How to Lose Your Faith Without Knowing it- Pastor Chris Lindberg

Good morning, men and women. Such an honor to be speaking to you again from right here in McKinney, Texas at Life Fellowship Church. We love you. You're part of our church family. So many people here pray for you. There's two prayer groups that meet here and they always pray for you guys. They always, if you send in prayer requests, they get prayed over. Like our church values you and truly does see you as our church family. And I tell you that to tell you this, when you get out, if you're anywhere near the Dallas Fort Worth Metroplex on a Sunday, I know you may live somewhere else. That's okay. But man, if you're around here on a Sunday, we want you to drop by and visit us and say hi and let us know when you got out. It just encourages us to, because you guys come in all the time and we treat you like celebrities honestly, because we love to see you and it just encourages us to see that you guys are watching and that it made a difference in your walk and you're going to get prayed over and you're going to get loved on. So we want to see you if you get out. My name is Logan Williams. My TDC number is 1490218. I have four numbers after that, did nine and a half years in the system here in Texas, round and round in and out behind drug use and crime and all the stuff that catches most of us up in, most of us that wind up incarcerated. It's typically a drug related thing or something that we did to get drugs or something we did while we were on drugs. And I just believe that all of us that are seeking that, that go to the extremes with the drug, I believe we're looking for God. We just don't know it at the time. We're looking for that spiritual experience because God has put that in us.

He's put that in us to seek after him, to worship him. And we just don't realize at the time, but that's what we're looking for. When we stick that needle in our arm or when we do that thing that we do. So I want to encourage you guys, I want to encourage you guys, I know what it's like to not be, I know most of you, this is not your first time there or second time or maybe even third time. And I understand that frustration. I understand that anxiety. I understand that, gosh, man, is this it? Like, am I ever going to get this life thing right? I want to encourage you, man. You can start right now. Get all in with God and anything is possible. Anything is possible. I want to remind you that you can tell your friends and family that they can download the Pando app on their phone. They can watch Life Fellowship on their phone. They can watch anything else that's on there. There's a bunch of good stuff on there. The same stuff that you watch. And so y'all can talk about it when you speak on the phone or when you see each other in visitation. It's super important to do this walk with, in community, not alone, but in community. If you ever watched the Discovery Channel and you watch the lions go after the herd of whatever, gazelles or whatever, they wait for the one that's kind of off by itself. The ones that are in with the herd, they don't get messed with. But the stragglers, the weak ones, the sick ones, the ones that are, they get separated. It's the ones that they pounce on and the first Peter 5, 8, and 9 says that the devil is like a, like a lion prowling around looking for whom he can devour. I say this all the time that the enemy is not like a little devil with his pitchfork

trying to poke you and make you bad and drink more and smoke more and cuss more. He's trying to devour you and it's harder to do that in community. So do this in community with your family. You can still lead your family just because you're behind bars. Find a community there in the facility that you're in. If you don't have like-minded brothers or sisters to walk with, man, ask God, please God, would you put someone in my life? Would you bring someone in here that you can do this walk with, that you can practice James 5, 16 with and confess your sins to one another and pray for one another that you may be healed? We have to start putting those principles into practice now. See, that's something that I never did. That's why I came back four times. That's something that I never did. I just assumed, yes, I need to change my life. Yes, I'm going to go to church. Yes, when I get out, I'm going to do all these things. But while I'm here, I'm going to just keep on living however I want to live because I want to be comfortable and I just want to get through this. But when I get out, I know what I'm going to do. Guys, that never worked for me. It never worked for me. easy prey when I hit that gate and he he came at me hard and he's gonna come at at you hard So I want you to start practicing this now. I want you to start practicing prayer now I was gonna talk to you about prayer today and you know, it's oftentimes we We're remarkably prayerful right when we need something right when something's going on in our life and we need Some help we need some assistance. We've got a crisis or whatever but oftentimes when

When things are going okay when we're on the mountaintop we do what the people of God have always done We get lax right our prayer life. Maybe it falls off and we don't Need God as much we wouldn't come out and say that but that's what our actions show. And so God tells us in first Thessalonians 5 17 to pray Continually and to pray constantly I have a Mentor that he talks about Having conscious contact with God and he's like what that means to me is whenever you're conscious You know, we need that. We need to be connecting with God and praying or or thinking about him or You know a practice that I do is let's say I'm about to go to lunch with someone, you know I'll just kind of give that to him, you know and pray about that in my mind or when I'm going to do the next Thing I'll give that to him As I'm turning down the street about to pull in my house I'll I'll pray and ask God to help me be a good father a good leader in my house as I'm pulling into the Parking lot at work. God helped me today in my job That I don't even feel adequate enough to do but with your help we can do anything and we got to remember guys We're not doing it if we're gonna be ferocious for the kingdom of God if we're gonna be all-in Where we got to remember we're not doing anything on our strength But we're doing everything on his strength a lot of times that'll get us caught up is when we when we think I need to do this We have to believe what God says We have to believe what he says about us what the Word of God says about us That that we can do all things through Christ That greater is he that's in us than he that's in the world That he's able to do exceedingly and abundantly above all we can think or ask That no weapon formed against us will prosper That we are sons and daughters that we're a royal priesthood that All these spiritual truths. We need to believe because if we don't get those in our heart We're gonna we're gonna be reacting to our feelings and emotions

