For the Promised Land | Father's Day | Fight the Good Fight | Pastor Luke & Rob Koke

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ Oh, come on, come on, Shoreline. How many are glad to be in the house of the Lord this morning? Oh, come on, how many are grateful that Jesus is still the King of kings and the Lord of lords, that he's the Alpha and the Omega, that he's the beginning and he's the end? Come on, how many are grateful that Jesus is seated at the right hand of the Father and has already gone to prepare a place for you and for I? I'm talking about that, Jesus. Come on, can you take the next five seconds and give God a big shout of praise in this place? Yeah! Oh, come on, church. We're here to fight the good fight of faith today. We're here to punch the devil in the face Sunday. Oh, come on, somebody. Hey, can we stand to our feet this morning, church? We're gonna do the creed together. Creed is a collection of phrases that we put together

to remind us of how good we have it following and being in relationship with Jesus, amen? So let's say this all together. Say, I am loved by God. I cannot earn it. I cannot lose it. I am forgiven and made brand new. In Christ, I live with passion and purpose. I am empowered by the Spirit to be the church in the world and to live this love revolution. Come on, give God praise for that this morning. Amen. Good morning, everybody. You may be seated. Huge shout out to all of you who are watching online from around the country and around the state and even in some cases around the world. We welcome you to our campuses here in Austin, Texas and a huge shout out to our Shoreline South congregation. Come on, let's give it up for Shoreline South. Love you guys so very much. So we are in a collection of talks on fighting the good fight and today is Father's Day. And so in honor of that, Luke and I are going to team preach this morning, father and son. And so we thought that we would just do it every other word. I love the word Jesus. All right, let's stop right there. It doesn't work, it doesn't work, it doesn't work. So we're in this collection of talks

on fighting the good fight. And it's right out of 1 Timothy chapter six and verse 12. And this is the Apostle Paul, who's writing a letter to his son in the faith, okay? So this whole idea of fighting the good fight is within the context of a father figure in someone's life. And so the Apostle Paul is telling Timothy, fight the good fight of faith. And sometimes the fight of faith is a real thing. It's because we're facing some challenges and some circumstances in our life that are really a challenge. And when we think about the children of Israel, we're gonna use that as a backdrop to the message today. When they were in the wilderness, that's a metaphor for some of the challenges that we face in our lives. Sometimes we make some bad choices and we end up in a place that we don't wanna be. Sometimes it's the bad choices of other people that cause us difficulty. Sometimes it's an attack of the enemy, but we find ourself in the wilderness. And sometimes the wilderness is an expression of our finances. Maybe it's an expression of our career path. Maybe it's an expression of difficult circumstances that have just come as consequences of decisions that we've made in our lives. And so sometimes the wilderness is an expression

of how we feel about our marriage or how we feel about our health. It reminds me of the story of a gentleman that went with his wife to the doctor's office. And while he was in the doctor's office, full examination took place. And the doctor just kinda had some ominous ooze. and asked the husband to step out so he could talk with the wife. And he told the wife, listen, you know, your husband's in really bad shape. I mean, he's not, he's probably not gonna make it. If you don't serve him and take care of him and feed him well and take over his household responsibilities and make love to him often, he's probably not gonna make it. And so the wife left the office and on the drive home, the husband looked at the wife and said, well, what did the doctor say? And the wife replied, you're gonna die. So sometimes, you know, we face wilderness experiences and we have to learn how to fight the good fight of faith. God is wanting to set the children of Israel free. He speaks to Moses to go down to Egypt, to set them free, and he takes all of Exodus chapter three and four to get Moses and the children of Israel to do one thing, and that is to believe. If Jesus was speaking, he might have said it this way, like the way he said it in Mark chapter nine in verse 23. Nothing is possible to them that believe.

