise? High-five someone as you find your seat. What up, youth team, how we doing? The merch looks good, the merch looks good. I am beyond excited for what God's gonna do today. If you have your Bible, turn to the book of Judges chapter six. If you knew this portion of Scripture, really, anytime we study the Old Testament

and Israelites and the people of God, think of them, really, as an archetype of all of humanity in many ways, right? Like, we see them in bondage, in slavery, in Egypt, and what does God do? He frees them. This is the very same thing Christ does from your sin, in bondage, in slave, in his Holy Spirit, through the blood of Jesus. What does it do? It frees you. So, if we look at the Israelites, it's like they're kinda even, like, schizophrenic in their walk with God, because you see them being, like, the prize called chosen people of God, but then you see them not be able to let go of this love for other gods and other nations and other cultures. And in Judges chapter six, where we land, you gotta remember that this is before we ever saw kings step onto the scene, and a judge, different than a judge in our culture, a judge in our culture would, you know, justify the law. A judge in this day would have been almost like a superhero given to the people of God. They were anointed to be a deliverer, someone to call the people back. So, watch this. When the Israelites would drift from God, he would then send a judge.

Now, you read the book of Judges, and you'll see that there are 12 different judges mentioned in this book, which tells us that they would drift, God would send a judge. They would then drift. again and God would send another judge. 12 different times and that is because no human being is the answer to the condition of their heart. I mean Moses, Abraham, all the Old Testament, Gideon, Deborah, all the judges, all of them are just a preview pointing to we can't fix this but God is sending someone who can and his name is Jesus, his only son. So we see God send judges to try and call the people back to God and then once again the people would fall and fall and fall and where we find ourselves in this text today is the reality that the people of God have once again did evil in the eyes of the Lord. I'm going to read this Judges chapter 6, 1 through 6 and it says this, the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord and for seven years he gave them into the hands of the Midianites because the power of Midian was so oppressive the Israelites prepared shelters for themselves and mountain clefts, caves, and strongholds. Whenever the Israelites planted their crops, the Midianites, Amicalites, and other eastern peoples invaded the country. They camped on the land and ruined their crops all the way to Gaza and did not spare a living thing for Israel, neither sheep nor cattle nor donkeys. They came up with their livestock in their tents like swarms of locusts. This is fascinating imagery here right because we saw in the delivery of God's people from Egypt, well what do you remember how God judged the emperor of the time? He said he would send swarms of locusts. Now we see this imagery bought back into the text again. It's like saying the thing that God used to judge the enemy is now the thing that is conquering them in their oppression here. Oh this is interesting because we see that no longer are the people of God, because at this point they have made it to the promised land. So they've made it now to what God has promised for them, but read this, they're getting so beat up and so defeated by the enemy that they have literally vacated the promise, and the Bible says they have made homes for themselves in mountain clefts and caves. Now I don't know if you've ever been in a season where you feel like you're just getting beat up left and right by the enemy, that you feel like, man I thought I conquered this thing, but it keeps coming back into my

current situation. Maybe some of you today you feel like, man I've had seasons of winning and seasons of losing. I just want to ease your heart a little bit. That's walking with Jesus. That oftentimes it doesn't always feel like up and to the right, but we see the people of God here make it to the promised land, and because they're so oppressed, because the enemy is running ravage in their day, it says that they vacate and they go and hide. Like I just imagine like what was one of the dads one day just like getting beat up and scrolling Zillow, dingy dark cave, fixer-upper. I think he probably had a moment, I just imagine it this way, there was one dad who was just so tired of his food being plummaged, of his life being taken from him. He looked at his kids and went, you know what, I think we could take him up to this cave, and we could just hide out a little bit. The many nights can't get us up there. Maybe just one family went up and made themselves a little shelter, and one night turned to two nights, and three nights turned to four nights, and other families saw, man they're safe up there. Then another family leaves and packs up. I just wonder if they really meant for it to become their home. I think what they thought was going to be shelter for a night, without knowing it, became now their defense for life. And now the promised land of God is running with the enemy, and the people of God are hiding. Remember, same people shouted, walls of Jericho fall down, are now hiding watching the enemy run ravish, and here's what I know about our life. We all have many nights. There are annoying things in our lives, sin, tendencies, background, family of origin, things that we sometimes feel like we have tried, and tried, and tried, and you don't feel delivered. It's things that are beating you up, things that keep you feeling down, and I just learned that oftentimes in my life, I have a tendency not to fight when I get tired, but to hide. And hiding in 2026 is bougie, easy, and accessible, because you ain't even got to go find a cave. You could just hop on your phone. I learned this thing as a dad. I was like, I'd get stressed, overwhelmed. I'm like, I'm just gonna go take a bathroom break. And then God invented something called YouTube golf. But I got convicted by the Lord one day. Don't imagine it too much, but I got it convicted by the Lord because I could hear my kids outside. And the Lord has said to me, you're hiding.