And oftentimes our feelings is what the enemy used and I've learned this in my own faith walk is The enemy will use our feelings to distract us and to deceive us feelings are not facts feelings are not facts, but the Word of God is is Facts and so I've found man that that I can just be honest before him Maybe I'm frustrated With life, maybe I'm frustrated with God Maybe I'm angry with God like I can tell him those things like he can handle it I think he'd rather have that than to have us ignore him He's he's big enough to handle Honest prayers. He's big enough and so I just want to encourage you guys to get into a habit of a prayer and It's very profitable when you can pray God's Word back to him But when you can pray God's promises back to him Search those things out in your word Find them highlight them pray them back to him. It's it's really really awesome The word supplication Basically means when you look it up in the Greek is praying with frantic desperation and it is used 17 times in the New Testament 17 times The word supplication which means pray with frantic desperation like we need to get but come before him and Just and just be as as we need to go after him like we went after the world If you're a drug addict, we need to go after God the way we went after those that drug Like nothing was gonna hold us back from getting that thing right rain sleet snow It's it's on the other side of town, whatever, you know, nothing was gonna was gonna stop us And so nothing needs to stop us in our connection with God, I just want to encourage you guys because prayer is so You know, we talk about it a lot, but a lot of time it's overlooked, you know We'll throw up these little popcorn prayers these little shotgun prayers and then that's it. And and God wants a relationship

Relationship with us. He wants he wants us to think about him to to have moments when we just Crawl up into his lap in the spirit It's so to speak. He wants us to be honest with him. He wants us to Bear our hearts before him. He wants to heal us He wants us to ask him for healing He wants us to ask him for things. He says seek and you'll find knocking the door will be open So we need to do those things he told he asked us to tell him a mountain to move He asked us to do that. So we're gonna do that whether we believe that that could happen or not This is what he says on the word and so man hash all these things out with him Take some time invest some time into your relationship with God Don't be like me that just kept on living. However, I was gonna live but hey man when I get out I'm gonna I'm gonna change this up and do this different and because I know what to do I just don't want to do it right now Guys, you don't do it now. You're not gonna do it then but if you can find a way to do it now, man, you're gonna be miles ahead when you hit the gate and so Man we are in a really cool Series called how to ruin your life When I saw that Sermon series title. I thought to myself. I've got experience with that. I've got experience with that. And so Guys really really dig in plug in to this sermon series. It's it's it's very It's very relatable to guys like us to people that have been down that road and have truly ruined our life And and as I listen to the to these messages, I Can think back on? All my mistakes that I made and think yeah, man, I did that. Yeah, I should have done that at that point Yeah, I should have and it's a good it's the first message was really good for me to reflect on and see and so Really hope you guys get a lot out of it. Let me pray for you as we go father I thank you for The men and women that you have called that you have chosen that you have left 99 to go find God I know if they clicked on this message today. It's not by accident You are drawing them to you. I want that to encourage them

That you're after them God like what a blessing you the word says that no one comes to the father unless he is drawn And so for you to choose to draw us To you is is it's an honor and a blessing and God we give you all the praise and glory for that God I pray that these men and women would find a prayer life That would enlarge their current prayer life if they have one that they would Find a way to just bear their hearts before you have moments with you That they could feel the love that passes knowledge God we Thank you so much man for what Jesus did on the cross that tore that veil and we can just come into your presence at any time We just give you all the praise and glory for that God you're so awesome and we just love you so much in Jesus name Amen And you know, I just got one more question for you whose house God's house let's give him some praise This is the beautiful Sleep alone in the cold and the streets there is no night Every tear that might roll away will know no sorrow Worship Him with joyful sound Sing until your voice gives out No matter where or who you turn around Release your worship You can find Him everywhere Even now He's just as good Jesus, He's so mighty You can find Him everywhere Worship Him with joyful sound Sing until your voice gives out Jesus, He's so mighty You can find Him everywhere I want you to know the glory of an exaltation To the One who was, is, and is to come Who reigns forevermore

He is loyal for all, we give you all the glory You are worthy to be praised We give you glory The One who is, the One who is, the One who is to come The One who was, the One who is, the One who is to come The One who was, the One who is, the One who is to come The One who was, the One who is, the One who is to come The One who was, the One who was, the One who is to come The One who was, the One who is, the One who is to come The One who was, the One who is to come The One who was, the One who is to come and the One who is to come He loves me, He will make me perfect for me Jesus, He's so worthy of it all The One who was, the One who is to come The One who was, the One who is to come To the One who was, the One who is to come Oh, the One who was, the One who was The One who is to come To the One who was, the One who is to come The One who was, the One who is to come So praise Him like we're there in glory Here and now, He's just as holy Jesus, He's so worthy of it all Bring your song, He loves to hear it Bring Him every prayer so clear Jesus, He's so worthy of it all Thank you. Oh. Jesus

