LF Youth! Live LF Worship!

Hello, men and women. Such a blessing and an honor to be able to speak into your life again here from Life Fellowship Church in McKinney, Texas onto your tablet in the correctional facilities that you're in. I've never ceased to be blown away by that miracle that we can actually reach hundreds of thousands of you. My name is Logan Williams, my TDC number is 1490218. I have four numbers after that. I've been round and round and round in the system. I just say that so I can relate. Did nine and a half years total in prison in Texas where it's hot and where it's always not the greatest environment to be in, and I know some of you are in worse places, some of you are in better places, but I just want to encourage you. And God never wastes a tear, he never wastes a tragedy, he never wastes a disaster. It may seem to the world that you have totally wrecked your life, but God is the master of picking up those pieces and making something beautiful out of them. He's just looking for your yes, and God I just pray that you guys would get all in with him and watch what he can do. Tell your friends and family to download the same Pando app that you have. You can watch the same stuff, you can watch Life Fellowship, you can watch The Chosen, you can watch The Bible Recap, you can watch all kinds of stuff on there, as you know. But man, encourage them so you guys can do this walk together as much as you can. When you see each other in visitation or talk on the phone, you know you can talk about what you guys watched and looked at, what did the Holy Spirit speak to you. You can lead your family, men, from inside the wire, it's possible. Don't buy into the false narrative that it's all over just because you're there. Anything is possible with God, again, he's just looking for your yes, and he's just looking for you to step out there in faith. I was reading in Philippians and I just want to read a few verses that kind of sums up really in a short way, a way of living that you can practice right where you're at.

When I was incarcerated, I would go to church, I would do all the things, but I wasn't actually trying to change how I was living. I was still doing the hustles, the gambling, the hooch, the whatever, stealing out the kitchen, all that stuff. But I would go to church and I knew that God really didn't want me doing those things, but I just would tell myself, man, I'm just, I'm incarcerated, this sucks, I'm going to get through this, but when I get out, that's when I'm going to change and start living right. I know what to do when I get out, and it just never works out that way because the enemy is slick, he's cunning, he's baffling, he's powerful, and he deceived me every single time. I just had a radical experience with Christ in a hotel room in August of 2021, and he saved me from sin, death, and hell, he gave me a seat at the table, I had to give him my yes, and I had to get all in, and that was difficult because that means putting away things that I've been using for 45 years, ways of thinking, ways of living, ways of doing things, I had to learn it all over again, and that's not comfortable, and our flesh is going to fight against that, but I want to encourage you, man, that is what God is waiting on, he's waiting on you to just say yes and take a step, and he will show up with power in that moment, that's how it's happened for me. So Philippians 4, starting in verse 4, says, always be full of joy in the Lord, I say it again, rejoice, let everyone see that you're considerate in all that you do, considerate in all that you do. You want to be an example for Christ in the facilities that you're at, whether it's chaos around you, maybe you're in a nice, calm, peaceful, faith-based dorm somewhere, you want to be light, he has called us to be light in the darkness, and I know that's hard in some of the places you're at to be considerate in all that you do, because you're surrounded by inconsiderate people, but man, I'm telling you, you've got to try to put these things to practice in your life now, so that when you hit that gate, you won't be as easily deceived like I was, you've got to start developing those spiritual muscles, as I like to call it, you need to get in the gym, and start working out, let everyone see that you are

considerate in all that you do, remember. The Lord is coming soon Remember that this kingdom mindset this this the Lord is near You know because then we get right into verse 6, which is a famous verse says don't worry about anything instead pray about everything Tell God what you need and thank him for all that he has done. Then you will experience God's peace which Exceeds anything we can understand and his peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus I know it's hard in some of the situations that you're in Whether you're in County Jail trying to figure out how much time you're about to get or whether you're sitting on a maximum Security in ad seg with a 50-piece. It's hard not to worry about anything But the verse right before that says remember the Lord is near Therefore Let's not be anxious about anything. Man. The Lord is near. Let's not worry about anything It says meant offer up your prayers to him and thank him for what he's done. And then you'll experience God's peace Then verse 8 it says now dear brothers and sisters one final thing Want you to watch this? Fix your thoughts on what is true. What is honorable what is right and pure and lovely and admirable Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise because we can't fill our minds with negativity. We can't fill our nines reminiscing about all the drugs we used to do and the crime used to do and that lick that we hit and those girls that We were with all that stuff. Okay, we need to be thinking on things that are admirable and pure and right Things that are excellent and worthy of praise It's important what we think about and we can choose what we think about So it's saying think about these things and then keep putting into practice all that you have learned and received from me in other words What you're seeing here in the word Put that into practice Do it Everything you've heard and seen me doing then the God of peace will be with you. So it's almost like a recipe It's like baking a cake, you know, you put this much flour this much sugar this many eggs You mix it up pour it in the pan bake it on this certain temperature and then you have an awesome cake Okay, so it's saying think on some things think on

