Honor The Brave (Full Experience)

for he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, and the oppressed will be set free. That's a freedom that's available to us today. A freedom only Jesus can give, freedom from anxiety and fear, freedom from condemnation and shame. So let's grab hold of that today and sing our praises and our gratitude to Jesus today. Come on, are you ready? Come on, let's sing this now. ♪ Oh, you thank you for freedom ♪ ♪ We thank you for freedom ♪ ♪ Sing, I'm shaking, I'm shaking off the heaviness ♪ ♪ I'm dancing out of my regrets ♪ ♪ I'm throwing caution to win ♪ ♪ Oh, no, I am not ashamed to praise like this ♪ ♪ Some say it's foolishness ♪ ♪ But I say it's worth the risk ♪ ♪ I can't forget what Jesus did ♪ ♪ Oh, no, I am not ashamed to praise like this ♪ ♪ Where are those chains that once held me ♪ ♪ I'm free, I'm free, I'm free ♪ ♪ My sin is gone, I can't even ♪ ♪ I'm free, I'm free, I'm free ♪ ♪ And look at what the Lord has done ♪ ♪ I'm never going back to the way I was ♪ ♪ I sing, I'm dance 'cause I be me ♪ ♪ I'm free, I'm free, thank God I'm free ♪ ♪ Oh, we thank you all ♪

♪ I've never been and never failed ♪ ♪ And all the love's as good as this ♪ ♪ And I don't care what anyone says ♪ ♪ I'll never be ashamed to praise like this ♪ ♪ Where are those chains that once held me ♪ ♪ I'm free, I'm free, I'm free ♪ ♪ My sin is gone, I can't even ♪ ♪ I'm free, I'm free, I'm free ♪ ♪ And look at what the Lord has done ♪ ♪ I'm never going back to the way I was ♪ ♪ I'll sing, I'll dance 'cause I be me ♪ ♪ I'm free, I'm free, thank God I'm free ♪ ♪ You took the course and you broke your body ♪ ♪ You shed your blood now the sinner can't see ♪ ♪ My dead is paid and my record is clean ♪ ♪ I couldn't do it 'til you did it for me ♪ ♪ You took the course and you broke your body ♪ ♪ Sing that out, you shed your blood now the sinner can't see ♪ ♪ My dead is paid and my record is clean ♪ ♪ I couldn't do it ♪ ♪ You took the course and you broke your body ♪ ♪ You shed your blood now the sinner can't see ♪ ♪ My dead is paid ♪ ♪ My dead is paid and my record is clean ♪ ♪ I couldn't do it ♪ ♪ I couldn't do it 'til you did it for me ♪ ♪ I couldn't do it 'til you did it for me ♪ ♪ I couldn't do it, I couldn't do it ♪ ♪ I couldn't do it 'til you did it for me ♪ ♪ Come on, if you're free this morning ♪

♪ Will you sing this out? ♪ ♪ Where are those chains that once held me? ♪ ♪ I'm free, I'm free, I'm free ♪ ♪ My sin is gone, how can it be? ♪ ♪ I'm free, I'm free, I'm free ♪ ♪ And looking what the Lord has said ♪ ♪ I'm never going back to the way I was ♪ ♪ I'll sing all dance 'cause I'll be ♪ ♪ I'm free, I'm free, they got I'm free ♪ ♪ Looking what the Lord has done ♪ ♪ I'm never going back to the way I was ♪ ♪ And looking what the Lord has done ♪ ♪ I'm never going back to the way I was ♪ ♪ And looking what the Lord has done ♪ ♪ I'm never going back to the way I was ♪ ♪ Looking what he's done ♪ ♪ Looking what the Lord has done ♪ ♪ I'm never going back to the way I was ♪ Yes, thank you, Jesus. Jesus, you came, you conquered, you died and you rose again. And in you, we are free. A thousand generations falling down in worship to sing the song "Vages to the Land" and all who have gone before us and all who will believe will sing the song "Vages to the Land". Your name is the highest. Your name is the highest. Your name is the greatest. Your name stands above them all. All throws and demands all housed and positions your name stands above them all and the angels cry. Holy, our creation cries. Holy, you are lifted high. Holy, holy forever. And if you've been forgiven, and if you've been redeemed, sing the song forever to live. And if you walk in freedom, and if you bear its name, we'll sing the song forever to the land. Sing, we'll sing the song. We'll sing the song forever and amen.

