Full Of It | Greed | Pastor Nelson Bowen

I want to teach a new series today. Lady B, I love you so much. I just love some of you. I do, I love that girl. Y'all know we celebrated 11 years on Thursday. 11 years. And I just, I just, you know, I told her, I sat across that table from her, and I just said, here's what I'm committing to for the next, for the next decade of our marriage. And it's just, you know, it wasn't, I don't say that for y'all to do all of that. But, but it's, it's sometimes, you know how you have to update your phone every now and then? When's the last time you've updated your marriage? Some of y'all running on previous versions. And the problem with it is that you won't get the most out of the phone when it does not get the update. And so some of y'all have not up, OK, that's a whole little message. And no, but I'm saying, but you aren't receiving what you want out of your marriage because you're running on last year's operating system. You've got to update yourself every now and then. You've got to update, like, OK, OK, whatever. Why does the Holy Spirit here? You hear what I'm saying? But, but, but, yeah, so stop. That's my 30 minutes, we went by that fast.

Oh, it's on the other side, OK. I was about to say, don't do me like that, man. I thought about marriage, they say, oh, 15 off the clock for that. Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha. OK, stop playing. All right, where am I? What am I teaching? Sneaky sins. I'm starting a brand new message series today, G. Oftentimes when I come back from sabbatical, I teach faith. I teach some type of thing with dreams and all of that. And just quite transparently, that's just not where I've been at in my personal life. Not that I don't still have big dreams and big goals. What? No, I have that, but I'm more committed this year to being unrecognizable than anything else. No, I am, I am, I am so determined that when you get to December and you pull up on my life, you're going to say you not the same person. The better way I know how to say it is that when Christ examines me in December, y'all not hearing what I'm saying. When Christ in God examines me in December, what he's going to say is, ooh, you look like your daddy. No, you look like you're starting, you're not responding the same. You're not acting the same. Your interests have changed. Your likes have changed.

You've disengaged from some people. You disconnected from some behaviors. You are looking like, get me, the person that I knew that you was the entire time. And for some of us, your issue is that you don't look like the one who you're supposed to look like. And our job is to look more like Christ. And so I'm more committed to who I am in these big dreams than the big dream itself. Does this make sense? And if you're going to be committed to being unrecognizable, if you're going to commit yourself to saying, God, no, do a work in me before you do a work around me. See, some of y'all are trying to get stuff changing around you, and in you, it's still jacked up. Oh, OK, whatever. They quiet over here, so I'm going to come on this side. But I'm telling you that if the inside of us is not worth anything, you good know what I'm saying? You want a big life, but little got you. And so I'm like, God, no. And so he began to speak to me. He said, no, there's some sneaky stuff in your life. OK, I just preached to myself. Y'all good. Y'all good. No, there's these sneaky things that you got going on, these sneaky sins.

It's not the big stuff. See, Solomon was talking about that in Song of Solomon, chapter 2. Look at this. He said, catch the foxes for us, the big ones. Because them little foxes, that's the one that's going to spoil your vineyard. Hear what he said, G. The lions is not what you have to worry about. It ain't the lion that's going to destroy your life. It's the little fox. These sneaky sins, not these ones that most people will confess publicly. It's not these big ones that. that destroy your reputation, it's these little ones that slowly erode the person that God has created you to be. It's not the like, oh, I haven't killed anyone today. I haven't wanted to murder today. No, but what do you do when everyone leaves your house that nobody else is going to know about, but what time did you clock out and what time did you say you clocked out? Oh, I don't hear no clappers now. See, I'm examining. No, listen, listen, I'm not going to have the time to finish, so we'll just get as far as we can get, but I'm examining the strategy of Satan. You won't be scared of who you understand. You won't be threatened by who you get. So, I'm starting to just examine his strategy because he ain't got no new tricks.