my heart. Jesus. y'all. Jesus. Living sacrifice Jesus. ♪ Oh Lord, Jesus have it all ♪ ♪ A blessing and a loving majesty in all ♪ ♪ Jesus have it all ♪ ♪ Jesus have your church, your love, your pride ♪ ♪ The joy for which you freed ♪ ♪ Your life, radiant and wild ♪ ♪ Washed in your blood, Jesus has it all ♪ Come on, say Jesus have your word, come on church. ♪ Jesus have your word, your King, your Son ♪ ♪ The praise of every nation, tribe and tongue ♪ ♪ Let all that has been given be glorified your name ♪ ♪ Jesus have it all ♪ Come on, say Jesus have it all. ♪ Jesus have your, Jesus have it all ♪ ♪ To you belongs the glory, the praise of all the world ♪ ♪ Jesus have it all, Jesus have it all ♪ ♪ Blessed in all honor, majesty in all ♪ ♪ Jesus have it all, Jesus have it all ♪ ♪ To you belongs the glory, the praise of all the world ♪ ♪ Jesus have it all, Jesus have it all ♪ ♪ Blessed in all honor, majesty in all ♪ ♪ Jesus have it all, Jesus have it all ♪ ♪ Jesus have it all, Jesus have it all ♪ ♪ Jesus have it all, Jesus have it all ♪

♪ I give you everything Jesus, you can have all of my worship ♪ ♪ You can have all of my praise, oh God you deserve it all ♪ ♪ You deserve it all, oh church begin to give him your praise ♪ ♪ Begin to give him your worship, it all belongs to you Jesus ♪ ♪ It all belongs to you Lord ♪ ♪ All my life, all my life, have it all Lord ♪ ♪ All my life, all my life, have it all Lord ♪ I don't know what's wrong with me, but I'm just running On and on and on You'll see heaven You'll see heaven On and on and on We'll go where we can, Jesus You'll see heaven You'll see heaven You'll see heaven Won't you come now, Jesus You'll see heaven On and on and on You'll see heaven On and on and on On and on and on We surrender everything to you, Lord My pain, my dreams, my frustrations, my brokenness We give it all to you, Lord Come on, give it to Jesus in this very moment, whatever it is We surrender our lives to you, Lord It's yours, it's yours, it's yours, it's yours Everything is yours, everything belongs to you, Lord My hopes, my desires, my plans, my dreams

We lay them at your feet, Lord Everything is yours, it all belongs to you, Jesus Everything is yours, it all belongs to you, my Jesus Everything is yours, it all belongs to you, my Jesus My Abba, my Father Everything is yours, it all belongs to you, Jesus Come on, can we make that a prayer this morning, can you tell them that? Everything is yours, it all belongs to you, Jesus One last time Everything is yours, it all belongs to you, my Jesus Jesus have it all, Jesus have it all To you belongs it all, praise of all Jesus have it all, Jesus have it all Let's sing it out, let us sing it out Jesus have it all ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ to be praised your name is great and greatly to be praised your name is great and greatly to be praised God there is no greater name than yours no name is more worthy of our worship of our adoration of our love God we lift you up today in this place God we don't have to ask for your spirit to fill this place because you're already here God you alone are worthy of what we offer today God as we continue in worship today as we unpack your word together God would you challenge us God would you use your word to encourage us and correct us to build us up into the men and women you've called and created us to be and we pray this today because of Jesus Christ amen amen amen you guys sound amazing today as you're finding your seats I just wanted to tell you that we're really glad you're with us today you know one of the things that we say around here is that at Life Fellowship we're a family and sometimes you don't always get to choose your family but we get to choose each other as spiritual family today if you are new with us I want to encourage you to text the word new to 51010 so that we can meet you we can partner with you share some information with you but maybe you're in another boat maybe you've been here for a few weeks or for a few months and you're wanting to learn more about Life Fellowship how do we govern ourselves what do we

believe how do you get involved here you can text the word growth to the word to text the word growth to 51010 and we'd love to send you a link to register for our growth track class it's a great place for you to connect and to learn more about who we are as a church you know it's raining this weekend but that's okay because we needed the rain we are celebrating indoors today because we're celebrating all that God did not just at Life Fellowship but at churches across the globe last weekend with Easter weekend not only was it record breaking for us at Life Fellowship as far as attendance but we saw 464 decisions for Christ be made across all of our services and when you really start to drill that down what's crazy about that number is not only is it just mind-blowing to think 464 new people following Christ just last weekend out of those there were a hundred and one kinder through fifth graders who made a choice to follow Jesus in our kid spaces and let me tell you something that right there tells you God is doing something in this next generation I get to serve as a next-gen pastor and I'm telling you from the front lines what God is doing is like nothing I've ever seen before in my career in my ministry life there were a few hundred teenagers here on a Friday night churches from across the McKinney area came into this room and worshiped and prayed together for hours I left at 10 because I was like my bedtime is 8 30 like they are passionately chasing after the things of the Lord this generation is and I tell you all of that because one of the ways that we support those things is through our giving here at Life Fellowship so when you give to Life Fellowship you're giving your dollars to fuel ministry moments like we've seen over these past couple of weeks so the ways to give are going to be on the screen I would encourage you to participate as you feel led and because I have 20 seconds left and I still have the mic let me just do a shameless plug if you are not serving in the next generation area kids students or young adults you are missing the opportunity to be blessed like you have never been blessed before these kids are desperate for somebody to walk alongside them and say I see you God sees you and you're going to be okay so if you want to talk more about what it means to serve in next gen ministry I'd love to connect with you in the lobby today I'll be out there all day come see me it's going to be a great day Pastor Chris has a phenomenal message for us today so let's get ready to prepare our hearts and receive the word today nobody wakes up and says you know what I think I'll ruin my life today no it happens slowly you ask God for direction And he feels silence. So you start making your own moves

