Holy Tuesday || Victory Church [Holy Week #2]

Hello, everybody, and welcome to our Holy Week experience. Thank you so much for hanging out with us tonight. My name is Stephen Hathaway. I am here with? Liz Mendoza. I'm so excited to be here with you and to introduce our special guest, Corey Booey. What's up, Corey? Hey, what's up, everybody? Thanks for having me here. So glad to be here with you all in our Victory Online community. What up? All right, Corey, I know you. We've had a chance to host together before on Victory Online before, but for people that haven't had a chance to see you, maybe they've seen you on stage before because you help to lead the band sometimes with worship. Why don't you kind of share a little bit about what you do here at Victory? Awesome, yeah. Again, I'm Corey, and I've been on staff here at Victory for about, Jesus, six years now? Wow, that's awesome. Time has flown. But I've had the awesome honor of leading our record label, Victory World Music, and the musical brands that come out of that most prominent right now is Victory House Worship.

So just being able to be a part of a great team that gets to cultivate original songs from our house that we get to share with the world, with the kingdom. We love Victory House Worship. Yeah, me too, man. You guys had a latest single that dropped recently, right? Oh yeah, Yahweh, Yahweh. Hey, if you have checked out Yahweh, Yahweh, if that is one of your favorite songs, please drop it in the chat right now. That's right, and if you have not, just wait till after we're finished. It'd be a great processing song. Yeah, it's a beautiful song, and just shout out to our team. It dropped on Friday, the video on YouTube, the music on all streaming platforms, and it's just been cool to see how even right now, in less than a week, it's just been blessing a lot of people. That's great, we love it. Well, all throughout the Holy Week experience, we're including some of the original music from Victory House Worship. So I know you guys have been with us on Palm Sunday and Holy Monday. We're gonna continue tonight with Holy Tuesday, but I want you to do me a favor, because we know a lot of you are tuning in from all over, and you're gonna be watching this

and experiencing it along with us, and we wanna hear from you in the chat. Right now, we have Miss Shelley on YouTube, also Anthony and Jocelyn, I love this name, Girls Breaking Chains Incorporated, I love it. So we have people that are hanging out with us from all over, so please get into the chat. On the website, we have Pat and Marsha and Rosie. We love, we're glad that all of you are here along with us. Can I ask too, I would love to know where you're streaming from. I'd love to, because we're able to see all of your comments right here live, our team's so awesome to be able to prepare us and set us up for that. I mean, if you can drop in like, yeah, I'm streaming from. Represent, where are you from? Like, I'm so excited to see all those locations. That'd be great, we would love that, that'd be awesome. So go ahead and put that in as we get ready to start the video to watch and experience our Holy Tuesday presentation. Let's do it. One, two, three. Cheers. Bless you. You too. Love you. I love you too, Wendy. You take care. Thank you.

All right, and goodbye, everyone. We'll see you tomorrow. Bye bye. Bye. Jesus, look. It's just the... The tree that we passed yesterday. Yes, it is. It withered so quickly. And you had only just cursed it. Yes, I see. Maybe because it hasn't rained. No, it was full and lush yesterday, remember? He cursed it when we went into the city. And today, it's completely dried up. Yes, it's dead. Have faith, friends. Why? And what does that have to do with you cursing the tree? Why did you do that anyways? What purpose does a fig tree have? To grow. Trees grow, yes. But that is not their purpose. Even weeds just grow and they do it easily. To produce figs to eat. You're right, Peter. And when a fig tree no longer produces figs, what good does it serve? It serves no one.