We just so naive, we keep falling for the same one. He studied us. When are you going to study him? I said, he's got you down. He knows what you are, like what'll trip you up, what'll set you up, what'll cause you to fall. When are you going to sit down and inspect how he works? And what I've discovered about him is that he don't got to convince us to do something massive. That's not his ploy. He don't come out and say, cheat on your wife. He just said, send a text. Respond to the DM. It's the small foxes, the slow compromisers. Oh, he don't tell you this, he just tell you, hit the follow button. I just got to see it. See, no, no, no, no, because I'm committed to you being unrecognizable, the same way I'm committed to me being unrecognizable, and if we're going to be unrecognizable, there's some stuff we got to address. Not to, now listen, I am not being the one like, you guys get it right because I'm perfect. I'm saying, I know what has happened in my own life. Y'all not hearing what I'm saying? And I found strategy and I've seen how God is like, listen, if you can overcome this, because I'm starting to see the faithfulness of God like I've never seen before. I'm starting to see his hand on my life like I've never seen it before, but it's because I started catching little foxes.

Are you hearing what I'm saying? So, gee, so, gee, so, gee, the first sneaky sin I want to talk about in the next 20 minutes is greed. I'm just going to talk about my life, is that okay? A couple years ago, some of y'all remember this, I had a sneaker problem, shoe problem, y'all remember that? Actually, I called Lex on my sabbatical and I said, like, I'm bringing like a bunch of shoes up here soon, so if you wear a size 12, size 13, I'm just going to lay this stuff out and just tell you, come get your kids to get, and I got some nice stuff I haven't even worn, gee, which is so crazy. Tubs of shoes. And so then I stopped that and then I realized that I was buying cases for glasses. Just glasses, right? And then, and so here's what I realized though, I was on Amazon on sabbatical. I was talking to my friend, Pastor Steve, Pastor Steve, and he said, he said, you coming back, you rested? I said, I'm rested. I said, my Amex is tired, but, but I was buying a display for cologne, the third one, and I went on Amazon. And I said, oh, how do I go from sneakers? And I said, okay, then glass. And then I said, okay, I need to stop. I said, I'm not stopping, I'm replacing. There's something in me that is not satisfied. And if we're not careful, what happens is we are looking to be satisfied and replacing it with everything but the one who can.

See, greed, I wanna be very clear. I'm gonna be very, very, very clear. I like them little clap, that is so funny to me. Greed is not about having a lot. Greed is believing that more will finally satisfy what only Christ can. I want everyone to write this question down. I need everyone, write it down, I'm for real. You need to write this question down on your phone, on your tablet, your notebook, whatever it is. Here's the question I want you to write down. You ready? Say I'm ready. Say I'm ready. Okay, how much is enough? How much is enough? How much money is enough? 9 a.m. someone shouted, 10 million. Said I'm glad you got a number. How much success is enough? How many followers is enough? How big of a house is enough? How many cars is enough? How many clients are enough? How many hours is enough? How much is enough? Write it down. And I'm telling you to write it down because you wanna know about God. He's gonna give it to you.

He's gonna give it to you. That's not the issue. The issue is not him giving it to you. It's not. Whatever it is you're believing for, how much is enough? He'll give it to you. Here's where the problem comes in. Second question, what do I do when I get there? What's he gives you, what you said would be enough? What's your response then? And what greed has shown me, what life has shown me is that when we get there, we move the line. I just need 50 clients. Well, I need 75. I just want this type of house. Let's go bigger. I just need this golf club. Ain't no one ask y'all to do that. I only need one plate of food. All right, we'll say, keep it fair. No, how much is enough? But really what happens when you get there? And for most of us, we move the line because we aren't satisfied. And I can tell you that greed is not a possession or a money problem. It's an appetite problem. Because the rich can be greedy. The middle class can be greedy.

Lower income can be greedy because greed is not income-based. It's a heart issue. Matthew 6, 21, check this out, look at this. Matthew 6, verse 21 says, for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. The problem at its core, here's the problem at its core. I spent all month thinking about this. Here's the problem at its core, G. The appetite says, feed me, but never says, thank you. The appetite says, feed me, but it never says, thank you. So you can list whatever appetite you want, food, attention, recognition, money, success, likes, power, approval, sex, comfort. It all says, feed me. When you get it, it never says, thank you. As a matter of fact, as soon as you get a taste, it just says, give me some more. It never sits down and just says, thank you. It's why the apostle Paul had to pen this verse in 1 Timothy chapter six, verse number six, he says, but godliness with contentment. Here's what Paul was saying, yes, I want you to be godly. You should be godly. I need you to pursue God, but also be content. It's possible to be godly and not be content. And he's saying, no, I need you to be both, because why? That's great gain. Keep reading, watch this, it's so good. So good, for we brought nothing into this world.