And the angels cry. Holy, our creation cries. Holy, our creation cries. Holy, you are lifted high. And if you've been forgiven, and if you've been forgiven, your people say. Holy, to the King of Kings. Holy, you will always be. Holy, holy forever. Your name is the highest. Your name is the greatest. Your name stands above them all. All throws and demands all housed and positions your name stands above them all. Jesus, your name is the highest. Your name is the greatest. Your name stands above them all. All throws and demands all housed and positions your name stands above them all and the angels cry. Holy, our creation cries. Holy, you are lifted high. Holy, holy forever. Your people say, holy, to the King of Kings. Holy, you will always be. Holy, holy forever. You will always be. Holy, holy forever. We join with all of heaven. Praise in Jesus for what he's done and what he will always do. God, you are holy. - Welcome to Fellowship Church, one church family in many locations. On behalf of Pastor's Ed and Lisa, we are so glad you're here. Whether you're exploring faith, looking for authentic community, searching for hope, or simply wondering who Jesus is, there is a place for you, and we would love to help you discover your next step. Whether it's through our Bible study classes, connect groups, support and recovery, our Veterans Bible Study and Breakfast, our serving teams here at church and throughout the community, our Spanish Bible studies, our Young Adults Ministry Equit, or FC Sports. There's a place here for you to grow. And for the families, we're here to partner with you. There is no place like the mixed youth ministry

or FC Kids to help lay a biblical foundation to build your child's life on. And speaking of building, right now, we're in the process of building our future home for the next generation, the Anchor Center. Holy Ground, we're the lives of children, students, young adults, and parents will be anchored to Jesus for generations to come. So if you would like more information about how to get involved in the community, simply tap your seat or fill out the connect card in front of you. We'll follow up with you this week and help you find the next best step for you. And if something is weighing on your heart, we would be honored to pray with you. Thank you for choosing to spend part of your weekend with us. Never forget that Jesus sees you, loves you, and has a purpose for your life. The best is yet to come. - Good morning, fellowship church. Anyone excited to be in the house of God this morning? I wanna say welcome. My name is Sam Kelly. I have the privilege to be one of the pastors here. I wanna say welcome to everyone, but especially those of you who are here for the first time. Can we show our appreciation to all the guests in the room today? Here's what we know and believe.

We know that God created humanity for community, and there is no community like the church. Can I get an amen today in fellowship church? We'd love for you to find that kind of community. And so if you're new here, right after this experience, we've got a lunch just for you. We'd love for you to meet our team, discover ways that you can grow in your faith and get connected to the amazing community here. And maybe you're here and you can't make that happen. Well, you can take the blue connect card on the seat back in front of you. Just take a moment to fill that out. And just a moment as we receive our offering, you can drop that right in there. But today is a special Sunday. It's honor the brave Sunday. And we are honored to have so many first responders in our midst this morning. And I just wonder church, if we could take a moment to stand and show our appreciation to all the first responders in our midst this morning to give and show honor. We're honor is due. Amen. Amen, you can find your seats. And right now in FC Kids, we've got our kiddos writing thank you letters to first responders.

And if you are here as a first responder, we'd love for you to stop by the area and the atrium to give you that letter, give you a gift, and also just to personally say thank you for what you do. I don't know about you church, but I'm so thankful to be a part of a church that backs the blue and first responders and teaches honor and respect to the next generation because as a church, we're all about serving others, bringing hope, protecting the vulnerable. And we're able to do that because of the generosity of so many people. And so right now we're gonna receive our offering. And if you're a guest here today, there's no pressure to participate in this moment. This is for people who call a fellowship church, their church home who understand that we are blessed to be a blessing. And just a moment, we're gonna open up the word of God and I wanna remind us, then anytime we open up the word of God, it's as if we're opening up the mouth of God. We get to hear God speak to us today. I love scripture promises, this amazing truth, that his word never returns void. What does that mean? It means that God is gonna do something in our lives today. But before we do that, we're gonna take a moment to pause. And remember, what took place 25 years ago,

it's hard to believe what took place 25 years ago, that surreal moment. I'm sure many people in our midst this morning remember exactly where you were when it happened, when we saw evil attack our nation. We saw thousands of lives that were lost. And yet in that very moment, we saw what our country was made of. When first responders are rushing in to rescue others, many of whom, And so today, we take a moment to pause and to honor their bravery and sacrifice, but not just those who served that day, but also those who serve this day, our communities and our country and so church. I'd love if we took a moment to honor a member of our church, Sergeant Mark Tully, as he's accompanied by the great vine Bedford and Denton police and fire departments, would you stand with me on the entrance of our nation's colors? [MUSIC PLAYING] [MUSIC PLAYING] [MUSIC PLAYING] [MUSIC PLAYING] [MUSIC PLAYING] [MUSIC PLAYING] [MUSIC PLAYING] [MUSIC PLAYING] [MUSIC PLAYING] [MUSIC PLAYING]