Exactly. But it's not even the season for figs. It is producing no fruit, figs, or otherwise. Once a tree no longer bears any fruit, it may as well be dead. This tree is dead. People will be able to see. The outside now shows the inside. Let's be honest here. This part of the story can be a little confusing. I mean, why would Jesus curse a random fig tree on the side of the road? I mean, was he just angry, right? Like, you know, a little hungry, a little angry. It's a little bit more complex than that. So to understand this, it's helpful to remember the state of things in Israel around that 30 AD time. The religious system had been decaying for decades. 1,500 extra laws were placed on the people by the religious leaders. Corruption, exploitation at every level. God's people are being kept far away from him. Things weren't just decaying, they were dead. I mean, they're fruitless. They looked one way on the outside, but in reality, they just weren't working anymore. The sacrificial system is in shambles. The religious leaders are a joke. I mean, God's people were disconnected from him

and falling further away every single day as their sins just mounted up more and more and more. The prophet Jeremiah actually even talks about this in Jeremiah chapter eight when he compares the people of Israel to a fig tree with no figs. But the Israelites were sons and daughters of Abraham, right? I mean, they had covenant with God. They were a blessed people. They talked all day, every day about how blessed they were. Yet when you pulled the curtain back on their lives, the inside didn't match the outside. They weren't living for God. They were living lives of a lot of talk, but no action. They were fruitless, just like the fig tree. It looked really great on the outside, but when you looked closer, there was nothing of substance there. So Jesus curses it. And then, you know, if you'd follow with it, he actually launches into five chapters of teaching, five straight chapters of teaching. He keeps saying in different ways over and over and over again, you look good and you look righteous, but you are empty and you're dead. You have a form of godliness, but you deny its power. Just like the fig tree, you look great, but you have no fruit. And he takes everything and he sums it all up.

And he said, guys, it's your job to love God and love neighbor, but they wouldn't have it. They begin concocting a plan to kill him, fulfilling David's prophecy in Psalm 118. The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. Jesus comes saying, guys, the time of the old sacrificial system and its leaders has come to an end. They have become fruitless. So I've come to put an end to that system. My death on the cross will be the death of the sacrificial system. And when my spirit comes to live inside my people, I will empower them to bear fruits and fruit that remains. So next time you see a shriveled tree on the side of the road or read about a withered fig tree in the Bible, remember that God's really not a big fan of looking one way on the outside, but being dead on the inside. And Jesus came so we didn't have to live that way anymore. We can have life and life to the fullest in him. And that life inside us will turn into fruit in the world around us. And as Jesus curses that fig tree, the cross, it's now just three days away. Man, that was powerful. Three days.

Yeah, the thought where Pastor Johnson said, just reminding us that this illustration, but also the entire week is just a reminder that that Easter, the resurrection was so that we could have life and have life to the fullest, even more abundantly. That's that's why when we look at the fig tree and we see how it wasn't producing fruit, that's the whole reason why Jesus stepped into our life so that we could have that kind of fruit, because fruit is not something that we could even produce on our own. It's his spirit working inside of us. So here's what we're going to do. I mean, I love I love these videos. It really creates us to begin to dive in and talk about what this means to us. So we want to hear from you. We're going to dialogue, but we're also going to be reading your comments live in the moment, answering your questions. And I can see some of you have already put in some great things. I want to say just a big thank you to Erica. I saw a comment there that made me say I have to reference this. Yes. Hi, victory fam. Hurried home to watch live. I enjoyed these so much. Thank you all for putting these short skits together, helping us to truly understand how great Jesus is, was and will be. And really, I love that you said that. That is the whole point of this for us to reflect on God's goodness, how much he loves us. That's really what Easter is, reminding that Jesus stepped into the earth so that we could have life and be saved for even though we were dead in our sins. So we're going to go into our first question, Corey, I want to swing over to you. Yeah. So the first question that we're going to go into to kind of process this is deep.