positive things Things that are praiseworthy put into practice what you've learned Then the God of peace will be with you You got to have those steps in order to bake that cake to have that peace You got to think on the right things do what the word is telling us Then God will give us peace a lot of times like me. I just showed up at church Open call church. Yeah, I'd get baptized Yeah I'd do the programs and all that stuff But I wasn't changing the way I was living and I had no peace and then I would blame it on this I mean this don't work But it does work. I just didn't work it. I didn't read it. I didn't put it into practice. It's important what you think about It's important what you do if you get those two things, right? You're gonna have the peace of God which passes all understanding and this is my hope for you guys This is my prayer for you guys. This is my dream that that man people will grab a hold of this and Their lives will be completely transformed because God doesn't plan on a purpose for your life whether you believe it or not It doesn't matter Romans 11 29 says that the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable They can't be taken away or omitted or changed or edited. It's not like he's gonna change his mind There's a calling on your life. That's irrevocable. Now. You can choose not to step into that calling You're the one that can revoke it Because we have free will you can walk out of that gate and you can go Step into your calling or you can go the dope house. You can do what God has called you to do Or you can go holler at that chick. It's your choice But he says it in Romans that the calling that's on you is irrevocable man I want that to be in somebody's heart. And if you don't know what that is If you've gotten all in with him and you're experiencing the peace But you don't know what that thing is that he's called you to be ask him cry out to him Get some fire about something and and and and get going. He wants to use you right here right now

You know, I used to listen to volunteers come into the jails and the prisons I was at and say Man, God has an amazing plan for your life and I would kind of subconsciously think yeah, that sounds good But that's gonna be out there somewhere way down in the distant future once I get out and once I stay clean and once I get a job and get my Own place and I get my life to get get all my stuff together then He'll use me. No, no. No, he wants to use you right now today He has a he has something for you And I want you guys to get that not It's information in your head, but revelation in your heart because it'll change things. Ask him what it is. Father, I just thank you for these men and women who are watching today. I thank you for all that you're doing in their lives, God. We thank you for the Pando app. We thank you for the tablets. We thank you that we have the ability to speak into the lives of forgotten people, people who don't even have names according to the various institutions that they're in. They just have numbers. God, we know that they are never just a number to you, that they were worthy of dying for, even on their worst day, God. God, I pray that you would meet them right where they're at and let them know how much you love them and that you desire more than anything,

just a relationship with them. You just want their attention. You just want them to turn to you. And God, I just pray, man, that if somebody doesn't know you that's watching, that they would cry out to you right now. And Romans 10 says that, anyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved, that they might call upon your name right now, God, and that you would just radically change and transform them, God. I thank you for the callings that we all have on our lives. Man, God, you're so awesome. We just give you praise. God, you're just amazing. And I just pray, God, that you would just continue to reveal yourself, continue to reveal yourself, and that you would just meet them right where they're at and let them know, man, that you have something for them. So, God, we love you and we praise your name. In Jesus' name, amen. Hope you guys enjoy the message. You know, I just got one more question. Whose house? God's house. Let's give him some praise. Yes, you know, oh, I believe in myself. I can't you see what I'm doin'?

What's up LF-Youth? Oh, you guys can't do better than that. It's summertime. What's up, LF-Youth? Come on. Hey, today I want to start a little different. I want to read something to you guys. In Ephesians 2, verse 8, it says, God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can't take credit for this because it's a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things that you've done. So none of us can boast about it. And tonight I just want to start honestly just sharing this with you guys and reminding you guys that we serve such a good God that even though we didn't deserve it, he sent his one and only son to die for us on that cross. And tonight we can come together and we can worship this God that is good, that is awesome, and that has saved us and has loved us. Even when we were sinners, he died for us. So who is grateful tonight that you serve a God like that? So can we all just lift our hands? And I want all of us to say together, thank you, Jesus. We can do better than that. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus, for saving me. And tonight I just want to encourage you to keep that posture of gratitude in your heart. Amen? Woo! Amen. Amen. Amen.