[MUSIC PLAYING] [MUSIC PLAYING] [MUSIC PLAYING] [MUSIC PLAYING] [MUSIC PLAYING] [MUSIC PLAYING] [MUSIC PLAYING] [MUSIC PLAYING] [MUSIC PLAYING] [MUSIC PLAYING] [MUSIC PLAYING] [MUSIC PLAYING] [MUSIC PLAYING] [MUSIC PLAYING] [MUSIC PLAYING] [MUSIC PLAYING] [MUSIC PLAYING] [MUSIC PLAYING] [MUSIC PLAYING] [MUSIC PLAYING] [MUSIC PLAYING] [MUSIC PLAYING] [MUSIC PLAYING] [APPLAUSE] Would you please be seated? [MUSIC PLAYING] There are moments in life when everything changes. A call comes in, an alarm sounds, and someone, somewhere needs help. And while the rest of us are told to get out,

there are those who choose to go in. They run toward the fire, toward the wreckage, toward the danger, toward the person praying that someone will come. They leave meals unfinished, families waiting, plans interrupted. Not because they know how the story will end, but because they made a promise to serve. They carry strangers to safety, and they bring order to chaos. They fight for one more breath, and they stand between life and death. And sometimes, that service costs more than we will ever know. So today, we honor them for answering the call, for your courage, for your sacrifice, for the families who share you with all of us. When others run from danger, you run toward it. And for that, we will always be grateful. So at this time, if you have served or are currently serving as a first responder, or if you are a family member of someone who is currently serving, or has served as a first responder, would you please stand to your feet? In Fellowship Church, could we recognize and show our appreciation for all those who Please remain standing. In church, I would invite you if you would extend a hand towards these men and women and these families, we wanna pray a prayer of blessing and protection over their lives today. Heavenly Father, we thank you for these men, for these women, for these families.

God, we pray you would be with them each and every day that you would give them courage, you would give them wisdom, we pray your protection would be upon them. And that each and every day as they face the unknown, they would know that you are there with them. God, we thank you for the families that are here today. Maybe the families that had even lost someone in the line of duty. God, we know that nothing will ever replace that loss but we pray that your peace that passes all understanding would be upon them. You would comfort them and you would show them that there is love and that there is hope for them. In the mighty name of Jesus, we pray. Now church, if you would stand to your feet, we wanna pray over our great country together. Heavenly Father, we come to you right now and we lift up the nation of America to you. God, we pray first and foremost for our leaders, that our leaders would turn to you and seek you each and every day. They would turn to the truth of your word and that you would be known in their hearts and in their lives. God, we pray for protection for our country, for those who would try to do it harm overseas and those even within our borders. We pray you would go before our military, go before our first responders and be with them and guide them each and every day.

God, we know there is no entity, no government, no education system that will ever fix what's wrong with our country, but God, if we would simply turn to you, if we would seek your face each and every day, God, we know that you have our best interests in mind. God, we thank you for this. We love you and we praise you. It's in the mighty name of Jesus, we pray. Amen, amen. Church, would you remain standing as the colors of our nation, exit the room? (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) Come on, can we show our appreciation once more? (gentle music) Heavenly Father, we come to you today with hearts full of gratitude. Jesus, today we fix our eyes on you. We set our hope for you.

And every circumstance, no matter what the world looks like, we set our eyes on you and put our trust in you, Jesus. (gentle music) We sing this out to you. (gentle music) ♪ The Lord is my light and salvation ♪ ♪ I'm shall I fear ♪ ♪ I'm shall I be afraid ♪ ♪ The Lord is my light and salvation ♪ ♪ I'm shall I fear ♪ ♪ I'm shall I be afraid ♪ ♪ I will wait for you ♪ ♪ I will wait for you ♪ ♪ I will wait for you ♪ ♪ We set our hope ♪ ♪ I will wait for you ♪ ♪ I will remain ♪ ♪ I will remain ♪ ♪ Confident in this I will see ♪ ♪ Look at us of the Lord ♪ ♪ I will remain ♪ ♪ Confident in this I will see ♪ ♪ The goodness of the Lord ♪ ♪ Sing I will remain ♪ ♪ I will remain ♪ ♪ Confident in this I will see ♪ ♪ The goodness of the Lord ♪ ♪ Yes we believe in ♪ ♪ I will remain ♪