It is critical that we understand no faith, no miracles. No miracles, no deliverance. God to Moses, you gotta trust me, put your faith in me. And Moses goes down to the children of Israel, the leaders of Israel, and says, God spoke to me, and he's encouraging them to believe. And there are lots of obstacles that are standing in the way from Israel getting to the promised land. They have been slaves for 400 years. We are gonna be celebrating next weekend, 250 years of being a nation. Add 150 years to that, and that's how long the children of Israel were enslaved, facing the largest army on the planet. And even if they got out of Egypt, how are they gonna feed millions of people? How are they gonna provide water for millions of people? How about clothes and shoes? There's no Walmart out in the desert. And what about being sick, and it's cold at night and hot during the day? But you know what? The children of Israel learned to put their trust in the Lord, and God worked a miracle for every single one of the significant challenges they were facing. You know, he sent 10 plagues for the 10 generations that they were in captivity. The Red Sea was no match for the largest army on planet Earth.

There was a pillar of fire to keep them warm, a cloud to shield them from the sun and to guide them in the wilderness. Manna came down from heaven to feed them. Water came from a rock. There was no sick among them. Their clothes never wore out. I'm telling you, God could work miracles. And if you're facing a challenge and a wilderness experience this morning, I want you to put your faith in God because nothing is impossible for them that believe. Now, I find it fascinating that when Moses was interacting with Pharaoh, Pharaoh gets involved in this conversation and offers a number of different compromises to Moses. Each one of them is a test, if you will, to his faith and conviction. He had to fight the good fight of faith to persevere through all of the different compromises that Pharaoh was offering to Moses. And the reason why I see this as being significant is because I think it's the same way that the devil tries to get us to compromise in our own walk with him. So let's start here with compromise number one. Stay here, stay here. Moses goes down to Egypt and speaks to Pharaoh, let my people go and listen carefully to what he offers. Exodus chapter eight and verse 25.

Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, go sacrifice to your God here in the land. Notice he says, okay, stay here in Egypt. Do it, but do it here. And Moses says, no way, we will go. I believe in God. We're gonna take the children of Israel out of Egypt. But isn't it just like the devil? to say, okay, I concede that your life isn't going the way you want it to. I concede that you've got some issues and some challenges. Just make some cosmetic changes. You don't have to leave Egypt. Egypt is always kind of this metaphor, symbolic representation of our life in the world. And even though it's a place of bondage, and even though it's a place of darkness, that's what the devil offers to us, a compromise, stay in Egypt. Just change a few things about your life. That's all you need to do. Read a self-help book, or maybe change some of your friends, or make a different choice with your career path. Make some cosmetic changes, change your hair, change your clothes, change your attitude. And Moses says, no, we're not staying in Egypt. We're going, and that's the same fight of faith that we need to embrace here today. We're not gonna be satisfied with just some cosmetic changes, staying in Egypt.

We're getting out of Egypt. Jesus said, you must be born again. And when you put your trust in what the cross did for you, when Jesus died upon that cross, he shed his blood, and his blood cleanses you from your sin, and you become a brand new creation. God doesn't want you to stay in Egypt. He wants you out, into the promised land. Christianity is about God sending his own son to take away our sins. This is about coming out of Egypt. And I'll never forget, I was 11 years old, and my church growing up, a small little United Methodist church in the northeastern part of our country, and I heard the gospel, and it became so real. Don't ever say that God can't begin to move in our children, in our young people. I was 11 years old, and I gave my heart to the Lord. I heard the gospel message that God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, and I made the decision that day to embrace the beauty of God's grace. Egypt, goodbye. We're going to the promised land. Oh, come on, so good, so good. So compromise number one, right? Stay here. Then y'all, Pharaoh just keeps digging his own grave. Because then we get to compromise number two,

and if you have your Bibles, you can open up to Exodus chapter eight, just a few verses down from verse 25, but he's having a conversation with Moses, and in verse 28, Pharaoh says, I will let you go to offer sacrifices to the Lord your God in the wilderness, but you must not go very far. So first compromise, stay here. Second one, go, but don't go very far. Y'all, does this not sound exactly like what the enemy would whisper to us every single day? Go, like, go, believe in God, but you don't actually have to follow him, though. Be a believer, yes, but don't actually be a follower and take his word for what his word says, and the devil starts whispering lie after lie after lie, and y'all, I felt like God sent me here today so that we can combat some of those lies that the enemy has been whispering to us. Are we ready? Can we get real this morning? Oh, come on, church, first service was alive. Are we alive this morning? Come on, are we ready to receive what the Lord has for us? Come on. He tells us things like this, like, yeah, go, believe in God, but when it comes to purity, pay no attention to what his word says about it.