Amen. I can't remember what I was doing before I met you, I've been captivated by the love that saved me, and I'm in love, I cannot remember what I was doing before I met you, I've been captivated, by the love that saved me, and I'm in love, I cannot remember what I was doing before I met you, I've been captivated, by the love that saved me, this heart of mine, is so far gone, you can crash me in with a love so strong, I never thought I would ever feel it, but your love gave me all that I needed, I never thought I would ever feel it, but your love gave me all that I needed, cause I'm in love, cause I'm in love, I cannot remember what I was doing before I met you, I've been captivated, by the love that saved me, cause I'm in love and I cannot remember what I was doing before I met you, I've been captivated, by the love that saved me, and I'm in love, and I cannot remember what I was doing before I met you, I've been captivated, by the love that saved me, and I'm in love, I cannot remember what I was doing before I met you, I've been captivated, by the love that saved me, cause you saved me, you saved me, I will never leave your love, we thank you Jesus, cause you saved me, you saved me, I will never leave your love, cause you saved me, you saved me, I will never leave your love, cause you saved me, you saved me, I will never leave your love, so we thank you Jesus, we thank you for saving us, we thank you for loving us, we thank you, cause you saved me, you saved me, I will never leave your love, cause you saved me, you saved me, I will never leave your love, yes Jesus, we thank you Lord for your love, Lord tonight we are grateful that you have saved us, that you have set us free Lord, thank you for your sacrifice on that cross, thank you Jesus because nothing can separate us from your love, aren't you guys grateful tonight that nothing that you did can separate you from the love love of God, aren't you guys grateful that even when we were sinless, he came and he died for us and he saved us and tonight we can come together and we can just thank him for everything that he has done for us. So let's declare this just one more time. Cause you saved me, you saved me. I will never leave your love. Cause you saved me, you saved me. I will never leave your love. Come on, just one more time. Cause you saved me, you saved me.

I will never leave your love. We thank you that you saved me, you saved me. I will never leave your love. I will never leave your love. Thank you, Lord. We thank you, Jesus. Lord, we're so thankful that it's not by our own power, it's not by our own might that we're saved, but it's only by your love. So we thank you tonight for your blood. We thank you for what you've done on the cross. We thank you, thank you. Thank you, Lord. The red blood makes me blind. Isn't it wild? Doesn't it make you wonder how something so profound could be so simple? The blood, the blood, the blood, oh, the wonderful blood. Your love, your love, your love, oh, the marvelous love. Let there a decent song, praises belong to the Son. The blood, the blood, the blood, oh, the wonderful blood. Jesus, oh, I'm so thankful for the day you saved my life. As I believe, my heart goes to you to take you to fill my life. Isn't it wild? Doesn't it make you wonder how something so profound could be so simple? The blood, the blood, the blood, oh, the wonderful blood. Your love, your love, your love, oh, the marvelous love. Let there a decent song, praises belong to the Son. The blood, the blood, the blood, oh, the wonderful blood. The blood, the blood, the blood, oh, the wonderful blood. We thank you for your love, your love, your love, oh, the marvelous love. Let there a decent song, praises belong to the Son.

The blood, the blood, the blood, oh, the wonderful blood. We thank you for your blood. We thank you. Oh, we thank you for your sacrifice. We thank you, we thank you for what you did on the cross, oh, we'll sing your praises. The work you did is finished, all of our sins forgiven, and now we get to live. The wonder of the working blood, the cross was your decision, but death was not the end. You rose and now you're risen, the wonder of the working blood. The work you did is finished, all of our sins forgiven, and now we get to live. The wonder of the working blood, the cross was your decision, but death was not the end. You rose and now you're risen, the wonder of the working blood. The wonder of the working blood. The blood, the blood, the blood, oh the wonderful blood. You loved, you loved, you loved, oh the marvelous love. We didn't sing a song, we just belong to the sign. The blood, the blood, the blood, oh the wonderful blood. The blood, the blood, the blood, oh the wonderful blood. You loved, you loved, you loved, oh the marvelous love. We didn't sing a song, we just belong to the sign. The blood, the blood, the blood, oh the wonderful blood. The work you did was finished, all of our sins forgiven. And now we get to live, the wonder of the working blood. The cross was your decision, but death was not the end. You rose and now you're risen, the wonder of the working blood. The wonder of the working blood. We thank you for the wonder, the wonder of the working blood. The wonder of the working blood. We thank you that your blood speaks a better word. The wonder of the working blood. The blood, the blood, the blood, oh the wonderful blood. You loved, you loved, you loved, oh the marvelous love.