This kind of reminds me a little bit of what we got in last night, a very, very self introspective, which is, are there are there any areas of your life that maybe aren't producing fruit? You would hit me with the hardest question. That's why we invited you. No, that is that is a very deep question, I think, for for anybody, because it causes me right now and other people to really have to look in the mirror and be honest and real about where we are and what we are doing and the type of fruit that is being produced. Two things kind of come to mind, one from my past. I remember some years ago I had quit my job and I was going to school and I found myself not being the breadwinner in my family, you know. And so because of that, I realized that I was basing my current situation or or the health of my current situation off of what society says, the type of fruit that I should be producing as a husband, as a father, as a provider. And I wasn't bringing in the most money in my household anymore. And so I found myself really kind of beating myself up about that, almost almost borderline, like depressed about it, like feeling like I wasn't worthy or wasn't enough for my family. And it took my wife. Shout out to Marla Bowie, because she's a boss. She's a good one. She's a beautiful woman of God. Like I can testify. She is. She is. But it took her pulling me to the side to just speak life into this withering kind of shell of a man that I was allowing myself to become because I was chasing the production of the wrong type of fruit. And she showed me and reminded me that even in this season where I felt like I was lacking something that wasn't the real fruit that was being produced inside of me. But what was really being produced inside of me was peace. And I was like, well, what are you talking about?

Like the peace in knowing that I'm present for our then five year old daughter who I can now take to school and pick up, go have, you know, Publix chicken finger lunches with her because that's all I could afford at the time. But it was the most amazing thing to that little girl. Moments you'll never get back. Right. Moments that I never get back. And I think in that space, I just I really God really kind of showed me about the type of fruit that I want to be pursuing to to grow. Because the truth of the matter is, I was telling you guys earlier, I'm producing something all the time. Actually. Actually, you're like your job, though. That's funny. That was a good time producing music. You smart girl. You in there. But like, I feel like we're always producing some type of fruit, you know, sometimes it's good and sometimes we doing things that is producing bad fruit. And so I want to always try to make sure that I'm in a place where, Lord, regardless of what the outside circumstance looks like, it's what's being produced inside of me, the type of fruit that speaks to your glory, to your goodness. Am I finding peace, the fruit of your spirit inside of me, even when craziness is going on? And so I kind of bring that up to the second thing, which is honestly what I'm going through today. And I was kind of battling with. Lord, if I wanted to share this, um, like my family right now is just going through some things. Uh, we had a death in our family about two weeks ago that really, really just

like rocked. And since then I have just been finding myself mourning, but morningly inwardly. And it's kind of, I think about this fig tree, like I've still been kind of going on with the smile, with the, Hey, how you doing? I'm good. But inside I'm sad. And I'm like, father, I want to let this out. I want to let go of this, help me to do so. And just, even just preparing for this and to talk with y'all, even in just a couple of minutes before he was like, Corey, rest in my peace. That is the fruit that you need to be in right now. I, he has me, he has my family rest in the peace. And so, yes, I may be sad, but I don't have to live in that sadness. I can choose to live in the peace that is the fruit of his spirit. So that, that is the, the, the, the fruit that I am trying to produce right now. Like, Hey, somebody asked me, how are you doing? I'm sad, but God has me, you know, I'm grieving right now. I'm mourning right now, but I have the peace of the Lord in me. And even just speaking that out of my tongue right now. Thank you, father. Like I feel the peace, settling in. Yeah. That's good. That, that reminds me a passage as Jesus was talking to the disciples about what it looks like to produce fruit. I heard pastor Johnson say once that, you know, when you are, when you're abiding in the Lord, the fruit naturally can begin to come. It's not like we have to go, okay, I'm an apple tree. Let me go. All right.

Here's an apple. It happens. That's something that the Holy, how was that face? Is that going to be grabbed? Did I just create a new meme? I think I just did. I think I just created a new meme. Did I just create a new meme? I think I just did. That's not, that's not really on us. Our, our job is just to abide in him. Like Jesus said, if you, if you abide in me, you're going to produce much fruit. So a lot of you guys like hearing that you, uh, you cut time out of your day to drive home and to be able to be a part of us, to be a part of this time together, I think really shows that, that people are taking intentional time in their spiritual journey. And that's what, that's what the Lord loves when we carve out time and say, all right, Lord, I, I want to be able to rest in you and stay in your presence. Cause I know that the more that I abide in you, the more that your fruit more naturally begin to be displayed in my life, right? It's nothing that we have to be performative about. It's his presence working in us. Well, here's the, here's the next question. I, by the way, I love that story. And someone said in the comment section that they're so sorry for your loss and they're praying for you. I appreciate it. So yeah, thank you guys for like feeling that and experiencing with this. All right. Next question.

