Standing Where Others Sink | Creative Church

Paul talks about how if the first lump is holy the whole thing is holy. And how you start 2026 has a lot to do with what God will or will not do in your life this year. I don't want you to minimize the first and God is setting the course for our church again. And we're still in the sunrise of what God wants to do at Creative Church. Anybody believe that? We're just in the beginning. I think we've just scratched the surface of all God wants to do. And he didn't plant us here by accident. We have been hand-carved as a vineyard and heavens called you fruit. Everybody say I'm fruit. You're not failure. You're fruit. And you're chosen. Not random. You're chosen. Everybody say I'm chosen. I'm chosen. The Bible says you are not chosen. May I have chosen you. And ordains you that you may bring forth much fruit and that your fruit would remain. And how are we going to get there? How many of you want to get what God has for you in 2026? How many of you want to get there? Anybody feel like they've got potential to love you? Anybody feel like that? I just always felt like that. Like I just felt like there was more. And I always felt like the kid who I felt like I had everything that I needed. I felt like I had the eggs and the flour and the sugar and the vanilla. I just need somebody to help me put this cake together. You know what I mean? Anybody feel like that? Like you feel like you got all the ingredients, like you've been through. Anybody know what I'm talking about? Like you got everything to make the oatmeal raisin cookie. I like raisins because they're grapes that've been through something. And you've got everything you need to make it. You just need somebody to help you put this together. And I feel like if I could ever get it put together, I could run through troops and leap over walls and really reach my potential. I know I feel like the common person. Sometimes I feel like I'm in rooms and everybody else is happy where they are. And I'm just like, I just feel like there's more in me. You know what I mean? And I don't mean it in an arrogant way. I don't mean it like better than anybody. I just feel like what they're satisfied with. I'm not satisfied with. And where they're happy to camp, I'm not happy to camp out and where they're where they're okay to just let's just let let let be. I'm not okay. And sometimes I feel like people are okay with just going through the same thing day after day and week after week and month after month and tomorrow looks like today and they don't know what day it is because it looks like yesterday and tomorrow looks like today. And it's just I just feel like there's this potential inside of me. I feel like there's this potential inside our church.

And I feel like what God wants to do, I feel like we're about to get just just kicked in this this area of momentum. And we're just going to start moving closer and closer and closer to Jesus. My marriage, my family, my children, our church. Come on, anybody. I don't want this year to be just like last year. I want I want something new. I want something more. A hunger for it. Anybody else hunger for it? He that hungers in first after righteousness shall be filled. And how are we going to get there? How are we going to get there as a church? I'm going to tell you how we're going to get there. We're going to get there by staring at Jesus. That's right. We're going to stare at Jesus. We're going to look at Jesus. The enemy cannot steal what we hold tightly with our eyes. And if our gaze is on Jesus, no thief can enter the treasury of our hearts. The early church said, "Blessed are the people." It's your job, it's our purpose, it's our calling. It's our heart's desire to behold him, to see him. How many of you, your goal is to see Jesus? How many of you want to see Jesus one day? People talk about, come on, somebody say amen to that. I don't know what, I know you're Minnesotans, but come on, like... I don't know what people think heaven's going to be like. People want to be quiet and conservative with, they never say nothing. I mean, what do you think heaven's going to be like? When mamas see babies, they loss. What do you think heaven's going to be like when people see children? Parents, grandparents. You see the saints of the ages. You see the throne and the ceiling, like glass. And then you're happy to behold, all of a sudden, they all together, lovely. The lily of the valley.

The brighter morning star, the fairest of ten thousand. Your eyes see Jesus. I'm going to come and slide in on my stomach. It's going to be a party. It's going to be a celebration. It's going to be joy and speak to the full of glory. It's okay that we talk about heaven. We spend so much time talking about this earth. Heaven's our home. Come on, church. I mean, to see Jesus. Oh, I want to see him. Look upon his face. There to sing forever of a saving grace. On the streets of glory, let me lift my voice. Cares all pass. Home at last. Ever to rejoice. Oh, to see Jesus. Keep our eyes on Jesus. God's looking to develop saints, not celebrities, not performers. This is not a show. We don't build services for people and invite Jesus. We build services for Jesus and invite people. Thank you. We put this whole thing together thinking about him, not you. Come on. Can I get any men about it? Why is worship so long? Because he likes it.

