I’m Dying to Live! // Matthew 16:24-26 // Bianca Juarez

little bit older than a year old but for me this is like a milestone because this new building really felt like new and in my mind I want to say that I have overcome this but I still wrestle with this concept that I had as a kid as a kid I felt like if I were to get to a certain age then I would be living like if I got to that age or that stage or I had that thing like then I would be living I remember being I mean I've had this desire since I was a kid I remember being four years old and I knew that when I was five years old then I would be able to go to church with my dad or he would do these weekend trips to an orphanage in Mexico and that if I was five years old then I can go so I was dying to get to five years old and I became five and then I got to go with my dad and and then I remember my mom said that I couldn't stay home alone if she went to go run the errand at the store or how to get groceries to the market I couldn't be home alone until I was 10 so I was dying to get to 10 like if I got to 10 then I would be living and then I found out that I would be able to wear makeup at the age of 13 and I was dying to get 13 because then I was dying to finally look like I was older and then when I was 13 I realized that when I was 15 I'd be able to get a job and I'd be able to have my own money so I was dying to be 15 and then I found out at 16 I get my license and I was like dying to be 16 because then I would actually live I'd have autonomy and independence that I realized no that happens when you're an adult so I was dying to be 18 because when I'm 18 I'm a really an adult I'll be able to vote no he tell me what to do and then I realized well if I got to 21 then I would be able to drink in college and I just drink water in college but there was this thing that when I got there then I really be living and then I realized well no I went to grad school and I thought well after grad grad school when I'm 25 by that age I'll be done and I'll definitely be married I wasn't but I was like dying to get to 25 and do you see a pattern I was pining to get to the next level because I thought when I got there I was dying to get there because I felt like if I could get there then I would truly be living have you been there that if I just have that then I'll really be living if I lived in that zip code and drove that car then I'd be

really be living if I dated him or if I dated her if I dated them I would really be living the irony about the Christian faith is that according to Jesus the new Testament scriptures in order to live we must die to our selfish ambitions and desires in order to live I got to die this is the paradox of Christianity this is what Jesus says in Matthew 16 I don't want you to turn there pretty soon we're going to spend time going through Colossians 3 so I'm just I'm going to put this on the screen I want you to sit with this I'm actually going to read it in two different translations so you get a full depth and weight of what Jesus is saying but in Matthew chapter 16 Jesus says this whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me for whoever somebody say whoever whoever that's black white Asian Haitian Eurasian Croatian tall short skinny floofy whoever wants to save their life will lose it but whoever somebody say whoever loses their life for me we'll find it this is the paradox this paradox Christianity what good will it be for someone to gain the whole world you have forfeit their soul or what can anyone give an exchange for their soul the title of today's messages I'm dying to live and if you're feeling extra a little dramatic like I am today the rain makes me low crazy I want you to put dying to live like with lots of wise in there because we are dying to live and that is something we don't hear in modern Christianity so we're gonna spend some time because what we hear in modern Christianity is come to Jesus and your life will be better come to Jesus and your family will be blessed come to Jesus and God will give you a purpose in all of that is true but it's also incomplete Jesus also said something far more demanding to us that we just read in Matthew 16 so now I want to read it from a version written by someone who is not my friend but I call him my friend Eugene Peterson wrote it this way then Jesus went to work on his disciples as in their heart and he said anyone who intends to come with me has to let me lead you're not in the driver's seat I am don't run from suffering embrace it follow me and I'll show you how self-help is no help at all self-sacrifice is the way my way to finding yourself your true self