That's the domain I've called you to lead in and you're hiding. I think for some of us, it's like, I'm just so overwhelmed with the pressure to provide. I mean, let's just talk about being a mom or a dad. It's like now it's not even just, can you raise kids to survive? It's like, but can you make sure they get no red 40 and make sure that they eat perfectly and make sure they're working out, inject peptides into them early so that they just get strong, like, and make sure you're watching all this stuff and learning this book and you're raising them up. And it's just this whole thing. And I've just learned this is like, also I got to provide and also I got to be fit. And also I got to make sure they're in the right sports. And also I got to make sure I'm smart and I'm reading my Bible and all of the different things sometimes can cause us to leave and just hide. But can I remind you, you have not been called to vacate the promise land parent, young person, you have been giving a sphere of influence. And what I've learned is when a sphere of influence is vacated by an ambassador, it becomes an open door for the enemy to rampage. And I wonder if you feel like there is chaos raving inside of your life right now. And could it be because God has called you to that domain, to lead, to pray, to make sure you're interceding, to be present. But you find yourselves like the Israelites in this text, oftentimes retreating and hiding and not leading. They find themselves in caves. Well, the next time you see a cave in scripture, you would see in the book of second Kings, you would see a man named Elijah. Just after defeating an enemy, he finds himself hiding out in a, in a cave. You see this all over. You see David, King David running from Saul, who's supposed to be his mentor, his king, who's insecure. And the Bible says that David runs and starts to hide out into a cave.

We can go to the New Testament, two sisters, Mary and Martha, Jesus finds them weeping outside of a cave as their brother is now dead, Lazarus. Go Google what an ancient tomb looked like in biblical times. Even Jesus found himself inside of a cave, but you know what every cave in scripture has in common. Let's look at Elijah for a moment. What happens? He's depressed. He's anxious. He wants to take his own life. Guess who shows up the spirit of God and brings him a meal. Go to King David. What happens? He's depressed. He's insecure. He's inside of a cave. Guess who shows up? God sends brothers, friends to lift him up. Go to Mary and Martha. They're crying outside of a gate. Jesus shows up, weeps with them powerful. And then says, Lazarus, get out that cave because God is not afraid of caves. We serve a God who is in the business of showing up to caves in redeeming and calling out Jesus three days in a cave. We all know the end of the story, friends, that he did not stay in that cave, but three days later he got up out of the grave and defeated sin, death in the grave. So here's what I know for your life. You might've been hiding. You might be in secret. You might be in broken, but good news that we serve a God who loves to show up in caves