Why don't? It's not for you. Come on. Somebody say you men about it. It's for the Lord. There's way more worship in heaven than preaching. That's right. God's looking for saints who smell like they've been on the altar. They lean into the whisper of God until they like glow in his presence. I don't know if you know you can tell when somebody's been with Jesus. I just want to read some scripture to you today. I'm going to just mainly read just the word of God. Is it okay if I read the word of God? But God deliver us from mixture. Deliver us from it. Deliver us from diluted devotions and lesser lovers, lesser conversations, half-loyalties. Some of us are living in the fog of divided affections. Jesus has to become the focus again. Yes, amen. Make our hearts single-eyed, single-minded, single-focused on Jesus. Psalms 27 and 4, one thing have I asked of the Lord. One thing, everybody say one thing. One thing. That I may seek to live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life. To delight in the Lord's perfection and meditate on his temple. See, that is the prayer of a heart. You have to taste and see. You know, in Bible days, Jewish parents, before they would read the scriptures, the Torah, they would take honey and put it on all the kids' tongues.

That's why the word talks about sweeter than honey is your word. 'Cause they wanted the kids to relate scripture to sweetness. See, the word of God makes you sweet, humbles your heart, cleanses, you washes you. You don't read the word and then be angry and bitter. And sarcastic, and tear down people, not with the word, the word is sweet. Maybe you wanna be sweet. (chuckling) Last time somebody said, "You're just the sweetest people." The word makes you sweet. May it be said of us in 2026 that we had one desire to be in the house of the Lord. Some of you have never given all of yourself to Jesus. Give all of yourself to the Lord this year. Listen to me. Can you imagine what God would do in your life if you let him have all of you? If you gave him the hours, the days, if you gave him your fears and your worries and your rejection, if you gave it to the Lord, give your business to the Lord, give your time to the Lord, give your worries to it. So I gave it all to Jesus, I'm not worrying about it. Come on, somebody say amen about it. Not worrying, I'm trusting the Lord this year. I have more confidence in him than I do myself. Come on, if Chick-fil-A can do it.

Trust the Lord this year. Just say, my first appointment every day is with him. I have to meet with my business coach before I do business. I have to meet with my marriage coach before I do marriage today. I gotta meet with Jesus before I get up and eat donuts. I gotta meet with the Lord. How many of you know the Lord makes you a better dad, makes you a better husband, makes you a better businessman, makes you a, come on, the Lord, this is your first meeting in the day is Jesus. I'm gonna put him first. (audience murmuring) John 6, 63, the spirit alone gives eternal life. A human effort accomplishes nothing. In the very words I have spoken to you, they are spirit and they are life. Those are the words of Jesus. He says, you can't do anything on your own. His words are not sounds, they're like life's oxygen. When he speaks, death is destroyed. When he speaks, your soul remembers who made it. Your home, your soul feels at home. Numbers 21 and nine, so Moses made a snake out of bronze and attached it to a pole in the wilderness. Then anyone who was bitten by the snakes could look at the bronze snake and be healed. I'm gonna be, you know, this is the same emblem you see on the ambulances and hospitals.

And this is from the Old Testament. That they could look and live. That anyone who looked at it would live. This is a symbol of the cross. Amen. Jesus, who knew no sin, became sin, died on the tree. That if you look at him, you shall live. Yes, amen. I mean, we've seen it on ambulances. It's a symbol of health and medicine. That's from the Old Testament. That if you look upon it, you shall live. If you look at Jesus, your marriage will live. If you look at Jesus, your children shall live. Look at him. attention. Look at this. Look at this. Look at that. Did you see? I can't believe. Oh my gosh. Everything wants to steal your affection from Jesus. But like Peter, when you keep your eyes on Jesus, you can walk on top of stuff that other people sink in. Everyone else is drowning and you can stand because your eyes are on Jesus. Looking unto Jesus, the author and the finisher of your faith. Everyone say, "Look and live." Looking at Jesus, it's not just looking at Jesus, looking at Jesus as a matter of life and death.

And one glance breaks the venom of this world. Jesus 22 and 4, and when they see His face, and His name will be written on their foreheads. Seeing Jesus as food for your soul. We want you to look at the Lord. That's why we have that picture, put my picture of the Lord. That's why it's up there every sermon. That's all we want you to think about. That's all we want you to meditate on is the Lord. Our whole purpose is to get you looking not at us, but at Jesus. Come on, can I get any men about it? I hate preaching on the stage. I have to do it sometimes. You know, in the old old churches, the preacher preached almost like in a bird's nest up on the side. Anybody know what I'm talking about? Like the little wood box, you preach up over there. I'm down here on the floor. I want Him to be the focus. The only thing on our stage is Jesus and the cross. Come on, somebody say amen about that. He is the focus. Not me, not people, the Lord. Psalms 34 and five, those who look to Him for help, their faces are radiant with joy. I don't know if you want to be filled with joy. There is no shame. Their faces are not darkened with shame and doom and gloom because they look at Jesus. Oh pastor, I'm just so upset. I'm so upset. Look to Jesus. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

I know. Look to Jesus. Look to Jesus. But what do you think about look to Jesus? But aren't you going to comment on look to Jesus? Look to Jesus. Yeah, but I just think, look at Him. Yeah, but that can't just look at Him, but you don't see the storm? Look to Jesus. When your face will no longer be filled with darkness, do you know why our logo is a smile? Because it's what we want Jesus to do when He sees you. How many of you want to make Jesus smile when He sees you, wouldn't they? Look at Him and their faces. When it Jesus changes your countenance. Fear is gone. Worry. Gone. Depression. Gone. Nightmares. Gone. If you look at Him. I have no remedy. I have nothing. There's nothing in these hands. He is the healer. He is the miracle worker. Come on guys. It's all about the Lord. Psalm 63, this is for all of us.