You can have a car, you can have a zip code, you can have the spouse, you can have the wealth, but if you don't know who you are, what is it for? Jesus says, "What kind of deal is it to get everything you want but lose yourself? What could you ever trade for your soul?" Jesus never intended anyone to follow him without confronting the issue of self. The greatest issue of discipleship isn't Satan. Oh, the devil, he's the biggest obstacle. No, the greatest obstacle to following Jesus is self. It's my way, it's my will, it's my desires, it's my agenda, it's my comfort, it's my reputation, it's my power, it's my way. So, what does following Jesus actually look like? The word in Greek is "decipalo" and we get our English word disciple and that word disciple means a follower or a student of. So, over the next four weeks, we are going to be challenging ourselves and we're going to be evaluating ourselves. I'm not going to evaluate you, you are going to evaluate you. You are going to evaluate if you are indeed a follower of Jesus. Do you just simply say I'm a Christian or does your life reveal that you actually follow Jesus? So, what is a disciple? If that is what a disciple is, then what is a disciple? What does a disciple do? I'm so glad you asked. Now, turn with me in your Bible to Colossians chapter 3. This is what we're going to be for our remaining time because Paul, the apostle, as you're turning to Colossians 3, he's writing to a church plant much like us. It is an ancient colesse and there he's writing to this church plant and they are new believers. They're young in the faith and so they're wondering, "Hey, I know that Jesus is changing my life. What does following Jesus mean? Why does this matter?" During that time, there were schools. So, you had a school with a professor and you would follow that professor. He would be students of the teacher. So, these are students of Jesus, a common understanding back in the day that I want us to hold on to now. I want Jesus to be the one who is instructing us, Jesus to be the one who is teaching us, Jesus to be the one that's telling us how to live and where his disciples. So, Paul gives the language of discipleship and this is what he says, verse 1. Since then, wait, since then, what he's talking about? Well, in chapter 2, he's talking about the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. He's talking about God's insane love for his people. He's talking about the cause of Christ and what Jesus did for you and how were to live. So, then he jumps into chapter 3, verse 1 and says, "Since then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things where." Oh, wait, the answer's on the screen. You're going to make public education proud today, Revere. And if you're a homeschooled, make your momma proud. Let me

do this again. Set your hearts on things where Christ is seated at the right hand of God and set your mind on things above, not on earthly things. So, notice what Paul says. He does not say, change your behavior. Talk like this, wear wingtip shoes and have a hard side part if you're a guy, if you're a girl, don't wear makeup. No, no, no. He begins with, remember who you are. You have been raised with Christ. This means that the old you is gone and the new you is just waiting for you to grab onto. The Christian life isn't primarily about making a bad person better. It's about God making dead things alive. And the gospel doesn't say, try hard to be a better version of yourself. That's self help. No, no. The gospel says, die to your old self and God will give you a new life. So, that's why Paul says, hey, put it off, put it off, put off that old identity. And he tells them where their new identity can be found. Your behavior must flow from your identity. We don't die to ourself to make ourself worthy of God's love. No, no. We die to self because God loves us so much that he gave his life for us. So, your behavior must flow out of your identity. The Christian life is not about self-improvement. The Christian life is about transformation. And that's why the language that Paul uses, the language of discipleship, he continues on in verse 5 and he says this, he tells the believers, put to death. Oh, that's some savage language right there. Put to death therefore, whatever, somebody say, whatever, whatever belongs to your earthly nature. Paul does not say, manage it. Paul does not say, control it. Paul does not say, keep it at bay. I mean, think about this in modern medicine. If you have cancer, your cancer oncology doctor is not going to look at me like, okay, let's think of a way to manage this cancer as it's killing you. No, We're gonna go in, we're gonna have a surgery, Oh yeah, there's all of that. Why? Because we need to manage something that wants to kill you. Does that make sense? So that's why Paul says put it to death. And that is the language of discipleship. Christianity isn't simply adding Jesus to your calendar. I showed up to church, or I prayed five seconds before my food.

Jesus doesn't want to be an addition to your life. He wants to be the Lord of your life. And Paul is saying you can't hold on to that old life while you're trying to grasp for the new life. So now go back to verse one. Since then, you have been raised with Christ. Set your hearts on things above where Christ is seated at the right hand of the Father. So where does he start? He starts with resurrection. Before he tells them to put anything to death, he reminds them that death has been conquered and that they have been raised. We have been raised with Christ Jesus. And this is crucial. Paul isn't telling Christians, oh, die so that God could accept you. No, no, no, he's saying because Christ has made you alive, put to death your old self. The Christian life begins with the new identity. And what pains me is that I'm seeing people want a new life, but hold on to who they used to be, or who they still want to be. There's a desire for new. There's desire for transformation. There's a desire for change. There's a desire for empowerment that the Holy Spirit gives, but there's still this holding on to this old life. Colossians 3-3 says this, "For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God."