♪ Confident in this I will see ♪ ♪ The goodness of the Lord ♪ We fix our eyes on You, God Come on, lift it up We set our hope on You We set our hope on You, Lord We set our hope on The One Who is the everlasting God You are the everlasting God You are the everlasting We set our hope on You We set our hope on You, Lord We set our hope on The One Who is the everlasting God You are the everlasting God The mountains shake before You, the demons roar and flee At the mission of your making of majesty There is no power in Him No rainy looking step before the power in the presence of the great I am The great I am the great I am the great I am The great I am the great I am We set our hallelujah Holy Holy God Almighty The great I am Who is worthy Lord beside me God Almighty The great I am Hallelujah Holy Holy God Almighty The great I am Who is worthy Lord beside me God Almighty The great I am the great I am The great I am the great I am the Alpha, the Omega, the Great I am God we give you glory and honor that you are worthy of Move in this heart, move in our place Move in this nation, we pray this in your name Church you may be seated We pray this in your name Church you may be seated Like you, I remember those black shirts post 9/11 with the World Trade Towers on the front On fire with the words never forget right there on the front You remember those t-shirts I mean they are still around today never forget First time I saw one I kind of got emotional I was like man there is no way I mean there is no way we will never forget I thought I mean we are going to remember

you know what happened at 9/11 we will remember it I want to look back today at the trajectory of our country over the last 25 years since 9/11 I think it is important to look back I think we would all agree that we have a kind of a selective memory don't we we remember what we should forget and then sometimes we forget what we should remember I have been blown away as I have been studying for this message how often God tells us to remember over 200 times remember, remember, don't forget, don't forget. Right before, God's people were entering into the promised land. They were leaving the wilderness. They'd been wandering around for 40 years, led by Moses, and they had experienced all sorts of things. They experienced difficulties. They experienced lack. They experienced some hunger. Yet God moved, God fed them protein out of the sky. God gave them water out of a rock. God led them with this GPS system, so to speak, in the day and at the night. And then they found themselves getting ready to close the best real estate deal of all time, this tract of land that God had given them. Right before this went down, here is what the Bible tells us, God said in Deuteronomy, chapter eight, verse 11. Be careful, I like that. God God saying, "Hey, be careful, why?"

That you do not forget the Lord your God. Thousands of years ago, God said, "Never forget." And today, that's what we're saying as well. I would say that 9/11 was a wilderness moment, wouldn't you, for our nation? Some of you were around, some of you weren't, but it was a wilderness moment. And I've been asking myself, "Okay, what should we remember?" You know, the Bible says, "Don't forget, don't forget." What about it should we remember? Well, I want to suggest several things. The first evil is real. I would have to say that's the first thing that we should not forget. And ironically, God warned His people of the evil in the land. If you read the story of the history of God's people, when they entered the promised land, this land of abundance, this land, when their bank accounts were looking good, this land of a bull market, when they entered it, God warned them and told them, "Hey, remember me, but also, you're gonna have to deal "with some evil people to drive them out." I've got to say, evil is real. I remember where I was in my office. When I saw the planes hit those towers, I thought evil has taken its mask off, evil. I love the fact that the Bible does not try to sugarcoat evil.

It doesn't try to explain it away. It doesn't try to psychoanalyze it like, "Oh, your nursery was painted the wrong color," or, "Your family of origin is all jacked up. "That's why we have evil." It's a damaged chromosome, no, no, no. The Bible says. In fact, Jesus said, "We have evil in our hearts. "We have a synthetic condition. "We're natural-born sinners. "We have this bent toward badness." So the personification of evil, in many ways, was seen in 9/11. We're dealing today, speaking of evil, with what I refer to as a toxic trifecta of evil, a toxic trifecta. Marxism/socialism, which of course has never worked. I hope you know that. It's never worked. And as you study your history, Marxism/socialism is responsible for over 100 million murders. So it doesn't work, but that's one part of the trifecta. The other part of the trifecta is the whole LGBTQ trans-ideology, which makes no sense whatsoever. I remember we were explaining the birds and the bees to one of our kids. And Lisa did a great job, and I think I did a decent job telling him about a man and a woman, you know. And then a little bit later, after our talk, one of our daughters said,