and call his sons and daughters back home. Come on. Can I get an amen in the house of God today? He's in the business of showing up in dark places. The Bible says that while we were still sitting, I'll be super playing with you while you were hiding, while you were getting drunk, while you were messing up, while you were running from God, fill in the blanks with whatever that sin issue is. The Bible says that while you were sitting, that's when he shows up. So some of us, what we do is we go, man, I'm just in a bad season. I've been hiding. And what we do is we double down and we make a lifestyle. What if God's called to be something you get called out of? And today, what I believe God is doing in a lot of our lives, you need to meet the man who will show up to your cave today and he will call you home with his grace, his mercy and his Holy Spirit, what he wants to do in and through your life. You have no idea. But here's what I know. You have been given a territory. You have been given a promise. And this next generation needs leaders and parents and people who will not vacate the promise in the place God's given me and sit in hiding. But the spirit of the living God, here's what I know. There's a tailor made anointing for you, mom. There's a tailor made anointing for you to do the thing God's called you to do. You do know this. God will never call you to do something, but not equip you through it. So in every season you are in, remind yourself this today, that even if I've been hiding, the hiding doesn't define me and it's not where you were called to live. I give. It's been a hard season. I get it. Things have been difficult, but you can't live there.

There's too much at stake. Who else is coming for this next generation? Many of us were just like, so youth pastor's job. It's the preacher's job. It's Bryce Crawford's job on Instagram, whatever you're looking for. It's their job. We need to take a hard look in the mirror and go, no, no, no. If God's placed me here, that means he wants to use me to reach people out there. And we got to stop complaining about the cave and start stepping into the anointing God has given us to lead this next generation to the purpose of Jesus. How do we do it? Teach them how to pray. Teach them how to read your Bible. Teach them how to intercede. They need to watch Christians not be hiding, but Christians being ambassadors. Because we speak for who? God. The guy who stars into this galaxy. The guy who formed you in your mother's womb. The one who holds all this in the palm of his hands. You speak for him. I don't think you're hearing this. God says you speak for him. When you cry out to a broken world, come home. Which means the authority of God is on your life and your call for young people to come back to Jesus, for co-workers to come back to Jesus. He has anointed you and given him your power. So read in this text, they find themselves in a cave. And Jesus shows up this time with a conversation. If you know this narrative, it's beautiful and it's powerful. But we see he shows up in verse 11. He says, the angel of the Lord sat down in the oak of Oprah, which belonged to Joash the Breesiae, where his son Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress to keep it from the Midianites. Verse 12. When the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, he said, the Lord is with you, mighty warrior. Now, where does he find Gideon? We don't really know much about threshing wheat, but here's what I've just learned about it is normally the wheat threshing would take place on the top of a mountain where wind could blow through and help them to collect the wheat. So he's doing a work on, should be on top of a mountain, but he's doing it inside of a wine cave. So he's trying to mow his lawn in his backyard. This thing doesn't make sense because when you're operating from a place of fear and hiding, oftentimes you'll be trying to do the right thing, but it just won't make sense. And where we find Gideon here is operating in fear. He's operating in fear. We took my little daughter on a flight not too long ago, and I remember we were kind of taken off, and I was surprised how chill she was about the whole flying experience. And we're kind of beginning our descent back into San Diego, and I kind of look over at her, and the window's open. She can see out the window. I look over at her, and I go, hey babe, isn't this cool we're flying? She's like,

yeah. Goes back to playing whatever she's playing. I go, no. I start to explain it to her. Look out there. We're in the air. And see the little people down there? We're way above them. She's like, yeah. I go, no. See the cloud right there? We're going to go through the cloud. We're hot. I'm trying to explain this to her. And then all of a sudden, we go under some cloud cover, and it clicks in her head. And she goes, shut the window, shut the window, shut the window, shut the window. And for the rest of the flight, I would try and open that window. No, shut the window, shut the window, shut the window. She got a lens of fear, and it changed how she operated on the flight. And I think some of us, when we look backwards, and we look at what happened to us, we looked at what happened to mom, looked at what happened to grandma, we look at what happened in our 20s, we looked at what happened, it has given you a lens of fear in how you see the future. What is fear? It's just imagining a future without God in it. And I just think for you today, stop being so focused on what's in front of you, that you forget who's above you. Because can I remind you in your fear that you might see turmoil, you might see no way out, you might see brokenness, and all of this in front of you. But some of us need to pause on a Monday morning and look up to heaven and say, God, give me a perspective, give me a fresh lens for me to see my kids, my family, my future, like you see them, God. Because he says this to Gideon, mighty warrior, he didn't find him like bench pressing. He didn't find him sharpening a spear. He finds him hiding. And that's because God sits in his prophetic future. He sits in his future and he's calling him out, speaking identity to him, before he steps into it. And what many of us do is we hear the prophetic word of God of our life, Ambassador. And we go, there's no way, man. Not me. Have you seen my past? Have you seen what I've walked through? Have you seen what I've done? I am not that. But can I remind you, sometimes you got to turn down the voice of lies in your mind. And you need to get the voice of God in your prophetic future, in your destiny, calling you who you are. Mighty warrior, ambassador, son and daughter of God. This is what God does to his own son. Before Jesus ever does an act of ministry, what does the voice of the Father speak over him? Identity. Now this has been like, this is gospel, this is Bible. This is a book called Atomic Habits that came out, that is now like