Have you ever found it difficult to change something that isn't working? And I'm gonna hear from some of you in the chat. Let me see if I can't find some of you responding in that kind of way. Have you ever found it difficult to change something that isn't working? So I would say, yes, that's the whole reason why there's like brand new diet fads all the time, right? I mean, we look at Oprah. She's a great example of how difficult it is to adapt lasting change. She had, I watched something with her recently where she said, man, my, I feel like my weight loss journey has just been up and down and up and down and up and down because it's special about it. She did, right? That's right. Shout out to a Zempik, not shout out to exemplic. I'm not saying that, but it just, that was Oprah shout out. Oh my goodness, I'm over here trying to sift through comments. And I, what did I miss online? Oh my gosh, we're not sponsored by Pfizer. You guys are going to get me fired. Stop. All right. So adapting change is difficult, but the thing that goes through my mind is when I tried to teach my sons how to ride a bike, like I gave them training wheels intentionally because I wanted to make it easy for them to learn what it was like. Yeah. I just didn't give them a bike, put them out on the road and say, good luck friend. You know, I would hold this, hold this, uh, you know, the, the bars for the front and just do my best to coach and they, they all, they all got it, but you have three boys and when they, when they would mess up, you know, I would never think to myself, I wouldn't want to mock them because we are creatures of habit and it's

hard to learn something new. It is very difficult. And so anytime that you make intentional journey towards the Lord reminds me of what we read from, you know, Jesus's half brother, James, who taught us that when you take steps towards God, he takes steps towards you. He loves to see us working towards like, Hey, I want more of God active in my life. So I, I would cheer my sons trying to ride a bike or if they wanted to learn anything new, one of them is trying to learn a new computer program right now. And it's not easy. Yeah. And, uh, I remember like, Hey, it's. It's gonna be difficult, but I love coaching him and cheering him on. And I think that's what our Father wants to do with us. Even when you look at the parable of the tree, that was an object lesson for us, where Jesus is motivating us, like, hey, abide in me so you can produce fruit. Like, I want you to help to experience this kind of life change. That's why I'm here. His love's not condemning. That's right. If anything, it's self-evaluation to show things that may not be bearing fruit. And it may provide conviction, but he's not so angry at you that he's like, why aren't you bearing fruit? Like, what are you doing wrong? It's more so like, hey, what can we do

to continue to do life together? Because I want what's best for you, I want to have you bear fruit like this fig tree. Well, I mean, it's dope that you said, you know, about the conviction part, because I believe that we see time and time again throughout the Bible that conviction is the catalyst for change. That's good. It's like when we find ourselves convicted by something, that's when real change can really begin to happen, you know, whether that is a spiritual conviction or a practical conviction. Like, everyone's convictions are different. Yeah, I was telling you all, like, you know, if the doctor says, hey, you should cut back on your sugar because X, Y, and Z could happen in the future, that could stir a conviction of something inside of me that says I don't want that to happen. And because I'm convicted by that, I can start on the journey to the change. God, he's a great physician, isn't he? Yeah, yeah, and it's hard to change up any of our habits, but it always feels like it's not as hard to change and do things that aren't good for us. Like my five-year-old didn't have to work really hard to love sugar, you know, it's just like, ooh, like I want to eat it all the time. But it's like when we are trying to change for the better, for whatever reason in our makeup,

that seems to be the journey. And it's, I'm sure it's just the flesh battling with the spirit, the spirit man trying to take more of a lead in our lives as opposed to listening to every whim and whimsical, you know, thing that our flesh wants to do every single day. That's the battle. Yeah, and thank God for that conviction. Amen. Man, it's the father chastises the son that he loves. Right? So thank God for that love. What I love about this week is we're seeing different examples of how God is moving towards us while also calling us to move towards him. He's not gonna force us to do anything. He gave us free will, which means like I have a choice to love him, which is insane because the idea of a man dying for me, I have the chance of me loving him back. Like all of this being out of love. Right. And you know, like, yeah, this is, I just, Holy Tuesday. I'm like, are we on, which day are we on? You know, it's so rich. Holy Tuesday, it's just, you know, we're one step closer. Three days in, or three days to come. Yeah. So we have some great comments that are coming in that I wanna give a chance to reference