One decision turns into another and before you know it you're somewhere you never meant to be If you want to ruin your life, it's easier than you think Well, hey everybody good to have you with us today as we kick off this brand new message series I know it's raining here in McKinney But I do know that we have a host of people that are watching us online from literally every state in America And we call you our church online family because we really do feel like it's family We're just one church that meets in many different rooms. We just happen to meet it be meeting here You may be watching this later on in a gym or maybe in a hotel room because you're off on business or vacation Or maybe you're in your home today, and I just want you to know we're so glad that you've chose to join with us and today it is our honor to Welcome all of our men and women in the correctional facilities Many of you have been with us for years and God has been doing a deep work in your life And I just want you know, I know it may seem like a dark place that you're in right now But God's gonna use you to bring light and hope and joy to those that are walking through some very difficult times right now And so can we just put our hands together? Would you make them all feel welcome today? We've got bless you everybody Right on hey as you're pulling up your message notes, let me just highlight what it was that pastor Matt was sharing about First of all, let me just say that because of the rain outside. We have canceled our Baptism we postponed it for two weeks from today because how many of y'all know? We didn't know if there'd be lightning and thunder and we have a cross out there that's sitting in the water and didn't know if that'd be a lightning rod or Whatever. Yeah, so we postponed it for your safety So here in two weeks from now We're gonna be doing that and what that that means is is that if you've never been baptized this gets you an opportunity It's like God put pause on it to get you Give you an opportunity to get in on this so we can celebrate what God's doing And so make sure that you get registered and then I want to just I just have to celebrate What God is doing last week we had our largest Easter attendance in the history of the church we had 4913 people

That were in our Easter services and like that's cool but I think again the biggest thing is that we had 464 people that gave their heart that said yes to Jesus and I want you to I want you to look at that number there I Want you to think about 464. What was the last time you were in a room with? 464 people That's a lot. Every number has a name Every name has a story And every one of our stories we all matter to God And so we can't just look at a number and go, you know that 90% of churches in America this last year didn't see one person Say yes to Jesus not one 90% And I just think that there's a special Gift of what God is doing here right now Folks and maybe you're here today you identified last week and said hey I'm just not all the way here ready to do that And if you're here, I'm glad you you are and then ten people said I'm not I'm never going to do this Never going all in with God and you guys know every year I'll let you know that I'm praying and I hope that you join with me that those ten next year will be Identifying and saying hey, I've surrendered my life to Jesus and they're gonna we're just believe for for great life change today, I want to begin by Asking you a question. I Want you to be honest with yourself? And here's the question Are you closer to God? Is there has there ever been a time in your life when you were closer to God? Than you are today I want you to think about that. I don't want you to answer yet. I want to unpack this just for a minute with you So has there ever been a time in your life that you were more passionate about the things of God than you are? today

So for example, was there a time that maybe? You got so excited every time that you were gonna open up God's Word because when you did you had this Incredible anticipation that God was gonna speak fresh life to you from his word So you approached it with holy curiosity Or maybe for you there was a time in your life that God was doing this thing in you and you couldn't wait to get The church, in fact, you'd get here early you'd sit on the front row so that you didn't miss any of the action Like you just hide it was God or maybe because of all these Things God was doing in you if you ever got around somebody that was away from God You would twist the conversation in such a way so you could bring it back to spiritual things spiritual matters In fact, you would even use your own life to influence people to try to get them to come to church so that their lives could encounter Jesus and they could They could go all in with him or maybe for you. There was a time that you prayed about About everything Like you really presented your needs before God and you saw the miraculous touch of God show up in your life Miracles and your connection with God maybe even to the point that you were incredibly led by the Spirit of God Like God would tell you you need to do this this and this and you would step out and obey the Spirit of God And people would look at you and say you're out of your mind That doesn't make any sense from a wisdom standpoint and you're like, I know it doesn't make sense But I'm doing what it is that God's told me to do and you saw the hand of God in your life Was there a has there ever been a time in your life? That you are more passionate About the things of God than you are Today I Just want to ask you that Come on, if that's you, I just need you to be bold today Come on, just put your hand up and just say hey that that's me. Come on. Just be honest with me today. Yeah Yeah hands up all over this place You know the story of this Husband and wife they'd been married for 20 years and this husband man. He always drove his pickup truck

In fact when they were dating he'd sit in his spot there He'd have his hand on the wheel and he'd have his his girlfriend who is now his wife, but he'd have his girlfriend She'd snuggle up next to him and they'd be driving on the road listening to Willie Nelson. Come on somebody 20 years later He's sitting in the same place holding the same steering wheel and she's all the way up against the door One day she looked over at him and she said man Do you remember when you and I we used to drive together and we'd be all snuggled up together in the car the truck Like whatever happened to us And he looked at her and said well, hey, baby, I've never moved Here's what I need us to know today that if God seems distant Guess who moved It wasn't God Wasn't God Today I want to give you really the beginning of a series That's gonna be a little bit tongue-in-cheek and you guys will catch what I'm doing here. It's a different form of communication I'm gonna do these next three weeks because I got a jostle you In fact this series God dropped in my heart back in July of 2025 and I want to teach you today how to lose your how to lose your faith And I'm gonna tell you it's a whole lot easier than any one of you ever even imagined because the truth is that you have a spiritual enemy his name is Satan and He's working overtime to wreck your life. He's working overtime to ruin your life In fact, I'll say it like this Satan's number one goal is to destroy your faith You think about this when God created Adam and Eve? Satan shows up into the middle of the paradise that God had created in the form of a serpent and he attacked them with a question So I'll say like this the greatest weapon that the enemy has against you is a question Because he said hey did God really say? Don't Because here's the reality of God if the enemy can get you to question God he can get you to question your faith And this is what the Apostle Paul was very concerned by with the the believers in Corinth