"Well, can two men get married?" I saw we're two men are getting married. And Lisa wisely said, "Well, that's not God's best." but I mean, we're in church, we can say this. Our daughter said, "Mary, two men getting married? The parts don't fit." (audience laughing) And we live in a culture today where people don't even know what a woman is. And if you identify as a house plant, you're a house plant. Another part of this toxic trifecta is Islam. Let me say this again, we love all people. We love Muslims, we love Hindus, we love Mormons. We love everybody, we're commanded too. But Islam at its core is about oppression and division. The closer you walk with the Quran, and I've spent decades studying this, I don't want to get too specific, but the closer you walk and the closer you obey the Quran, the darker you become, the more evil you become. On the other hand, the closer we walk with Christ, the more loving and forgiving and purpose-driven we become. (audience applauding) The reason I call this a toxic trifecta is these three groups don't really have that much in common. I mean, if you walk around in the Muslim country and say, I'm gay, I'm a gay Muslim, they'll throw you off a tower. But here's what they have in common.

They're against you and against me. They're against the church. The enemy of my enemy is my friend. You've probably heard that. And that's what we're trying to absorb these days. They're after the church because the church is the only institution out there, friends, that underscores and highlights the transcendent values given to us by the God of the universe. They're after the church, they're coming against the church because it's the body of Christ. They're coming after you. You think I'm just saying this? They're coming after you and they're coming after me. They're coming after your marriage and your family. They're coming after the church. This is an issue of good versus evil. And the prophet Isaiah said it years ago. He said this in Isaiah chapter five, verse 20. He said, "Woe to those who call evil good and good evil who put darkness for light and light for darkness." I think about the assassination of the great Charlie Kirk. I think about Luigi Mangione killing in cold blood, a CEO. I think about Lindsay Clancy murdering her children. Yeah, you can talk about hormones. You can talk about the psychology behind it. You can talk about all of these things, but the bottom line is it's evil. It's evil. And have you noticed, the Bible is very direct

talking about evil, yet here's how our culture responds to evil. Man, our culture says it's complex, complex, yeah, yeah, this whole evil thing, it's highly complex. No, it's not, it's not complex. The reason people call it complex is because they don't wanna deal with the truth. Our legal system, they don't wanna deal with the truth. Our government, they don't wanna deal with the truth. Our educational system, they don't wanna deal with the truth. Are media? Are you kidding me? So it's just complex, complex. No, no, no, it's not. But I'm here to tell you, evil dealt with superficially will never defeat evil substantially. Evil friends is real. 19 terrorists hijack four planes on 9/11 and you see the result of the evil. So not only is evil real, that's something that we should not forget. There's something else we should not forget during this time of memorial. Freedom has a price. Did you know that? Nothing is free. Seriously, I mean, you might think so. You walked in here, we have 120 acres here. This building seats over 4,000 people. We have other campuses around. Do you think this just happened?

This is not free. How about those screens? All right, our media guys don't even tell me how much they cost. I would have a coronary. You think that's free? Free? Really? Free? No, no, it has a price. There's a price tag for it. And I have spent a fortune myself personally over 35 years to finance a lot of this. I have, and so have many of you, and I cannot tell you how thankful God is, and we are that you've made this happen, but. We just think freedom is living buck wild. You know, bro, I just want to be free, man. I just want to be free. Hey, I have my rights. Yeah, you have your right to be wrong. Freedom always has a price tag, and freedom always has fences. That's why God had a promised land, right? There were parameters, there were borders. The Bible tells us that we are free in Christ. We were slaves to sin, and we meet Jesus Christ, and we're free. Yet freedom has a price tag. It costs Jesus everything, right? And freedom has fences, framework, and consequences. I love dogs, we've had so many dogs, you wouldn't believe it.

When you walk out of our garage into our house, a great friend of mine painted all of our dogs. They're unbelievable. They're a little, I mean, I don't know what I mean, like giant. I mean, little. And I sometimes look at those dogs, and I'm just being, I mean, just being real. I sometimes get emotional looking at our dogs, because they bring back memories, and I just love animals so much. My favorite dog, in the first service, I'm sort of crying, describing her. He says, I don't know what's happening to me. But my favorite dog, let me see if I can get through this, was Ava. She was a 7.2-pound multipoo. And she was an interesting dog. Anyway, she lived, of course, in her house, and outside, guys, we have a beautiful yard. It's beautiful, it's a fence, you know? Trees and flowers, we even have a pool. And then, we fed Ava organic dog food. And fresh water. She had the life, an A-lister life. Passive income, she's just chilling. Someone to clean up after her. We took her to the doctor. The salon, she had it. One day, she was gone. I'm like, what?

