Source of Truth | Pastor Daniel Floyd

Welcome to Gateway, we're so glad that you're here with us today. We're so grateful for you. You know something we're really excited about, this past week, we in this room right here, we had thousands of teenagers, young people here worshiping God, committing their lives to Him, just giving their lives to Him. It's been an incredible week we have, we're just coming off of that high. And I don't know if you know this, but we have an incredible youth worship team here at Gateway, incredible team. And so, we're gonna have them lead us in worship today. So can we welcome our youth team to lead us in worship? Let's do it. ♪ Oh my soul, bless the Lord ♪ ♪ Sing it out, tell Him He's worthy ♪ ♪ Oh my soul, bless the Lord ♪ ♪ Sing it out, hallelujah ♪ ♪ For as long as I am breathing ♪ ♪ I will live to testify ♪ ♪ There's no end to Your goodness ♪ ♪ Your love can't be contained ♪ ♪ And there's no end to Your mercy ♪ ♪ It goes on and on and on ♪ ♪ You can't give any reasons to glorify Your name ♪ ♪ I can't help but to praise You on and on and on ♪ Sing this out. ♪ And there is none, no none like You ♪

♪ So I will sing, sing of Your glory ♪ ♪ For as long as I am breathing ♪ ♪ I will live to testify ♪ ♪ There's no end to Your goodness ♪ ♪ Your love can't be contained ♪ ♪ And there's no end to Your mercy ♪ ♪ It goes on and on and on ♪ ♪ You can't give any reasons to glorify Your name ♪ ♪ I can't help but to praise You on and on and on ♪ ♪ We're gonna praise You on and on ♪ Sing, I've got a reason. ♪ And I've got a reason, so many reasons ♪ ♪ Every reason to praise You in every season ♪ ♪ I've got a reason, every reason to praise You ♪ ♪ I've got a reason, so many reasons ♪ ♪ Every reason to praise You in every season ♪ ♪ I've got a reason, every reason to praise You ♪ ♪ I've got a reason, so many reasons ♪ ♪ Every reason to praise You in every season ♪ ♪ I've got a reason, every reason to praise You ♪ ♪ And there's no end to Your goodness ♪ ♪ Your love can't be contained ♪ ♪ There's no end to Your mercy, it goes on and on and on ♪ ♪ You keep giving me reasons to glorify Your name ♪ ♪ And I can't help but to praise You on and on and on ♪ ♪ And on and on and on, we will praise You on and on ♪ Come on church, He continues to give us reasons to praise Him. He is worthy of the praise. He is worthy of the honor and all of the glory. And so Heavenly Father, we glorify Your name in this room.

We have come to lift You up. I lift you high this morning. You are worthy of all of our praise, Lord. Come on, let's sing this out together. ♪ It was my cross you bore so I could live ♪ ♪ In the freedom you died for, thank you Lord ♪ ♪ And now my life is yours and I will sing of your goodness forevermore ♪ ♪ Worthy is your name, Jesus, Lord of all the earth ♪ ♪ You deserve the praise, worthy is your name, Jesus ♪ ♪ You deserve the praise, worthy is your name, Jesus ♪ ♪ Yes you are, you're worthy Jesus, yes you are, yes you are ♪ ♪ You deserve the praise, worthy is your name, Jesus, yes you are, yes you are, yes you are, yes you are ♪ ♪ And now my shame is gone, I stand amazed in your love undeniable, yes Lord ♪ ♪ Your grace goes on and on and I will sing of your goodness forevermore ♪ ♪ Worthy is your name, Jesus, Lord of all the earth ♪ ♪ You deserve the praise, worthy is your name, Jesus ♪ ♪ You deserve the praise, worthy is your name, Jesus ♪ ♪ Worthy is your name, Jesus, you deserve the praise ♪ ♪ Worthy is your name, worthy is your name, Jesus ♪ ♪ You deserve the praise, worthy is your name, Jesus ♪ ♪ Worthy is your name, worthy is your name, Jesus ♪ ♪ You are holy, you are worthy to be praised, yes ♪ ♪ So be exalted now in the heavens ♪ ♪ As your glory fills this place ♪ ♪ You alone deserve our praise ♪ ♪ You're the name above all names ♪ ♪ Be exalted now in the heavens ♪ Yes, Lord. You alone, Lord, deserve the praise. Yes, Lord.

♪ So be exalted now in the heavens ♪ ♪ As your glory fills this place ♪ ♪ You alone deserve our praise ♪ ♪ You're the name above all names ♪ ♪ Be exalted now in the heavens ♪ ♪ As your glory fills this place ♪ ♪ You alone deserve our praise ♪ ♪ You're the name above all names ♪ ♪ Be exalted now in the heavens ♪ ♪ As your glory fills this place ♪ ♪ You alone deserve our praise ♪ ♪ You're the name above all names ♪ ♪ Be exalted now in the heavens ♪ ♪ As your glory fills this place ♪ ♪ You alone deserve our praise ♪ ♪ You're the name above all names ♪ ♪ Yes, you are, yes, you are ♪ ♪ You are, you are, you are, you are the upper prize ♪ ♪ Yes, you are ♪ ♪ Worthy is Your name, Jesus ♪ ♪ You deserve the praise, worthy is Your name ♪ ♪ Worthy is Your name, Jesus ♪ ♪ You deserve the praise, worthy, worthy, worthy ♪ ♪ Worthy, worthy is Your name, Jesus ♪ ♪ You deserve the praise, worthy is Your name ♪ ♪ Worthy is Your name, Jesus ♪ ♪ You deserve the praise, worthy is Your name, Jesus ♪ ♪ Worthy is Your name, Jesus ♪ ♪ Worthy is Your name, Jesus ♪ Come on, He is worthy.

