MOVE with Boldness | Carl Kuhl

Well, what's up, friends? My name is Matt Robinson, and I'm a Grateful Recovering alcoholic and drug addict, and I'm a pastor here at Southeast Christian Church, and we are so grateful that you have chose to worship with us today and to connect with us here on the Pando app. It's such a blessing for us as we say we are one church in many locations, and there's so much about what God is doing in our church that is because of what God is doing in your life. Just know we are not us without you, and so we're so thankful that you're with us today. Had a really cool moment this morning because I got a picture of a facility here in the state of Kentucky that is connected with us and what God is doing in their life, and it was such a blessing for me and to the leadership and everybody we got to share that with. So please take a second. If God is doing something in your life, if there's a one-at-a-time story that's happening in you or your family outside, please write in and share that with us. We have staff and volunteers, and it's such a blessing to everybody to be reminded about how God is moving in so many places at so many different times in so many different situations.

Also, if you love the content or you're connecting with us here and you don't wanna miss out on anything, please hit the subscribe button on our Southeast channel on Pando. It allows you to not have to worry about remembering when stuff's gonna pop. It'll load it up for you automatically, and you'll have access to stuff that's going on, and as things continue to be added and brought to the app, you won't miss any of that. We're excited today because we're at our MOVE series, and it's a great opportunity for our church to really get behind a central idea and move together, all together, working in one goal, and that's to unleash the full force of the church, to love people one at a time. And so the message today by Carl is a great message about boldness, and I love the prayer that sets up all of our MOVE stuff. It says, you know, God, what do you want to do in me and through me? And so I'm gonna say that for us now, and then we're gonna worship together. God, what do you want to do in me and through me? Let's worship. Let's worship. Whoa. Hey. Oh.

Whoo. Oh, yeah. ♪ There's a name that reigns throughout the ages ♪ ♪ The same name that heals the generations ♪ ♪ There's a name that never fails to save ♪ ♪ I know a name that will make a way ♪ ♪ To the lost soul looking for some meaning ♪ ♪ Every captive crying out for freedom ♪ ♪ There's a name that never fails to save ♪ ♪ I know a name that will make a way ♪ ♪ Jesus, only one who's worthy ♪ ♪ Shout the name of Jesus, forever He is holy ♪ ♪ Mix of darkness, run and flee ♪ ♪ Something changes when we sing ♪ ♪ Jesus, so powerful and mighty ♪ ♪ Shout the name of Jesus, hey ♪ ♪ We shout the name of Jesus, hey ♪ ♪ There's a name that defeated death forever ♪ ♪ The same one who prepares a place that's better, oh ♪ ♪ There's a name that's greater than the grave ♪ ♪ I know a king who has made a way ♪ ♪ Jesus, only one who's worthy ♪ ♪ Shout the name of Jesus, forever He is holy ♪ ♪ Mix of darkness, run and flee ♪ ♪ Something changes when we sing ♪ ♪ Jesus, so powerful and mighty ♪ ♪ Shout the name of Jesus, oh Lord ♪ ♪ We shout the name of Jesus, yes we do, God ♪ ♪ Your name is a better over me ♪ ♪ No matter the trial, you are my victory, oh ♪

♪ In every season, no matter the reason ♪ ♪ Shout Your name, I'll shout Your name ♪ ♪ Jesus, only one who's worthy ♪ Come on, we sing it out. ♪ Shout the name of Jesus, forever He is holy ♪ Come on. ♪ Jesus, only one who's worthy ♪ ♪ Shout the name of Jesus, forever He is holy ♪ Whoa. ♪ Makes the darkness run its lane ♪ ♪ Something changes when we sing ♪ ♪ Jesus, so powerful and mighty ♪ ♪ We shout the name of Jesus, the one that made the Lord ♪ ♪ We shout the name of Jesus, yes we do God ♪ ♪ Shout the name of Jesus, we shout the name of Jesus ♪ ♪ Shout the name of Jesus, no other name but Yours Lord ♪ ♪ No other name but Yours ♪ Hallelujah. Amen, church. ♪ Yes, He's my Lord ♪ ♪ Yes, He's my Lord ♪ ♪ I pray into the atmosphere ♪ ♪ Spirit of God, You're here, You have all authority ♪ ♪ I pray over my heart and mind ♪ ♪ I am healed by Your stripes ♪ ♪ Prayers that I am free in the mighty name of Jesus ♪ ♪ I pray, calling on the power of heaven ♪ ♪ I proclaim, every weapon formed against me ♪ ♪ Must break in the mighty name of Jesus ♪ ♪ I draw a permanent boundary line ♪

♪ The enemy has no rise to come near my family ♪ ♪ No scheme could ever run to God's place ♪ ♪ No matter the circumstance, the cross has sealed my destiny ♪ ♪ In the mighty name of Jesus ♪ ♪ I pray, calling on the power of heaven ♪ ♪ I proclaim, every weapon formed against me ♪ ♪ Must break in the mighty name of Jesus ♪ ♪ In the mighty name of Jesus ♪ ♪ In the mighty name of Jesus ♪ ♪ I know, all the power of fear and darkness must go ♪ ♪ Cause every key to every victory, I hold ♪ ♪ In the mighty name of Jesus ♪ ♪ I will not fear, I will not fear, when the enemy comes near ♪ ♪ All the dark frame of my life, is the blood of Jesus Christ ♪ ♪ I will not fear, I will not fear, there's an army of angels here ♪ ♪ I'm protected on all sides, by the blood of Jesus Christ ♪ ♪ I will not fear, I will not fear, when the enemy comes near ♪ ♪ All the dark frame of my life, is the blood of Jesus Christ ♪ ♪ I will not fear, I will not fear, there's an army of angels here ♪ ♪ I will not fear, I will not fear, when the enemy comes near ♪ ♪ All the dark frame of my life, is the blood of Jesus Christ ♪ ♪ I will not fear, I will not fear, when the enemy comes near ♪ ♪ All the dark frame of my life, is the blood of Jesus Christ ♪ ♪ I will not fear, I will not fear, when the enemy comes near ♪ ♪ All the dark frame of my life, is the blood of Jesus Christ ♪ ♪ In the mighty name of Jesus, I know ♪ ♪ I will not fear, I will not fear, when the enemy comes near ♪ ♪ All the power of fear and darkness must go ♪ ♪ All the dark frame of my life, is the blood of Jesus Christ ♪ ♪ Cause every key to every victory, I hold ♪

