Why am I Saved but Struggling with Hurts, Habits, and Hangups? - Herbert Cooper

Jesus came so lost people could be saved. This church is not a cruise ship where we lay by the pool. This is a battleship and for 23 years we've been on mission for Jesus. For 23 years we've been worshipping Jesus, preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ, reaching lost people, baptizing people, helping people know God and grow in God, discover a purpose and make a difference. We've been on the mission of Jesus. For one reason, to see more changed lives. Come on, let's sing this out. One drink into the night. Wanting a place to hide. This weary soul. This vagabond. I try with all my might. But I just can't win the fight. I'm slowly drifting. I'm a vagabond. And just when I ran, I rose. I met a man I didn't know. And he told me that I was not alone. He picked me up. He turned me around. He placed my feet on solid ground. I thank the Master. I thank the Savior. Because He healed my heart. And changed my name. Forever free. I'm not the same. I thank the Master. I thank the Savior.

I thank God. Hallelujah. There's no one like Jesus. Yeah. All the praise God. Yeah. Ain't lost another one. I am free I am free I am free Ain't lost another one. I am free I am free I am free Ain't lost another one. I am free I am free I am free Ain't lost another one. I am free I am free I am free Ain't lost another one. I am free I am free I am free Ain't lost another one. I am free I am free I am free

Ain't lost another one. I am free I am free I am free Ain't lost another one. I am free I am free I am free You say you picked me up Turned me around Placed my feet on solid ground I thank the Master I thank the Savior Because you healed my heart Changed my name Forever free I'm not the same I thank the Master I thank the Savior I thank God Yeah Oh, we give you all the praise There's no one like you, Jesus No one greater Hallelujah I thank God I'd like to invite our prayer team to come forward at this time We are a church that believes in the power of prayer No matter how big or how small your need Maybe it matters to God

And we'd love to pray with you All you have to do is step out of your seat Come forward Let's believe God for a miracle In your life I'm a sinner Grace is still healing I'm a story Time is revealing I'm all of these things But mostly I'm thankful I'm a fighter caught in the struggle A survivor rising above it I'm all of these things but mostly I'm thankful Cause you gave me one more day To say I love you God You have brought me on this way To testify your grace What more can I say But Hallelujah Thank you Jesus Thank you Jesus Thank you Jesus Cause you gave me one more day One more day One more day And oh Lord I just really wanna praise you You mean everything, everything, everything To me

Come on church we lift it up today Sing, sing Oh Lord I just really wanna praise you You mean everything, everything, everything To me Come on we lift both hands and say Oh Lord I just really wanna praise you You mean everything, everything, everything To me Oh Lord Oh Lord I just really wanna praise you You mean everything, everything, everything To me Cause you gave me one more day To say I love you God You have brought me on this way To testify your grace What more can I say But Hallelujah Thank you Jesus Thank you Jesus Thank you Jesus Cause you gave me one more day One more day Oh we worship you God Lord we thank you for the day that we've been given It's a great day because your presence is here

It's a great day because you can still answer prayer You are amazing I'm calling on the God of Jacob Whose love endures through generations I know that you will keep your covenant I'm calling on the God of Moses The one who opened up the oceans I need you now to do the same things for me Come on if you know you need the Lord We just lift both hands and sing this together Sing Oh God I need you Oh God my God I need you Oh God my God I need you now How I need you now Yes God Oh rock, oh rock of Ages I'm standing on your faithfulness On your faithfulness Oh we sing ♪ I'm calling on the God of Mary ♪ ♪ Whose favor rests upon the lowly ♪ ♪ I know with you all things are possible ♪ ♪ I'm calling on the God of David ♪ Yes you can. ♪ Who made a shepherd boy courageous ♪ ♪ I may not face good life but I've got my own tired ♪ ♪ Oh God, my God, I need you ♪ ♪ Oh God, my God, I need you now ♪ ♪ How I need you now, yeah ♪ ♪ Oh rock, oh rock of ages ♪