Can we give Him honor and glory? He is worthy. You are worthy, Lord, You are worthy. You are holy. You are worthy. ♪ So be exalted now in the heavens as Your glory fills this place ♪ ♪ You alone deserve our praise, You're the name above all names ♪ ♪ Be exalted now in the heavens as Your glory fills this place ♪ ♪ You alone deserve our praise, You're the name above all names ♪ ♪ You alone deserve our praise, You're the name above all names ♪ Yes, You are. Yes, You are. Yes, You are. Holy, holy are You, Lord God almighty. Worthy is the Lamb, worthy is the Lamb. You are holy, holy are You, Lord God almighty. Worthy is the Lamb, worthy is the Lamb. Worthy is the Lamb. You are holy, You're holy. Are You, Lord God almighty. Worthy is the Lamb, worthy is the Lamb. Amen. Yes. ♪ Christ is my firm foundation ♪ ♪ The rock on which I stand ♪ ♪ When everything around me is shaken ♪ ♪ I've never been more glad ♪ ♪ That I put my faith in Jesus ♪ ♪ He's never let me down ♪ ♪ He's faithful through generations ♪

♪ So why would He fail now, He won't ♪ ♪ He won't ♪ ♪ I've still got joy in chaos ♪ ♪ I've got peace that makes no sense ♪ ♪ And I won't be going under ♪ ♪ I'm not held by my own strength ♪ ♪ Cause I built my life on Jesus ♪ ♪ He's never let me down ♪ ♪ He's faithful in every season ♪ ♪ So why would He fail now, He won't ♪ ♪ He won't, He won't, He won't fail ♪ ♪ He won't fail, He won't fail, He won't, He won't fail ♪ ♪ He won't fail, He won't fail, He won't, He won't fail ♪ ♪ Christ is my heart's foundation ♪ ♪ The rock on which I stand ♪ ♪ When everything around me shakes ♪ ♪ I've never been, I've never been more glad ♪ ♪ That I put my faith in Jesus ♪ ♪ He's never let me down, He's faithful to generations ♪ ♪ So why would He fail now, He won't, He won't, He won't ♪ ♪ He won't fail, He won't fail, He won't, He won't fail ♪ ♪ He won't fail, He won't fail, He won't, He won't, He won't ♪ ♪ Oh we thank you Father, cause you've never failed us ♪ ♪ You've never failed us, you are where our hope comes from ♪ ♪ You are where our hope comes from, oh ♪ Let's go! ♪ And rain came when blue but my house was built on you ♪ ♪ And I'm safe with you and I'm gonna make it through ♪ Let's declare it today. ♪ And rain came when blue but my house was built on you ♪

♪ And my house was built, my house was built on you Lord ♪ ♪ And I'm safe with you and I'm gonna make it through ♪ ♪ And rain came when blue but my house was built on you ♪ ♪ And I'm safe with you and I'm gonna make it through ♪ ♪ And I'm gonna make it through ♪ ♪ Cause I stand in strong on you ♪ ♪ And I'm gonna make it through ♪ ♪ Cause my house was built on you ♪ ♪ Christ is my faith, He's my key to life ♪ ♪ From now I'm gonna wish I stand ♪ ♪ When everything around me is shaking ♪ ♪ I've never been, I've never been more glad ♪ ♪ That I put my faith in Jesus ♪ ♪ Cause He's never let me down ♪ ♪ His faith pulls through generations ♪ ♪ So I would give anything, He won't let me down ♪ ♪ He won't, He won't fail us, He won't fail, He won't fail ♪ ♪ He won't, no He won't, no He won't, no He won't, no He won't ♪ ♪ He won't fail, He won't fail, He won't fail ♪ ♪ He won't fail ♪ ♪ He won't fail, He won't fail, He won't fail, He won't fail ♪ ♪ He won't fail ♪ Welcome to church everybody. I wanna welcome all of our campuses that are joining us right now. I was thinking about that song and it reminded me of something that happened this week. I was in the office and I had on Argentina versus England. I've got into the World Cup, I've never watched soccer in my life, but this has been fascinating. And England was winning, and so I was like, okay, come on, Messi, you can't count him