♪ In the mighty name of Jesus, it's in the mighty name of Jesus ♪ ♪ It's in the mighty name of Jesus, it's in the mighty name of Jesus ♪ Amen, church family. If you could just right now testify and say, I have seen the mighty hand and powerful hand of Jesus in my life. Would you just lift up a hand and praise him? Amen. Yes, Lord. As a church family, we are almost halfway through this new journey. And I'm sure all of us could share our stories of how we've seen God move in and through us as his bride. But we have seen thousands upon thousands of people be born again in these waters. That is a miracle and it is a blessing. Amen. We've seen more churches planted and launched to spread the gospel even further. We've seen scriptures translated that have never been translated before. We've seen people rescued out of the pits of darkness and be given a new name in Jesus Christ. And maybe for you personally today, you've seen the mighty healing hand of the Lord on your life. Maybe you can look back over this past year and go, I've seen the Lord provide for me in ways and heal things in me in ways that I could have never seen or imagined on my own.

That's the beauty of the gospel of Jesus and the power of his name. Amen. It makes me think of Apostle Paul when he wrote to the church in Ephesus. He said this, he says, when I think of all of these things that the Lord has done, I can't help but to just fall to my knees in prayer and give all glory to God. He writes later on in this letter, this passage of scripture that we've said quite a bit around here through our Move series, the Move journey. It's this, now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than we could ever ask or imagine according to his mighty power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever, amen. And that was Paul's song of praise, his prayer of praise. And I believe it's supposed to be our prayer of praise as well. We decided we would write those exact words of that scripture. I love it when we get to sing songs in his house that are word for word, God's word. And I think it's powerful. I think it has a special meaning. I think it has a profound impact on our life and on our church. And so we decided we'd write that, those exact words of Paul to melody

so we too could respond just like him and declare of how able he is, how strong and mighty he is. And we can just give him all the glory. And so I'd love wherever you're at in your journey, whether you've seen him be faithful and able, whether you're still waiting for him to show up, God just encourages you to learn this new song to just lift those hands and declare these words, these words of scripture with so much faith and belief. This song's called Exalt Him. When I think of the power held within his hand Impossible is not according to his plans Oh, I can't help but exalt him Oh, I can't help but exalt him Oh, I can't help but exalt him And now to him who is able To do so much more than we ask or imagine Glory to him in the prime of his days ♪ Jesus, through all generations ♪ ♪ Forever and ever, glory to Him ♪ ♪ All honor, all power, all glory to Him ♪ ♪ When I think of the cross and how it set us free ♪ ♪ From hell into heaven, for all eternity ♪ ♪ Oh, I can't help but adore Him ♪ ♪ It'll be a holy moment when we walk through heaven's door ♪ ♪ Pain will be behind us and death will be no more ♪ ♪ Oh, I can't help but adore Him ♪ ♪ And lay my crowns down before Him ♪ ♪ Now to Him is able to do so much more than we ask or imagine ♪ ♪ Now to Him is able to do so much more than we ask or imagine ♪

♪ Glory to Him in the prime, in Jesus, through all generations ♪ ♪ Forever and ever, glory to Him ♪ ♪ All honor, all power, all glory to Him, all the Lord ♪ ♪ How deep, how high, the love of the Father ♪ ♪ How strong, how wide, the arms of the Savior ♪ ♪ I stand in awe and I'll worship forever ♪ ♪ I can't help but ask, listen ♪ ♪ And how deep, how high, the love of the Father ♪ ♪ How strong, how wide, the arms of the Savior ♪ ♪ I stand in awe and I'll worship forever ♪ ♪ I can't help but exalt Him ♪ ♪ Oh, I can't help but exalt Him ♪ ♪ And now to Him, He is able to do so much more ♪ ♪ As for a bad day, all glory to Him ♪ ♪ In the pride, in Jesus, through all generations ♪ ♪ Forever and ever, glory to Him, all the Lord ♪ ♪ All power, all glory to Him ♪ Amen, amen. Will you stretch your hands to heaven? Thank you, Lord. Thank you for your love. Oh, we don't deserve it. But you're so gracious. Your love and your kindness has no measure. And Lord, I hope you just hear us say, thank you. We have seen you be faithful. We've seen you do the impossible. We know you can. And God, for those in the room today,

that maybe they're still waiting for you to show up and do the impossible for them, Lord. I pray that those words of faith that they just sung, probably with tears and hurt in their heart, God, I pray they would just deepen their faith, their dependence on you. No matter what circumstances may look like, you always have been the God of power. But God, I am so glad that you're the God of love. And so, Lord, today, whoever's in here today, whatever they're going through, would you just remind them of how deep your love is for them? There's nothing they could do. to run away from it, to get rid of it, it's who you are. And so Lord, on behalf of our church, we just say all honor, all power, all glory is yours forever. In Jesus' name we all say, amen church. Y'all can be seated. My name is Daniel. And I'm Jamie. And we attend the Bullitt County Campus. We have been at Bullitt since the beginning. Watched a baptism in a trough and thought this is the place for us. When the vision was cast about what move was and the objective of it, I think she and I both fell in love with it. But we're like, where do we find extra money? Like, how do we make that happen? I really felt like we don't have anything to give.