And we, so kids, when your parents say, I brought you into this world, like, eh. Do not do that, do not do that, it might take you out of it. Okay, and we cannot take anything. Verse 8, watch this. But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. Notice what Paul says, it's not just enough to be godly. That's great, but you also need to be content. And many of us stop at godliness for the period right there. I'm godly. And Paul's like, okay, great, but where's your contentment at? Where is this word enough at? Here's what I found though, contentment has to be learned. Any parents in the house? You ain't never teach your child the word more. You sat down in a high chair one day and it came out of nowhere. More, what? More and no. You never taught them that. You never said more, no. It just came, hear me, naturally. It's within their desire. More, no, more, no, more, no. You want some vegetables? No. What we need to learn is contentment. I was talking to Lady B this week and I said, here's what I found so interesting. You aren't accidentally content. You don't accidentally become content. It has to be rehearsed. It has to be practiced.

It has to be disciplined. Proverbs 27, 20, watch this. Proverbs 27, 20, it says, hell and destruction are never full. It has to say that hell does not reach capacity. So, destruction does not reach capacity. There is no enough for the devil in destroying our lives. And here's how he looks to destroy it, with your eyes. Because a man's eyes are never satisfied. Translation, you want whatever you see. Some of you ain't never know what you wanted until you saw it. I ain't even know I like that until I saw that. Now, I want one of them. I want one of them. I go certain places, Samaj, and I can't even look down because they all want them shoes. And I ain't even know I wanted it until I saw it. Your eyes have become your arms, and you reach for whatever you see. That's why it does matter what you see. It does matter what you're exposed to. It does matter what atmospheres, and environments, and people you hang around, and who they hang around, and what they bring in your life. All of that matters because the enemy knows that if I can get you to see it. See, that's what happened with Eve. Eve was satisfied until she saw something. You're not hearing what I'm saying. She was satisfied. God put a garden. He said, you can eat of any tree in this garden. There was more than two. Let me clarify that.

It wasn't like one tree and two trees. It was countless of trees. It was only one she could not have. But when she saw it, it said that now that thing became desirable. What became desirable was something she wasn't supposed to have. But when she saw it, my question is, why she go near it? And she was willing to let go of an instruction, hear me, and reach for more. It was fruit on all the trees. You're not hearing what I'm saying. It was fruit on... all the trees, so she wanted more of what she was never supposed to have because she saw. Are you hearing anything I'm saying? Jesus, He was teaching, He gave this parable. He was middle of teaching, G, just like this, and somebody got up and asked Jesus a question. Just interrupted Jesus, and it didn't even say, like, how do we come closer to you? How do we pursue you more? How do we become more righteous? He interrupted Jesus, Ms. Payne, while He's teaching, and said, hey, G, tell my brother to give me my money. Look, look, someone from the crowd said to Him, teacher, tell my brother, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me. I love Jesus' response, friend, friend, hey, Jesus was time enough for all the time, dog. Who appointed me judge or arbiter over you? He then told him, watch this, watch out and be on guard, look at this, against all greed. Now one translation says various kinds of greed. As to say, greed don't just come one way. As to say, greed don't just, see, some of y'all think greedy, you just always got to have another plate. That's not just greed.

Somebody said, you just always got to have another plate, well, you always need another bottle of cologne, greedy. Watch this, because one's life is not in the abundance of possessions. Verse 16, watch this, then He told him a parable, well, let me, before I do that, before I do that, before I do that, Jesus, I noticed, Greg, never even addressed the situation. He never addresses the question. Forgive you and your brother. Let's talk about this greed. He hears the question, but He sees the heart. See, some of y'all think God's not answering your questions because He didn't hear you. He's not answering your question because He sees your heart. Okay, y'all not hearing what I'm saying. Some of you are not possessing what you want to possess, because God knows if I give it to you, that heart can't handle, you're not hearing what I'm saying. That heart is not going to be able to handle that type of increase. And so, you're praying for an increase that your heart can't handle. You're praying for an increase that your greed, your sinful life, your sinful nature, that's so sneaky, does not understand that if I give this to you now. So, let's address your heart first before I give you this increase. He says, watch out, be on guard against all kinds of greed. Greed will disguise itself. It's sneaky. Yeah, how I go from, how I even get here? How I start spending all this kind of money? How I start spending all this kind of time? How I start giving this, all this kind of attention? What happened? I heard Pastor Mike say this this morning. He said, you better stop trading your destiny for dopamine. He said, you better stop trading your destiny for dopamine.