out. And there was, England was winning, and I still understand how they keep time in soccer, because there's like this 90-minute clock, but then they add minutes, and I don't know who decides that or what happens, but you just get extra minutes on there. So they added nine minutes, and then Messi drives down, he shoots, and he scores, it's tied. And then he goes down again, and he crosses the ball over, guy heads it in, score a few minutes later, game's over, Argentina wins in the last few minutes. It's unbelievable. I was starting to thinking about, how many of you know life can be that way sometimes? That you're winning, winning, like you're England. You're like, we're winning, it's amazing, we're about to put this game away and go to the final. And then all of a sudden, a phone call comes, all of a sudden, something happens, all of a sudden, you learn of bad news, that in a moment, isn't it true, in a moment, life can change, can turn on a dime from really great to not so great. And I just want to remind somebody that maybe you're going through that today, is that if you've built your life on Jesus, the storms will come. The Bible says, in this world, you will have trouble, but take heart, for I have overcome the world. I'm reminded of what Psalm 62 says, it says, truly, he is my rock and my salvation. He is my fortress, I will not be shaken. My salvation and my honor depend on God. He is my mighty rock, my refuge, trust in him at all times, in the good times, in the challenging times, in the uncertain times, I'm gonna trust in him at all times, you people, pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge, how many of you are grateful for that truth today? Will you pray with me, Father, we're grateful today that you are the firm foundation that we can build our life upon. We're thankful today that we're not building it on shifting sand or shaking foundations,

we're building it on the surety of your son, Jesus, we're grateful. Today, I pray for anyone that is, feel like life in the last nine minutes has turned the wrong direction, felt like they were winning, winning in so many areas and feel like they're facing so many losses right now. I just pray that the peace of God that passes understanding would fill their hearts and minds in Christ right now. I pray for those who are in need of direction, that you, the wonderful counselor, would speak so clearly to him, as Jeremiah said, they'd hear the voice behind them saying, this is the way, walk in it. I pray for those today that maybe the loss is sickness in their body, we believe that you are the God who heals. So even now, from the top of their head to the sole of their feet, with the presence of God, touch them, bring healing into their bodies. Father, we're thankful today that we haven't built our life on a fable or a theory or a fairy tale. We've built it on the person of Jesus Christ. You are our King. You are our God. You are sovereign over all creation. You are the Lion of the tribe of Judah, and you are the Lamb of God slain before the foundation of the earth. You are the wonderful counselor, the mighty God, the Prince of Peace, the everlasting Father. You are for the Alpha and Omega. You are from beginning and you are to the end. You are the God that sustains us. You are sovereign. You are the overcomer. We praise you today and we honor you today. We thank you that because of you, no weapon formed against us will prosper.

We thank you that you have good plans for us. They're to prosper us and not to harm us and to give us a hope and a future. We thank you that with God, all things are possible. So we honor you, King Jesus, today. And we say you're worthy of our praise, of our adoration, and of our entire life. And we pray this in your great name. Everyone said, amen, amen. Come on, clap your hands if you believe it today. You picked a great day to be in church. And we just came out of an incredible weekend with our youth conference. And I'm gonna share a little bit about that in a minute, but just let me look at you and say how much Tammy and I love you. And we were grateful to have a little bit of time to unplug and relax and went on a trip because the kids came. It's a vacation when they don't. It's a trip when they come. So we went on a trip. It was good. But we're so thrilled to be back and serving Jesus alongside you. And we had an amazing weekend with youth conference, everybody. And I just want you to know, you'd be so proud of your church. So proud of your church. How many of you know we're building a church for the next generation?

Now, if you're in an older generation, you may say, well, if we're building a church for the next generation, what does that mean for me? Well, we're gonna build a church where your kids come and your grandkids come and your great-grandkids come. And guess what? You get to pay for it because the younger generation has no money. Messing with you, sort of. Hey, at every campus, why don't you high five somebody around you, learn a new name, greet somebody, tell them you're glad to see them in God's house today. I sorta like to distinguish other people and to tell them I love them and to love my合 The difference is that, I don't know what I'm interested in, but the truth of the matter is, you know, the difference about life is what gets people together. When I seen this first film, I think about how much more interesting and special this will be. And I hope that everything is going. ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ We wanna say welcome to church and of course to everybody online and our gateway gatherings, our prison campuses,

and maybe on demand later in the week. We're glad you're in church. If you're here for the very first time at any campus or even joining us online, we wanna say welcome. We're so glad you're here at every campus. Why don't we put our hands together and welcome everybody that may be with us for the first time, first time in a long time. As I said, we just had our youth conference. I wanted to give you a little update on that. Just over 2,400 students were a part of youth conference. Over 30 students, let me back up. We partnered with an organization this year called Stay Here. They're doing remarkable work as it relates to suicide prevention. And they are partnering with schools and churches and major corporations now are inviting them in to train and teach. And they offer an amazing resource and they started it because they could not, they had a hard time finding a faith-based suicide prevention organization and they felt like God asked them to start it. And so we did workshops in the afternoon where students could pick various workshops to go through. And one of the workshops was in the room here at Southlake and a lot of students came to it. Afterwards, they had the opportunity to talk with leaders.

Over 30 students came forward and said, I've been contemplating taking my life, but I've decided not to after being a part of this session, this conference. Really powerful. You gave just over $24,000 in scholarships, allowed students to come that otherwise would not have been able to come. So thank you for your amazing generosity. You are an incredibly generous church. 245 people took time off work, got up early, stayed up late. Our serve team, can we put our hands together for all the adults that invested time, energy, resources into this. And then this one should get the biggest applause. five students stood to their feet in front of their peers and said, I'm giving my life to Jesus today. Come on, let's clap our hands for that. It was a powerful weekend and parents registrations already open for next year. And here's my prayer. I'm praying for the day that our South Lake campus can no longer hold youth conference. And so get your students registered and believe in faith with me, all right? Come on, can we clap for that? A lot of clapping today, all right? We're kicking off a brand new series called TikTok Theology.