reiterating the same thing. Atomic Habits says this, that before you can ever change what you get, the outcome, you got to change what you do. But before you can change what you do, you got to change who I am. He says identity drives what you do and what you do drives what you get. I love this because this is the gospel. Before you ever have to earn anything, do anything, he just affirms your identity, son and daughter of God. Now a lot of times what we do is we go, I'm so broken and I'm so in this mess that what I do is I got to fix what I do. So I'm gonna grind harder and work harder and make sure I fix my habits and fix my screen time and fix all the things, and those things are all bad. But we get so focused on what we do that we forget the root sources. I just got to get a fresh word from God and identity over who I am. And here's what I've learned. There is no way you can operate in freedom if you see yourself as a slave. There is no way you will see yourself as an ambassador if you see yourself as a havoc to the kingdom of God. When God called you, he knew your background. God's not in heaven like confused on who you are. Oh, in the 90s? Dang, must have missed that part. All right, never mind. Send the kids back. When God called you, he knew your mess. He knew your breakup. He knew everything that had ever happened to you. And still, what does he do? He calls you mighty warrior. Gideon gets this prophetic call from God. And for some of you today, what you need to get you out of this cave is you just need to be reminded, you're called. You're a leader. God's put something on the inside of you. God doesn't need another dad for those kids. He needs you. God could have had somebody else lead the business, but he put you there. So some of you got to get some confidence back today and go, if God's placed my feet in this family, if God's faith put my feet in this place, that means God wants to use me to for his kingdom. So this is good news for us. So, so, so Gideon rubs up. So, so Gideon has this moment. Here's mighty warrior from him because God sees who he's becoming, not just who he is. And God will always speak to who you are becoming to help you get a picture and to guide your next step. This is why I love the Bible. It says it's a lamp unto our feet, not a headlight 50 feet in front of us. So you need the Word of God to just step into the

identity, that next step. So he speaks this into you. And then Gideon goes on this whole rant. He gives a TED talk on 20 reasons why God shouldn't use him. Anyone ever do this before? You're like, God's like pumping your heart, like, go pray for that person over there. And you're like, haven't had coffee yet. They have tattoos, I don't. I don't know, whatever reason. Watch what Gideon does in this response. He says, pardon me my Lord. He tries to correct God. But if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? I just imagine he's got this like weak, wimpy voice. I don't know. Where are all the wonders of our ancestors told us about? When they said, did the Lord not bring you up out of Egypt? But now the Lord has abandoned us. Look at this. He's speaking like this is fact. That God has abandoned him. Who's standing in front of him? He goes on and on. Pardon me my Lord. How can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Messiah. I'm the least in my family, the Lord answered. Watch this. He doesn't rebuttal. He doesn't correct him. Gideon gives the list of the reasons why he shouldn't be used. And what does he say? I'll be with you. And some of you have memorized and gotten so obsessed with why God can't use you. about God. Every time I've come to God and be like, that's not me. I'm not the guy. God doesn't like fight with me. He's like, yeah, I know you're weak. No, I know you're shortcoming. Yeah, I know who your mom was. Yeah, I know what you did in high school, but I'll be with you because all you need is the Lord on your side. And what I've learned is you can line up every excuse of why God can't use you. And his response back will be, I know, but I'll be with you. Anyone grateful that in your weak moments, God doesn't neglect you. He doesn't run from you, but he says, I'll stand by your side. Translation, you plus God is all you need. I love the workout program and I love you're getting dialed in theology. I love you're going to church. It's awesome. But you plus God is all you need. Some of you think I'm just not him. I'm not her. Some of you got to get the confidence getting gifts. So Gideon gets the confidence finally. Now he's like, okay, I'll do it. There's this testing moment and they go back and forth. And finally God proves like I'm for real. You're going to be the one to deliver my people from the Midianites. And Gideon gets this call. He's like, okay, let's do it. And if I'm Gideon, I'm thinking, okay, uh, let's get the strongest boys. Start sharpening the spear. Let's put power by Kanye West on, uh,