Believe in God, but pay no attention to his word on the topic of purity. Oh, friend, that is a lie from the pit of hell. If the enemy is not doing everything in his power to pervert right now our culture and do everything in his power to get us, you and I, to twist and manipulate the gospel of Jesus Christ so that we can fulfill some sort of earthly fleshly desire here, friend, I came to tell you that we cannot walk down that path anymore. We cannot compromise on what God's word says about purity. Friend, it just seems like as of lately, y'all, there's not a week that goes by that we're not on the phone, me and my wife with somebody who's struggling through the horrific tragedy of an affair and their whole marriage is in shambles. Friend, can I tell you? Husband, when you said yes to your wife. Wife, when you said yes to your husband. What you were signing up for was a lifelong commitment. But it seems like nowadays, some of us are treating that like a fast pass that we get at Disney World where we can skip the lines, skip the rules and do whatever the heck we want to do. Friends, we cannot compromise on this issue anymore. We got to get back to what God's word says about the sanctity of marriage and about the sanctity of purity

and we can't let the enemy in anymore in this area. Oh, come on, we need some amens on that one. Because the enemy's just lying to us. Oh, it's okay to cheat. He doesn't really care. Yes, he does care about that. And he cares about you. You know, I had the opportunity and privilege of being a young adult pastor for 12 years here at Shoreline. Some of the greatest memories I've ever had with some great people. Saw God do just some absolutely amazing things. But y'all, it's kind of funny because this is just, I guess, how it unfolded. But the number one question that I got as the young adult pastor, literally from guys and girls, would come up to me and go, hey, Pastor Luke, where's my spouse? I didn't know that was up to me. I don't know where your spouse is. But then the more I get to talking to them and getting to know them, and for me, I only talk to guys, and I highly encourage that. Guys talk to guys, women talk to women. Let's not open up that door for the enemy to come in and cause a distraction for us. Let's do what God's word instructs us. Oh, come on, yes, we need to stop opening up doors

to temptation, to things of temptation. Come on, yes, we need to stop opening up doors to temptation, to things. But I found it interesting when I was talking to the single person and was asking them what was going on in their life, more often than not, they came back and said, man, you know what, I'm struggling with pornography. And y'all, pornography is a massive issue in today's day and age. Whether you're single or whether you are married, it does not matter. The devil always uses images of pornography to distort the exact description of what God's word says we should do. That's what he's doing. It's the oldest trick in the book and he keeps using it. But friend, can I suggest this to you? Especially if you're single, if you've been praying to God for your spouse, for your husband or for your wife, may I suggest something to you? That if you are asking God to send you his son or his daughter, how can we expect him to send us his best if he knows how we're viewing them behind closed doors? Oh, come on. How can we expect God to give us a blessing if he knows exactly how we think about the other sex? Because if we're in another room looking at a screen, how can he expect to bless us with something

that we're supposed to provide for, that we're supposed to protect, that we're supposed to care for? We can't care and do all those things if we're tiptoeing the line of what God's word says to do and what our flesh says to do. Oh, come on, somebody. We can't compromise on the sanctity of purity. But then there's another area, too. He says, yeah. He said, go, go, believe in God, but pay no attention to what his word says about self-control. Self-control, let's talk about it. Self-control is not a sexy word in Christianity. In fact, it's the opposite. It's not very fun. I can think of a whole lot of other fruits that seem a lot more fun to develop, but self-control, that's not fun at all, let's be honest. Because the truth is, there's something inside of us that thinks we have to have control. And when we have control, I don't know about you, but every time I've taken matters into my own hands, it's gotten me in a whole world of trouble. But every time I've relinquished control, every time I've surrendered my will to the will of God, my life has ended up in provision and blessing after blessing after blessing because I'm no longer, I'm no longer biting the bait