We didn't sing a song, we just belong to the sign. The blood, the blood, the blood, oh the wonderful blood. You are the wonder of the world, you are the angel that your blood speaks a better word. We thank you for what you did for us when you rose. That from the world perspective it may have looked like you were defeated. But from your perspective Lord you took on all of our shame, all of our guilt, all of our sin, all of our transgressions God and you died for us. And then you rose again for us God so that we could have power and authority over death and hell and the grave. So Jesus may respond with our worship, come on can we just all lift our hands in the room and just say thank you Jesus for the price that you paid and for what you've done for us. We thank you Lord, we thank you. Thank you for the cross Lord. Thank you for the price you paid. There in all my sin and shame, in love you came and you gave amazing grace. Thank you for this love Lord. Thank you for your near distance. You washed me in your cleansing flow. And all I know is your forgiveness and embrace. Worthy is the Lamb, seated on the throne. Jesus we crown you now with many crowns. You reign victorious. And you're high and lifted up. Jesus Son of God. You're the darling of heaven crucified. Worthy is the Lamb. Worthy is the Lamb. We say thank you. Thank you for the cross Lord. Thank you for the price you paid. There in all my sin and shame, in love you came and you gave amazing grace. Thank you for this love Lord. Thank you for your near distance.

You washed me in your cleansing flow. And all I know is your forgiveness and embrace. Wasting. Worthy is the Lamb. You're seated on the throne. We crown you now with many crowns. You reign victorious. And you're high and lifted up. Jesus Son of God. You're the darling of heaven crucified. ♪ Of heaven crucified ♪ ♪ Worthy is the Lamb ♪ ♪ Worthy is the Lamb ♪ One more time we sing. ♪ Worthy is the Lamb ♪ ♪ Worthy is the Lamb ♪ Worthy are you Jesus. Thank you for who you are and thank you for loving us Lord. You know guys, I just wanna tell you guys something that the Lord's been putting on my heart for this week and it's just to remind somebody in this room about God's holiness. You know, I think a lot of us, we come to church and we raise our hands or we mindlessly take communion or we willingly sin knowing that God's gonna forgive us. And I just wanna remind you guys that God is so much more holy than that. His sacrifice is so much more holy than that.

We should have a holy standard when talking about God, when knowing God, because He's so much more holy than that. You know, in John 19, His last words on the cross, He said, it is finished. And it says that He gave up His spirit. Those holy words, that short holy phrase and that big sacrifice, that holy sacrifice washed all of us clean. We're all blameless not because of what we did but because of what He did, what He gave on the cross. My favorite passage is in Mark 8 and Jesus is walking with His disciples and He says, who do people say I am? And it says, they replied, some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah and still others say one of the prophets. And Jesus says this, but what about you? Who do you say I am? And I wanna remind you guys that God is holy, God is worthy and we have to each make that personal revelation to see God's holiness in our lives. He's not just something that we acknowledge at the altar. He's not just something that we think of every now and then when we feel a little bit bad about ourselves. No, God is holy all the time and we need to hold Him to that holy standard because He can be held to that standard. He is holy, He's the definition of holy. So Lord, I thank you for everybody in this room today, Lord. I thank you that you are holy and that we get to know your holiness through our lives, Lord.

I pray that you would be enthroned upon our praises. I pray that you would be enthroned upon our tears, upon our emotions, Lord, upon everything, Lord. I pray that you would be enthroned upon it all. Lord, I pray that you would help us to see things the way that you see them, Lord, that you would break our heart for what breaks yours, Lord, and that you would just draw us near to you every single day, Lord. We love you and we praise you in Jesus' name, amen. Y'all can make your way back to your seats. High five the person next to you. Tell them that you're happy to see them today at church. What's going on, LF youth? Who's excited to be here tonight? Come on. Who's excited? I got one person. If you're excited to be here, say, hey. One more time, if you're excited to be here, say, hey. I'm excited. All right, well, hey, we have a few announcements for you today. If you were walking in, you probably noticed we have a shop set up outside. We're selling some food, we're selling some t-shirts. I wanna let you guys know that all the proceeds from the store out there are gonna go to missions. It's gonna go to fund our missionaries that are going to be here tonight.