We're barely making it. Our business was struggling. We're hoping that God would provide enough to live on and then enough to give as well. When we sat down and we're kind of doing our budget, we're like, well, God, okay, like it's gotta be you. And we've tried it our way for such a long time. We just decided that we were gonna increase our giving by a certain percentage and just trust that God was gonna fill in the gap for us. Okay, God, like, yeah, this is gonna be you. Right. Yeah, the only way that this works is if you show up. Because at that point when we made that commitment, we did not have the money to make that commitment. So we have four teenagers. When we went to the meeting at the Young Center, it inspired them. Like, we were like, okay. And so just, you know, when the picture was painted that the money you're giving, it's globally minded, it's community minded, like it is, like that dollars will be used. You could see our kids kind of rally behind that and so when we did get back in the car, it was just kind of frank. Like, we love the idea of it, but like, it's gonna take something from you, like to make that happen. And I think initially they were a little like,

oh, we just liked it. We didn't know that it actually was gonna come out. It's gonna come at a cost, yeah. We had never really lived on a budget. Okay, this month we do not eat out. And because we were trying to find the percentages, like we wanted to stick with the goal that we had set. And I was just confident that if we sacrificed, I just trusted that God would do the rest. The budget was so tight and we were making it when we just shouldn't have. So we started saying, we're gonna actually live by it no matter what, change in the way that we grocery shopped. We canceled like every subscription that we had. Even cutting out vacations, you know, that was something that we were all kind of used to. I know that sounds like a church answer, but it is honestly how we've approached this. We just said, life is going to look different. Two weeks after we went to the move thing, we were in, we were praying about it. And Saturday morning she calls me and she's like, my car is gone. So like, we all go outside. And I just stare at the empty spot in the garage, like, well, the car's not here. And I'm like, is somebody pranking us? Like, where's the car? Like, of course our car gets stolen

now after like we make a commitment. And then we got it back and it was like $3,000 worth of damage. And we were like, God, like we don't have money. Right, we had just made this commitment. And now we're gonna have to write a $3,000 check to fix her car that obviously was not in the budget. You just don't see that stuff coming, so. It was a little bit of a wake up call. It made me feel like, okay, this is gonna be a fight. We have so much to be thankful for, but like we're focused on the negative. And so we just started saying what we were thankful for. Like every day we would send each other like a list of five things. I've noticed Daniel is a lot less stressed. He's a lot less anxious. He used to wake up just like at two, three o'clock in the morning and just his mind was racing. Just how am I gonna pay the people I have to pay? How am I gonna do the work I have to do? And he doesn't do that anymore. To watch her willing to sacrifice the comforts of life and to understand that our ecosystem looks different now and that our house tone is different now and to watch her be able to have joy in all of that. For years, our joys come in the comforts of life and now we are finding joy in the sacrifices of it.

We made it through 2025 with the commitment that we made. Like I was like, I think we can do another percentage. We found out that we had gone beyond what we had said. And I was like, well, if we've already gone beyond once, like let's push this thing. And in raising that commitment higher, it will probably force us to make even more changes. And I feel like the changes that we have made this year have benefited our family, our relationship, and just our quality of life. And it's through less stuff. Mission is to change the world for Christ. That was the biggest motivator for me. When the MOVE vision was cast, was that this is not about us. Mike, we wanna change lives for Jesus. The whole MOVE initiative and goal has reshaped kind of honestly how we parent. It's important for them to see us struggle and to make sacrificial giving because I want their influence to be God-centered. And in order to do that, mom and dad have to live God-centered lives and like lead that example. And to think that what we're doing now and the sacrifices that we're making and teaching them that their kids and their grandkids will benefit from. Since we've made the MOVE commitment, I would say that we have more peace and contentment than we ever have in our 21 years of marriage.

And it is 100% because of the commitment we made to MOVE. We've made so many mistakes and God just keeps showing up in His grace, poured out on us every day. Man, I just cannot imagine what He can do with more buy-in from more people. Like if God can use us, He can use anybody. Hey, let's show them some love for having the courage to share with our church family about generosity. That takes a lot of bravery. And I am so thankful for the numerous stories I've heard over the last year of everyday people making everyday sacrifices for an eternal mission. I know a lot of us could relate to that video because the same thing happened to us. You were saying me too, because you made a bold commitment. You said, I'm gonna stretch myself. And then maybe it was your car like them, maybe it was your water heater, maybe it was something else. And you realize, oh, this isn't gonna be easy and you stuck with it. And it's grown trust, independence, and I'm real proud of you for doing that. In this kind of midpoint of the MOVE journey, we're doing this series to remind us and reinvigorate us around the mission. And at the halfway point, we really are really reemphasizing what we started off with.

And it was the question we put as our primary goal in these booklets, which says, our goal, our number one goal is 100% engagement. And if you wonder what that means, it simply means this. What if every single one of us prayed a dangerous prayer that sounds like this? God, what do you wanna do in me and through me? Because that's a scary thing to pray. You're kind of saying, God, I'm telling you up front, I'm gonna do it, just tell me what it is. And a lot of us have taken bold steps in response to that. In your MOVE booklet, you have your group study for your small group this week. You also have a space to take notes. So I want you to open up to week two. I want you to take some notes today. We're gonna give you two phrases we're gonna learn from the scripture that I want you to take with you, talk about with other people, take into your small group this week. And a lot of you, maybe those of us who don't follow Jesus or are new to church, look at that story that was just shown and wonder, why in the world would someone give up vacation for Jesus? Why would somebody not eat out for church? I'm gonna tell you why. In a word, it's grace. I'm gonna tell you via story, though. This is a story told by C.S. Lewis decades ago.