If you're new to church, a series is simply a collection of talks around a common thought or theme. And we're gonna be looking at this next three weeks. And I hope you'll make a point to be here every week of it. And before we get in, I wanna pray for us. So let's pray together. Father, our hearts and minds are open to you today. The Holy Spirit speak to us, challenge us. We believe we'll never be the same because of it. And we pray this in Jesus' name. Everybody said, amen. Amen. So this series, just so you know upfront, it's not about like putting down social media. It's not a, you shouldn't have TikTok and all the evils of social media, all right? I just wanna get that out of the way. I kinda like social media. I keep up with, you know, PGA on social media. I watch Nate Bargatze clips on, get a little laugh on social media. I stalk my children on social media. It's really the only reason I have TikTok is so I can stalk my children. Tammy and I have a pretty strong reel game that we DM each other. It's actually a big part of our marriage, honestly. We direct message each other funny reels. Pretty good at memes.

I like to send those out to people that I trust that won't, you know, judge me. Come on, you know I'm telling the truth. You can judge me for this. I haven't repented of it. I just don't want to yet. But some of our favorite videos Tammy and I send each other are of people falling. Come on, you gotta know you laugh at those. Like when they're walking down the steps and their feet go out and groceries go everywhere or they slip on ice, right? I just can't stop laughing. Part of me feels it's wrong. Part of me feels like it's not. So I haven't figured that out yet. But I don't think it's all bad. But here's the truth is that the algorithms are wanting to influence you. Matter of fact, it's not even a secret. There's some people that are called influencers. They're social media influencers. And their whole idea is that by them promoting something, talking about something, sharing something, that it would influence you. And the word influence literally means to change your opinion, character or behavior. And not all of it's bad. Some of it's, you know, clothes. I mean, I've heard that you can get on social media

and all of a sudden packages start showing up at your house. Of like, theoretically, heard about that. Other homes, not mine. Influence where you wanna go eat. That's another thing we love sending each other. What's the newest restaurant in the area, right? Influence what music you listen to, what concert you go to, what weight loss thing you're gonna do, what workout plan, whatever it may be, wanting to influence. But here's my concern is that we would allow content to shape convictions. That we would allow trends to lead us and not truth to lead us. And so in this first installment, I wanna talk to you today about this idea, the source of truth. Because if a lot of inputs are coming into our life, we've gotta be able to discern what is true and what is not true. And here's why this is so important is because what you think about God determines a whole lot about your life. What you think about anything. Matter of fact, your life is the culmination of decisions you've made based on things you thought. Where you are in life, where you are in your marriage, where you are financially, where you are in your career,

where you are in school, where you are in friendships, relationships. It is the culmination of decisions you've made and choices you've made as a result of thoughts that you thought. And so what shapes your thinking shapes your life. And so it matters what's going in. Matter of fact, what happens is we're not careful and I don't think we wake up and do this intentionally. We can allow all the inputs, the headlines, the algorithm, the feed, all the things coming in to begin to shape the way we think not just about life and people, but about God. And so we end up with a TikTok theology but not a biblical theology. And so I wanna give you a working definition of theology. And some of you are like, If you haven't come to go to class today, just hang with me. It's so good, I promise you. The message, it's average, but it's really good content, okay? I hope to exceed your expectations. All right, here's a working definition. If you're a note taker, write it down. If not, write it down anyways, all right? Theology is simply this, it's thoughts about God. It's thoughts about God. Now I know technically the definition. I've been to seminary.

Ology means study of, theo, theos, Greek means God. So study of God, I understand that. But a working definition to make it simple is just thoughts about God. It's what we think about when we think about God is our theology. Doesn't mean it's good. Doesn't mean it's been shaped right. But what we think about when we think about God is our theology, and this is so important. And I agree with what A.W. Tozer said. He wrote it in the book called The Knowledge of the Holy. Great read if you're into reading. He says, what comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us. Listen to me, he's right. What you think about when you think about God is the most important thing. Your net worth is not the most important thing, your network, your relational connections, what you've achieved, success, lack of success. That is not the most important thing about you. What the most important thing about you is is what you think about when you think about God. Because if you have wrong thoughts about God, then your eternal destination can be really messed up. If you think God is this ogre in heaven that's just waiting to zap you every time you sin,

is wanting to rain on your parade and keep you from all the fun things in life, then that's how you're gonna relate to God. If you think God is a long-haired hippie that's just walking through the daisies and like, peace and love, man, then you're never gonna know the truth of God. And so what you think about when you think about God is critically important. And so where do we go to know God? There's gotta be a source of truth. There's gotta be a source that tells us this is who God is, this is what he's like, this is how he thinks, and this is how you and I relate to him. And I would propose that the scriptures are the source of truth. Now, there are some things that truth is not. I'm gonna show you those first. Give you three things truth is not. Number one, truth is not relative. The philosophy would be relativism. And the idea of relativism is simply this, it means that there are no absolutes, which that statement in itself is absolute. Are y'all following me? It would say that there's no absolutes, that what is true for you may not be true for me, that there's no foundational truth, but the problem with that