In fact, I share some of the same concerns. He said this in verse 3. He said but I am afraid That just as Eve Noticed this here was deceived by the serpents cunning your minds may be maybe what? Come on everybody your minds may be somehow Led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to God and let's just be honest at some point that has happened to every single person It's not that you planned on doing it, but it's happened you you got led astray from your sincere pure devotion to Christ That's why Jesus one day. He told a story called the parable of the sower And when he started telling this, everybody in that day would have immediately pictured in their mind a farmer with a satchel and a huge bag of seed and him reaching into it, grabbing out fistfuls of seed and he begins to scatter it everywhere. And Jesus says that some of it fell on the path and the birds ate it. And then some of it fell on stony soil where it grew up real quick but there was no roots and so it died. And some of it fell among thorns and the thorns choked it out but then there was some that fell among on good soil and it produced an amazing, incredible harvest. To which the people would have looked at Jesus and said, okay, yeah, what's the big deal with that? What does that have to do with me? And Jesus said it's because that story represents every single person listening because every one of us are represented by one of those four different categories. And I would submit to you today that even 2,000 years later, it is still true that everyone that is listening, those online, those in correctional facilities, you are one of those four categories. In fact, Jesus goes on, he explains this in the story, verse number 19, he says, when anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes, snatches away what was sown into the heart, this is the seed sown along the path. And sadly, that is some of you. So here I am today, I'm throwing out all kinds of seed and some of you are thinking, well,

where's the funny jokes? I really don't get this here today. And the enemy is going to steal the word of God that is going to be planted on the inside of you as quickly as it hits you. You're going to walk out of here the same way that you walked in with nothing happening. Nothing. It's tragic, but it's true. But then there's a second group of people, and he said this, the one who received the seed that fell on rocky places is like the man who hears the word and at once, man, he gets fired up, like woo-hoo, full of joy. But since he has no root, no root, it only lasts, what, a short time. And when trouble or persecution comes because of the word, he falls away quickly. And that's some of you all. I mean, you're thinking, mmm, mmm, this is good. You're not giving me an amen, no amens, just a bunch of mmm, you sound like a bunch of cows. So like here's how it plays out, I mean, God does a work in your life, you get, you get, you get fired up for like four, five, six weeks, and then life hits you. And then you revert to your same life, your same patterns, your same, same world, and there's no change. But the third group of people I would submit to you, I think represents most of us. Because he said the one who receives this third seed, it fell among thorns, is the man who hears the word, but the worries of his life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke it out, making it unfruitful. And I would submit to you today that this is where the majority of us are at today. Because you're thinking, man, I want this, I need this. But you've got so much going on in your life, it just chokes any part of God out of you. So you think, well, I just need to go back to school, I've got to get some more education, and so you just immerse yourself into studies, and man, that's busy. And then you buy a home, and you're like, my gosh, there's a lot of work to do when

you own a home. And then maybe you get married, and you start popping out kids. Now your kids get older, and they're in 57 different activities all over Dallas. And you wake up one day, and you think, I don't have any time for God. It's like everything has been choked out. And then you add to that the deceitfulness of just always needing more. I just need more money, I need more stuff. And because of that, you have more pressure. And before you know it, you have all this happening in your life, and you have moved God completely out of the picture. And I would submit that that is. majority of us. But there's a fourth category that he talks about, and I'm praying today this would represent, and this is who you and I would be. He said, but the one who receives the seed that fell on good soil is the man who hears the word and understands it. He produces a crop yielding 160 or 30 times what was sown. Now, you might look at that and say, what's the big deal with that? In Jesus' day, if a farmer would get eight times what was sown, that would have been uncommon. Ten times unheard of. And yet Jesus just blows everybody's mind. He said, listen, if you do things God's way, you get yourself planted in God's word, you're going to have a 30, 60, 100-fold return. And for a lot of you, that can be your story. Because as you base your life on God's word, not only is it going to change your life, it's going to change your family, your friends, your neighbors, your co-workers, your kids, your future, your business. Because when you cement your life on the foundation of God's word, it begins to create this beautiful foundation that it's promised to you. It's your inheritance. Unfortunately, most people listening to me today will not do this. Most will not. And here's why, because we all have great intentions. But there's this human tendency in all of us to drift. So years ago, I took my family down to Gulf Shores, Alabama. We get down there and, man, we start playing in the water. We were having so much fun. I'm like, shark! You know what I'm saying? Just freaking everybody out. This is fun. So we're just playing for all kinds of time. And after a while, I mean, that current starts taking you down. I looked up. I'm like, where's the condo? Like, it was so far