It's a story about a boy named Eustace. And Eustace was a self-centered jerk of a boy. He knew it, everybody else knew it. He didn't care, and he let you know. Nobody wanted to be around Eustace. Eustace didn't want to be around anybody. But he finds himself forced on this expedition against his will on a small ship across the sea. And there's a couple of family members there and a bunch of strangers he doesn't know. And he repulses all of them. He keeps them at arm's distance. He doesn't want to be friends with them. He thinks they're all jerks and he treats them like one. And so he's off on his own the whole time. They finally land on an island. And against what everyone else says is wise, he wanders off by himself. He finds this treasure of gold and gems and precious jewels, not realizing it's a dragon's treasure. And he falls asleep on it. What Eustace doesn't know is when you fall asleep on a dragon's treasure with the heart of a dragon who's wanting to hoard it for yourself, you become a dragon. And Eustace wakes up and he's scared because he looks down and instead of hands, he's got claws. Instead of skin, he's got reptile skin. And he breathes and fire comes out

and he realizes the horrific truth. He's a dragon. He goes back to the people he's been traveling with and he tries to get near them. But as you can expect, they're terrified and run from the dragon. It's only after much very awkward communication that they realize Eustace is the dragon. The dragon is Eustace. Finally, what's on the outside matches what's been on the inside. And they can't think of anything to do to turn him back into a boy. And at some point, they say, hey, the expedition needs to move on. We're gonna have to leave you here forever to die. Well, at this point. Eustace hits rock bottom and he's full of genuine remorse and Aslan the lion appears to him. And he follows Aslan to this beautiful garden in the middle of which is an ornate pool, the water of which just looks like the most refreshing thing Eustace has ever seen in his life. He longs to get in, but Aslan says, you must undress first. Eustace remembers that snakes shed their skin, so he peels off his skin only to see another layer of dragon skin underneath. He does this three times to no avail. He's still a dragon.

He looks despondent at the lion Aslan who says, you must let me do it. Eustace nods. Aslan takes his lion's claws and he thrusts them deep into the chest of Eustace and pulls and it burns and hurts like no pain he's ever experienced. And Aslan does this again and again and again until finally the dragon's skin is shed. He picks up the boy Eustace. He plunges him into the pools of the water and it stings at first, but then it is cooling and the most refreshing experience of his entire life. And he laughs and he swims and he plays and he's a boy again. And Aslan lifts him up out of the water and he dresses him in new clothes to enter his new life as his child. If you are new to faith, church, or Jesus, what you have to understand is the story of Eustace is the story of the Christian believer. We are selfish. We are rude. We care about me. And no matter how hard we tried, we could not undragon ourselves. But then we met Jesus and he said, I alone can undragon you. And he pierced us with his truth and sometimes it hurt. And then he plunged us into the waters of baptism where grace washed over us

and it was the most refreshing experience of our life where we smiled in our souls because we'd been made new again. Grace is the reason we follow Jesus. Grace means endless second chances. Grace means it's gonna be okay. Grace means when you take communion, no matter what you did this week, if you fell into the same thing again, it is never a time of shame. It is only always a time of relief and joy because you're still redeemed and still his child. Grace means you are enough. Grace means you have a future. Grace means no matter what goes wrong, it's all gonna end all right and that is why we follow Jesus. The question is, once you have grace, what does that look like? And that's what this whole journey is about. How do we move in grace? What does it mean, we're asking, for us to move as a community of people who've been undragoned together? And that's what we gather every week to figure out is we figure out what it means for managing our money and what it means for becoming emotionally healthy and how do I deal with that friend drama and my past pain and our future dreams and our relationships that were really hard this week

and our family that can bring us so much joy but can also be so challenging. And we figured out by opening God's word and doing what it says. So at the midpoint of this move journey, we're walking through an old book in the Bible called Philippians that was written by the Apostle Paul to a small church in the city of Philippi in the first century because they too needed to know how do we move in grace? And the Apostle Paul told them. And so we come to Philippians 1.20 today that says, for I fully expect and hope that I will never be ashamed but I will continue to be bold for Christ as I've been in the past. Now, here's what's interesting is this word bold in the Greek is the word parousia which means to speak openly and freely. It means to speak your mind without weighing what consequences may come. And when you think about it, this is who Jesus was. This is what Jesus did. Jesus describes himself as gentle and humble. He was also a truth teller. Let me show you some of the things Jesus said. Matthew 16, Jesus turned to Peter and said, get away from me, Satan. Matthew 12, you brood of snakes. How could evil men like you speak what's good and right?

Luke nine, you faithless and corrupt people. How long must I be with you and put up with you? Matthew 23, snakes, sons of vipers, how will you escape the judgment of hell? John eight, he says, for you are the children of your father, the devil. Matthew 23, what sorrow awaits you hypocrites? You're like whitewashed tombs. Beautiful on the outside. On the inside, you're filled with dead people's bones and all kinds of impurity. Now what's going on here? Did Jesus forget that he's supposed to be gentle and kind? No, remember it was said of Jesus, John chapter one, he came full of grace and truth. That means. It wasn't 50% grace and 50% truth. It wasn't 100% grace sometimes with no truth and 100% truth sometimes with no grace. It was always only 100% grace and 100% truth in every interaction. He knew clear is kind and the truth sets you free. So think about this. If Jesus' goal was to always make you feel good, he actually failed miserably. But remember what it was said about him. It was said, a bent reed, he won't break. It's just barely hanging on. Meaning, if you're just in an emotional state where you're about to break under the pressure,

if your soul is bending to the point of being crushed, Jesus says, I'll give you rest for your souls. And because the truth sets you free, he speaks truth even when it's uncomfortable. Leadership coach of mine told me a story of a CEO who had a leadership team on which was one woman who was just more blunt than everybody else to the point of being rude. And she would always speak her mind and kind of got on everybody's nerves. She was known to be the first to squash other people's ideas or say something was dumb and they shouldn't do it. Finally, the rest of the leadership team went to the CEO and said, hey, you got to do something about this woman. She's driving us nuts. She's almost mean to us like we just have had enough. The CEO replied, well, you don't know her story, do you? They said, no. He said, well, she's independently wealthy. She inherited a bunch of money a long time ago. She doesn't need this paycheck. She doesn't need this job. In fact, she's the only one of us who doesn't actually need this paycheck. So in some ways, he said, actually trust what she has to say more than anyone else because she's not doing just to keep her job. She never holds back. In other words, she spoke truth for the sake of their mission.