♪ I'm standing on your faithfulness ♪ ♪ On your faithfulness, oh God ♪ ♪ Oh God, my God, I need you ♪ ♪ Oh God, my God, I need you now ♪ ♪ How I need you now, yeah ♪ ♪ Oh rock, oh rock of ages ♪ ♪ I'm standing on your faithfulness ♪ ♪ On your faithfulness, oh God ♪ How many are standing on God's faithfulness? How many of you know he has been faithful? Come on, if you'll just endure. I believe God will make a way, yeah. ♪ You heard your children then, you hear your children now ♪ ♪ You are the same God, you are the same God ♪ ♪ You answered prayers back then, and you will answer now ♪ ♪ You are the same God, you are the same God ♪ ♪ You were providing then, you are providing now ♪ ♪ You are the same God, you are the same God ♪ ♪ You moved in power then, God moved in power now ♪ ♪ You are the same God, you are the same God ♪ ♪ You are the same God, you are a healer then, you are a healer now ♪ ♪ You are the same God, you are the same God ♪ ♪ You were a Saviour then, you are a Saviour now ♪ ♪ You are the same God, you are the same God ♪ ♪ You are the same God, oh God, my God, I need you, oh God, my God, I need you now, how I need you now, oh yeah ♪ ♪ Oh rock, oh rock of ages, I'm standing on your faithfulness, on your faithfulness, and oh God, oh God, my God, I need you now, oh yeah ♪ ♪ Oh rock, oh rock of ages, I'm standing on your faithfulness, on your faithfulness, oh yeah ♪ ♪ Oh rock, oh rock of ages, I'm standing on your faithfulness, on your faithfulness, oh yeah ♪ Come on, give him praise today. Come on, he's the same God. He's a mighty God. Lord, we honor you today. You're the same God of power who moved. Back then, you can move in our lives today.

Move in our hearts. Touch us. Change us in your presence, we pray. In Jesus' name, amen. Come on, give God praise one more time. Amen, amen. Well, church family, before you're seated, let's take a few moments. I want you to find a few people around you you don't recognize. Learn their names. Shake their hands. Let's connect, church. All right, well, welcome to People's Church, everybody. Hey, my name is Rob Champion. I'm the campus pastor here at the Oklahoma City campus. Whether you're joining us online or in the house today, we are family. I'm so glad to have you with us today. I do want to take a moment just to welcome all of our first-time guests. Come on, People's Church, let's show them some love today. Welcome to People's Church. Well, People's Church family, we are building our Edmond campus, their permanent home, so that we can reach so many more people who are far from God and so that we can see more changed lives. I wanted to give you an update on how the project is coming along. So I want you to check out this video. People's Church family, I have not given you an Edmond construction progress update over the last few months, and I wanted to do so today. If you're new with us around People's Church, we are building a 45,000-square-foot building in Edmond to reach more people who are far from God. And can I tell you, progress has been happening. Let me give you some updates. GeoPeers and Foundation has happened. Underground utilities, underground electrical, underground plumbing, underground AVL infrastructure. Building slab has been poured. Structural steel has been delivered, and you see it. The building, the structural steel is coming out of the ground, and you see it standing up right now. Progress is happening.

This building is being built for one purpose. For more moms and dads, for more teenagers, for more kids, for more grandma and grandpas, for more people far from God to have their life changed by the power of Jesus Christ. I just want to say thank you to everyone who gives at People's Church. Thank you for giving. Thank you for tithing. Thank you for giving above your tithe to the MORE Campaign. And I tell you, because of your sacrifice, because of your prayers, because of your heart, we're going to build this building, and I'm telling you, thousands and thousands of lives are going to be changed. Thank you, People's Church. The best is yet to come. Yeah, we praise God for all that he's doing. And church, I'm just so excited. I can't wait for this building to be built, because here's why. Because I know that so many more lives are going to be changed and impacted by the power of Jesus. And church, thank you for keeping the project in your prayers. Thank you for giving your tithe and giving to the MORE Campaign. When you give your tithe into the MORE Campaign, it actually makes it possible for us to reach so many more people with the gospel of Jesus Christ. Father, we thank you, Lord, for how things are going with the project, Father. But we know, Lord, that there are so many more lives at stake. We know that thousands upon thousands upon thousands of people will hear the gospel message of Jesus Christ as a result of this building. Father, we pray for everything to run smoothly. Bless the laborers who are working on the building. Use them, God. And Father, we ask that, Lord, in the months and years to come, Lord, that we would see a great harvest of souls for your sake.