Think about those words. You have died. Paul isn't talking about a physical death. He's talking about the death of the old you. Your old language, your old ways, your old behaviors, your old convictions, the old self no longer has a right to rule. You can't hold on to the old life and fully embrace the new life. And too many Christians want Jesus' hand. I want Jesus and my bitterness. I want Jesus' and sex. I want Jesus' and drugs. I want Jesus' and my addiction. I want Jesus' and my pride. I want Jesus' and my unforgiveness. I want Jesus' and self-righteousness, but discipleship means that there has to come a moment where we say that was my old life and I don't live there anymore. My residence has changed, my identity has changed, my call has changed, my vision has changed, my language has changed because I am a follower of Jesus. There must be a funeral in order for there to be a resurrection for your new life. The cross isn't merely where Jesus went to die. The cross is where your selfish ambition and my pride and our sin goes to die as well. And what you don't kill will eventually control you. Look what Paul says in verse five, Colossians 3.5. Put to death, somebody say death. Put to death therefore whatever belongs to your earthly nature.

Sexual impurity, excuse me, sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. And maybe you're sitting here thinking, didn't make that list, I'm good. But Paul said at the very beginning, he said, whatever belongs to your earthly nature. I did this for first service, I'm gonna do this for a second. As I was reading this, sometimes we can read a piece of ancient writing and maybe be confused or maybe feel like it doesn't apply to us. So I'm just gonna pause for the cause. Give me like five seconds. When we talk about sexual immorality, it just sounds like something on the PBS channel like Downton Abbey with a sexual immorality. Do we know what that is? It's a little nebulous. So let's try to clarify as quickly as possible. Sexual immorality in the confines of marriage is any act, emotional, physical, financial and sexual outside of the marriage covenant with someone who is not your spouse. And I'm gonna stand away from the Bible because there are some people who will disagree with me. But I worked for an anti-human trafficking organization for seven years and for 16 months I worked on a project on the causation and correlation between pornography and sex trafficking. And I have research upon research about what pornography does to the brain

and what pornography does to the heart and what pornography does in relationships. And this is not to bring shame or condemnation. The enemy knows it's a stronghold and that's why Paul is so violent and vicious with his words. Put it to death, pow, put it to death. 'Cause if you don't kill it, it will kill you. What is sexual immorality outside the confines of marriage? Well, let's just go from a medical definition. Sex, as defined by a medical professional, would be hand-degenitalia, mouth-degenitalia, or genitalia-degenitalia. If you don't know what genitalia is, ask Pastor Caesar after service. He'll hook you up, all right? there would always be single people that were like, yeah, but you don't know the dictation, it's so hard. Now I do, all right, we're equal, it's hard, okay? Put to death, we gotta be violent with this. And we wonder why Christians get so weird about dating and kissing and boundaries, you wanna know why? Because the enemy wants to destroy us, that's why Paul is savage, put it to death, put sexual immorality, put impurity, well, what's impurity? I need us to start asking questions, what is impurity to me? And if the line is a little fuzzy, ask somebody older and wiser in the Lord, okay? Lust, what is lust, a desire that overtakes you

for something that is not yours? And then Paul leaves no room, he leaves no crumbs, he says evil desires and greed, people who love their job and wanna make the money, which is idolatry, you have put money and work as your God. Because of these, the wrath of God is coming, that should send a shiver down your spine. He says, you used to walk in these ways in the life you once lived, but now you must also rid yourself of all things such as these. So if that didn't get you, that's who you were, good job, you're no longer that. But let's talk about who we are now and some of the things that we're wrestling with, 'cause maybe those big issues didn't get you, but Paul's coming for you. He says, anger, oh, rage, 405 traffic. Malice, slander, that's talking about people, you shouldn't be talking about them. Oh, it's the truth, it shouldn't be truth coming from around, that slander, filthy language, it comes from your lips, do not lie to each other since you have taken off your old self with its practices and you have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge and the image of its creator. Why is Paul using such strong language? Because sin is not harmless. Sin doesn't sit quietly in a corner. Sin wants the throne.