of what the enemy is tossing my way. Self-control, but y'all, self-control was a massive thing for me. And if you know anything about my story, man, there were two areas in my life that were massively out of control. It was what I chose to eat, and it was how much alcohol I decided to consume. So I have this picture up here on the screen that I wanna show you guys, but that was me a little over three years ago, and I was 360 pounds. And I'll never forget that day because I was standing in the mirror, stepped on the scale, saw what I weighed, and started crying and was wondering if there was ever a way out of this. But honestly, I look at that picture, and what I see is just compromise after compromise. Me willing to think that food was gonna be the thing that was going to heal me or fix me, or that alcohol was going to be that thing that would fix me or heal me. Friend, can I tell you that there is no substance of the flesh that can actually fix you or heal you. It is only the divine power of the Holy Spirit that can do that work on the inside of you. And if you let him, I promise you, your life does not have to look out of control. We gotta get under control, and the way we do that

is by submitting our will to his will. And then what about this last lie? Oh, this is one of the bigger ones, y'all. The enemy whispers to us, and he says, yeah, go, believe in God, but pay no attention to reading your Bible. Come on, let's talk. Y'all, there is an epidemic of Christians not reading their Bibles nowadays. How in the heck are we supposed to know how to navigate all of the arrows and all of the distractions and all of the temptations and all of the things that the enemy is throwing our way if we do not have God's word written on the tablets of our heart? Y'all, we have to keep our arsenal loaded with scripture so that when the enemy comes against us, we know exactly what to say to him because we have his word living on the inside of us. Oh, we're living in a non-reading generation for some reason, and y'all, it breaks my heart. We can't afford to not read the gospel. Be like going to Ikea, buying a big piece of furniture, bringing it back home, taking the instruction manual, lighting it on fire, and then trying to figure out how to set up that dang thing. Y'all, God's word is our instruction manual for how to navigate life, and my encouragement to you this morning is let's be the generation of followers of Jesus

that does everything we can to trust 100% of the time what God's word says. Come on, if you believe that, give God a big shout of praise. Don't settle. Follow that. Follow that. I'm getting excited this morning. I might preach like that from now on. Jesus! Dad, I want you living a long life, so don't. Don't do something. Don't do that. So first compromise is, hey, just make some cosmetic changes. Just stay where you are. Second compromise, okay, if you're gonna go, I'll let you go, just don't go too far. Don't be a fully devoted follower. Don't take what the Bible says seriously. Don't become a radical Christian. Don't raise your hands in worship. Don't share your faith. Don't tithe. Don't do the things that the Bible speaks about. Yeah, go ahead and be a believer, but just be a nice, quiet one. The third compromise is if you're gonna go, and if I can't convince you to not go far, the third compromise is leave your children behind.

So Pharaoh asks Moses, if I let you go, who will go with you? And in Exodus chapter 10 in verse nine, Moses answered, we will go with our young and with our old, with our sons and our daughters. And then in verse 11, Pharaoh said, no. No, you can't take your children with you. Only the men can go. Do you see how the devil fights us tooth and nail? He said, stay here, cosmetic changes. Go, but don't go too far. But if you go and you're gonna go far, then leave your children with me. And it's Father's Day, so I think it's appropriate to talk a little bit about our kids and the power and influence of fathers. You know, I am so amazed at the fathers in this congregation. Honestly, you guys are the very best. Some of you I know, and some of you I know really well, and every one of you that I know, you really take this responsibility seriously. And I couldn't be prouder as a pastor of the way the fathers of this congregation lead their families. You guys are amazing. But I don't know, fathers, if you understand just how powerful and significant. your influence is. They say that if a mom gives her faith,