She dug out of our yard, out of prosperity, out of the promised land. She left, and when she dug out, She's rolling the dice, coyotes, and cars, and all sorts of evil. But she didn't realize that we paid for it. She didn't realize that we provided it. And we guided her whole life. She didn't realize it. What I'm trying to tell you is freedom is not free. Think about the people who shed their blood to make America America. Think about the heroes in 9/11 running up the steps of those towers. Think about that. Think about the people who went to work, and they didn't know it would be their last day. Think about the people who boarded those flights. They didn't think that it would be the last time they would ever be on planet Earth, and like that gone. So evil is real, and freedom has a price. And God wants us to enjoy our freedom. He really does. God's a God of freedom. And he tells us when the spirit, the Holy Spirit of God, sets us free, we're free indeed. And freedom enjoyed, without freedom remembered, can become freedom lost. So that's why it's so vital when I talk about 9/11

that all of our students lean in and listen. Because there's so many great things happening with the students around the country. And in this church, we are truly experiencing revival among the young people. And I'm so proud of what's happening. [APPLAUSE] Other young people who are misguided, who don't understand, they are beating the drum of Marxism and socialism. Because they take for granted the comfort of our beautiful country. They don't realize the blood that was spilled, because they've gone to communist colleges. And they've been force fed Marxism and socialism. So they beat the drum of that. Because you have to have a cause. We're made for a fight. Yet I'm finding that so many young people are wasting the spirit of a warrior that God has placed in our lives. We all have a spirit of a warrior. Jesus was a true warrior. Perfect in every way. But don't ever think he was the Prozac decaf sipping white boy savior. No. No. A man's man. Evil is real, and we need to understand that. Number two, freedom.

Freedom has a price tag. And just one more thing that I think we should remember, we should never forget. Courage is costly. Courage is costly. You know, going back to God's interaction with these people, you know what God said in another conversation before they closed this real estate deal? God said three times, be strong and courageous. Oh yeah, also, if you missed it, be strong and courageous and be strong and courageous. Be strong and courageous is not something optional. It's something foundational. I love what Charlie Kirk said about courage. Charlie Kirk said, it doesn't take skill to be courageous. It just takes making the right decision. It's a God-given ability, I'm talking about courage, to stand in the face of fallout and fear, no matter what the cost. I think about flight 93. A lot of people think it was being flown into the Capitol. Some courageous Americans took that flight over. Guys, it breaks my heart to say this. Our nation has rolled over. Where's our fight? Where's the warrior spirit? We're wasting it. We're wasting it watching football games. We're wasting it on the golf course. We're wasting it at the gym, and hey, don't even sit there and think I don't like athletics.

I'm a former D1 athlete, bro. I doubt very many of you play D1, so don't be give me that weak stuff. I'm saying that we're too involved, too immersed in that, and we've missed this warrior spirit that the Lord Jesus wants us to have in a microfashion and in a macrofashion. I want you to understand, my friend, that you are a warrior, and God has great things for you. Don't waste that warrior spirit, don't waste it. Okay, I'm going to do something now to kind of change this message. I could end it right here. Man, I enjoyed it. We can remember these things, you know. Evil is real, and wow, freedom is a surprise, oh yeah, I got you Ed. Encourage is costly, man, all right, all right, all right, that's good. That's what I should remember, and that's true. Those are biblical principles, and they translate to 9/11. No doubt about it, but when the Bible talks about remembering, it's not just remembering like we think, like, oh, I recall that, oh, that's a mental exercise. No, when the Bible talks about it, it's not just mental, it is behavioral. So Deuteronomy 8 is about remember, and you can write that over that text in your Bible. It's about remember. Romans 12, verse 21, is about our response. So my behavior, my recollection should segue into the right response. Here, here's how I say it. What we remember determines how we respond, and how we respond determines what we remember. That's Deuteronomy 8, and that's from as well. What's from as 12/21? I'm glad you're asking. Powerful text. Don't let evil conquer you, but conquer evil by doing good. In other words, evil dealt with superficially will never defeat evil substantially, never.