It's gonna go to fund our missionaries that we're sending to Brazil this summer. And so stop by, check it out, grab some food, get a t-shirt, it's really good. Cochino's really good, right? You've had it? It's really good. Okay, next thing I have for you guys is camp is coming up. We're just around the corner. And actually June 6th is the deadline. You do not wanna miss camp. June 6th, that's just a few weeks away. And so I want you guys to check out this video and let's see a little bit more about what God wants to do this summer. And one called to another and said, Holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. The whole earth is full of his glory. You are holy, holy. Are you Lord God Almighty? Worthy is the lamb. Worthy is the lamb. Yes, worthy is the lamb. Worthy is the lamb. Holy. At day and night, they never cease to say, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, Who was and is and is to come. You are holy. Come on, who's excited for youth camp? Do we have a QR code for youth camp? Do we have a QR code? Okay, right here. If you're not going, scan this. Scan it, scan it. If your friend is not going,

bump them and say, scan the QR code. Okay, what's our next announcement that we have? So next week is our Step Up Wednesday. So if you guys have any siblings that are going into sixth grade, make sure that you guys invite them to youth next week. It's going to be super fun. We're going to have a little orientation for them. They're going to get a little tour. It's going to be so awesome. And then next, if you are a graduating senior or a graduated senior, you are allowed to come to youth until August. So you're allowed to come through the summer. You can go to camp. You can go on missions. You can keep coming until August. I think that's all. That's all we got for you today. Hey guys, check out this video and let's get ready for the message. Thank you. What's up, LFU? How are you guys? You guys good? Obi's good. Anybody else good? Yeah? All right, stand to your feet. We're going to do the word of the year. If you've never met me, my name is Caitlin. I have the honor and privilege of leading this youth ministry. So I want to say if it's your first time here, I'm so glad you are in the house tonight. We're going to do our word of the year. This is something we do every single Wednesday. We declare God's word of the year for us. So this year, 2026, is the year that we will be steadfast in our faith. So we're going to repeat this all together,

and then we're going to jump into the word. You ready? Are you ready? One, two, three. 2026 is the year of steadfast faith. I will be not wavering, for I want Jesus. No matter what comes my way. I will stand firm as a Christian, faithful, devoted. It's how I choose to live. No matter what comes my way. I will be steadfast in my faith. Woo! Take a seat, take a seat. Y'all sound good? I'm trying to figure out this iPad so I can scribble the notes as we go. You guys ready? Hey, school is out. Are y'all loving summer so far? Anybody got plans? Anybody traveling this summer? Brazil. Hey, do me a favor. If you want to support our student missionaries that are going to Brazil this year, please go check out our booth outside. We've got some really good t-shirts. Is anybody wearing it? Dang it. I should have planned better. Go check out the shirts. They're really cute. And then coxinha. Has anybody ever had that? So good. Okay. Hey, tonight's our last night of circles for the entire semester. So we are going to end with circles and then we'll pick back up at the end of August and start fresh.

But just so you know, this is our last night of circles. So I'm going to try to preach a little bit quick so that you can hang out with your group and have some fun. Just a couple of things to keep on the forefront of your mind. Next week, as Grayson mentioned, we're having our new sixth graders join us, which is going to be so fun. Our seniors. we're saying hey you can hang out with us all summer long until you go to college we want you to hang out with us um and then the week after we are having one of our wonderful leaders preach and we're having a slip and slide outside y'all remember it was so fun last time we did it um so we're gonna have a blast it's gonna be a really fun summer and then we're gonna go to camp so take out your bibles who's got their bibles with them anybody got their blicky i'm gonna try to preach sitting down tonight just so that i don't get distracted but i don't know if i'm gonna actually be able to stay sitting so we will see okay everybody's got their bible you got your bible go to first john anybody know where first john is it's all wow it's in the new testament and it is all the way at the end he was testing you guys obi knows his word so we're in our series called last words and i know it sounds a little bit morbid to think like my last words i'm in high school i'm in middle school what are you talking about last words but in this series we're really going against the grain of culture we're going against what culture says because culture tells you hey yolo live however you want to live you only live once have fun do all the things and listen i'm all about having fun but this series the heart of it really is to say that every action you make has eternal implications so your life needs to be lived with eternity in mind people are watching how you live how many of you know that people at school your family people are watching how you

live how you respond to hard things how you react to difficult people how you rely on god people are watching you your life is a testimony of jesus living inside of you so we've been looking at the last words of people in scripture and our seniors did a great job last week preaching their their last words their advice to you as they go into a new season but what i love about this series is that when you think about somebody's last words you often think like their last words hold a lot of weight if somebody's on their deathbed they're not going to be talking to you about the most recent basketball game they're going to leave you with something that matters something that holds weight something that holds significance you know somebody might share a life lesson they might share you know hey i would encourage you ask for forgiveness they might share some sort of lesson that really holds some weight and look honestly i want you to know i pray and i speak long life over every single one of us but the bible says that tomorrow is not promised so we must live today with eternity in mind we must live today honestly as if jesus is walking with us as if he's in every conversation as if he is in every room that we're in because the reality is he is that's right landry he is his holy spirit is with us everywhere we go he's not just in church he's not just in these walls he is with you wherever you go if you make your bed in hell he is there with you so i'm gonna try to go a little bit quicker tonight so you can have some extra time with your groups but we're going to look at first second and third john tonight each point is going to be pulled from one verse of each book so we're going to look at john's final remarks to the early church if you're taking notes who's got their notes