that you guys are putting down on the website. Amber put down, I had a hard time changing the job that I had because I was so keen on taking overtime and working weekends, but it didn't allow me to go to church. I had to get more education and apply a lot before getting an opportunity to go somewhere where they respected my worship times. Hey man, props to you friend for understanding that that's a priority in your life and working towards that. I think sometimes jobs don't understand that aspect of it. They would love to just be all encompassing over your entire life, but we get to carve out that time and say, no, the Sabbath is holy. This is my time with the Lord. That's great. Also Mia, she had a great answer. She said, yes, I was stuck in a negative thought patterns that were detrimental to my mental health. Then I went through a God led heart healing workshop and it changed everything. Then a friend struggling asked me if real change was possible and I was easily able to say, absolutely yes. God can definitely create lasting change, lasting fruit that provided we submit to his will and are open to that kind of change. That's great. And you guys get some, I mean, we need to Skype them in so they can get a chance.

That's wonderful. I want you to know too, if you are like, should I comment a question or should I testify or should I, yeah, whatever doubt you may have, just know we're real people. We don't know everything, but it's really Pastor Steven. It's really Liz. It's really Corey and all of our other special guests. We care and we value every thought that you have, every comment and we just take it to heart. So we're thankful for all your community. And I think the bravery that it takes to write a question, you are probably asking the same question that 10 or 20 other people wish that they could type. So, you know, help somebody else be free. That's good. All right, here's our last question before we get into our action stuff. And Liz, I'll throw this over to you. Let's do it. After all the miracles the disciples saw, why do you think that they were surprised to see the fig tree withered? Oh yeah. Because it said they were like, whoa, whoa, hey, you, you Christians saying it's actually withering. It did shock them. Yeah. Yeah.

So I think what I love about Holy Week, what I love about these scriptures is that they come alive, I think. I often, like a little tradition of mine is I go through every gospel. So Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, when Easter time comes around, just so I can get different perspective, I can get different personalities from Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Basically going through the timeline of Holy Week. Yeah. And so all I have to say, when I read the scripture, I often try to put myself, or I author, author. I often try to either think of the perspective of the disciples. What were they thinking? What were they doing? John says this, but Luke said that, why? Or I try to put myself as a disciple. What would I be thinking? Just trying to put myself in their shoes. So to your point, why were they so surprised about the victory withering? I think, I mean, wouldn't you be? If someone, you know? I think if Jesus, who claims he's Messiah, and you've seen all these different miracles,

like this is not the first miracle that they've seen. You know, yesterday we broke down Jesus at the temple. And then this scripture that we're going over right now, that about Jesus cursing the fig tree, is the description or the scriptures right after. And it says that Jesus was hungry too, which is interesting. But also to know that he just got finished flipping a table. Right. And now he's coming back. He was thinking about the heart postures of the people that he flipped the table on already. So that's really key, I think. And then he was hangry. I mean, I can't say that. I'm not gonna say Jesus was. But I mean, I'm imagining. He was hungry though, it says. Yeah, I'm putting myself in Jesus' shoes or in the disciples' shoes. Like, Jesus wanted a snack. And I think you had some great insight, both of you, because I know that we prepared for you guys. Like, what was interesting to me, like, we're just talking about he was hungry. And then like, he sees this tree from a distance. He was expecting a fig to be on it. He was expecting. And so, like, I was wondering, like, man, why take this all out on this tree?