I ain't even calling it, telling him I was stealing it. I'm stealing that. You better not trade your destiny for dopamine. And some of us have become so greedy for dopamine. We want to hit every time. That's why we shop. That's why we get in relationships. That's why we get connected to these people because we're trying to fulfill something that only Christ can satisfy. So then he goes to tell this parable. Luke 12, I got to hurry up. Luke 12, verse 16. He said, then he told him, a rich man's land was very productive, G. What that means in this case, like his business was so crazy. I mean, just. Getting it. And watch the next verse, watch this, watch this. So, this rich man thought to himself, well, what should what? What should what? Come on, say it together. What should? Cents. What should? Cents. Have anywhere else to store my crops? He ain't got so much money that he don't know where to put it. I found this out this week. Did you know you could be debanked? Debanked means you got too much money for the bank to insure. So, they telling you, you got to take your money.

I'm speaking at y'all. Some of y'all say, debank me, debank me. I ain't know you could be, I ain't know you could be. That's why I told you, I get you some new friends. You got to get exposed to some stuff. Pastor Carter, he got debanked. It'd be one thing if that bank was like Wells Fargo. That bank was J.P., Morgan, and Chase. They told them, you got to take your money somewhere else. And so, he said, look what he said, look what he said. He said, so, verse 18, read it. I would, what? He said, and build bigger ones and store all. And, it's real selfish, isn't it? Then what? To who? You have many goods stored up for many years. So, take it easy and drink and enjoy yourself. He said, I said, this was his thought. I, I, I, my, my, my, myself. Next verse, watch this. You fool, this very night, your life is demanded of you. And the things you have prepared, no, no, no, look. No, no, no, most people miss that. This very night, not just your life is demanded of you. Look at this, and the things you have prepared. And many of us have not prepared well, because it's been all about us. Whose will those things be? Watch 21, this gets so good to me. That's how it will be with the one who stores up treasure for himself and is

not rich towards God. That's how it will be for the greedy person. This very night, his life was required of him. He's facing the day that all of us are going to face at one time or another. What's that day? Where God calls you home and you got to ask two questions. He's going to ask you two questions you got to answer. Here's the first one. Are you my child? Not a creation. All of us are created. Are you my child? Meaning, have you accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and your Savior? Is he the person that you said, I'm a sinner, I need you to come into my life? That's the only way that he can be, that can be a child. And then here's the second one. What did you do with what I gave you? In this very night, it was required of him. And here's the deal. He died rich and left empty because he was greedy. And he put his security, Derek, in his modern-day bank account. And many of us are walking around with false security. We put it in relationships, we put it in banks, we put it in our marriage, we put it in our children, we put it in success. And it's all looking to satisfy what only God can. Look at Psalms 20, verse 7. I'm going to give you the first point. I'm going to give you some charts to get out of here. It says, some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust. See, if this was written today, it would say some trust in banks and some

trust in government jobs, and some trust in stock markets, and some trust in marriages, and some trust in relationships, and some trust in false security. But I trust in the name of the Lord my God. Proverbs 11, 28. Watch this. Watch this, watch this, watch this. Whoever trusts in his... Riches will do what? But the righteous will flourish like a green leaf. I'm going to say this first point, I'm going to give you some charts and we'll get it out of here. Here's the first one. Whatever I grip reveals what I trust. Whatever I grip, it reveals what I trust. Some of us, we grip relationships. And as I was writing this message, I'm going to get some keys and get out of here. I was writing this message, man, here's what I heard. Holy Spirit said, He said, son, it's not even that they like put their trust in a person because it's not leaving the person that's the issue. It's the fact that they're always with someone that's the issue. It's not that you know how to get out of a relationship, you just don't know how to stay out of one. And the reason why is because your security is like you're more secure with being someone than being alone with God. And so, what you trust, where your security is, is being with someone else. But it's really speaking to a deeper issue. What you're trying to feel is a love that you have not allowed God to permeate your loneliness yet. Does this make any sense? Some of you, you grip the money so bad.