Sin begins with a thought, then becomes a desire, then becomes a decision, then becomes a habit, then becomes a stronghold, and eventually what you were controlling begins to control you. And if you want to live, Paul is saying, put it to death, why? Because sin does not want to manage. Sin wants to rule. Sin wants to rule your life. It doesn't wanna be your friends. Sin wants to be your master. And the problem is that we want to manage something that wants to destroy us. And we think, oh, our sin is not that big of a deal. Oh, no, no, no, this right here, this is my sin. It's so imperceptible, no one can even see it. This tiny thing, no, it only comes out every once in a while, no, no, no. What you need to know is what you tolerate today can control you tomorrow. And if we're not careful, what we do is that we feed our sin and we say, oh, I know, they're so rude. Can you believe it? So we feed it bitterness. And that secret sin that you're keeping, that secret sin that you're protecting, guess what? You're feeding it. And yet pride that you wanna hold on to and how you feel so justified, guess what?

You're feeding your sin. And the lust that you have that you've been holding on to, guess what, you're feeding that lust. And the more that I feed my sin, the further away from the gospel of God I get, the more that I feed my sin, I'm like, can you believe that, that I'm so offended, I feed my sin, the further I am away from my community. Can you believe it? Oh, I can't believe it, I know. I'm so lonely, I'm so alone. Let me just fill this bed with somebody. We feed our sin and before we know it, we're out of the light that we're supposed to. And without even wanting to, sin will take you further than you ever wanted to go. It will cost you more than you ever wanted to spend and it'll keep you there longer than you ever thought. And the thing that you thought you were controlling, guess what, has now grown and controls you. The thing that was imperceptible, the thing that was inconceivable, the thing that you thought nobody noticed, now everybody sees. So this is why I believe Paul says in Romans to let go to cut off the things that so easily entangle and ensnare and let us run the race that God is calling us through. But we can't do it with all this sin on our shoulders. And so what do we do?

Paul says, put it to death, strangle it. Arm bar it, put it in submission. And if you can't do it your own strength, I'm gonna give it to Jesus. See, you think his name is Caesar, but it's his sous today, all right? Wearing white and everything, yeah. I'm gonna dismiss my sin and get rid of it. What was hardly noticeable is now impossible to ignore. Why? Sin is never satisfied with partial ownership. It wants all of you and it wants to overtake you. That's why Paul warns us in verse six. He says that the wrath of God is coming, sin is serious. Sin is the thing that churches don't want to talk about because sin makes us feel away Sin makes us feel shame Conviction is when the Spirit of God is saying you shouldn't do that Condemnation is saying you're bad. There is space in this room for conviction, but I don't want you to feel condemnation We have to call sin for what it is because the good news is only the good news We understand the bad news and the bad news is that we are sinners And that we cannot save ourselves and the world we entered into was broken and Shalom was broken since the Garden of Eden And we are in desperate need of a Savior and Jesus went to the cross not merely to make us comfortable Jesus went to the cross to forgive us of sin and have power over the grave So as Christian believers, why would we want to hold on to anything that is causing us the wrong kind of death? So when Christ calls us to put sin to death He isn't asking you to do something that he hasn't already made possible through grace He's not asking you to do anything that you can't do he's giving you grace to do it And sometimes when we talk about sin we we talk about the big thing sexual immorality and adultery and treating But but sin is also being disobedient to God Not doing what he calls you to do I mentioned that I worked for an anti-human trafficking organization

It was started and pioneered and still led by an Australian woman by the name of Christine Kane a global powerhouse Communicator and she's passionate about the gospel and communicating God's freedom for the saved and for the unsaved And when I got a chance to meet her at this time I had no background in criminal justice I had no work in social work I had I was unaware of social advocacy, but I was really good at writing and telling stories and so I was hired in this global organization as chief storyteller and I'll be honest with you It sounded so noble and it sounded so selfless and I got to say I was an abolitionist and I was Fring slaves and when I didn't want to clean my room I was like justified I'm like I'm too busy fring slaves to do the laundry like there was a self-righteousness that was there but a couple weeks into the job I Started to feel very overwhelmed and not just with the nature of the work but as in like what I had to do Monday through Friday, but the darkness and the heaviness and The sin and the oppression that humans are putting on humans. It began to affect me I began to walk into my office, which was nothing more than a closet It was it was literally a utility closet that had like a water Container that anyone who needed water would just come in and out. There's no windows and I would go into my office And I would just sit there and cry Because what is one girl in California gonna do for the 27 million slaves or enslaved around the globe and at this time Justifiably so my life was crazy There was so much transition and if I'm being honest I would leave during my lunch break and go to my car and cry because I wanted to quit So three months into the job Christine came back into the offices she had been out traveling and advocating and speaking at different conferences and churches and She bounces into the office in her Aussie way very much like crocodile Dundee Could I make how you doing now? I thought erroneously she wanted to know how I was doing So I pulled up a chair and she sat down and I began just to have a diatribe I just don't think I'm called to this and this is so hard. I think that you got the wrong girl In fact, I don't I don't think I'm called to this