down the beach that we couldn't even see the condo. Now, here's the parallel to that. That's a lot of our lives. It's not that you're a bad person. It's just what's happened is you've gotten distracted. You've just started to drift. You've gotten into a current. It's moved you down the place. And there's a day that you wake up and you just think, my goodness, how did I get this far away? Well, you look at that question I gave you in the beginning, and if you're honest with yourself, you look and you think, man, there used to be a time in my life, a day, a moment, that I was closer to God than I am today. How did I get so far? How did it happen? You drifted. Look what it says in Hebrews. It says, we've got to pay even more careful attention, therefore, to what we heard so that we do not, what? Come on, everybody, that we don't what? Drift away. So I'm going to cut to the chase here. I'm going to give you the hard core truth, and it's this. You and I, we are either growing daily or you're dying gradually. Nobody wakes up one day and thinks, you know what? I think I'm just going to start drifting away from God. Nobody wakes up and says, you know what? I think I'm going to run away from God. I'm going to turn my back on God. Nobody does that. Instead, it's a slow process. And so I'm going to say this with tongue in cheek. If you really want to drift and then that's where you want to go, I'm going to help you out. So to all my drifters out there today, I'm going to teach you a four-step process. If you do these four things, I promise you, I guarantee you, you're going to drift so far away from God, you'll be so far, and it will fulfill the desire of what you've wanted this entire time. Here's the first one to all my drifters. Number one, you must replace time with God with everything else. So King David shows us what not to do. He says in Psalm 63, he says, Oh God, you are my God. Earnestly I seek you. My soul thirsts for you. My body longs for you. Everybody look at my eyes. Don't let that be you. Don't act like that. Instead, if you want to really drift, neglect God. Just neglect Him, and I'll give you some encouragement of how to do this. You ready for this? Stay away from God's Word. Don't open up the Bible. Don't you dare crack that thing open. Pour yourself into all kinds of self-help books.

Just read all kinds of it, but don't open up the Word of God, because if you do, you're going to discover that it is living, and it is sharper than a two-edged sword. It will pierce between your soul and your spirit, and you think that you're going to read the Word of God, but it actually is going to start reading you. It's going to start renewing your mind, and you don't want that if you want to drift. So stay away from God's Word with every part of who you are, because if you get into it, your life is going to start being built on the foundation of the principle of God's Word, and your life will be blessed. Avoid it for a month, for weeks. Just read a little verse of the week, the verse of the day. Just devote even just a second of your day to it. And then, by all means, don't worship. And if you are going to worship, make sure that it's just in your singing, because how many of you all know singing can be the cheapest form of worship that you give God? Because people do it all the time. We sing songs that we don't even believe, and we don't even live. And if you do come to church, make sure that you show up late, kind of stand and just watch. Grab your coffee so that you don't have an excuse to lift your hands and really engage with God. Maybe you want to hold both of them. And then when you're out in nature and you see a beautiful sunrise or a sunset, or you see just something that just would, oh, don't give God the praise for it. Don't glorify God. You neglect Him. Put Him on the shelf. You just take Him for granted. Because if you start worshiping Him, you're going to start drawing close to Him. And that's what you want, right? You want to just drift. And then, by all means, don't get involved.

Don't leverage your gifts and your abilities to make a difference for the kingdom of God, because here's what's going to happen. You're going to start feeling the God of the universe flow through your life to touch other people, and you're going to get addicted to it. You're going to think, my goodness, this is fun. This is enjoyable. Wow, I am making a difference. And you're going to feel your spiritual life begin to take off like a rocket. So stay away from any kind of volunteerism in the church. Don't stay away from it. And then, if you want extra credit, don't pray. Like, please, whatever you do, please don't talk to God about what you're walking through in life. Because we know that if it matters to you, it matters to God. And if you start talking to God about it, He's going to step in and start performing miracles, and now your faith is going to be built, and now you're going to start praying for bigger, crazier, more audacious things, and God's going to keep showing up, and there's going to be this never-ending cycle where you're going to find the miraculous of God in your life. So instead, neglect Him. Stay away from Him. Put Him on the shelf. Don't draw close to Him like that. It's the first step if you want to start drifting away. Here's the second one. You're going to need to blame God for all your circumstances in your life that you don't like. Blame God. Just go ahead, blame Him. Blame Him.

In fact, check out this dorky little verse in Proverbs. It says, trust in the Lord with all your heart. Come on, everybody. How stupid is that, right? And lean not onto your own understanding. Come on, everybody. Let's admit it. You're the smart one, not God. You don't need His wisdom. You don't need His instruction. You don't need His guidance when you've got your own, and you are the captain of your own soul. So just do life your way. Don't listen to God, and hey, listen, if you really want to drift when life doesn't turn out the way that you want it to, blame God. And when Christians don't do what you think they should do, use that to create a wedge between you and the church and just say, well, this is how the church must be, and blame God for it. Make sure that you don't believe what Jesus said when He communicated that in this world you will have trouble. That's stupid. That's not right, because you know better that if you're a good Christian, you're not going to have any problems, no situations, no bad things, no bad days that are coming your way, because you are walking with God. So it's going to be this perfect bubble. And if bad things happen in your life, use those things to build up a massive wall to divide you and God. Just blame everything that you go through in life on God, on the church, and on Christians. And I promise you, number two, you're going to really start being able to drift away from God.