Now, here's a key difference between maybe that woman and how we're called to do it and maybe between how our instinct wants to speak truth and how we're called to do it. And it's these two words right here, for Christ. For Christ. The idea isn't today that you're gonna go around saying whatever rude thing comes to mind or inappropriate thing you've been wanting to say or the hot take you've been wanting to rant about to make yourself feel better. That's not what Jesus did. It's not what Paul's saying. Please don't go to lunch after church today and give everybody your most offensive thing you've been wanting to say inside. And then you say, hey, Carl told me at church I had to get this off my chest. That's not what we're doing. Remember, in fact, sometimes Jesus keeps his mouth shut. When he's on trial, both before Pilate and Herod, at times they ask him questions and he doesn't even answer. And think about this. They have the power, it seems, to execute him. It'd be a pretty good time to speak up to the world's most powerful people. He doesn't say a word. So the scripture today isn't just about blurting out what's on your mind.

It's about knowing what God is calling you to speak up and say. It may sound like to a roommate, hey, that's a toxic relationship. You need to get out. To someone in your crew, here's how I'm increasing my generosity this year for MOVE. What are you doing? To a friend about politics, God creates life, so I have to vote to protect it. To a friend's post online, hey, I don't think following your heart's gonna end so good. To your small group, I need you to pray because I'm really scared about this thing I'm facing. To your spouse, I have a gambling addiction I need to confess. To your employee, you're not meeting our standard. We're gonna have to let you go. And most of those things feel scary. In fact, none of these are a situation I'm facing. My palms sweat just like thinking and saying those statements out loud because they're nerve-wracking. But all of those things need to be said at times. So how do we get there? How do we get to, in the words of Philippians 1, where we can speak openly and freely for Christ? Because most of us go through life weighing the pros and cons of what we're gonna say. What will they think of me?

Will this cost me a relationship? Will I look stupid? But the Christian who is standing on Scripture, who is sure is your identity as a child of God, can openly and freely speak without fear of what others think. Verse 20 paints the picture. The next nine verses of Philippians 1 are gonna teach us two mindsets the Christian has that if we ensure we have these, will lead us to speaking openly and freely for Christ. And in a world where we gotta be politically correct all the time, where often feelings triumph over truth, where agendas are always at work, Jesus is going to give you a better way, not just to speak, but to think and to love today. Now, as we go through this, you may be thinking, well, I know the secondary goal and move is around generosity. How does this tie into how we speak? Well, actions speak louder than words. Words. If your words are not backed by action, they're empty and meaningless, and the reality is money talks. So some of us today, the application is probably gonna be how, not just how we're speaking, but how we're speaking with our finances. So as we unpack the rest of Philippians 1, here's what I want you to do. I want you to pray that prayer.

I want you to say, God, even as we dig into your word, what do you wanna do in me and through me? And I believe he's gonna speak to you and answer that prayer through Philippians 1 today. The verses go on. I trust that my life will bring honor to Christ, whether I live or die. To me, living means living for Christ and dying is even better. He's saying, I long to be in the place where there's no more tears or crying or pain. I long to be there. Verse 22. But if I live, I can do more fruitful work for Christ. So I really don't know which is better. I'm torn between two desires. I long to go and be with Christ, which would be far better for me. But for your sakes, it's better that I continue to live. Now think about Paul's attitude here. He's being flippant about whether or not he should die. He's like, you know, dying would actually be a lot better and maybe more fun, but I guess I'll stay around for you guys. It's almost like he's choosing a movie on Netflix. Like, I guess I'll go with this one. Look at the next verse. Knowing this, I'm convinced I'll remain alive. I'll be able to help you all grow and experience the joy of your faith.

Now his attitude towards death shows us a key that enables us to speak freely and openly. And here's the attitude we must take. I want you to write this down in your booklet. I'm already dead. I'm already dead. In fact, I want you to just say that out loud. One, two, three, go. I'm already dead. And this is a key mindset of the Christian. Look at these verses here. Colossians 3. You died. Your life's not hidden with Christ and God. Colossians 2. You've died with Christ. Romans 6. We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ. Romans 6 again. We died with Christ. Galatians 2. My old self has been crucified with Christ. Now, here's the truth. If something is in the Bible one time, you can bet your eternity on it. When it's in there over and over and over and over, this is just my opinion, but it kind of seems like God's trying to beat it into us and say, hey, this is kind of a big deal.

You don't want to miss this. If you miss this, you miss a big thing. We have died. We've died. Christ lives in us. Philippians 1 is showing us, if I understand, I'm already dead. This world means nothing to me. My hope is in Jesus that frees us to speak openly and freely. Why? Because when I don't say what I should say, it's because I'm holding the things of this world too tightly I'm gripping my ego. So I don't say something that might make me look stupid. I'm gripping my need for approval. I don't say something that may offend you. I'm gripping my desire to be the provider. So I don't say anything that could get me in trouble at work and even this physical posture shows you how this ties into the move journey because it's only when I begin to let go of the things of this world that I can speak openly and freely and that begins with our finances. Paul considered himself already dead. So the threat of killing him wasn't really a threat because he was already dead. It just hadn't technically happened yet. Listened to a Jocko podcast recently

featuring Johnny Kim, a Korean American born in 1984. Right after high school, he joined the Navy and he became a SEAL, over 100 combat operations, Silver Star, Bronze Star of Valor. He then got a degree in math from University of San Diego. He then went to Harvard and became a doctor. He then joined NASA and became an astronaut just getting back from the International Space Station last month, dude's kind of successful in life. In the interview, he talked about how budge training, where you audition, like you try out to be a SEAL, taught him the mindset that carried him to all those places. Here's what he said. I quickly learned that the mental preparation I needed to do for myself was assume I was going to die, that I was already dead and I was there just to do my job. And he said, once you accept the worst, fear loses its grip, you focus purely on the mission and that mindset carried him from training to combat to space. Now when you first hear that, it sounds kind of weird. Sounds kind of mental. But it kind of sounds like, hey, if you want to follow me, pick up your cross and let's go die together. Kind of sounds like Philippians. I trust that my life will bring honor to Christ, whether I live or die. To me, living means Christ, dying's even better. Meaning, any time you get that pit in your stomach. You get those sweaty palms thinking,