Talk about it, you start clenching up. That's mine. And that's your security. That's what you make. And you don't even realize it's a form of greed. You can't let it go. What you grip, it reveals what you trust. Greed is closed hands, and faith is when you live open-handed. Trust is when you live open-handed. Having an appetite is natural. God created the appetite. The problem is sin corrupted it. And so, we got to figure out how do we... I got to give you some handlebars because if I leave you here, it's like, okay, what do I do next? Look at Psalms 107 verse number 9, put no trust in extortion. Okay, there you go. How he satisfies, he being God, look at this, the souls of thirsty ones, and fills the hungry with goodness. What this is speaking to is you're going to have an appetite. Having an appetite is not wrong. It's what you fill it with that becomes wrong. Does this make sense? Okay, next verse, watch this, watch this. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for what? For they will be what? So, as to say that if you're hungering for anything outside of righteousness, you're not going to be filled, which tells me that's why I keep wanting more because I have yet to be satisfied by the right thing. The right thing is righteousness, is peace, the kingdom of God, and joy.

When I go after God, when I pursue my life after Jesus, when he becomes the one that I go after, when he becomes the one that I'm hungry for, now all of a sudden, I don't need this like I thought I did. Does this make any sense? Okay, last verse, and I'm going to give you these charts, take pictures as we go. Jesus said, I am the bread of life. So, whoever comes to me shall not hunger, whoever believes in me shall never thirst. Here's what the Holy Spirit told me over this week, over this last month. He said, son, I'm not going to give you bread, I am the bread. Most people are trying to solve a physical, a spiritual appetite with the physical possession. There's nothing you can purchase, buy, rent, whatever, that's going to fulfill this God-sized void other than Jesus. We need him. And we get full when we hunger and thirst after him. Paul said this, I don't got time, but Galatians 5, I got to hurry up, man. I'm just trying to land this. I say then, walk by the Spirit and you will certainly not carry out the desires of the flesh. Look at this, for the flesh desire was against the Spirit and the Spirit desires were against the flesh, for they opposed to each other. Look at this, so you do not do what you want. Some of you want to do good, but you only feed the flesh. And if you only feed the flesh, the Spirit will starve because you can't feed both, you got one you. Listen to me, you got one you and you have to decide am I going towards the flesh or if I'm going towards the spirit because I can't go towards both. And some of us don't get what God is trying to truly give us because we keep giving ourselves

what we want. You know what I'm saying? But when I learn how to deny what I want and begin to crave and hunger and desire after what God wants for my life, when I deny this flesh, when I deny what I want and say God give me what you have for me, God I'm hungering and thirsting after you, I want you. So if you want me to worship, I'll worship. If you want me on my knees, I'm on my knees. If you want me to sit, I'll sit. If you want me to walk, I'll walk. God I want what you want for me. It's the only way. You don't kill the flesh by like I don't want to do that no more. It's not how it works. It's not how it works. You only can walk by the spirit. You can only walk by the spirit. Is this good? Alright. We're going to send y'all a bunch of charts. Guys, I'm not preaching this message to say that I got it. I'm preaching this message because it's what I'm desiring to get. My flesh has stolen too much of my destiny. It's robbed me of too much that God has for me. And I'm at a place where I'm just like no God, I'm going to go after you. And what he's been dealing with, and we're going to talk about this because your appetite is connected to your identity. We'll talk about this next week. But it's your identity that is not yet solved yet. And what Christ had to tell me, I got this two weeks ago, Greg I'm on this cruise and I'm sitting and I'm looking over this water and I'm saying God I just, I'm saying the

whole lot. He said man just shut up. I said you ain't got to yell at me like that man. He said shut up. No, shut up. He said listen to me. You don't have to accomplish anything for an identity. You accomplish out of your identity. You're my son. You bear my name. Act like it. Yes sir. See I got kids now, so I understand this kind of talk now. When I look at my sons I'm like man come on you a bowing dog. And it was like God had to pull me aside and say you got my name. Act like it. You letting this same little fox get you what? If you don't act like you got my name on you. Some of y'all letting these same little foxes. See y'all want to get pumped up and say you're going to be rich and it's going to be good and all that. Whatever. Get your life together man. Get this sneaky stuff together and say God okay enough of the little foxes hijacking my vineyard. I want everything that you got for me. So I'm going to address some of this sneaky stuff. See it's real cute. You can come to church and act like I ain't murdered nobody. Okay well get the lust out your heart.