is that we live in a world of absolutes. We just don't wanna apply it to God and to the Bible. Let me give you an example. You ever been to the doctor, gives you a prescription. He doesn't say, take them, take whatever you feel like. You want one pill, three pills, five, just whatever you feel like. No, he gives you an absolute prescription, right? One pill every day for seven days, two pills every other day for three weeks. Whatever it may be, he gives you an absolute prescription and you follow that or it can injure you. I think about speed limit signs. Now, to some of you, they're suggestions, but it's an absolute. If you get caught exceeding the number on the sign, then you will get a penalty for exceeding the number on the sign. Are y'all following me? So this whole idea that there are no absolutes isn't even how we actually live our life. We just don't like it when God says something that is true that conflicts with how we want to behave. And so we would rather say, God, you're wrong than to say I'm wrong and I need to adjust to the speed limit sign. Is this good? Are y'all with me? Number two, truth is not, it's not always popular. It's not always the most popular thing of the day.

It's not always what everybody is promoting. Truth is not always popular. And let me say this, just because it's trending doesn't mean it's true. All right, if we're gonna clap, everybody clap. All right, you know how this works. Just because it's trending doesn't mean it's true. Just because everybody is buying into it doesn't mean that it is true. There has to be a source of truth. There has to be a place that we go where we find what is true, what does God say is true. And just because it's popular doesn't mean that it's true. You know, we've 20 years ago, this idea of tolerance was this, that you can disagree with me and I can be polite about it. But now tolerance means if you don't agree with me, then there's something wrong with you. Are y'all following me? And so now the popular opinion is that if you don't see it the way I see it and you don't see it, then you get called a lot of bad names because truth is not always what's popular. Number three, truth is not what we feel. Feelings are valid. We have feelings, I have two. I get it. I'm usually happy or I'm mad. It takes a whole lot to get me mad.

So I live in the happy place a lot. Our counselor is like, you have more than two feelings. Do you need a feelings chart? I was like, I'm about to leave. I have two feelings. Tammy actually grabbed my hand. I was like, if we start singing Kumbaya and he comes close and starts talking softly, I'm out of here. Getting too weird. But we have a phrase in culture today that says this, that this is my truth. And I understand what is behind that. What's being expressed is this, is I have an experience that I've lived out. I've lived experience. And from that live experience, then I have the truth about that and it's mine. But whenever your truth, what you've experienced, what you feel contradicts what the source of truth says, then I can understand I have feelings, but my feelings are not good narrators of truth. If I live by my feelings, then sometimes I wouldn't get out of bed. If I live by my feelings, then sometimes I wouldn't be generous. If I lived by my feelings, then I would eat whatever I wanted to and not take care of my health and of my body. Are y'all following me?

Like living by your feelings isn't the way that we want to live. We live by something that is more solid and stable and steady, which is truth. One of our speakers for YouthCon, her name's Becky Johnson, brought in a phenomenal word to our students. Yeah. But she said this. She said, we've trained a generation that life is about self. What's in it for me? How do I get more? Me, mine, I, do what feels good to you, do whatever is your truth, whatever makes you happy, whatever. She just went on and on. But stats show that we have a more depressed, anxious generation than ever before. And the number two cause of life ending, of someone's life ending, that's I think 10 to like 17, is suicide. So can I tell you something, that living for self and what you feel leads to destruction. Amen. And so truth is not what I feel. Feelings aren't wrong. God created them. They're not bad. I told you, I've got two.

You may have more. You're more blessed than me. But it's not a good narrator of truth. If you're with me, say amen. Okay, here's what I want for you. Ephesians chapter four. It says this, then we'll no longer be infants tossed back and forth by the waves blown everywhere by what? Every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love. Let me take a timeout from the message. In love. Let me say it again. In love. The world doesn't need more nasty Christians. No more megaphone Christians. We'll shove truth down. No, they need people that will love them so that their heart becomes open to truth. Are you following me? You're not gonna debate anybody into heaven. You're gonna love. It is the kindness of God that leads us to repentance. You're not gonna shame people to heaven. You're not gonna condemn people to heaven. Come on, can I get a better amen? You're gonna love them.

He says, when we do, we'll grow and we'll become mature. And that's what God wants for us. All right, so in the next few moments, if that's what truth is not, then what is truth? We'll give you four thoughts around what is truth. And so for this first one, we'll put your thinking cap on for a little bit, okay? You all with me? Say amen. All right, number one, truth is revealed. Truth is revealed. Truth has been revealed to us. Aren't you thankful that you and I, we're not walking around wondering what is truth? God wasn't like, hey, Good luck, everybody. But he revealed truth to us in the scriptures. Matter of fact, Jesus himself validates the scriptures in John chapter five, when he says this, he's speaking to Jewish people. He says, you study the scriptures diligently because you think the scriptures will give you life, give you eternal life. He goes, but it's the scriptures that are actually testifying about me. So truth has been revealed. The person of Jesus has been revealed in the scriptures and this is what Jesus is telling them. He says, but you refuse to come to me and have life. So truth has been revealed.