In Jesus' name, amen. We've got a maker who made a way If you've got a Holy Ghost in your bed Then praise Him like you're not ashamed Who opened the prison door? God did! God did! Who dried up your ocean floor? God did! God did! Who did everything you said? God did! God did! Who raised you from the dead? God did! God did! Anybody in here can testify If you've got a story, how He changed your life If you've got a hallelujah, let it fly Sing like you know the Most High Who came in the nick of time? God did! God did! Who snatched you out of the fire? God did! God did! Who healed you of your disease? God did! God did! Tell me who slew all these? God did! God did! For how you saved my soul For how you made me whole For how you paid it all I can't thank you enough

I can't thank you enough For those mountains you move For those shackles you lose No one did what you said I can't thank you enough I can't thank you enough For your body and blood Your love never gave up Here's my hallelujah I can't thank you enough I can't thank you enough I can't thank you enough I can't thank you enough I can't thank you enough I can't thank you enough Who opened your prison door? God did! God did! Who dried up your ocean floor? God did! God did! Who did every little thing you said? God did! God did! Who raised you from the dead? God did! God did! Who gave you another day? God did! God did! Who gave you a brand new name? God did! God did! Who rolled away all your shame? God did! God did! Who gave you breath to pray?

God did! God did! Come on church, let's give God some praise Come on, has he done anything good for you? Come on, has he healed anybody? Has he set anybody free? Has he saved anybody? Has he turned somebody's life around? God did it! Amen! How about the People's Church Choir? Would you show them some love today? Oh, we love the choir We love the choir Welcome campuses and everybody to Church Oklahoma City Campus and Midwest City and Northwest and Edmond and the ladies at Mabel Bassett Correctional Facility our Indianapolis campus all of you joining online around the world Welcome to church today We start those Sundays in God's house lifting up the name of Jesus hearing God's word preached and women of God, I'm so proud of you they're talking about tornadoes and storms and hell and all but many of you came out to Women's Night it was a powerful night me and my wife, she preached a powerful message Jesus loves me my heart was touched

such an awesome Women's Night Week 2 of our series Saved But Struggling I want to talk to you about why am I saved but still struggling with hurts habits and hang ups quick review, we learned last week that when we invite Jesus to be our Lord and Savior our spirit is instantly born again our spirit instantly becomes a new creation 2 Corinthians chapter 5 verse 17 therefore if anyone is in Christ he is a new creation the old has passed away and the new has come instantly our spirit is made new our spirit goes from death to life from darkness to light but our soul and our body do not become a new creation at salvation. Our soul and our body still have to be what the Bible calls sanctified.

Sanctification is the process of our soul and our body becoming more and more like Jesus. The Christian life is the struggle of learning to let the Holy Spirit lead our soul and our body. The key verse for this entire series is found over in 1 Thessalonians 5 and verse 23. May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul, and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. God does not just want our spirit to be made new. It's God's will for our soul and our body to be sanctified through and through to be made new. God's plan is for your mind to be renewed. He wants our emotions to be whole. He wants our body to be disciplined. There's a sanctified struggle happening inside of every single Christian. It's happening in your soul. It's happening in your body. God saves you in a moment, but he sanctifies you over time. New birth is immediate, but new habits are not. God gives you a new heart and salvation, but not a new personality. Salvation changes your position, but not your patterns. A saved spirit does not guarantee a healthy soul. Grace is instant, but growth is intentional. One of the powerful truths about salvation is we now have the Holy Spirit inside of us,

so we have the ability to live a new life. When you become a Christian, the Holy Spirit places desires inside of you to please God, but your soul and your body still desire to sin. You feel conflicted because you love God, but you wanna sin. Your spirit is new, but now you're in a battle to get your soul and your body to surrender to the Holy Spirit's desires. Paul describes this war, this battle, this struggle on the inside of every Christian. He's real, he's raw about it. Let's look at it in Romans chapter seven. We're gonna unpack these verses today. Verse number 14, he begins, we know that the law is spiritual, but I am unspiritual, so does a slave to sin. I do not understand what I do, for what I want to do, I do not do, but what I hate to do, and if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me, for I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is in my sinful nature, for I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out, for I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do, this I keep on doing.

Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does, so I find this law at work, although I want to do good, evil is right there with me, for in my inner being, I delight in God's law, but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind, the soul is the mind, the will, and the emotions, he's talking about the soul, and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me, what a wretched man I am, who will rescue me from the body, now he talks about this body, there's a wrestle in the body, a struggle of the body that is subject to death, Paul says the problem is not the law, the problem is the flesh, Paul says my spirit agrees with God, my spirit wants to please God, but my behavior does not always match my desires, this is not indifference towards sin, it's frustration over it, he's exposing how knowing what's right does not equal power to do right, Paul talks about this battle inside of every single Christian, and he talks about it in several portions of scriptures, let me give you another example of this struggle,

in Colossians chapter three and verse five, he says so put to death, talking to Christians, put to death everything in the sinful or earthly, that's lurking within you, and he starts describing what's lurking, these sin patterns, He says, have nothing to do with sexual immorality, impurity, lust, and evil desires. Don't be greedy, for a greedy person is an idolater worshiping things of this world. So he talks about there's a battle because our spirit wants to please God, but there are sinful desires lurking within us. I want to talk to you about this war in our soul and our body so you can get a better understanding of why you can be saved but struggling. Hear your pastor. The better you understand what's happening inside of you, the more you can learn how to fight it and win the battle. So we got to get educated. Let's dive in. There's a war in your mind. After salvation, you still have the same mind. Paul said in verse 22 and verse 23, in my inner being, in my spirit, I delight in God's law, but there's a war going on in my mind. In salvation, your mind is not automatically renewed. Come on, let's talk about this for a moment. Your old thinking patterns remain. For years, your mind has been shaped by so many things in life, by family, by friends, by culture, lies, sinful habits. Your thinking is shaped by the environment you grew up in. And many of us grew up in families that were unhealthy. We learned all types of unhealthy thought patterns.

Even if you grew up in a healthy family, you still picked up some unhealthy thinking. There's no perfect family because every single family has just a little bit crazy in it. Come on, look at your neighbor and say, you got a little crazy and you go, yeah, you got a little crazy. You're not fooling me. You got a little crazy in you. Your thinking is shaped by your experiences in life. You've had some amazing experiences in life, but you have also had some painful, some traumatic experiences in life, and your thinking has been shaped by these moments. Your thinking is shaped by culture. We all grew up watching television, listening to music, all of it wasn't good, and hearing lies that our culture tells us are true. When you get saved, you still believe the lies as though they are truth. Your thinking is shaped by the words spoken over you. Many of us have had people speak damaging words over our lives. Those words cut us deep. They've marked our lives. I'll never forget when I was 15 years old. I was about to get my driver's license when I turned 16, and my dad got so mad at me one day and he told me, Herbert, you're stupid. You're never going to get your driver's license, and you're not going to do anything with your life. Now, he was just mad. He was just angry at me, but those words marked me at 15. I can remember growing up, my mama would tell me, you're going to be just like your daddy. My dad lived a wild life, even while he was married to my mama, so that was not a compliment when she said, you're going to be just like your daddy. That was not a compliment. She was trying to pay me. It punctured me deep in my soul because I was named after my dad.

My dad's name is Herbert Lee Cooper, Sr., and my thinking was negatively shaped by so many moments. After I got saved, I still believed a lot of lies. Lies about my self-worth, lies about my morality, lies about God. Those negative thinking patterns still were controlling my life after salvation. That's why the Bible teaches us that after salvation, we need our minds to be made new. Ephesians chapter 4, verse 23, to be made new in the attitude of your minds. Romans chapter 2, verse 2, do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve God's will, his perfect and good and pleasing will. Paul is teaching us after salvation, the old negative thinking still exists. Salvation changed our spirit, but not our thinking. You're saved, but mental strongholds still exist. Second Corinthians chapter 10 talks about mental strongholds. Verse 4 says the weapons we fight with are not the weapons of this world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. Strongholds! We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God. And we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. Paul speaks about mental strongholds. Pastor, what's a mental stronghold? These are deeply rooted beliefs that contradict God's truth. And you may be dealing with some mental strongholds today. You're saved, you're saved, you're saved, but you still believe, I will never change. God doesn't care about me. I have to be in control of everything.