let's rally the boys. We're going to war. We're watching saving private Ryan together. We're getting fired up and we're going to take down these Midianites and watch what God says back to him. That night, Lord said to him, take your father's bowl in the second bowl, seven years old and pull down the altar to bail that your father has and cut down the Astro pole that is besides it and build an altar to the Lord, your God on top of the stronghold there with stones laid in due order. Then take the second bowl and offer as a burnt offering with the wood of the Astro that you shall cut down. So Gideon gets the confidence to go take down the enemy. Remember, I feel this, you feel real confident, like, yeah, this addiction ran into me today. This mean person on the freeway ran into me today. You get fired up that God's gonna use you. And God doesn't say the enemy is the Midianites. Watch what he does. He says, before you go to the battlefield, go to your backyard, catch this. The enemy wasn't the enemy. The enemy was in their backyard. The Bible says that there was an altar, a statue to the false God of Baal. In this culture, Baal would have been the God that represents productivity, success, sexuality, all the things that they would go to in this culture. Now, this isn't starting Judges 6. Go back to Judges chapter 1. God gives a very simple commandment to the people of God when it comes to the enemy nation. He doesn't say play with them. He doesn't say invite them in their house. He says, drive them out. And all of Judges, you see a different people group, a different nation come through their lives. And instead of them following what God said, drive them out. You know what he does? They do. They take some as workers, try and monetize what God asked them to drive out. They take some as wives. And what God had called bondage, they've kept around for generation to generation. Now, this is interesting. God says, go to your father's house, which tells me Gideon would have grown up watching his dad worship Baal. Call himself a part of the people of God, but worship Baal. So for Gideon, he was just used to this. And the call from God to Gideon before it's go to the battlefield, he says, go deal with that thing in your dad's house,

because it's been running through the generation. But Gideon, it's about to run into you. And watch this Gideon. Many theologians believe Gideon was actually a nickname hacker that he would have gotten from being good at chopping wood. So when God calls him, Gideon thinks it's to be a warrior. God's looking at his nickname and goes, I'm going to use what you've been good at in your life, and you're going to use it to cut down a false altar. Now, when it happens, it says the fire body says, don't just cut it down, but build a new altar to King Jesus, to God. And when it happens, the Bible tells us this, that his father looks at him and gives him a new name. From the rest of this book, he's no longer called Gideon, he's called Jerubal, which means let Baal contend with me. And here's what I came to preach to somebody today, that some of us, the war is not out there. The war is not that candidate, the war is not that issue, the war is something in my heart, it's pride. It's insecurity, I think very similar. Before you saw God give the people of God 40 years of freedom, he asked them to first tear down this altar. And I've learned this, that every family passes something down. For some of us, it's watches, it's cars, it's things, it's last names. But many of us are very familiar with maybe the darker things that have been passed down. Addiction, insecurity, divorce, brokenness. In my family, my grandfather, he just passed away just a couple months ago and we're at his memorial. My grandfather was a pastor.