I think I should say something right here. And you don't want to remember, I'm already dead. Christ is all I need. Now think of what this looks like. In marriage, if you're already dead, your worth isn't dependent on their approval. You don't swallow truth just to keep the peace. So you speak up. You say, we need to talk about the money. I can't keep spending like that. Or I saw the porn, we've got to deal with this. Or you keep railroading me. We need some help to communicate better. Because you're already dead. Tension or pushback can't kill what Christ has already crucified. At work, if you're already dead, getting passed over for the promotion or having someone not like you, or even getting fired isn't the end of the world. So you speak up when something is done unethically. You speak up in the lunchroom when people are talking about weekend plans to tell them you're going to church. Because you're already dead. If you get fired, you're dead anyway. With your friend who doesn't know Jesus. If you're already dead, rejection can't kill you. So you say clearly, hey, I love you too much to stay quiet. You're living a destructive lifestyle

and everybody spends eternity somewhere. Because you're already dead. If they're offended, oh well. In your Christian walk, if I'm already dead, my reputation isn't my idol anymore, so I can go first in bringing my things from dark into the light, even if everybody else is wearing a mask pretending everything's fine, because I'm already dead, so my reputation doesn't matter. It's kind of like an old movie that I'm totally gonna ruin for you right now, but it's 20 years old, so if you haven't seen it by now, that's just on you. It's the movie The Sixth Sense. Some of you old people remember this, right? Bruce Willis, and the plot of the story is he's a child psychiatrist, and he gets asked to help this kid who's having all kinds of mental problems. And he finally shares with Bruce Willis his character, his secret. He says, I see dead people. And Bruce Willis thinks something's wrong with him, and then he realizes, oh, I think you actually do. And he says, I think the dead people want you to help them with something in this physical world. And so they do that, and everything comes together. It's this beautiful story, has a bow on it, it's all good. And then at the very end, in a twist you never saw coming,

you realize Bruce Willis' character is dead and has been dead the entire movie, mind blown. But the point of the movie is there is a mission that Bruce Willis could only accomplish because he was dead. And if he was alive, he couldn't have helped the kid, but because he was already dead, there was a mission he had in front of him that only he could accomplish. And there's a mission God has for you that you can only accomplish if you're already dead. Because if you are holding on to this life, you're gonna worry about the embarrassment, you're gonna argue as if your worth is on the line, and you will play out the what ifs of life, and you will hedge your bets and play it safe. But God has said, you are already dead, your life is crucified, and you no longer live, but I live in you. Therefore, I have something that's gonna require courage, and you're gonna have to step into it, and you're the only one who can do it. In fact, I've raised everything for this situation to put you in it so you would speak life and truth and grace for this person at this moment in history. Are you ready? And it can only happen if I'm already dead. One other thing Paul shows us, verse 27, this is a little more cheery one, this one will be. Above all, you must live as citizens of heaven, conducting yourselves in a manner worthy

of the good news about Christ. Then whether I come and see you again, or only hear about you, I'll know you're standing together with one spirit, one purpose, fighting together for the faith, which is the good news. Now like, if we can show the last screen, that he references he's a citizen of heaven. This is important to Paul to remind himself of, to remind us of, because he's saying, hey, kind of all this is based on your inheritance. You have a better inheritance coming, which is why this is all true. I read a story about an inheritance that I thought was pretty wild and funny. It was two brothers who sadly were homeless and lived in a cave outside of Budapest, Hungary, until very recently. This was, they were just scraping to get by. Their mom was dead, and they were living as homeless when someone from Germany tracked them down, came and found them in their cave, and said, you guys don't know this, but you have a grandmother who is a billionaire, with a B, who just died, and she left you $6 billion. I love this quote from one of the brothers. If this all works out, it'll certainly make up for the life we've had until now. All we really had was each other. No women would look at us living in a cave. I mean, is this not the most man comment ever?

They're billionaires, and all they want is a woman. Like, we're simple. Verse 28, don't be intimidated in any way by your enemies. This'll be a sign to them that they're gonna be destroyed, but that you're gonna be saved even by God himself. Here's what he's saying. He's saying, this isn't something you have to manufacture. It's not fake it till you make it. It's just live in what's true. And here's the way I'd say it, write this down. I've already won. In fact, say that out loud, one, two, three, go. I've already won. Indiana won the college football national championship last week behind their quarterback, who's famous for always giving glory to God in all of his post-game interviews. And for the national championship, you could actually bet on how many times he would say the word God in his post-game interview. And you could bet, is it gonna be more or less than one and a half times? Well, two guys bet $10,000 that he would say it at least twice. And then they live streamed them watching his post-game interview. Watch this. Come on, Fernando, come on, man. In the program to make that possible. Yeah, first of all, I wanna give all the glory to God.

Yes, okay, there's one, come on. Please, bro, please, please, man, please. Congratulations. Well, give thanks, give thanks. Thank you so much, God bless. Yes! Give thanks! I knew it, I knew it. Thank you, God, thank you. Fernando. They're thankful they got 10Ks, what they're thankful for. But I love the quote I read from Indiana's quarterback. Here's what Mendoza said. He said, I don't praise God because we won. I praise him because he's worthy no matter the outcome. What's he saying? I've already won. In other words, Christ has defeated death, so I'm good. I'll show you a list of scriptures again. Romans 8, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ. First Corinthians 15, thank God. He gives us victory over sin and death. John 16, take heart, Jesus says, I've overcome the world. First John 5, every child of God defeats this evil world. We achieve this victory. And all of these scriptures are just rephrasing what we read in Philippians 1. I've already won. So when it looks like I'm losing, I've already won. I have a buddy who does something kind of funny

with his sports teams. He's really into football and basketball. And he says, Carl, it just works me up too much emotionally to watch the games live. It just messes with me and I get too grumpy. So what he does is he records every game. He waits till it's over. Then he checks the score. And only if his team wins, does he then go back and re-watch the recording of it. He's kind of a genius. Because if his basketball team gets down by 16 points, he's just eating his popcorn like, this is gonna be a great comeback. If his football team has like a world's dumbest fumble, he doesn't stress about it at all. He just goes and gets a snack. He's like, I can't wait to see how we win. And the same thing is true with you. Because the tape of Scripture says the tomb is empty. And the empty tomb shows his words are true. And the empty tomb proves his promises are reliable. And the empty tomb means victory is certain, which means if you get down in the meantime, it doesn't matter because the end result is Jesus returns, you overcome, heaven is yours, victory's won. And this is most helpful when you're in situations of despair. When the world would look at you and say, you've lost, it's over.