gives her heart to the Lord, and becomes a believer, that the likelihood of the rest of the family following in her footsteps is 17%. But if a father becomes a fully devoted follower, there is a 93% chance that the rest of the family will follow. That's how powerful you are. Father, your role is critical. And I don't know if you've noticed, but the devil is after our children and youth. There's a social media onslaught that makes children feel insignificant when they compare themselves to others. Of course, there's the trio of drugs and sex and alcohol. Add to that the countless hours that people spend gaming and they lose sight of relational connection and even the beauty of the adventure of life. And suicide has become a national concern. But Moses speaks to Pharaoh with conviction and says, we're going and we're going far and we're taking our children with us. And that is the conviction that I believe resides in the heart of every mom and dad of this congregation. It's the attitude and spirit of this church. We're going and we're going far. Shoreline is all about becoming fully devoted followers and we're taking our children with us. If you're here in church today and you would say, what do I need to do to be a great dad?

It's not really hard to understand what it is that you need to do. The hard part is actually doing it. Understanding it is pretty logical and it's common sense. Being a great dad is all about love. It's all about love. And there are three places where we need to kind of check the list of where we apply that love. Two of them have nothing to do with our children. And then the last one does. But before we get to loving our children, dads, this is what God really wants us to do. He wants us to love him with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength. That's what you love first. The best thing you can do for your sons and daughters is to love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. And they will see your love for God and follow in your footsteps. In today's world, you know, there used to be a sacredness about Sunday, a sacredness about the Sabbath. And there would be no competition. Stores wouldn't even be open. There would be no community events and sports activities. But in today's world, the stores are open Sunday as conveniently as any other day of the week. And they actually schedule sports tournaments on Sunday morning.

And we have to make a choice, don't we, as parents? And we think, oh my gosh, you know, I love my kids. I wanna support my kids. They're in a tournament, it's on Sunday morning. But I love God and I want, you know, my kids to grow in their relationship with God. And I was in a conversation with somebody in our church family. And you know, sometimes people think that their kids are elite talent, but they're really not. But this particular person, their kids were elite. They're gonna go to division one colleges on scholarship. They're quick, they're fast, they're incredibly talented and athletic. And they were telling me, they said, you know what? We are tired of having to make the choice of choosing between church and the tournaments. And we made the decision as a family that we're coming to church because that is more important than anything else. Come on. Yes. So love God. The second focus of our love should be our wives. Before you even get to your children, love God and love your wife. One of the greatest things you can do for your family is love your wife. Come on. And that's for two reasons.

One, because when you love your wife, your kids are gonna see that love and see that sense of unity and see that sense of strength. And they're gonna feel secure in the love that you have for each other. The second reason why you need to love your wife is because guess what? The kids leave and the wife shouldn't. So love your wives. And then thirdly, love your. Kids, love your kids. Love God, love your wife, love your kids. Yeah, you know, there are other things to love. You can love your career path. You can love being blessed. You can love your recreational pursuits and hobbies. You can love a lot of different things. But before you love anything else, love God, love your wife, love your kids. Hug them, be affectionate with them, train them. That's an expression of love. If you don't train your children, our culture will. Yep, they are. As a church, children are a huge priority for us. That's why tomorrow KidCon kicks off and we'll have hundreds and hundreds of kids here. And when I was 11 years old, that's the age that a lot of these children are, a little bit younger, but in that kind of timeframe, I gave my heart to Jesus.

Don't tell me that an event can't change a child's life. It's exactly these kinds of things, a KidCon experience that will launch your children in the direction that they should go. And if you haven't signed up your kids yet for KidCon, you can. You can do it after church, in the lobby, at the check-in center, or use the QR code. And either way, you can sign up your kids to be a part of a week-long experience where they will learn about Jesus, fall in love with Jesus, and their life will never be the same. You know what, devil? We're going, and we're going far, and we're taking our kids with us. Oh, come on. Come on, give God praise for that. But then we get to compromise number four. And honestly, all of us can be in danger of landing here, especially if we compromise on the first three. But compromise number four is settling for the wilderness. Don't settle for the wilderness, y'all. Hold on, lean over to your neighbor. Say, don't settle. Don't settle. Tell somebody next to you, don't settle. Y'all, this was mind-blowing to me. Honestly, if you think about it, the Israelites were slaves to Pharaoh and to Egypt for hundreds of years.