Here's the third one. You got to surround yourself with bad influences. Oh, this one is so good. It'll help you out so much. It says in 1 Corinthians, don't be misled. Bad company does what? Corrupts good character. And that's what you want happening. You need your character corrupted. So don't hang out with good, strong Christians, because they're going to be so annoying. They're going to love you and bless you, pray for you, stand with you, encourage you. If you get off track, they're going to hold you accountable. They're going to hold your arms up. They're going to walk that journey with you. They're not going to back away. Like you don't need that. You need some wrong people in your life so that you can just start slowly just leaking out everywhere. And if you hang out with them long enough, here's what's going to happen. You're going to find out that you are just completely deflated, completely deflated in your life. And that's exactly what you want when you drift from God. In fact, you ready for this? I'm okay with you even hanging out with cultural Christians. These are people that claim that they know God and yet they live their life as if He doesn't even exist. And then if you want double bonus points, marry or date somebody that is far from God. And my goodness, you are going to drift like nobody's business. I'm just telling you, I'm hooking you up for success if that's what you're wanting. Here's the fourth one.

This one is really important. You've got to love the world more than you love God. And honestly, most people already do this one. It says in 1 John, it says, do not love the world or anything, anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. So watch this. Look in my eyes. All you've got to do is just love, love, love, love, love, love, love the world. And there will be no room for the love of God in you. None. Just lust after this world. I mean, just, oh, man, just believe that what you drive defines who you are. Like get into massive debt to buy things that you don't need to impress people that you don't even like. Just love the world. And then while you're at it, don't give. Don't you dare give into the work of God. Don't you tithe. Because you need every penny for yourself. You need every dollar to invest on yourself and on your business and on your dreams and your appetites and what you want. Just invest it all in yourself. Just keep it to you. Because if you start giving into the work of God, then you're going to start getting a mindset for eternity and you don't want that. That'll mess things up if you're trying to drift away from God. So just keep it all for yourself. Just fall in love with this world. And you do those four things, I can promise you, you're going to start drifting. And if all else fails, master the art of faking it.

Just fake it, baby. Fake it. Pretend like you love God. And join the chorus of Christians throughout all the centuries that have faked their walk with God. In fact, one of the key ways to do this is what I call learning the Christian lingo. I call it Christian-ese. So in other words, you get into a big fight with your spouse on the way to church, and then you walk through the doors and somebody looks at you and says, hey man, how you doing? Oh, bless God. Hallelujah. I'm blessed going in and blessed going out. Just fake it, baby. Fake it. In fact, the Bible says in Isaiah 29, the Lord says, these people come near to me with their mouths and honor me with their lips. And hey, everybody, look at me. You can do that. That's easy. But their hearts are far from me. In fact, Jesus said it this way in Revelation, He said, I know your deeds. You have a reputation of being alive, but you're what? But you're dead. I know this message today and even this series is going to be a little tongue-in-cheek. I know some of you are thinking, wow Chris, you're really hard on us today. I'm here to tell you that this message has nothing to do about you. It has everything to do about me. You know that before I ever point a finger at you, I'm already pointing four of them back at me.

So I don't preach this message to you, I'm actually preaching it to myself. You know, there used to be, when I first started in ministry, I was so passionate for God, it's like I couldn't even see straight. And then you get into ministry, and there's the pressure of it all. There's a spiritual attack that comes with it. I don't know, I used to think that ministry would keep me close to God. And come to find out, ministry is not just some job. There's a great spiritual attack of the enemy. Because I know this, I've got a lot of eyes on the back of my head right now. I've got a lot. A lot. So, over the course of time, the enemy, he attacked, and the weight, and the responsibility. And I found myself getting to a place where I was, I was pretending, I was just drifting, baby. So people would come up to me, and they're like, hey, hey, Chris, could you pray for me? I'm like, yeah, I'll pray for you. I wasn't going to pray for you. I wasn't going to pray for that person. We're so quick to say that to everyone. Oh, I'll pray for you. I'll pray for you. And then do we really do it? People would ask me, hey, what did God speak to you today in your time with God in prayer? I'm like, oh, it was so deep. You wouldn't understand it. It's just so deep. There's all kinds of stuff like that. Here's what breaks my heart. There are those that are hearing me today that you're drifting, and you don't even care. You're drifting, and you don't even, there's just not even a care about it. Like you've become almost a professional of brushing off the voice of the Holy Spirit

when He's trying to lead you into something better, something new. It's like you're going to, even sending in a message like this, you're going to walk out of the service exactly the same way that you came in. Nothing, nothing is going to happen on the inside of you. And it breaks my heart knowing that there are those that you're just drifting, and it's like you don't even, you don't even care. Like you see where you're at, and like, oh, I don't even know where that condo is at, and just, oh well. And yet there's others of you that are just waiting for me to shut up so you can get on your face before God and cry out to Him and allow Him to do a deep-seated work on the inside of your heart. In fact, Jesus said this. He said in Revelation, He said, You've forsaken your first love. Remember the height from which you have fallen. Repent and do the things you did at first. And you might be saying to me today, well, Chris, what do I do? And my answer for you is going to disappoint you. Are you ready for this? I don't necessarily know all the way. I don't know what it is that is in your life. I don't know what things need to happen. I don't know all the intricate details of everything. But here's what I do know, that if you want what you used to have, you're going to have to do what you used to do. And there's going to have to come a point that you recognize and come before God and say, God, I've drifted. I'm not where I need to be. Like there used to be a moment in time in my life that I was close, and I'm not in that place anymore. For some of you, I really hope that you had a great last meal, because that was going to be the last meal that you're going to eat for a long time, because you're going to fast, you're going to seek the face of God, you're going to ask the Lord to do a deep work in your life. For some of you, I hope that you slept really good last night, because tonight you're going to be up late, seeking the face of God, saying, Lord, I will not give you rest until I find you.