A man for more than 40 plus years of his life, he struggled with deep addiction. It messed up so many relationships, blew up a church, blew up a marriage, blew up a relationship with his kids. It was like this thing he could not get over. But about 12 years ago, he looked back at his life and said, man, I've made a mess. But something in him said, I still got some time in front of me. About 12 years ago, he got clean, he did work, and he started ministry. Anytime a guy would, here we can clap. Thank you. He attends Life.Church, and anytime a guy at Life.Church would have a similar addiction, his pastor would call Ron. For 12 years of his life, he just met with men and met with guys and met with husbands and met with people struggling and people who were broken. My brother and I and our family got to sit as a memorial, not with the name of sinner, addict, marriage wrecker, moral failure. We sat in the front row of his memorial and watched dude after dude after dude get up on stage with tears in their eyes. Say, Ron saved my marriage. In my darkest moment, he showed up.

When I didn't think I was gonna make it, he invited me to his house. I was thinking about the sit in the memorial. His name could have been a lot of things, but somewhere he made a decision. I'm not gonna let it define me. And I wonder today, if there's a dad in the room who your name needs to be changed, the one that contended with addiction. There's a mom in the room today that your name needs to be changed, the one who contended for your kids. Someone in the room today that says, I contended for my college, I contended for my high school, because there is a name for you on the other side of you embracing the grace of Jesus. And here's what I know, 50 years or so, he might've messed up, but the 12 years of faithfulness unlocked 50 plus years in 50 other people's lives. What's your legacy gonna be? I know it's been hard. I know hiding has gotten comfortable, but God today, like Gideon is saying, it's time to tear that thing down. I know it's been living in your backyard. I know it's been in your heart. I know it's been in your mind, but enough is enough. But don't just tear it down and stay there.

You build a new altar unto me, because when you tear down the sin and the brokenness of your life and receive grace, and you make it worship unto God, what he will do is use you in ways you could never imagine. He'll send you to people that need your help. He'll break off things in your life to help you break off things in others. God's got a plan and a purpose for your life, friends. You weren't called to a cave. You weren't called to hide. And I hope one day there would be people that would tell stories of your life. That would be, they helped, they set me free. So today when we stand up to our feet all over this room, read through those books, and see these things. Look at the things that are in the books. They are in your all-day stimulus. Some of us need to build a new altar right now. They are in your all-day purpose. So I hope that today Would you do this? Would you just put your hand over your heart? when you hear this story and you see it now, And the best way you know, that you decide to feel free. would you just say, God, To be free, I give you everything in my life

that is holding me back and keeping me hiding. And today, God, I say in this room, at this place, I'm building a new altar to you. God, use my weakness as worship. Use what should have taken me out as help for another individual. It's not in our strength, but today we remind our heart that the Lord is on our side. God, today, would new stories be written? Would generational curses be broken? And God, would you raise up an army of ambassadors for Christ that would plead to their territory, to their promised land? There is nothing that is gonna stop them. The Bible says this, that the gates of hell will not prevail against the church of Jesus Christ, which means the safest place we can be is in the one place, in the bride, in the church, saying, God, protect me and use me, oh God. Father, we wanna be ambassadors for you. So Father, right now, I pray for a supernatural infusion of faith to our hearts, to our minds. I right now pray sins of addiction to fall off in the mighty name of Jesus. Where the spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we right now declare freedom over moms and dads and business owners and young people in this room today. Father, we thank you that our past does not disqualify us, but it makes room for your strength to be glorified.

So today, God, we say, use us as a living offering, a living sacrifice. Would it be worship unto you? Everything that we are, every breath we take, we wanna glorify you, King Jesus. So Father, we give you the honor, we give you the glory, and we give you the praise. And all God's people said, amen and amen and amen. Come on, can we lift up a shout of praise all over this room? Come on, has God been good to you? Has he set you free? Can I see a hand wave if you're saying, I wanna be used by God in this next generation? I wanna be an ambassador for King Jesus. Come on, the enemy's got a plan for Gen Z, but God's got a better one. And it's my name in it. I'm not gonna allow the gates of hell to prevail on my family or my kids. Come on, give God a shout of praise all over this room.