But you want us to clap because you ain't killed nobody. And you got people and God behind bars who are taking their life serious and they have no freedom and yet more free than you. Because Galatians 5 starts off with this. For Christ for freedom you've been set free. And so many of us, we have the freedom and still sneaky. Let's catch a fox. What if we celebrated that? See I'm not, this is a, this ministry where I'm going like I'm, we're not going to just celebrate. There's these easy little pat on the back stuff. I would love for you to come into. me one day and say, hey guess what Pastor B, what's that? I didn't watch pornography at all this week. You caught a fox! Hey Pastor B, I mean, listen, I got off some stuff. You caught a fox. Hey Pastor B, I put tequila down. You caught a fox. Like, what if we actually created an environment in the atmosphere where we caught foxes and we celebrated and we said, come on man, keep going after Jesus. Come on. I'm not going to judge you for that. You caught a fox. Catch foxes, man. We all got, I'm not going to sit up and act like I'm perfect. I got foxes I'm trying to catch. And that should be celebrated. Let's catch foxes. Oh, do another million. No, no, no, no, no. Because when you get it, what a fox snatch it. When you get it, what a fox snatch it. God's calling us higher, man. Ooh, can I go there? Well, y'all worshiped for three hours last week. She said they did. This pulpit got to be, y'all listen, everyone who's on it, myself included, God began to show me whatever is in you goes to them. So, we can't be worshiping and lustful and then lust come out over the people. Catch the fox. I'm just saying catch the fox. Appetites in the room. Okay. Curve them. Does this make any sense? All I'm saying is let's go fox hunt. It's this, it's, uh, uh, my, my, my saying is, it is. We going on a big hunt. Going to catch a big one. I'm not scared. I'm not. We should say, I'm going on a fox hunt. Gonna catch a little one. I'm not scared. I'm not scared. I'm going on a fox, gonna catch a little one. I'm not scared. I'm not scared. I'm going on a lust hunt,

gonna catch a little one, going on an addiction hunt, gonna catch a little one, going on, you know, like what are you doing? Like, no, no, no, let's be honest about this stuff. Going on an adulterer hunt, gonna catch a little one, going on a gluttony hunt, gonna catch a little one, going on a sneaky hunt, gonna catch a little one. I've got stuff in my life that we gotta catch so my vineyard is not destroyed. Let's be honest. Amen? That's just where I'm at, guys. God's going to give you every desire of your heart. Can you keep it? Can you keep it? He's going to give you every dream. Can you keep it? What can you do? Amen? Did we enjoy today? Amen. Man, I love y'all. So, here's what we're going to do. Here's what we're going to do. Jameesa around here somewhere, we'll make sure Jameesa, I got charts on charts on charts. We'll send them all to you today or this week. Take pictures of them. They're super, super, super, I think, beneficial and puts real handlebars to what we're talking about today. Let's pray. God, thank you so much. We're catching fox. I'm gonna catch a fox this week. I said, say, I'm gonna catch a fox this week. God, thank you so much for being so good. Your mercy is so good, man. God, we thank you that we can look at the foxes. in our life and know that we're well-equipped to catch them. God, forgive us for these sneaky things like greed that try to grip us and place idols in our hearts. We come out of agreement with this, Lord, and we replace it with generosity, we replace it with gratitude, we replace it with thankfulness, we replace it with the awareness, Lord God, that you provided everything that we've already needed and everything that we will need. And we say that we can be trusted because we trust you.