Like, I mean, the tree wasn't doing nothing. But being a tree, you know, handling his business, leafing it up. And then next thing you know, you know, Jesus is like, you will never produce fruit. And so, but what I learned, a couple of things in thinking about this. One, like, a fig tree produces its leaves before it produces its fruit. So, if Jesus is coming back from cleansing the temple, flipping over tables, and he sees this fig tree out in the distance, he sees those leaves, he's like, oh, snap. Let me cool off. Snack time. Yes, snack time. Like, I'm ready for something. I can just imagine him, he was getting his mouth ready. Y'all know how it be. Like, when you get your mouth and your mind, right, ready for something to eat, and then you get there, or to the refrigerator, and you know you had that leftover, is that your kids have eaten it. You are, you are mad. Understandably. You are good and mad. You're not you when you're hungry. Right. So, no, so he sees these leaves,

and he's like, yo, it has to be fruit on there. The other thing that was really interesting is that, you know, I was thinking like, okay, the disciples knew it wasn't really even the season for figs to be growing. So, like, why would he curse this tree and say you will never grow again? What I learned about fig trees is that they can produce two to three crops a year. So, earlier in the season, and then maybe two or three later in the season. So again, Jesus is walking, sees this fig tree from a distance, sees those leaves. He's like, ooh, I know it's early in the season, but yet and still, this is probably gonna be the first crop. The other thing, which I thought was really interesting, is that figs, they are the same color of the leaves right up until they are ripe. So, if he's walking, he's not seeing any color from the fruit, but again, the outside impression from a distance is saying that's gonna be a good tree. And so, for him to get up on that tree and to find nothing, even in a season where the leaves are lush and full, there is no fruit to follow. It just made me think about how often I have this maybe persona of being a good Christian, being everything I'm supposed to be on the outside, but what am I lacking inside? And him to say to that tree,

you will never produce fruit again. It just made the out that what was in the inside just show on the outside because it wasn't producing like I said in the video It wasn't producing what it was meant and purpose to do so. I asked myself What am I? Almost like faking on the outside that looks right that looks holy I mean he denounced Israel the whole thing just because they were carrying on as if they were children of God But in their hearts they were far from God That's right. I never want to look the part and not be the part Yeah, that's good. Like if I look like I got fruit, please like you did I want the fruit of the spirit the goodness of That's good. I want his goodness to show come come out of me the fruits of the spirit love peace Faithfulness kindness. I want that to just flow. Yeah, man. Come on and not just be It looks like Cory's a nice person. No Because God is in me because Jesus is in me I am you know and I'd love to break down scripture even more because it so the question was what are that what what made the disciples so surprised right, so When so immediately the tree it withered went when the disciples saw this they were amazed how did the fig tree weather so quickly they Asked Jesus replied in verse 22 of Matthew Or 21, I'm sorry truly I tell you if you have faith and do not doubt Not only can you do what was done to the fig tree? But also you can say to this mountain go throw yourself into the sea and it will be done if you believe you will receive Whatever you ask for in prayer. Yeah, I love about that is I think they were genuinely asking like how did you do that? Mm-hmm, like I know you're trickster you comedian He pulls out like I just I love how relatable he is and how how much joy you you bring to a room I often I'm like, well, how'd you do that? Right, and I love how Jesus encourages us to say actually, you know, you can do that right have faith in me ask me for for what you want and you will receive it like I Think it was such a cool interaction. I think we can see and break down a lot of Jesus's personality in this