She looked at me dead serious. I thought she was gonna be like, oh come here. Let me braid your hair She's like do you think I'm called to this and I was like in my head of thinking what you're Christine Kane like? Yeah, of course I'm called to honor God to follow God at all costs every day. It's not about slaves about dying to self It's die die die die and every day that you feel like there's a live in you you die and you die again So every day I decide I'm gonna die to Christ. Are you gonna die? I was like, yeah Today's message I come with the spirit of Christine Kane, and I have to say die die die die Because when you die You become alive in Christ the life that he has called for you the John 10 10 life I have come to give you life and life abundant the enemy has come to steal kill and destroy that life The abundant life of God is what I'm telling you that when you die You will actually live the paradox of discipleship now Death to self isn't self-destruction It's discipleship Let me be ever so clear that dying to self does not mean saying things like I hate myself or I have no value My life doesn't matter. No, no the gospel isn't teaching self-hatred the gospel teaches Christ's This is why Paul says in verse 10, and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in the knowledge of the image of the creator. So look at the movement, it's put off the old, die to sin, put on the new, why? Because God is restoring the image of Christ on the inside of you. God isn't simply trying to make you a nicer version of yourself, he's forming God on the inside of you. So a disciple isn't someone who simply just believes in Jesus, a disciple is someone who follows Jesus. And following Jesus means that my desires come under his authority.

My attitudes come under his authority. My relationship comes under his authority. My money comes under his authority. My job comes under his authority. My life comes under his authority. So death itself is not losing who you are, it's surrendering all of you to God so that he can form you into the person that he knows that you can be. And that is the beauty of the gospel. That Jesus doesn't merely take something from you, he gives you something better. He takes your sin and your shame, the things that make you a slave and he gives you freedom. He takes your guilt over things that you've done and the condemnations over mistakes that you've made and he gives you forgiveness and grace. The old life is gone and the new life is here. (audience applauds) Yeah, I hope you're clapping for yourself because you're about to do some work this week. So as we talk about being a disciple, there's three questions that I am giving you this week. I will not evaluate if you are a disciple of Christ. I could look at your fruit, but you are going to evaluate whether or not you are simply saying that you're a Christian or if your life demonstrates that you're a Christian. If you haven't written down anything so far, I want you to write down this first question

that you are gonna ask yourself. Am I asking what does God want? Am I asking what does God want? Because if you are thinking every single day, hey, what do I want? That's not the question you should be asking. A follower of Christ, a disciple of Christ is asking, hey, what does God want for me? Does God want me to have this extra drink at happy hour with my friends? Does God want me to blow that money on something that's just gonna be gone tomorrow? Does God want me to call that person up at 957 on a Friday night? What does God want? That's gonna be the first sign if you are a follower of Jesus because self says what's best for me? But a disciple says what does following Jesus look like? What does he want for my life? Number two, am I protecting my sin? Am I honest about the sin that I actually wanna keep in my life? What sin am I justifying and acting like it's actually, it's not that big of a deal. Yeah, I need to start putting all of those things to death. I stop making excuses. I stop blaming others. I stop calling sin my personality. I'm Latina, so I just get to be angry with everyone. No, no, put it to death.

Put it to death, put all of that to death. Stop saying, that's just who I am. No, if Christ has made you new, you could say, that's not who, that's, brutal, brutal remix that might have been who I was. See, I had a brain fart, thank you church. Look at grace of God, hallelujah. One year in, that might have been who I was, but that is not who I'm becoming. That's the old me, the new me is ready. And question number three, am I looking more like Jesus? Colossians 3.10, we're being renewed into the image of our savior, and that's the goal. The goal isn't, well, I'm not as bad or as I used to be. No, no, no, the goal is, I'm becoming more like Jesus. From what I watch, to what I wear, I'm becoming more like Jesus. From the things that I listen to, and the things that I say, I'm becoming more like Jesus. From the people who I hang out with, and the people who hang out with me, I'm becoming more like Jesus. From my generosity to my stewardship, I'm becoming more like Jesus, and this, this is dying to live, and this is the paradox of Christianity, because our selfish desires must die in order for us to live to our fullest potential. And you might not agree with me, and you might not agree with Paul the Apostle, but you gotta recognize what Jesus says in John chapter 12.