I'm worthless, I'm a loser. One of these weeks of this series, I've been studying for a long time for this series. I'm gonna teach you how to demolish mental strongholds. I'm telling you, it's gonna change your life. This changed my life. I don't want you to live saved, but struggling with strongholds the rest of your life. You don't have to live that way, and we're gonna help you in Jesus' name. I'm telling you, we're gonna help you. Number two, number two, number two. There's a war in your emotions. In Romans chapter seven, Paul describes this emotional frustration. He describes this tension happening on the inside of him. You see, after salvation, there is a war, not just in your mind, but also in your emotions. You're saved, but you still carry old emotional patterns. You know, throughout the years of living life, our emotions develop negative habit loops. You can be saved and still struggling with habit loops, like shutting down emotionally when you encounter conflict. Saved, but reacting defensively. People-pleasing all the time. Avoiding vulnerability, avoiding all conflict. You have extreme insecurity, so you're always trying to prove yourself. Controlled by fear. Always dealing with unbelievable discouragement,

emotional instability. Unforgiveness and bitterness has controlled your life for years. You're overwhelmed with shame, guilt, and condemnation. Even after salvation, you can find yourself still struggling with unhealthy emotions. Salvation does not automatically make your emotions healthy. Unhealthy emotions still exist. They can control your life. Why? Because salvation doesn't automatically heal emotional wounds. Your spirit is made new, but your emotions must be healed and matured. You're saved, but you still struggle controlling your emotions. Many people get saved, but never learn to manage the intensity of their emotions. Their life is being controlled by outbursts of anger. Some of you are here, you're controlled by outbursts of anger. You're putting holes in walls. You have uncontrollable anxiety. Difficulty calming down, just always on the edge. Easily offended. Some of you are just easily, you've been offended for weeks, months, and years over silly stuff. Well, you know how they looked at me?

I mean, you just offended all the time. Overreact to everything. Some of you, your responses are over the top. And what happens is you're always damaging your relationships because of your reactions. And I know what I'm talking about from personal experience. I used to constantly let my emotions get the best of me. I was constantly reacting out of anger. I was constantly speaking hurtful, condescending, and mean words. I was consistently giving my wife the cold shoulder. Just consistently. I would shut down emotionally and put up walls in all my relationships. I was constantly hurting people who were closest to me. I was saved, preaching, but controlled by my emotions. You're saved, but still struggle with emotional attachments. People get saved, but still carry around unhealthy emotional attachments that are controlling their life, like approval addiction. Like the people just constantly need people's approval or their identity is connected to their image. Everything they do is about image. What they wear, how they work, what they drive, how they look, how they talk, how they post, everything's about image. The fear of rejection, depending on others for validation. Their identity is tied to a relationship. It's so crippling when you're saved, but bound to unhealthy emotional attachments.

You're saved, but still struggle with emotional strongholds. Emotional strongholds are long-term emotional beliefs that shape a person. feelings and shapes their behaviors and their actions, examples of emotional beliefs that would just be crippling are, I'm not worthy of love or good things. People will always leave me. I can't trust anyone. And these beliefs create deep emotional patterns in our life that influence us, that influence our reactions. You know, after salvation, I struggled for years not trusting people and I thought it was okay. It was a stronghold in my life. And all emotional strongholds do is they hurt our life. They hurt our relationships. You're saved but you still struggle with emotional trauma and wounds. If you had a horrible childhood, you were abused, you had a horrible marriage or an abusive relationship, you have dealt with a lot of pain and trauma. And that didn't all go away after salvation. You still have to deal with trauma and wounds from the past. Your emotions must be sanctified or else you'll live the rest of your life being controlled by wounds of rejection, being controlled by wounds of abuse and abandonment, being controlled by wounds of betrayal. After I gave my life to Jesus, I was controlled from being sexually abused and from the family I grew up in, that environment. And what it caused me to do because I didn't deal with it after I got saved is I built walls and I pushed people out of my life, people who loved me, who wanted what's best for me. I was easily, I was so easily offended. My life and relationships were not thriving because I was dealing with unprocessed and unhealed emotional wounds. Emotional wounds can hold our life back. Saved, but struggling. You're saved, but you still struggle with emotional triggers. Even after salvation, you may find yourself in certain situations and they activate these deep emotional triggers and reactions. Criticism triggers shame. Conflict triggers fear. Rejection triggers insecurity. And you can be saved and still triggered. And one of the weeks of this series, I'm telling you, we're going to teach you and talk about how to get victory in our emotions. God wants to sanctify us through and through and He