For others of us, maybe it's been the longest time since you actually cried tears of repentance. And I'm here to remind us all, there's a big difference between being sorrowful and godly repentance. And I can promise you this, that if you would humble yourself before God, God would step into your life, just like he did with the Apostle Paul, and he knocked him off his horse, and he walked into a situation in one way, and in just a moment's period of time with meeting Jesus, he was completely, totally changed. If you would just humble yourself before God, and let him do in you what you can't do in yourself. Because if God seems distant to you right now, guess who moved? And it wasn't God. And today, if you would respond to him, God is going to begin to once again produce in you a harvest of 30, 60, 100 fold. And so here's what we're going to do today. I'm going to, I'm going to have the team to come out here in just a second. You can grab that, thank you my man. Here's how I felt we'd end this service today. Nobody hide in. In just a moment, the team's going to, they're going to, they're going to sing, and I'm going to ask you to get on your knees before God. I know it's going to be different than how I typically close a service today. Some of you are going to say, well, can I just sit? Yeah, you can sit, you can stand. It's not the posture of your body that matters, it's going to be more so the posture of your heart. And if you're drifting, if you're faking it, if you want, if you're hungry for God, maybe you need a miracle in your life. I don't know, maybe you need to choose Christ as your Savior. I don't know where you're at, but I do know that God is, He spoke to me back in July about this moment right here.

He's doing something very special, and so all across this place, won't you all just please close your eyes. Just draw a circle in around yourself. If you feel comfortable, come on, won't you get on your knees? Maybe you want to stand. If you need to be seated, please feel, there's no pressure to do anything. And come on, let these words wash over your heart. I'll bring something that's of worth, that will bless your heart. I'll bring you more than a song, for a song in itself is not what you have required. You search much deeper within, through the way things appear, you're looking into my heart. I'm coming back to the heart of worship, cause it's all about you, it's all about you Jesus. I'm sorry Lord for the sins I've made, cause it's all about you. It's all about you, Jesus Given this world No one could express How much you deserve Though I'm weak and poor All I have is yours Every single breath I'll bring you more than a song For a song in itself Is not what you have required You search much deeper within Through the way things appear You're looking into my heart I'm coming back to you Heart of worship Cause it's all about you Yes, it's all about you, Jesus I'm sorry, Lord, for the plea I've made

When it's all about you Yes, it's all about you, Jesus I'm coming back to you Heart of worship And it's all about you It's all about you, Jesus I'm sorry, Lord, for the plea I've made When it's all about you It's all about you, Jesus Here's what the Holy Spirit is doing right now It's like there's this little flame that's in your heart And it's like, even as you started calling out to God It's like you woke up just a little bit And the Lord is just wanting you to fan into flame That spark on the inside Let the wind of the Spirit of God just breathe on that And let it start building this incredible fire This passion, this bonfire in your heart For the things of God He's breathing on you and you feel it Don't quench it Just fan into flame How do I do that? Do the opposite of those four things that I gave you today Do the opposite of it And I want to remind you of something There's a big difference between condemnation and conviction For some of you today You might have been hearing the condemning voice of the enemy, Satan Here's what Satan does

He comes to you and says Oh, you're an idiot, you're a failure, you're a disappointment You're a disgrace Look at you, you're in that pit You're never going to be able to get out of that thing Look at you He puts you down, makes you feel like you're going to stay in there for forever Please know, that is the enemy himself speaking to you Because the Holy Spirit comes along and says Hey, my friend Remember, the Holy Spirit is your best friend He says, hey my friend Come on, give me your hand Let's get you back to your condo Come on, you got distracted, you drifted Come on, give me your hand Let's do this together And that's the voice of your wonderful God speaking into your life today You're not alone in this And today as he is opening your eyes Because maybe like Eve, we've gotten distracted He's pointing you to a brighter, better future And so Lord, I thank you for what you're doing in our hearts and our lives in this service today I pray Lord, that we'd be filled with fresh vision, fresh faith We want more of you Lord And less of us As we get ready to dismiss, the team's just going to play behind And if you'd like to just sit for a while, you just can There's no rush, our prayer team's going to be here I don't understand it all the way

But when a godly person lays hands on you and prays in Jesus' name, miracles happen we've seen people that haven't been able to have a baby have a baby many of those we've seen cancer healed we've seen people with unemployment issues God provides a miraculous thing people wondering what direction do I go in on an investment or a decision I need wisdom I'm battling depression anxiety marriage challenges whatever it is if you'll bring it before God in prayer put it in the hands of him no matter how big or small it is he'll show up and so I'm gonna invite our prayer teams to come and invite you to please stand to your feet and let me just bless you today so I pray that the Lord bless you and he keep you this entire week I pray this week you would experience the kindness and the goodness the mercy and the grace of God I pray that the Lord's face would shine upon you and I just Lord we give you thanks and praise in Jesus mighty name we ask amen and amen love you everybody God bless you we'll see you back here next week