He says this, very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. Anyone who loves their life will lose it. Well, anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, my servant will also be. Three years ago, I decided that I was gonna be a gardener. Now, I don't have a backyard, but I brought two large gardening plots and trays that were raised, and I began to have a garden. And in my garden, I have tomatoes, and I have parsley, and I have thyme, and I have chives, and I have basil, and I have Thai basil, and I have rosemary, and I have mint. At this point, I should stop, but I'm totally trying to flex, okay? Because I wanna be like the Mexican Martha Stewart. I'm like, "Ah, look at me!" I just made a homemade basil pesto on Saturday. It'll slap you mom in the face, it was so good. So that's my pride, right? But all of those plants started with one seed. And a seed in your hand, you could look at it, you could admire it, you could see, you could see, wow, so much potential in that. But unless there is a funeral for that seed, nothing will happen.

When you bury it, when you have a funeral on the soil, something begins to happen. The seed isn't being destroyed, the seed is being transformed, and that is a picture of discipleship that Jesus gives us. If you want fruit in your life, a funeral has to take place. And sometimes God will say, "Hey, let that attitude die." Hey, hey, let your pride die. Hey, let your desire to always be right, let it die. Hey, that relationship, that relationship that's pulling you away from the people of God or pulling you away from God, you gotta surrender that to me. Hey, your love of money and your desire for wealth, I wanna provide for you. Let your desire die. Your desire to be recognized, yeah, yeah, yeah, that's gotta die. And you go through all these deaths, and if I'm honest with you, I've been through a number of deaths last couple of years. If you're anything like me, you might find yourself saying, but God, if I let that go, what else do I have? You'll have Jesus, and I stand before you and tell you he's all that you need, because Jesus plus nothing is everything. And everything minus Jesus is nothing. That sounds powerful, yeah, yeah. But death to self isn't the end of your Christian life. It's the doorway to a deeper life with Christ.

As a kid, I was always dying to get to the next phase of life, because then I would finally be living. And now I'm dying to mature and be transformed in the ways of Jesus. And I stand before you as somebody who has lost everything that I had built and that I had wanted and what I deem to be successful. And having lost everything and having had a funeral after funeral, after funeral of what I wanted. I get to stand before you and tell you, I've never loved my life more and have been so happy than I am now. That my joy is found in obeying God by serving you. It is my joy to serve you. It is my joy to serve you, Rosanna, and witness what God has done. It is my joy to serve you. It's my joy, Jordan, to watch you transform into the man of God that you are. It's my joy, Jasmine, to serve with you. It is my joy to serve you. I've got a peace that no man can explain and no pill can give me. Because when you follow Jesus, you will experience an abundant life that you can't even begin to believe. So today, I'm not asking you to fit Jesus into your schedule. I'm asking you to surrender your life for his. The cross says, you cannot save you.

You need it, Jesus. But the empty tomb says that Jesus can give you a new life. So bring to him your pride, bring to him your fear, bring to him your brokenness, bring to you, bring to him your sin, and allow him in this divine exchange to do for you what you cannot do for yourself. So right now, I'm gonna pray for two specific groups of people. In this moment, I want you to actually do the work. I want you to think about the thing that needs to die in your life. I'm convicted. There's a lot of things, and I'm not gonna tell you what needs to die in my life, but one of them is my, I'm so embarrassed to admit it. Because I've wrestled with this before. I, if I stub my toe, or I smash my finger, or someone cuts me off on the freeway, I don't use curse words. I don't use bad words. Like my mom used to wash my mouth out with soap 'cause she said that they were dirty words, and so I'm scarred still to this day. But something happens that catches me sideways, and I find myself in a flesh flash real quick, and I find myself saying unsavory words that would make my mom blush that needs to die. And I'm telling you this because I cannot