The person of Jesus has been revealed and it's been revealed through the scriptures to you and I and God in his sovereignty and grace has sustained the scriptures for us throughout generations so that you and I sitting here in 2026 can have access to what is true, what is right, how do I live life, how do I do life God's way that is the best way God has sustained it for us. Matter of fact, the Bible says this, that all flesh is as grass and the glory of man as the flower of the grass. And then he says this about those two things, the grass withers and its flowers fall away, but the word of the Lord remains, everybody say it with me, forever. The word of the Lord remains forever. So God has sustained his word, he hasn't changed his mind. He's not moving with popular opinion. You may not like everything he says and I don't like everything that it says because it confronts my sin, it confronts my selfishness. Sometimes I wanna read and then go, I'm gonna go to a different story. Hello, but it doesn't mean it hasn't been revealed to us. And this is what Timothy or Paul told Timothy about scripture, he said, all of it is God breathed. And what's it good for? It's good for teaching and rebuking, we don't like that, correcting, we don't like that, training in righteousness, why?

So you can be equipped for every good work. God wants you fully equipped. He doesn't want you to walk around in the dark. He doesn't want you not knowing. He's not a God that's playing hide and seek with you and you just gotta kind of figure it out and wait till you make a mistake and then he'll zap you and then you'll know, okay, I'll never do that again. No, no, no, he's revealed his truth to you. 66 books, written over 1600 years, many continents, 40 writers, one author, the Holy Spirit. And this love letter that he's given to us on how to live life and live it to the full. And can I tell you something? It is a trustworthy document. It is a reliable document. Will you come into my classroom with me for a minute? I wanna walk you through a few things that you maybe have read or come in contact with or saw in college and they're presented as trustworthy documents. And I wanna show you them compared to the New Testament. Look at this, the writings of Plato, all right? From the original writing to its first known copy is 1200 years and there's only seven copies to validate it with, you got that? Are you tracking? Okay, let's go Caesar, the writing of Caesar. There's a thousand years between the original writing and the first copy and we have 10 copies

to validate whether or not it's accurate. Aristotle, there's 1400 years between the first copy and or the original writing and the copies and there's only 49 of those to validate whether or not they're accurate. Homer's Iliad, I think we were assigned that in school. Somebody said, yes, I missed that day. 500 years between the original writing and the copies we have and we have 643 of those. But look at this, the New Testament, less than 100 years between the original writings and the copies and we have 24,000 manuscripts to compare it against. I'm just trying to show you that the Bible is a reliable document. I'm not even to the place yet of, do you believe it? I'm just saying it's reliable and you have to wrestle with what it says. 24,000, now 24,000 documents, that's a lot of proof to go back and say, these line up with the originals and you may think, well, man, they must've found a ton of variations. and a ton of discrepancies and all that. And actually they didn't. And the ones that they did find were spelling errors. And none of it affected the doctrine of the church. I'm just trying to help you see that we're not just following some fairy tale or some cool little story or some ancient things that come together. And we're just all putting our faith in them

and hoping that one day it's all true and it'll all end up being right. No, this is God, the grass withers and the flower fades but the word of the Lord has remained from generation to generation to generation to generation and it can be trusted. And if that is true, then it should inform how I live and how I think and how I love people and what I think about other people and how I handle my marriage and how I parent and how I handle my finances. If it is the word of the living God and it has been revealed to us and it is the source of truth, then that means that whenever something comes up in my algorithm, I just don't accept it. I have to compare it. Does this line up with what God has said? Because he has revealed his truth to me in the scriptures and it's reliable. Thought number two is that truth is foundational. I love how the message paraphrase put this in Matthew chapter seven. It says, these words I speak to you, they're not incidental additions to your life. In other words, the word of God isn't your good luck charm. It's not, you know, cute phrase to put on a mug. All that is great, right? But it's not that, it's not even homeowner improvements to your standard of living.

It's not just, how do I get more blessed? Does God want to bless you? Absolutely. What good father doesn't want to give good gifts to his children? But it's not just so I have a better standard of living. They are foundational words to build your life on. Not just to consider on Sunday, not just a cool scripture that makes you feel good. No, it's worth building your life completely on. When Tammy and I were in Virginia 10 years ago, we built a home. First time we, first and only time we'd ever built. And I would go out every day because I just, I love the process of watching it being built. And so I remember the day that they started pouring the footers for the house. So we had a basement and so they would pour the footers and then pour the walls for the basement. But I remember watching how meticulous they were about all the reinforcements and all the things that they did to put in the footers of it. Why? Because a three-story home was about to be put on those footers. And if those footers, if the foundation of the house wasn't secure, then not even the storms that hit the house,

just the natural shifting of the dirt and the natural shifting of the land would cause us problems structurally later on. Are y'all following me? This is what Matthew is telling us is that the word of God is like a footer for your life. And that if you don't build your life on something that is stable and steady and constant, if you're building it on trend or you're building it just on the popularity of the day, then whenever that trend shifts, then all of a sudden your life is unstable. But when I build my life on the foundation of the word of God, then no matter what happens around me, I stay steady because I'm connected to the firm foundation of God's word. Does that make sense? Let me give you an example. If I build my life on the word of God, and this is what it looks like, that when anxiety comes up in my life, then no, I stand on the word that says, be anxious about nothing, but in all things through prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God and the peace of God that passes all understanding will fill your heart and mind in Christ. So I don't walk around going,