So we love you, we honor you, we praise you, we lift you up. In Jesus' name we pray. Hey, we'll pray for one more person. One more person here, the person here who's like, man, you know what, all of this is great, but I just need a relationship with that man you're talking about named Jesus. Listen, I just don't believe that God's a God of accidents or coincidentals. I think he's very purposeful, he's very intentional. And maybe you've been in a place in your life where you just kind of drifted away from God or maybe you never had a relationship with him and you've been curious about it. I think that God will bring you under the sound of my voice today so that we can settle that matter right here. See, heaven and hell are constantly on debate, constantly. Is it real or is it not? Let me help settle it for you. Both of them are real. Here's the myth. God doesn't send you to neither one. You actually get to decide where you go. And we decide to go to heaven when we say, man, I'm a sinner and I'm in need of a savior. Where I wanna move from creation to child that when I die and you ask me that first question, I wanna begin to say, God, I'm your child

because I've accepted your son, Jesus, into my life. And maybe your heart's racing. You're like, what is this? It's simply Jesus knocking on the door of your heart with one question. Will you allow me to live with you? See, he's a perfect gentleman. So he doesn't come by intrusion or invasion. He only comes by an invitation. The invitation is simple. I'm a sinner in need of a savior, Jesus. Would you help me? And immediately he'll rush in. I'm not saying that your life is gonna be perfect from today, but here's what will happen. You'll get a peace that surpasses all understanding. You'll get a hope that the world can't give and the world can't take away. You'll get a joy that's like, man, it's like, where did this come from? And slowly but surely, you'll begin to change from the inside out. That's what he has to offer you. Now, my job is simple. It's to make sure that when you die, that you spend eternity with him. And if that is not settled in your heart, if you don't know, man, if I was to die today, I don't know where I would go. Let's settle it now.

See, on the count of three, I'm just gonna ask you to raise your hand. I'm not gonna do anything spooky. I'm not gonna do anything scary. I'm just gonna ask you to raise your hand and say, that's me, I wanna give my life to Jesus today. Here's what's gonna happen. This place is gonna go crazy. People are gonna shake these clappers. We're gonna do all of that because here's what heaven says. Heaven says that when you, when one person gives their life to Jesus, all of heaven begins to rejoice. So we'll give you a little glimpse of that. Then we're gonna say this confession because Jesus said it this way. When you confess me before man, I'll confess you before God. And so if that's you, don't make this about the person to the left or the right. Don't be nervous. Don't be afraid. Make this the moment that you get free. Maybe you kind of drifted and you're like, you know what, I'm coming back to Jesus. I'm gonna live for him. I'm gonna catch foxes and live for him. So if that's you, man, don't be ashamed at all, but with boldness, raise your hand

and say that's me on the count of three. Let's do this together. One, God loves you. Two, your life would never be the same. Three, if that's you, would you raise your hand? Come on, we got one here. Come on, we got one there. Stand up. We got one over there. We got one in the back. Come on. We've got one over there to the right. Come on, hallelujah, God. Let's celebrate. Hallelujah, Jesus. Come on, man. Let's say this again. Say God, today I give you my life. I believe in my heart and confess with my mouth that Jesus Christ is Lord. Come on, let's celebrate. Come on, we can do better than that. Come on. Hallelujah, Jesus. Man, I love it. Hey, if you said that prayer for the first time, they put a QR code and they put something in your hand. I just wanna make sure that you fill that out. We give you a gift, tell you welcome to the family. Hey, they got some coffee out there in the Life Center.

Go get you some. Please support them as they're doing that. And then I want to, I was gonna tell you one more thing. Remember that? So what I'm most excited about in this season of my life, G, is we're celebrating 10 years of ministry. No, I'm head over heels. I want you guys to come. Please come. Tickets, I think, I don't know what they are. Scan the QR code. I wish I could have made it free. It costs too much to do it. But I wanted you all to just celebrate with us and experience with us. So choose a night. Choose both. I think we're giving to the end of August to just make it available to the church before we make it available to the public. The public gonna buy them tickets. We're gonna charge them more than we charge y'all, but please make sure that you come. It's Thursday night, it's Friday night, and then it's Sunday, but Wednesday we're doing something amazing. You want to see what we do on Wednesday? Let's check this out. So I'm looking at you or the camera? Right there. Okay, all right. Praise the Lord. Thank you, Lord. Amen. Man, so that Wednesday night, we're inviting all of you guys to come in and watch our first ever Engage documentary that's going to document from the time God gave me the call to where we are now, the beauties, the ups, the highs, the lows. They've been working. Matter of fact, can we just even now begin to give our creative and production teams? They've been working very hard. They started this last year, and it's almost ready, and so we're thankful. I hope you guys

had an amazing Sunday. I love you. I'll see you next Sunday for part two of Sneaky Sins. Love you.