Your husband left, you're lonely, scared, broke. The world says curl up, stay quiet, don't rock the boat. But you've already won. Christ has secured your future so you can speak up. You tell your coworkers you still have joy. You invite the other single moms over to pray for them. You even share the gospel with the lawyer across the table because your life isn't wrecked, it's hidden in Christ. You gave your virginity away. You wanna say it just happened, but shame keeps whispering in your ear that you're damaged goods. But you've already won. Christ makes you pure, presents you spotless. So you speak openly about sexual sin to the teenagers you mentor at church. You warn others without hypocrisy. And you tell your future spouse the whole story, not omitting things to protect yourself because you can point them to the Savior who washed you whiter than snow. The business you started failed. Everybody knows it. You see their looks everywhere you go. But you've already won. Your identity isn't failure, your identity is son. So you speak freely. You tell the story of the flop and how Jesus carried you through it. You invite those former clients to church.

You share Christ with the same folks who saw you fail because you know God takes care of the birds. So he's got you. Your loved one died. And the grief still knocks the wind out of you some days. The enemy wants you silent, bitter, doubting. But you've already won. Death is defeated. You will see them again in the new creation. So you speak hope at the funeral. You say, because Jesus rose, we will too. And even years later, you can talk about hope-filled joy, even while tears still fall, because sorrow can't steal your victory. You've already won. Look at what John says about victory. Who can win this battle against the world? Only those who believe Jesus is the Son of God. In other words, if you don't believe Jesus is the Son of God, you're a dragon. You go through life not speaking openly and freely because you gotta play the political game, you gotta protect your image, or you just give your hot takes, not caring if it offends anybody, because you don't care. And I bet you've tried to undragon yourself, and it hasn't worked. If I may speak openly and freely with you, we will all stand before the judgment seat of Christ one day

you included, and we will give an account for everything we've done in this body. And not done, and thought. And then every single one of us will go away to eternal reward, or eternal punishment. But here's the good news. Jesus wants to undragon you. He wants to pierce you and convict you with his truth. He wants to plunge you into the waters of baptism. He wants to clothe you in his spirit so you can walk anew as his child. And this verse in 1 John really ties everything in Philippians into the move journey, because belief, faith, is always something you can see. We like to talk about faith in our culture in this kind of like ethereal way, like it's in the clouds, it's this idea, it's in our heart, it's in our mind, but scripturally, faith is always seen. And if your actions and words are misaligned, you know this, your words are meaningless. So think about this. How do we ensure that our words, that we're challenged to speak openly and freely, reflect Christ? Well, scripture says, out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks. So we have to ensure our heart is right if our words are gonna be right. Okay, well how do we ensure our heart is right?

Well, Jesus says, if you want your heart in the right place, your treasure has to be in the right place, because where your treasure is, that's where your heart is. So if you reverse engineer this, it's almost like a series of dominoes. You wanna learn how to speak openly and freely. First domino is to get your finances and generosity right. That leads to your heart being right. That leads to your words being right. So there's kind of two reasons that maybe you shouldn't apply Philippians 1 today. One reason is if you're not practicing generosity and faithfulness to God. Because if not, then your heart isn't right. That's what Jesus says. And if your heart isn't right, then your words won't be right. And so what God wants to do in and through you is work on your heart about you being generous. The second reason you maybe shouldn't apply Philippians 1 today is if you're like really excited to go tell somebody what you've been dying to tell them. Because we gotta remember, Jesus was gentle and kind, and he, at times when he was on trial to be executed, the times when it'd been most helpful from a human perspective to speak up and say something, he said nothing. Because Paul, remember, is praying for boldness. What this is about is do you have the courage to speak up when you're scared to do so?

So if you're really excited to go tell them what you think, probably the wrong conversation, not the one God wants you to have. But if you're scared to death of having it, probably exactly the one that God's calling you to have. So the question for the believers today, look back at the verse, is to whom do you need to speak openly and freely? Your best friend, ex-wife, political representative, fellow student, principal, employee, spouse? Who do you need to speak to openly and freely? One last scripture is Acts 18, nine. These are words that Jesus speaks directly to Paul one night in a vision. Paul, the apostle Paul, needs to hear this. Don't be afraid, speak out. Don't be silent, for I am with you. And I believe God brought you to church today to tell you this exact same thing. Don't be afraid, speak out. Don't be silent. He's with you. Let's pray. Father in heaven, it is so much easier to keep our mouth shut when we're scared. It's so much easier to protect our ego, our status, our relationship. we'd rather just fake it and just get by. And God, I pray for me and others like me

who too often just want to tell people how it is. God, we repent from that, that that's not who Jesus was. We want to have his gentleness and kindness and we want his boldness. So our prayer is the same as Paul's. Will you help us speak openly and freely to that one person, that one group, that one relationship where you need us to step in. God, thanks for bringing us to church today so we could open your word, so we could submit to your commands and stand in the gap where you would have us do so. It is in Jesus' name that we pray, amen. I said a couple of minutes ago that one of the benefits of grace is that when you take communion, it's not with shame at what you fell into again this week, but it's with relief and joy at the fact that you're still his child and grace is still for you. Now, there may be one exception, not just if you fell to a sin, we're sinners, we're the worst of sinners. However, if there's a part of you where you've essentially said, Jesus, we're not going there and you're pretending that he doesn't know and you think if you ignore it, it'll go away, but the sin keeps growing because that's what happens in the dark.