I'm just an anxious person and I'll always be anxious. No, I've built my life on the foundation of the word of God and what I feel may be one thing, but what God has said is another thing. I'm gonna put my faith in what God has said because I'm standing on the word. So truth is your foundation. When life is lifing, what you're standing on matters. I'd hear people that have been walking with Jesus for a long time, they'd be like, I'm standing on the word. And when I was a kid, I was like, like you put your Bible on the ground, like instead. But now walking with Jesus a little bit, I get what they were saying. Because the storms will come. In this world, you will have trouble. But take heart, Jesus said. He's overcome the world. So what is the foundation you're building it on? Number three, truth is freedom. Some of us think that truth is God trying to cage in us to a life that's no fun. Or limit us in areas of our life where we can't really do it with one. But I would propose that truth is freedom. Jesus said this. He said, to the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, if you hold to my teaching,

you're really my disciples. That's an interesting thought. So you just can't name Jesus. You actually have to live like Jesus. But he says this, then you will know the truth and the truth will set you. Everybody say it, every campus, the truth will set you, it'll set you free. So the truth that God gives us in his word isn't to limit us, it's actually to give us freedom in our lives. It's actually, let me say it this way, it's the creator knows the best way for creation to operate. And so he gives you truth. Let me illustrate it this way. How many of you have ever put an address in your GPS? It gave you a direction to go. And at some point, some turn, you thought, I know a better way. Come on. So you take that turn. And what does it say? Recalculating, right? And it's trying to reroute you back to the original path. Why? Because something about that GPS knows that there could be an accident on the way that you wanted to go, which is gonna cost you another hour of time. It's gonna cost you some U-turns.

Come on, somebody. You ever been there? Like, I thought I took the better way and I end up in a bunch of traffic. Can I tell you something? That whenever we follow the truth of God's word, then we're like ones that are following the GPS. And the moment we decide that this is constraining and the truth isn't letting me be me, then we end up taking a turn that is outside of the word of God. And what happens? We end up with more pain and more tears and more regret and more shame because the enemy does not lead you to life. Jesus said, the thief came to steal, kill, and destroy. Jesus said, I've come that you might have life and that you might have it to the full. So truth is freedom, everybody. Truth is freedom. And then number four, final thought. Truth is a person. So truth is not just abstract thoughts, principles, precepts, theories, philosophies, ideas. Truth was revealed to us in a person. Jesus answered, I am the way, the truth, and the life. And no one comes to the Father except through me. The word, there's two words in the Greek for life. One is bios, which is where we get biology. That's the life your parents gave you. But this word is the word zoe.

It's a life that can't be extinguished. It's the life Jesus gives you. Your biological life will be extinguished at some moment. But Jesus says, I am the way, the truth, and I bring you life. And I'm the only way to get it. In John chapter one, it says this, that in the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God. He was with God in the beginning. And through him, all things were made. Without him, nothing was made that has been made. The word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. They're talking about Jesus, everybody. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only son who came from the Father full of grace. And everybody say it together, and? And truth, that's what he came to bring us. Grace, truth. He came to show us what truth looks like. What does it look like to live truth? Grace and truth. The woman caught in the act of adultery. Why are they doing it? Go and sin no more. Grace, truth. Love, truth. Truth isn't a hammer you wield over the lives of others. Truth is a person and his name is Jesus.

And ultimately, every truth you learn is not to give you more knowledge. The Bible says that knowledge will make you puffed up and proud. It's to lead you to the person of Jesus so that you know him more, love him more, look like him more, live him more. express His goodness to the world around you. It's not principle for the sake of principle, it's principle for the sake of knowing the source of truth, who is Jesus. So what a guy named Justin in the first century learned, I wanna read it to you so I get it accurate. I didn't memorize this part. It's about 100 AD, he was a guy far from God, but he had a hunger for truth. And he did what any serious seeker of truth in his day did, he went shopping for a philosophy. And he studied under a Stoic teacher first, but he said the man never even tried to explain God or who he actually was, so he left unsatisfied because philosophy will leave you unsatisfied. He found a Pythagorean, I think I'm saying that correctly, I had to look it up, I didn't know, I'd never heard that, but they believed that numbers were the ultimate reality. And he told him, you couldn't learn anything about God until first you had mastered music, astronomy and geometry. And he decided he didn't wanna spend years of his life on those prerequisites, so he moved on again. And he finally landed under the philosophy of Plato

and for a while he was genuinely proud of himself. He later wrote that studying their ideas about God made him feel like his mind had grown wings and he had finally become wise. But then one day he was walking along by the seashore and he was thinking about these philosophies he had learned and he ran into an old man who struck up a conversation with him. And the old man started asking questions Justin couldn't answer, pressing on the cracks and everything he'd built his confidence on. And the old man's concluded, he concluded his conversation with this, he said, all of your philosophy could prove that God exists in the abstract somewhere out there, but it could never tell you who God was, what God wanted and what it meant to know him. For that the old man said, you don't need better ideas, you need revelation. And he walked away from that conversation shaken and he would later write it became the hinge of his life. Not long after he encountered the writings of the prophets and the story of Jesus and he surrendered his life to the person of truth. And he spent the rest of his life defending the faith in writings. And around 165 AD, he was arrested in Rome. He was beheaded because he refused to deny Christ. And today he's remembered as Justin the martyr. Spent years chasing philosophy, a concept,