how many of you know note takers are changers so if you're taking notes here's a little bit of context about john um this is interesting all the disciples had different names did you know that they all had different nicknames so there was doubting thomas there was matthew the tax collector there was simon the zealot there was judas the betrayer killer the betrayer uh but john was referred to as the disciple that jesus lord he was he was referred to as the disciple that jesus loved and what i think is interesting is he's the only disciple that didn't die as a martyr how many of you know what the word martyr means He was the only one that was not killed for his faith. So he was the only one that wasn't stoned, that wasn't beheaded, that wasn't hung upside down. He most likely just died of natural causes. So this meant that John lived long enough to watch the church grow, watch the early church grow. He watched some people leave the church, some people joined the church. He endured persecution. He endured being made fun of for his faith. He watched some of his friends, unfortunately, walk away from Jesus. He watched some of them walk with Jesus. And he lived long enough to actually outlive others and be a leader, really, that lasted. What I love about John is his final words in Revelation were, amen, come Lord Jesus. Maranatha, come Lord Jesus. Let's pray.

Lord, I thank you for tonight. I thank you for all that you're doing in every student, in every leader. And God, I ask that you would speak to us tonight. Open our eyes to see scripture, to see it rightly. And I pray that you'd speak to every heart in the room in Jesus' name. And everybody said, amen, amen, amen, amen. All right, if you're taking notes tonight, the title of my message is Walking on Sunshine. Does anybody know that song? Can you sing it? Oh, God. You guys sound so good. Wow, yes, keep going. So we're in our series, last words, title of the message is Walking on Sunshine. We're really getting at the heart of what John was preaching which was walking in the light, walking in the truth. It's gonna be a good word. I think we're gonna really take a lot out of this. So go to 1 John 2, verses three and four. I'll read it to you. It says this, and by this we know that we have come to know him if we keep his commandments. Whoever says, I know him, but does not keep his commandments is a liar. And the truth is not in him. Point number one, walking in the light requires obedience to God's commands.

Some of you might be like, okay, Caitlin, what are God's commands? Let me tell you just a few of them. We got them listed. What? Caitlin, I said Caitlin. You guys are so distracting. Caitlin, okay, 10 commandments, they're right here. You got them? Who knows them? What's the first commandment? You shall have no other gods before you. You shall have no other gods before me. What's the second one? What's the third one? Four, remember the Sabbath day. Keep it holy. Honor your father and your mother. Uh-oh, it's quiet. You shall not murder. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. Don't lie. You shall not covet anything that belongs to your neighbor. So keep these commands. Otherwise, what does the Bible say? What does the Bible call you? Sorry, I'm gonna go back. I'm gonna go back.

Sinner. Wait, where is it? Where is it? Okay, I'm gonna, I'm gonna, hey, take your Bibles out. We're gonna mark it up. Whoever says I know him, but does not keep his commandments is a what? Liar. The Bible said it, not me. Okay, walking in the light, number one, requires obedience to God's commands. Matthew 22, verse 36 through 40, just jot this down real quick. The disciples said, "'Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the law?' Jesus replied, "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart "'and with all your soul and with all your mind.'" This is the first and greatest commandment. Love the Lord God with, oh, wait, where's the other one? And the second is like it. Love your neighbor as yourself. That means you gotta have some sort of self-love here. And all the law and the prophets hang on these two commandments. This means that all those 10 commandments, all the other, there's plenty of other ones that were written, but we boiled it down to 10. God said, hey, they can't remember all the hundreds of commandments.