Then I would challenge you to have that conversation with God right now as we celebrate communion and we play some music to give you a quiet time to reflect. And I would challenge you to have that conversation with someone you trust later today. But unless you have a secret that you've been trying to keep secret, let communion today be a time of relief and joy. Oh, he's still got me, I'm still good, he's still my dad. And so whenever you're ready, you can eat the cracker and drink the juice that represents Jesus' body and blood. And I would just almost encourage you to physically smile as you're reminded of that joy. And if you're a dragon, he wants to undragon you, and he wants to do it today. And life as a dragon is hard. And so we want you, as we sing together, wherever you're sitting, we want you to get out of your seat and go to the next step area right over here on the first floor where we have some people who've been praying for you, praying that they would get to meet a dragon today and open the scriptures and teach you how you can be set free through Jesus. Let's celebrate communion together right now. Come on. We're creations suddenly articulate with a thousand tongues to lift one cry.

Then from north to south and east to west, we'd hear cries of love. We'd hear Christ be magnified. Where the whole earth echoing His eminence, His name would burst from sea and sky. From rivers to the mountaintops, we'd hear Christ be magnified. Oh, be magnified. Lord. We're singing, oh, Christ be magnified. Just let His praise arise. Christ be magnified in me. Oh, Christ be magnified. From the altar of my life. Christ be magnified in me. When every creature finds its inmost melody. And every human heart its native cry. Oh, then in one enraptured hymn of praise we'll sing Christ be magnified. Oh, be magnified in us. Oh, we're singing, oh, Christ be magnified. Just let His praise arise. Oh, Christ be magnified in me. We're singing, oh, Christ be magnified. From the altar of my life. Christ be magnified in me. There's no one more worthy. May we live our lives for you, Lord. And only you. Thank you, Jesus. Oh, I won't bow to idols. I'll stand strong and worship you. And if it puts me through the fire, I'll rejoice cause you're there too. I won't be fooled by feelings. I'll hold fast to what is true. If the cross breaks transformation, you can hang me there with you. Because death is just a doorway into resurrection life. And if I join you in your sufferings, then I'll join you when you rise. And when you return in glory with all the angels in the saints, my heart will still be singing. My soul will be in shame. Oh, Christ be magnified. Just let His praise arise. Oh, Christ be magnified in me. We're singing, oh, Christ be magnified. From the altar of my life. Christ be magnified in me. We're singing, oh, be magnified. Just let His praise arise. Oh, Christ be magnified in me. We're singing, oh, Christ be magnified. From the altar of my life. Christ be magnified in me.

Yeah. Oh, God, you're worthy. And all the earth will shout your praise. Our hearts will cry. These bones will say, great are you, Lord. Come on, we sing. We praise our God, our King. All the earth will shout your praise. Our hearts will cry. These bones will say, great are you, Lord. There's more worthy. So we praise you, Lord. And all the earth. Our hearts will cry. These bones will say, great are you, Lord. And all the earth will shout your praise. ♪ Our hearts will cry ♪ ♪ Oh great are you Lord ♪ ♪ Oh it's your breath in our lungs ♪ ♪ So we pour out our praise, we pour out our praise ♪ ♪ It's your breath in our lungs ♪ ♪ So we pour out our praise to you oh ♪ ♪ It's your breath in our lungs so we pour out our praise ♪ ♪ We pour out our praise, it's your breath in our lungs ♪ ♪ It's your breath in our lungs so we pour out our praise to you oh ♪ ♪ We sing great are you Lord ♪ ♪ For all eternity we sing great are you Lord ♪ ♪ Are you Lord, he's so mighty great are you Lord ♪ ♪ Come on we sing great are you Lord ♪ ♪ Are you Lord, all given for you, thank you Jesus. ♪ Man, what a great worship time together and what an incredibly good message for us to chew on and think about. And my hope is that as you were hearing a message about boldness, that there's some things that popped in your mind that the Holy Spirit that God was giving you where you can step out in boldness. And there's two things about boldness

that ring true in my life. Is that one is I can't be bold if I'm carrying baggage around with me from my past. If I'm trying to get up that day and put on a bag and I've got all kinds of stuff, regrets and resentments and all these things that I'm packing along with me, man, it's really hard to move boldly when I'm carrying baggage. And so I wanna encourage you as you process this message this week or in the next few days, that you really look at like, is there things that are holding me back that are limiting my ability, man, things I would love to do boldly, but there's this. Man, take that to the Lord, write that in a journal, work with somebody that's a trusted spiritual advisor, write into us about that. We would love to help pastor and process that stuff with you. The other thing about boldness that stands out to me is that man, we don't have to be bold to earn the approval of God. So much of my life as a pastor, I've been a pastor for 25 years now and I've been sober for five of those. And so much of my addiction as a pastor was centered around thinking I had to do something big and dramatic and over the top to try to earn the approval of God. And so as you process this boldness message today, I wanna frame it with this prayer that is said

that really helps set up. It's the gospel prayer by another pastor. And it says this, there's nothing that you have done to make God love you any less. And there's nothing you can do to make God love you any more. And simply truthfully because of that, that is why we can move forward in boldness. Nothing that I've done is limiting or changes the way God loves me. And there's nothing I can do to make God love me any more. And because I'm standing in a place of freedom, I can be bold about what God has done in my life. Wanna let you know coming up Thursday, we have a podcast that usually drops. This week, we're really excited because you are gonna be doing on Thursday, the podcast is coming out is the Move Podcast. And it is the exact same podcast that all of our campuses and all of our online family and all of our recovery centers and all of you that are connecting with us on Pando are doing together. We are all doing the same one. So jump in with us Thursday when the podcast drops so you can be connected to what God is doing through our Move initiative. We're gonna close out our time today with our prayer. And it's a great moment for me to recenter.

And so what I wanna do right now is like I usually do when I'm with you all is to take a breath, be present in this. And after that, let's pray the prayer together. We pray that our love abound more and more with knowledge and discernment, so that we may approve of what is excellent, so we be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ. To the glory and praise of God, amen. Thank you so much for being with us today. Thank you for sharing what God is doing in your life. We're not us without you. We love you, Pando family. See you again soon.