but his life was changed when he met the person of truth. You can build your life on what's trending. It's a dangerous way to go. Or you can build your life on the truth and truth is a person and his name is Jesus. You receive the word of God today. Well, you pray with me at every campus, every head ballot, every eye close, maybe you're here today and you've been building your life on something other than Jesus. Maybe it's not trend, but maybe it's, you've been trusting yourself, you've been trusting and other things that are shifting and shaking like sand, but you've never put your faith in Jesus. Or maybe you're here today and you would say, yeah, I'm a Christian, but in my heart, I know I am far from God. Well, no matter where you find yourself, today can be a day of brand new beginnings. Paul wrote in the book of Corinthians, he said that if anyone be in Christ, they're brand new creation. All things pass away and everything becomes new. Today can be a day of brand new beginning for you. And the Bible says the way we do that is we confess with our mouth that Jesus is Lord. That word Lord simply means that he's in control, that you're letting him call the shots of your life

and you believe in your heart that God raised Jesus from the dead. That's the resurrection. And on the authority of God's word, you will be forgiven. Today will be a day of brand new beginnings. And if that's you, we're gonna pray in just a moment as a church family. We would not point you out or embarrass you for anything, but if you're here today and you say, pastor, that's me, I need a fresh start. I've never surrendered my life to Jesus or I've kind of walked away from it, but today I need to come back. If that's you, before you go. Before we pray, I just wanna know who I'm praying with. So I'm gonna ask you when I count to three, just to shoot your hand up high, so myself or the pastor at your location can see, and then we're gonna pray together. No one's gonna come to you or point you out in any way. We just wanna know who we're praying with. So when I count to three, you lift your hand, and then we're gonna pray. One, two, three. God bless you. Just keep it up high. Keep it up. I love it. All of heaven is rejoicing, the Bible says. All of heaven.

You can put it down. Church, will you pray this out loud with me for the benefit of those who just slipped their hand up? Just say, Jesus, I need you. I ask you to forgive me of all my sin. I believe you died for me. I believe God raised you from the dead. Today, I make you my Lord and Savior. Thank you for a brand new beginning. In Jesus' name, amen. Amen. Come on, can we celebrate those who made that decision? Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. All right, stay right where you are for just a moment. If you made that decision, listen to me, the greatest decision of your life. And it's the beginning of a journey, not the ending of one. And so we would love to come alongside you and help you in that journey. There's three simple ways. One is that probably the easiest is for you to simply text the name Jesus to 71010. Our team will be happy to respond to you. And we promise we're not gonna spam you or anything, but we just wanna get some resources to you. You can go to Connect Central in the lobby.

Any of our team there can help you. And you just say, hey, I prayed that prayer, I made the decision to follow Jesus today. Or when we would love, it's just in a moment, our prayer team is gonna be down front. If you need prayer for anything at all, they're gonna be here to serve you. But if you made that decision, just come down, grab someone's hand and say, hey, I gave my life to Jesus today, and we would love to join our faith together with you. And so I'm gonna ask you to stand all over the room, ask our prayer team to make their way to the front or up there in the balcony. And listen, if you walked in today and you thought, man, I've got some needs in my life and I would love someone to pray with me, don't miss this moment. We would love nothing more than to be able to pray with you. The Bible says that we're supposed to bear one another's burdens. And we would love to be able to do that with you. Or maybe you have something to celebrate. God's done something great in your life. We would also love to celebrate with you and give God thanks for that. So the team's gonna lead us in one chorus. You make your way down. And then when they're done, Pastor Mark will come in to submission.

♪ I wanna know you ♪ ♪ I wanna know you ♪ ♪ I wanna know you and be known by you ♪ ♪ I'm gonna love you ♪ ♪ Give all my heart to you ♪ ♪ I wanna know you and be known by you ♪ ♪ I wanna know you ♪ ♪ I wanna know you ♪ ♪ I wanna know you and be known by you ♪ ♪ I'm gonna love you ♪ ♪ Give all my heart to you ♪ ♪ I wanna know you and be known by you ♪ Amen. You can continue to come forward. Our prayer team will stay until the last person is prayed for. Whatever the need may be in your life, we welcome you to come down and receive prayer. What a great message, Pastor Daniel. I'm excited about this series. Isn't it awesome? And I do believe that it's a great series for you to invite a friend, maybe a neighbor to come and join you to just check this out, TikTok Theology. If you're new to Gateway, thank you for coming today. We are so excited that you joined us and we would love for you on your way out to stop by Connect Central so that we can get to know you better

and you can have any questions that you may have answered. Also, on the heels of this incredible youth conference where we had so many young people in this building worshiping, praising God, and just coming together. On the backside of that, our youth services happen every Wednesday night here at the Southlake Campus. We would love for you to join in and help serve in our youth services. And so the way that you can do that, you could become a greeter, you could become a leader of a group. So many different ways you could serve if you want to, you can take your phone out and just hover over that and it will take you to the right place. That QR code has the information. As well, if you don't do it that way, then you can text SERVETO7XXXXXXXX. 71010, serve to 71010, and that will give you a link so that you can sign up. Amen. What a great day to have been in the house of God. Thank you so much for joining us. I pray that you have a blessed week. Thank you so much for coming out. God bless. †