This text tells us that we do not adopt the tactics and techniques of evil, to fight evil. We don't do that. We overcome evil with good. But if you studied the original language here, this word overcome is about being aggressive, not passive. So we're not to allow evil to conquer us. We are to conquer evil with good. Okay, how do we do that? The first way is we fight. We fight. First, in chapter 6, verse 12, fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to what you are called, fight. Do you feel the fight? Seriously, do you feel the fight? I mean, I should feel the fight in my marriage. I should feel the fight with my kids. I should feel the fight with my grandkids. I should feel the fight when I read God's word every day. I should feel you should feel the fight because we are in the good fight. They're bad fights, and we've all been in those before. But they're good fights, fight. Hebrews chapter 5 verse 14. Solid food is for the mature. Who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil. We gotta identify it. Can you imagine going and playing pickleball? And you just buy yourself on the court. No opponent, you're just buy yourself. And you said yourself, I'm playing pickleball.

Wait a minute. Ed, if you're playing pickleball, you've got to have an opponent, right? Well, our opponent is the enemy. And we're fighting him in a macro way and also in a micro way. So we fight, we identify, and then we expose the darkness. We bring things out into the light, the Bible tells us. Ephesians chapter 5 verse 11 have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. We expose anger, we expose greed, we expose lust, we expose slothfulness, we expose envy, we expose those things, we bring them out into the light. And also too, we resist the enemy. We resist the enemy. This is what it means to respond. We remember, right? And now we're responding. We resist the enemy. James chapter 4 verse 7, submit yourselves then to God, resist the devil, and he will flee from you. And then we can confront, we can confront evil. I love this text, Matthew chapter 16 verse 18. I will build my church. And the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. Now that's powerful. Jesus is saying, I will build my church. It's the only thing he built, the church,

the body of Christ. I will build Jesus will the church. I will build my church and the gates of hell, in other words, the church will kick the gates of hell down. The gates of hell will not prevail against the church. Applause. (audience applauding) Isn't it interesting? As we talk about storming the gates of hell, have you ever thought about how often God has us remember him in just very practical ways? Have you ever thought about that? Church attendance is one, the Bible commands it. We come to church and we gather corporately and it's the way to remember the Lord our God. And if you're not coming to church weekly, you're being disobedient, just straight up. And let me tell you something. When I was called to pastor this church, I'm not called to play paddy cake pastor, like a lot of pastors do in this area. I'm not called to just talk about love and grace and deliverance and prosperity. I'm not here to do that. I mean, yeah, that's in the Bible, but I'm here to preach and teach the full counsel of God. I don't care if we have 10,000 people here. Let me stop. We had 10,000 people, 9/11 in one service.

Where did the people go? They haven't? Remembered. So, I'll preach to 10 people or 10,000. It doesn't matter, I'm called to rightly divide the word of God. To preach the stuff that's popular, let's talk about purpose and prosperity. Awesome, I'll preach about that. But also I'm gonna talk about the judgment of God and the fact that people are facing a Christless eternity. I'm gonna talk about lust. I'm gonna talk about pride. I'm gonna talk about all those things because the word of God commands me to do so. But one of the ways we remember God and remember He's the Lord is through church attendance. Another way is by spending time daily in His word. God wants to meet with you and me. That's the way that we remember. We remember God. Another way we remember God is tithing. Let me say this, I don't need your money, I've got money. So if you say, well, he just rules, and you know what, the church doesn't need your money. Ha ha, isn't that good? Are you tight wise, man? It should chill you. You should be like, all right, man, that's cool. Tithing is for you and God. I mean, yeah, the church benefits, we couldn't do what we do without it. But if you're not tithing, you're being disobedient to God. Let me say that again. If you are not bringing the first 10%, Sam talked about it last week. If you're not bringing, I didn't say give, we don't give Jack because we don't own anything. If you're not bringing the first 10%, you're being disobedient to God and you will not have the right remembrance of God that he wants you to carry each and every day. You see the genius of God? When God has your finances, he has it all. And I made that decision