and pretend like I have it all figured out. I wanna mature and I wanna transform and I wanna be held accountable. And I know that God forgives me and this is all about sanctification, but actually it's not the person that I wanna be that used to be me. Right underneath my skin, I could flip real quick and I wanna be someone with grace and patience and seasoned speech that when I speak, you hear Jesus. What's yours? What death? Needs to happen today. What funeral for what sin needs to happen? I'm gonna give you a second to think about it. And then I'm gonna pray for you. Because if you're anything like me, you've tried letting this go in your own flesh and it hasn't worked. So what we need is an extra dose of the Holy Ghost. What we need is a community of people that are gonna stand in faith. We're gonna give God a year and see what He can do. I believe that in a year from now, I pray to God that I will not have loose lips like I have today. I wanna be that much better. And whatever your issue is, I pray that we get to stand and testify. I'm living a new life.

That old self, they're dead. The new me is the best version of me. So in the silence, what needs to die in your life? I'm gonna invite you. If you know when you've identified what it is in a second, I'll ask you to raise your hands. You're raising your hands to declare today as a funeral for my sin. I know what my sin is and I need to let it go. This is an all play 'cause season's saints, I've been walking with the Lord for over 25 years and I'm still struggling with this area. So I'm saying today's a funeral for my sin. That is you can go ahead and raise your hands with hands raised and online family participate too 'cause the Spirit of God sees you. I don't need to see you, the Spirit of God does. So we stand before the presence of God and our hands are raised to you. Heavenly Father, we're saying that we need your help. Abba, that word in Hebrew is daddy. Abba, we're coming to you and we're raising our hands saying, you gotta help us. Today as we have a funeral, we throw dirt on caskets that will cease to exist in a year from now. We say goodbye and Sayonara, we throw rose petals over that thing that is in the grave and we thank you that you have given victory over the grave today. To you be the glory in Jesus name, amen.

You put your hands down. If you're in this room, I'm gonna pray a prayer for those that you've never said yes to following Jesus or maybe part of our online family. Maybe at one point you were walking with the Lord but you've turned your back on Him. Today is the day that you get to raise your hand and say, I wanna be a disciple of Jesus Christ. Usually I have everyone bow their heads and I have everyone close their eyes but you wanna know something? I'm about this business today. We have nothing to be ashamed of because Jesus said, if you accept me before my father, if you accept me before, man, I'll accept you before my father. And so in a second, I'm gonna count to three, I'm gonna invite those in the room. Whether you're coming back to Jesus or saying yes to Jesus for the very first time to boldly say, I wanna die to myself and live in Christ if you've never said yes to Jesus or this is your return, you're coming back. I'm gonna pray this prayer but one, but raising your hand, you are saying, I want Jesus as my Lord and Savior. Two, by raising your hand, you are saying, my mistakes and my failures with the Bible refers to his sin is dead in the grave. And three, the same spirit that resurrected Jesus

from the grave will live in me. So if that is you, you are saying yes, it's just for the first time where you're coming back and repenting. One, two, three, will you raise your hand nice and high? God bless you, God bless you, God bless you. God bless you, God bless you. God bless you, God bless you. Yeah, keep your hand nice and high. Our ushers are gonna give you God bless you, God bless you, God bless you. Our ushers are gonna give a booklet to you and a Bible. Yeah, it's okay to get emotional. We get emotional because you wanna know something your heart is finally free. You get emotional because the spirit of God is touching you and speaking to you and giving you a glimpse of your future. I hope that you haven't felt in a minute. So to let you know church that you are not alone for those that raise their hands so boldly, God bless you, we're gonna let you know that you're not alone in this decision. So we as a community of faith, I'm inviting everyone to stand to their feet right now. And we're gonna pray this prayer of faith online and in this room. Will you repeat after me, can you say Jesus? Did I choose you as my Lord and Savior? Cleanse my heart, cleanse my mind, cleanse my body,

filled with your spirit to do what I cannot do. In Jesus' name, amen, amen. Let's celebrate and let's worship that we are dying to live. That when we die, we live. And from that posture, will you feel comfortable? Will you raise your hand in the hand act of surrender? I lay it down, God, I lay it down, I live for you. I'm dying to self and living for you. Let's lay it at the altar church. ♪ I am who you want me to be ♪