We'll boil it down to 10 for them. All of them hang on these two commandments. to love God with all your heart soul and mind and love your neighbor as yourself so walking in the light of Christ requires love it requires love for yourself for how he created you and love for others that's hard right can anybody say that's hard that's hard to do but you'll be walking in the light of Christ when you can get these two down second john verse 10 can you go over there can you flip your pages second john verse 10 if anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching do not take them into your house or welcome them anyone who welcomes them shares in their wicked works walking in the light requires conviction to stand on God's word let me explain I'm gonna read this verse again because I really don't think you guys got it production I'm gonna just play with my notes here sorry I keep moving it around okay ah where are we here we are you guys got it verse 10 second john anyone who comes to you and does not bring this teaching what is this teaching Jesus and him crucified wow sorry that was kind of giant okay Jesus and him crucified do not take him into your house or welcome them wait doesn't that sound a little rude no because here's what the bible says anyone who welcomes them shares in their wicked works this is wild this is crazy this is bold now let me explain john is essentially saying anyone who does not preach Jesus tell them to respectfully get out of your face because we don't play about eternity now let me give you some context in the early church that john is teaching to and that he's watching there is this significant struggle of false teachers turn your neighbor say false teachers you ever have a teacher in school that you just know like doesn't know what they're talking about wow all of you okay don't name any names but you know that teacher that you're like how did you get through school don't say names john is saying hey there are false teachers in our midst now what does this mean it means that people were twisting scripture to fit their own preferences so in john's time he was dealing with people that were saying crazy things they were saying that jesus actually didn't come as human they were saying jesus didn't come as human he's this spirit and all these things we actually it's where we get gnosticism out of i won't get into that but it's just crazy what these people are teaching and they began teaching all these silly ideas that were not biblical side note this is a warning for you and i let me just tell you this not every person that has a microphone is teaching the bible okay you might go you know off to college and you might try different churches and that is so good

we want you to be plugged in to a church but you test what's being preached you have discernment you have the holy spirit inside of you just because somebody has a microphone does not mean that they are preaching god's word correctly there are false teachers today and you it's up to you as a christ follower to discern that's biblical that's not you following me so john's literally saying hey if someone preaches or talks to you about a different version of jesus that is not christ and him crucified don't hang out with them he's literally saying if you welcome them you share in their wicked beliefs you're actually condoning their behavior you're actually letting them know that you low-key don't care you kind of agree with them that's how strong john felt about all this so walking in the light requires a conviction to stand on god's word if it is not in this bible do not follow it are you with me you have discernment to test everything that you hear every instagram preacher every tiktok prophet just because you have a platform does not mean that you are used and anointed by God. Okay, 3rd John verse 4. Turn your pages over. 3rd John verse 4. John says, I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth. No greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth. What I see in culture today are a lot of Christians that perform Christianity rather than practice it. People that know the truth, people that post the truth, but a lot of people that refuse to walk in the truth. You ever follow somebody and you're like, you post a Bible verse, but I see you at school. Anybody? You ever see that? Like you see somebody that like posts about God or... I'm not saying we have to be perfect, but like one story is like, oh church on Sunday, but the story before is like them at the club getting crazy on Saturday. Just me? Just me? Okay, well just wait till you get to college. Okay, John's challenge for us was to get the truth of God's Word to move from our head into our heart and ultimately into our habits. That was his challenge. It was to get beyond our beliefs and into our behavior. Think about somebody that's walking out the truth. They are living it out day by day. You're not perfect. We all make mistakes, but it is somebody that's walking in the truth is living out their faith. They're not faking it. They're not performing it. They're practicing it day by day. So third point, walking in the light requires a

commitment to walk in the truth. This is not the glamorous side of following Jesus. This is the hidden part. This is the part that nobody sees and honestly walking in God's truth is a decision. You'll love how the stool lasted literally two minutes. I just can't do it. Walking in the truth is a decision. It's the time that like when you're tempted to watch something on your phone that you know you shouldn't be watching, but you decide not to because you're committed to walking in the truth. It's the moment when your friends are gossiping about someone and you decide to shut down the conversation or just walk away because you're committed to walking in the truth. It's the moment when you're tempted to doomscroll, but you know you haven't read your Bible, so you turn off your phone because you're committed to walking in the truth. Notice how all the things I just said, they're unseen. Nobody is gonna say, hey great job. Good job Emery. You did a really good job by not doomscrolling. I can't cheer you on at school. Hey, good job. You walked away from that conversation. Now of course we want to encourage you. We want to lift you up, but this is where the rubber meets the road in your faith and you have to make a decision to walk in the truth. I mentioned earlier that John's last words in the Bible were, amen, come Lord Jesus. What I love about this is he didn't end his journey with bitterness. He ended his journey with hope, with longing, with the desire for more of Jesus. You're all moving up a grade this next year. Some of you are going into college. Some of you are going into high school. I want to tell you this, just like we see in John's life, the longer you follow Jesus, the more you will see people be people and fail you. You just will. I would be lying to you if I said, oh yeah, everybody that's a Christian is amazing. Paul and Barnabas actually split up on their missionary journey because they got into such a bad argument. Did you know that? There are gonna be people that fail you, that disappoint you, that maybe walk away. that let you down and I'm just gonna tell you this I've lived enough life to know that it's real I've seen it up close and personal people fail the longer you follow Jesus the longer you'll see the frailty of man and the