a long time ago. Have you? So we fight, we identify, we expose, we resist, we confront, and then I like this last one. We engage Ephesians chapter 6 verse 13, therefore put on the full armor of God. Sounds like a battle to me. So that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground and after you've done everything to stand. Every day we should get dressed in the full armor of God. The only offensive weapon we have in the armor of God is this, the sword, the spirit. Did you hear about the bodybuilder that went to Africa? Have you heard about that? This bodybuilder wanted to see the real Africa. So he went way out in the bush and found this tribe and so he's walking into this little village and in the village, they couldn't believe it. They'd never seen muscles like this guy had. And they were asking him about his muscles and so they said, you know, flex your muscles. So we'd be able to do what bodybuilders do, flex. Wow. And then the chief walked up. He'd never seen muscles like it. And the chief said, well, my friend, what do you do with all of those muscles? And the bodybuilder said, you saw it. I pose and I flex. And the chief looked at him and shook his head and said, what a waste. I'm afraid a lot of us have a lot of muscle and we're just posing. We're flexing as opposed to using our muscles in this fight. I just did something to you that you didn't know I was doing. None of you got it. Look inside screen. What does that spell? I can't hear you. What? What? That's the life that we're to live. We're to remember the things of God, what God wants us to remember, that God and Jesus is Lord. We're to remember that and then we're to respond by being fierce. Remember, respond. But there's one more thing we need to remember. I almost forgot. We should never forget that hill outside of Jerusalem. 2,000 years ago, when a 33-year-old carpenter voluntarily placed himself on a wooden cross to take the sins of the world upon himself to die on that cross. Don't you know that every demon in hell was looking at the scoreboard and saying, we won. Evil has overcome God. We got it. The next day Saturday, "Oh, he's in the grave! We have got him, we won!" But something happened on the third day. I said something happened on the third day. Jesus rose again. He burst forth with resurrection power.

He is our victory. So friends, we're not fighting for victory. We're fighting from victory. And it's time that we are fierce. But what's your response, seriously, to what I just told you that you're to remember? What's your response to the gospel? I mean, it's been done for you. God arranged the sins of the world to be placed on the shoulders of Jesus. And we have an opportunity because of His grace for this transaction to receive Him, to respond for what's already been done. And I've got to ask you, have you made that decision? Have you made that choice? You can make that choice right where you are. I don't care who you are, I don't care where you are, I don't care what you did last night, or even this morning. You can make that call right now, and Jesus will change your life. He'll forgive you, he'll cleanse you, and he'll show you what fierceness is all about. If you want to, I'm going to pray, and if you want me to include you in this prayer, just nod your head. Bow your heads with me for a moment. Dear Heavenly Father, this prayer that I'm going to pray is a prayer that I prayed years ago, but I want many people. I do, in my flesh, I want many people to pray this prayer, but God only you can make it happen. And I hold the spirit that you were working and moving, and you prepared so many for this situation. I just say these words, just say, God, I remember that you got it across from my sins, and you were buried and rose again. And I remember that, I believe that, and right now I respond to that. I open the doors of my life to you. I give you everything. Tax, title, and license, I give it all to you, Lord. And the moment you said that this transfer, this supernatural transfer is taking place, your sins have been transferred to the Savior of the world, and He is rescuing you and changing you from the inside out, and He will never, ever leave you or forsake you. To say Jesus, I turn for my sins and I ask you to take control of my life, to be my Lord and my Savior. If you prayed that prayer with me as your heads are bowed and eyes are closed, tell someone about it. You can go to one of the tables we have with a little lanterns, and we'll be happy to talk to you, give you a Bible,

and just pray with you about anything you're processing. As our heads are bowed and eyes are closed, others here, God need to get serious about this fight. We need to be fierce. We need to remember and respond. And Lord, I pray that we're never the same because of this message that you've given us called, "Never Forget." In Christ's name, amen. Anyone thankful they came to church today? You can stand to your feet, and as you do three things. Everyone, hold up three. Let me see them. Let me see them. Hold the threes up in the air. Number one, Pastor, I just talked about this, but if you just prayed the prayer to receive Christ, we've got hosts on either side of the worship center. We would love to pray with you and pray for you. Number two, your life is dramatically better when you make the house of God a priority in your life. In the next two Sundays, you are not going to want to miss. Next Sunday, we've got David Nasser with us who grew up as a Muslim and then was rescued by Jesus Christ, has an incredible story, and then the Sunday after that, the pastor at his kicking off a new series called RPM, all about putting Christ in the driver's seat of your relationships. Number three, let's say these declarations out loud together. Jesus, thank you that in you. I am loved, forgiven, and blessed for you. up in worship, reach out to share my faith, and reach in to become more like you. And because of you, I know the best is yet to come. Fellowship Church, we love you so much. Have a great week!