And I love the beauty of this because we also see his humanity His real humanity that a lot that we can relate to. Yeah, so I don't think he was teaching them a lesson you know the fig tree in Israel that time was seen as a symbol of of prosperity and blessing But because the children of Israel Israel was not trying to be about the father's business They were not trying to hear the message that Jesus was bringing to them He had to teach them through this fig tree if this is who you're gonna be in your hearts I'm gonna show it on the outside and I feel like it's only so long that we can go faking the funk before The realness of who we are at heart comes. Yeah, that's good And it's in it and it man when it hits It'll hit as fast as that fig tree that usually takes, you know weeks to rither to the root He did it in an instant and I think that was just such a powerful symbol of how we can be so consumed So quick so quickly by the impure things that are inside. Yeah There's a lot of questions that we're getting online specifically about really trying to process why Why Jesus cursed the tree like why did that have to be a part of it? And I think that you definitely hit an aspect of this was an object lesson that he was giving us It was recorded in Scripture So that we could reflect on it and the Holy Spirit could could speak some things about Jesus's nature and his character and how we relate To the father, but Jesus talked about fig trees a lot of times. He told a parable. I think it's in Luke Chapter 9. I'm sure I'll get I'll get fact-checked on X later on In the community notes but the the passage that I'm referencing Jesus talks about how there was someone who owned a bunch of fig trees and one of them was not producing fruit and the Guy said, you know what? We just we need to get rid of this victory, but the gardener said timeout How about you give me some time with it, how about I dig around it I put some nourishment around it Some it's something to help it maybe begin to get a little bit of extra help to it So it can begin to produce fruit and if it still doesn't hey, well, we'll take a moment to remove it

So I feel like that Jesus consistently wanted to lead us towards producing fruit So the thought of man, why would can't put down cam in the chat? Thank you for participating cam You've had some great comments tonight. Like why would Jesus kind of go about the aspect of? cursing this tree Remember, it's not a person You know It's just it's more of a symbol for us to learn that our father does desire for us to live a life of abundance to live a life of health and to live a life of fruit and even to the point where He's he's willing to dig around us and nourish us give us his spirit to move inside of us so that we can begin and to naturally share that kind of fruit. But like Liz, what you said, it's on us to spend that time with him, to abide in him, to respond to his word, to respond to truth, and make sure that we're doing our best to live a life that lines up with him, which kind of leads into our action step that we wanna give you guys tonight. So here's the thing that we want you, after we're done, to think about later on and process, and ask the Lord to speak to you in this kind of way. Spend a few moments in prayer and ask God to reveal or to speak to any areas in your life that aren't producing fruit. Now, like Corey talked about before, that does not necessarily mean that it's an aspect of sin. It might just be a spot where God's saying, hey, you know what? I want you, in order to have that fruit, why don't you spend a couple moments with me more in the morning before you go off to work?

Like I shared with you yesterday, I think one of the reasons why the Lord told me or encouraged me to allow my drive in to be a bit more of a silent time with him is because he wants to build that kind of relationship with me so that fruit is a more active part of my life. So there could be so many different ways that God speaks to you in this kind of moment, but carve out a few moments and allow him to jump in. And remember, this is leading all the way up to Sunday towards Easter. And I'm excited about what's coming in with all of these services. And just a reminder, we would love to meet some of you, even in person. And we have four different campuses that you can swing by this weekend. Some of them have services beginning all the way in Friday. So here's a QR code for you to be able to scan and see all the locations that we have in the Atlanta area, whether it's Hamilton Mill, Midtown, Norcross or North Cobb, each one of them are adopting new services this weekend for you to be able to come out and hang out with us. So even if you want to invite a friend to come and be a part as well. But if you swing by Norcross, we're gonna be there. We will. Yeah, we would love to get a chance to meet you.

Make sure you swing by and say hi, that'd be great. And thank you all for joining us. Corey, thank you for being here as well, friend. This was great. Can I just leave them with one thing, just as you were talking about the reflection question that you want them. And I don't know, I just felt like some people were just like, Lord, I don't know how to bear this fruit. And I thought about this scripture, John 15 and five, where Jesus is saying, I am the vine, you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit. Thank you, Jesus. Apart from me, you can do nothing. So that's your answer right there. Can you say that scripture, the reference? Yeah, John 15, five, verse five. If you wanna figure out how to bear this type of fruit, like you said, abide in him. Spend time with him. Spend time with him. He is the vine, you are the branches. Stay connected to him. That's good stuff, man. That's a great word to go out on. Thank you for sharing that. Thank you guys for hanging out with us. We'll see you tomorrow night at 7 p.m. And don't forget, Pastor Dennis is joining us. We'll see you then.

All right.