Oh God, you are my God. Earnestly will I seek you. How many of you want to search for Him? Two of you. Come on, anybody want to search for Him? You know what it's like? With God it's not hide and seek, it's seek and find. [BLANK_AUDIO] you shall find me. Alexander was playing the other day. He was playing Nerf guns with the twins. And Alexander-- I was in the kitchen, and Alexander went and hid in the pantry. And Winston in Augustine came by, and I went-- He's in there, he's in there, and they're like-- And so they opened the door and started shooting them with a Nerf bullet, you know? And I thought, see, that's what it is. They were looking for him. They were searching for him. See, when you start searching for him, then God sends people into your life. Maybe it's me. It could be someone else. And I'll point to-- and I'll say, he's over there. Hey, you looking for him? My whole sermon today is to tell you, hey, he's over there. If you go-- if you go over there, you'll find him. And he wants you to find him.

If you seek me with all of your heart, you shall find me. Some things about God that he just can't resist. Like praise. God can't resist praise. It's just like he just can't help it, you know? That's why men love verbal praise, because men are created like this image of God. We have something women don't have, we have an ego. [LAUGHTER] Come on, can you get any minute about it? I can go-- my wife and I, we can go to store-- my wife can go to store by 100 bags of things and come in the house with keys. And I'll say, you can't bring in any of those bags. And she'll say, baby, you're just so big and strong. You go out there, I'll get up, go out there and get all them. My hands be red. I'm just-- because she prays in me. See, when you start praising God, and you say, God, can't nobody love me like you love me? Can't nobody heal me like you heal me? Can't nobody provide for me like you provide for me? God start flexing and showing off his muscle for you because he loves praise. My wife can get me to do anything by just praising. She said, baby, can't nobody cook eggs the way you cook eggs. Ain't nobody cleaned the way you cleaned the way you get down around the baseboard? I don't know how you do that.

Telling you something about praising God. There's a man in the Bible who's going to die. The prophet came to him and said, you're going to die. Get your house ready. He was a man of God. The prophet came to him and said, you're going to die. Get your house ready. And the prophet left. And he went before the Lord and said, Lord, I'm your servant. How are you going to let this happen to me? And the prophet kept walking away. And he kept going to God. I said, God, my life is yours. All my life I serve you. All my life I give it to you. And my life is going to end. And the prophet kept leaving. And finally, the man of God said, there's one thing to God. He said, but God, the grave cannot praise you. And when he said, the grave can't praise you. God spoke to the prophet and said, stop. Go back and tell him if he'll praise me, I'll have 15 years to his life. You see what praise can do? Come on, somebody. Who amongst us can afford to sit there quiet? Who amongst can afford to lose 15 years because you're refused to give God the praise for which he is due? This year, just purposely in your heart, I'm going to praise the Lord.

I'm going to keep my eyes on Jesus. Micah 7.7 asks for me, I look to the Lord for help. Some people look to money. They look to the world, but I'm going to look to Jesus. Come on, somebody. I look to the Lord for help. I will wait confidently for the God of my salvation. I'm not just waiting. to wait on Jesus with expectancy. That's the way we wait on Jesus. Second Corinthians 11, I'm almost done. I fear that somehow you're pure and undivided devotion to Christ will be corrupted. And you'll lose the simplicity that's in Jesus. It's a danger to turn our attention away from the simplicity of Christ. Listen to me, guys, Jesus is enough. He's always been enough. First Corinthians 10, 12, if you think you're standing strong, be careful that you do not fall. God's raising up saints with limps, because the limp reminds you of who carried you. God's raising up saints with limp. Are there any saints in here with a limp? Not know it all. People that are not perfect. Colossians 2 and 8, don't let anyone corrupt you with empty philosophies. Reject all counsel that leads you away from the simplicity of Jesus. In anyone who has counselors, they need to be appointed by holy people. Notice that anybody counsel you. Have people who counsel you if they've been appointed by holy men and women of God? Because the world trains your eye to wonder, but the spirit of God will train your heart to remain. Proverbs 4 and 20, "My child pay attention to what I say. Do not lose these words for my words are more precious than your eyesight. Look straight ahead. Fix your eyes on what lies before you." Listen to me, your speech is a great indicator of the contents of your heart. Your mouth is a window to what you gaze at. I can tell what you look at by listening to what comes out of your mouth. You know why you're talking about that? Because you looked at it. You would talk about Jesus if you looked at him. But I've been wounded. Look at his wounds. If you look at his wounds, it'll heal yours. By his you are. See, the world wants you to look at your wounds. When you look at your wounds, you talk about them. Because your mouth is a window at what you gaze at. But if you look at his wounds, if you look at his wounds, you stop talking about