brokenness of humanity but what I want to encourage you with and what John wanted to leave us with was that you have a choice you have a choice you can be offended you can get bitter you can get mad at God or somebody say or you can cling to Jesus you can stay close to community even when it's hard you can lean on people and I would encourage you to do what John did yearn for more of Jesus John saw the brokenness of humanity more than anybody and he still wanted more of Jesus he didn't live offended he actually lived free and he's referred to as the one that Jesus loved so my encouragement tonight is for all of us to live the way that John lived live free from offense live full of the love of Jesus stay close to God and let me just say this you'll have plenty of opportunity to wild out this summer you'll have plenty of opportunity to party to do all the things to have fun but live with eternity in mind that's not a scare tactic that's not like a guilt trip God gives us a choice we all have free will you can do what you want but ultimately know that Jesus is with you wherever you go he is with you and so I want you to know that live with eternity in mind John lived with eternity in mind he lived close to Jesus he lived from a place of freedom not of bitterness not of pain even though he went through it ultimately his prayer was come Lord Jesus I want more of you everybody just close your eyes bow your heads we're gonna pray we're gonna go into circles in just a moment anytime we gather I always want to give you the opportunity to get right with the Lord I want to give you the opportunity if it's your first time if it's your a hundredth time to get right with Jesus so you might have heard me preach tonight and been like goodness Caitlin that's a that's a heavy word that's a heavy message and maybe you felt convicted maybe you feel like I need to I really need to get right with Jesus I want to give you the opportunity to do that nobody's looking around but even if they were it really would not matter because this is a safe place this is a place of a bunch of Christians that love you that want you to have right relationship with God so if you say hey Caitlin I want to rededicate or dedicate my life to Christ just go ahead and slip up your hand wave at me and I just want

to pray for you I want to pray for you we're gonna pray this all together say Jesus say Jesus I love you I commit my life to you help me to live for you help me to walk in the truth and stay committed to your word I repent of my sin and I make you Lord in Jesus name keep your heads bowed and eyes closed I want to pray over a specific group I just feel like there's some people in the room tonight that you felt kind of like weary you've just felt tired and you felt like man I've been going to church and I don't really feel God and I'm just kind of like doing the thing and you've kind of been in this routine of I go to youth and I go to school and now it's summer and now I'm feeling a little tempted to like I don't know try something else and maybe you just felt discouraged I just want to pray over some people in the room tonight I'm not gonna embarrass you if you could just and say, hey, that's me, I'm feeling a little tired of this whole thing, and I'm just, I need some energy, I need a touch from God, I see you, I see you, I see you, I see a bunch of you, I see a bunch of hands, I see you. If we could all just hold out our hands like we're receiving a gift, I just wanna pray for you. And just play whatever you wanna play, honestly, like. Oh, you can't. Lord, I thank you for all that you're doing in this place, I thank you for every person that has their hand raised, I thank you for their vulnerability, their transparency. And I pray, God, that your word says that in your presence there's fullness of joy. So I pray over every leader, every student that has their hand raised, that you would overwhelm them with your presence right now. I pray that where they have felt weary,

where they have felt discouraged, even where intrusive thoughts have come into their mind, I pray that you would give them the mind of Christ. I pray your Holy Spirit fill them to overflow. I pray, Lord, that your anointing oil would flow through their veins right now, I pray the fire of God fill them. And Lord, I pray that they'd be refreshed in your presence. Even as they go into circles, I pray that they would feel refreshed by community. I pray that they would feel refreshed by just talking to others. I know there's some people in here that are just struggling, feeling like, man, does anybody see me? And I just speak over them that you see them, God. You see the tears that they've cried at night, you've seen the pain that they've walked through silently, you've seen the hurts that they felt, the struggles that they've endured, the temptations that they've faced. I pray, God, that you would show them that you have seen it all. And I pray that a greater knowing would come over them that you are with them, like you really are with them. I pray, God, that you'd protect them, watch over them, speak to them, sharpen their ears to hear your voice, break their heart for what breaks yours, break their heart over sin.

Pray that you'd give them eyes to see people the way that you see them. And I pray, God, for a greater hunger for your word, for your presence. I lift them up to you in Jesus' name. And everybody said, amen, amen, amen. Hey, go ahead, stand to your feet. We're gonna head into circles. I wanna make one quick announcement. I just thought of this. If you have not been to Life Fellowship on a Sunday, join us this Sunday because it's kind of youth takeover is what I'm calling it. I'll be preaching, so come join us on Sunday. It's gonna be a blast. Love you guys, go to circles. We got snacks. See you guys later.