Then they get out of that. God rescued them, by the way, so they forgot all about God just did in that season of life. Then they keep on going, and they quite possibly witness one of the greatest miracles ever recorded in the Bible. But Moses then parts the sea, and they walk through it on dry land. So they were captives. Then they were walking through, and they're still complaining. And the saddest part of this story was that all of them ended up settling for the wilderness. And here's what happened. So they get to the edge, right, of the promised land, and Moses sends out 12 spies. And he says, hey, I want y'all to go out, get a good lay of the land, then come back and give us a report. And y'all, this was the report these people decided to bring back. We'll put it up there on the screen. Numbers chapter 13, verse 31. It says, but the men who had gone up with him said, we can't attack those people. They're stronger than we are. And they spread among the Israelites a bad report about the land they had explored. They said, the land we explored devours those living in it.

All the people we saw there are of great size. We saw the Nephilim there. We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes. And we looked the same to them. Oh, come on, y'all, talk about one of earth's first most massive buzz kills in history. It's a big one. Oh, they're too strong. Oh, it's way too impossible. There's nothing we can do. Oh, guess what, they're like giants and we're like grasshoppers. Y'all, does this not sound like what you and I do every single day? God, there's no way possible out of this situation. Yeah, all things are possible for those that believe in Jesus. Does anybody believe that this morning? Oh, that's why we gotta put the word of God on the inside of us. That's why I love what 2 Timothy 1, 7 says. It says, for God has not given us a spirit of what? Fear, and catch me on this. Some of y'all need to hear this. If God didn't give it to you, then why are you still carrying it? Yeah, yeah, come on. Oh, come on, some of you came in here with baggage upon baggage of things that you've been carrying.

when God simply just wants you, before you leave today, to lay them at the feet of Jesus and at the altar so that he can set you free and set you forth on the path that he's called you to walk out. But we gotta get God's word on the inside of us. That's why I love what Matthew 17 says. It says, even if I have faith, as small, small as a mustard seed, I could say to this mountain, move, and it shall be, move, friend. But here's the truth, don't miss this. It's our faith that moves the mountains, but it's our fear that magnifies them. So my question to you this morning is are we responding with faith? Or are we responding with fear? You know, I love how this story unfolds towards the end. Because it said, right, that Moses sent out how many spies? 12, but then 10 of them came back with a bad report. 12, 10, do the math, that's two. It's two left over that saw the exact same thing, but they came back with a little bit of a different perspective. So if you have your Bibles, we'll close with this. Numbers chapter 14, it'll be on the screen. We'll pick it up in verse seven. But it says, Caleb and Joshua said to the entire Israelite assembly, the land we passed through and explored, y'all catch this, is exceedingly good if the Lord is pleased with us,

he will lead us into the land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and will simply, what, give it to us. See, I love this story. They saw the giants, they saw the danger, they saw the impossibility, but they had a different perspective. You see, Caleb and Joshua recognized that what they couldn't do, God could do. Friend, could I tell you that if you're here today and you've landed in the place where you feel like you have done all that you know to do, can I tell you that you've landed in a really good spot? Because if you're in that spot, then that leaves room for God to fight your battles. You don't have to do it on your own anymore. You can lay them down at the feet of Jesus and watch your life begin to blossom into so many amazing things if you just make that decision today to surrender. We can't compromise anymore. See, part of the problem is we keep compromising and we're wondering why life is looking the way it's looking. Could it be because we've been disobedient? Could it be because we've been so full of fear that we're missing out on the promise and the provision that God has for us? Oh, church, let's not, let's not settle. For the wilderness.