yours. If you look at his wounds, it heals your wounds. Why does Satan always bring up who hurt you, who left you, who walked out on you? Satan constantly wants you to look at your wounds and your scars rather than looking at Jesus' wounds. Looking at Jesus' scars, putting your eyes on Jesus. Put your eyes on Jesus. Put your eyes on Jesus and watch how it changes what comes out of your mouth. Keep looking at him. Fix your eyes upon him. We're not going to have lesser lovers. We're going to keep our eyes on Jesus. Watch for him. Look for him. The Bible says to those that look for him, to them will he appear second time. I'll leave you with this. When Joanne and I, we have eight kids, right? And so it's not all of them aren't like this anymore, but the younger ones. You know who's really wealthy? People who have little kids in their house. And I promise you, you're wealthy. [BLANK_AUDIO] The little ones. Non-stop. And they'll call you again and again and again. And they don't think about what they're going to say before they, they call. They just call and then they hang up and then they think of something else. They hang up and they call back and they just call and call and call and call. And they think, they're, they are thinking about us all the time. So if you could have lunch or dinner with anybody that's ever lived, you'd list amazing people. But if I asked your little kids, if you could have lunch or dinner with anybody, they'd say you. You were their hero. And when they know we're coming back, they go, what, when you land? What, what time you, what time you come in? They get on, I don't know what program it is, but they try and track me. See how far out I am and when it's coming and, and then they see the car pull up and they're looking out the window. They run it out there. Come on, anybody know what I'm talking about? This is wealth. I'm explaining treasure to you. And, and they run out and, and they can't wait. In the older ones, you got a, hey, I'm here. Anybody know what I'm talking about? That's why Jesus said, be like little kids.

Be like that. Look for Jesus. When's he coming? Jesus, I'm going to talk to you. Jesus, I got to talk to you about today. I want to talk to you about this. I want to talk to you about that. When I ask you about this, I want to talk to you about that. When's he coming? I'm looking for him. I can't wait for him to get here. I'm so excited. That, that's how he's be like that. Be like that. Not, oh, yeah, I think he was kind of, I don't know. My mind's, my mind's on everything else. No, no, no, no. Put your heart and your mind on Jesus. And I know everything in the world will be done, but I know everything in the world is fighting for your attention. I know, I know. It's hard. It's hard. Life's hard. Come on. Can I get an amen? It's hard. It's challenging. It's confusing. You know what's not confusing? Jesus. You know what's simple right now when everything seems complicated? Jesus. You know what's been steady when everything else has been shaky? Jesus. Look at me church. I know it's the simplest message that I could preach. Keep your eyes on Jesus. Don't let this world steal the affections of your heart. Be careful what comes out of your mouth. What's the old song? Be careful little eyes, what you see. Be careful little ears, what you hear. Be careful little mouth, what you say. Don't let the enemy, don't let the enemy have what God died for. You keep what your parents put into you.

You keep it. Even when the world wants to take it, look at me. You keep it. Watch what God will do with it. It reminds me of the little boy with the five loaves and the two fish. He had that little lunch, that little lunchable. And I thought about that story many times. I thought out in the desert, all those days, all that time, everybody probably was like, "That's disgusting. We've been out here all day. Throw that out. Everybody." I'm sure he had a bunch of people saying, "Just get rid of that. That ain't no good no more. What you carrying that around for?" But for some reason, he kept it. He's like, "You know, my mama gave me this. And I'm not throwing it out. I'm telling you what, some of the things your parents put in you, you need to keep. Even when you live in a world that tells you to throw it away, you need to keep it. You need to keep it. Don't throw away the faith of your youth. Don't watch a reel for 15 seconds and throw away what your parents suffered and fought for to put in you. Come on, can't get any mad about it. Some of you, your parents, the one thing, if they didn't have anything, what they had was their faith. And what they imparted into you was their faith, don't you throw away. Even if you grew up Lutheran, you grew up Catholic, you still grew up knowing Jesus died in rose. You keep it. Don't you let the world convince you to throw it away. You hold on to what God put inside of you. If you watch God multiply. May not be much, but watch God multiply. Let's be a church this year that keeps your eyes on Jesus. Come on, amen. Give the Lord a big praise.