Let's not, let's not leave our children. Let's take our children with us. Let's not just go but somewhat far. No, let's go all in in our walk with God. And let, no, let's not just stay here. Let's take everything and do everything in which God words instructs us to do so that we can see the life that he has for you and for me this side of heaven. Come on, if you believe that, can you give God some praise in this place? Can we all bow our heads and close our eyes here this morning? Maybe you're here today and you've been making compromise after compromise. Can I just tell you God's not mad at you? He loves you and he wants to set you free. And he wants you to become the man or become the woman of God that he's destined you to be. But that means there's gotta be some things you say no to. And there's gotta be some things that we just absolutely don't put up with or compromise over. Because we're followers of Jesus in this room. We actually care about our walk with God. But maybe you're here today and you say, you know what, I have yet to enter into a relationship with this God that you're talking about. In fact, I've been navigating my life by myself this whole entire time without a savior.

And today is the day where you wanna make that choice for yourself. Friend, can I tell you before you raise your hand that this is the greatest decision that you will ever make. There is no greater decision than being in a relationship with Jesus. So if you're here today. And you say, you know what, today, I need this Jesus that you and Pastor Rob are talking about, Luke. Man, I really need Jesus, and I want to receive him as my Lord and Savior. If that's you, do you mind just slipping up your hands? Boldly and proudly, come on, this is between you and God. Today's the day you want to surrender your life. Can I tell you something? All of heaven is rejoicing right now, and all of God's people are rejoicing right now, because you're doing exactly what the devil doesn't want you to do. Surrender your sin, surrender your compromises, so that you can walk out the life that God has for you. Okay, you can put your hands down. And I don't want to leave this moment without addressing it, but maybe you're here today, you've been following Jesus for a certain period of time, or maybe you kind of got off track a little bit. You've been making slowly compromise after compromise after compromise, but today's the day where you say, I refuse to settle. Today's the day I want to walk into the promises

that God has for me in every area of my life, and I just got off a little track. If that's you here this morning, you want to rededicate your life to Christ, do you mind slipping up your hand for me? Just real fast, boldly, between you and God, there's some areas that you've compromised in. Oh, come on, this is between you and God, but sometimes, can I be honest with you? The only way you're set free is if you respond. You can't just sit here and be like, oh, awesome, good words, now I'm going to go back to my lifestyle. If you really want change, God can really change you and transform you in this moment if you let him. You can put your hands down. If we all don't mind, can we stand to our feet together? Because I want to lead us in a prayer of salvation. Before I do that, I just want to take a moment and invite our prayer partners down here to the front. If you're a part of our prayer team, if you don't mind, can you come down here to the front? Because honestly, you can be here today and hear a message like this, and I got to tell you, there's healing that happens when we link arms with another believer. There's something transformational that happens when we actually confess to our brother or sister, hey, this is a struggle of mine,

hey, pornography has been a big issue, hey, cheating has been a big, hey, alcohol, anger, drugs, food, whatever the case might be, I just got to tell you, friend, when you link arms with a believer, God can set you free. And believe me, he wants all of you to leave here free today. Don't keep holding on to those things that are holding you back. Let them go and let God. Can we pray together? Let's say this together, say, Jesus, thank you for saving me. Jesus, today I choose to follow you all the days of my life. Jesus, today is the day that I no longer compromise, but I choose to follow your word 100% of the time. 100% of the time, in your name we pray. And all of God's people said, amen, and amen, and amen. So, wow. Come on, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. We got so many incredible things that are taking place. We got KidCon starting tomorrow.

Please sign up for that. Next week, we're gonna be celebrating 250 years, what's best about America. We're gonna do that the first weekend, and then we're gonna be praying for the best of America to manifest in the weeks and months and years to come. We'll do that on July the 5th. So we're gonna really kind of focus in on that. It's gonna be beautiful. We have invite cards where you can invite your friends and neighbors to be a part of it. So we encourage you to do that. I do have a name. I'm not sure I can pronounce. Dominique Robertson, was it? Dominique Robertson is the winner of our grill, our grill. Where are you? Are you here? You gotta be here to win it. All right, give him a great big hand clap. How many of you are glad you came to church? God is good. God bless you. Have a fantastic Father's Day. Come on, love on your dads, and we'll see you next week to celebrate our Independence Day. God bless.