wants to have victory in our emotions in Jesus' name. This is going to be, it's going to change your life. It's going to change your life. Number three is this, there's a war in the will and the flesh. Our soul is made up of our mind, our will, and our emotions. But for time's sake, I want to combine the will and the flesh. Paul describes a war taking place in our will and our flesh. He says in Romans 7, verse number 15, I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do, I do not do. But what I hate, I do. And then he says in Romans 7, verse 18, he says, good does not dwell in my sinful nature. He's talking about his will and his flesh are not fully following the Holy Spirit's desires. His spirit wants to obey God, but his will and his flesh do not want to. Salvation regenerates the spirit, but it does not eradicate the flesh. So your flesh and your will have been trained for years. Before salvation, your entire life was shaped by these sinful patterns. Habits were formed around how you act, how you react, how you cope, how you pursue pleasure. Your flesh has years of reinforcement behind it. This is why sanctification takes time because, I mean, your flesh has been trained for years. You're saved, but your flesh craves immediate gratification. Your flesh still has sinful impulses, selfish desires, and appetites that oppose God. Salvation doesn't instantly remove temptation. The flesh, you have to...if you don't understand this, you'll always lose the victory in the battle. You have to understand this truth. The flesh is driven by appetite. The flesh wants pleasure, comfort, control, recognition. It wants relief from pain. The flesh hates delay, discipline, and denial. And I know it because last night about 9.30, that Blue Bell demon jumped on me. Oh, I ate that Blue Bell ice cream. I'm telling you what. Man, it jumped on me. That flesh was speaking to me. I knew I should have took myself to bed. I said, that blue belt actually messed up my sleep. But anyways, that's a whole other sermon.

You're saved, but your flesh struggles with generational patterns. Sometimes the struggles we face are not just personal. They're generational. Scripture talks about generational influences. Exodus chapter 34, verse 7, I lavish unfailing love to 1,000 generations. I forgive iniquity, rebellion, and sin, but I do not excuse the guilty. I lay the sins of the parents upon their children and grandchildren, and their entire family is affected, even children in the third and fourth generations. Now, this does not mean a Christian is cursed. Thank God for the blood of Jesus Christ that covers our sins and washes us. But it does mean a Christian is influenced by family. My family passed on things to me that I still struggle with. My family struggled. Here's an example with high cholesterol and diabetes. Years and years. And now, for years in my life, I've struggled with keeping my bad cholesterol under control. I inherited the propensity of having high cholesterol from my family. It's in my genes, it's in my bloodline. But just because I have a propensity towards it does not mean I have to be controlled by it. So I choose to conquer it by watching what I eat. Last night I didn't, but that's another sermon right there.

That demon, I bided that blue bell spirit that jumped on me last night. I watch what I eat. I exercise four or five times a week. I maintain a good weight so that I can keep my bad cholesterol and my weight under control. That's what helps me keep my cholesterol under control. Sometimes people come up to me and say, pastor, you lost weight. I'm like, I haven't lost weight in about eight years. You just ain't been to church in a long time, because I just try to make, I do it to maintain so I can be healthy. I go see my doctor regularly. And my doctor says, hey, Herbert, your bad cholesterol is getting a little high. You're going to be pre-diabetic. You better exercise, you better eat right. My family had to take medication in their 30s and their 40s for high cholesterol, for diabetes. And I'm now in my 50s. I don't have to take any medication at all. I praise God. I'm not on cholesterol medication. I don't have diabetes. I don't have high blood pressure. Just because I have a propensity towards these things does not mean I have to be controlled by them, just because my family was controlled by them. And the same is true spiritually.

Just because our family was controlled by anger, addiction, fear, sexual sin, perversion, poverty, pride, doesn't mean we have to be. Because of Jesus, we are a new creation and now we have the ability to live a different life. Come on, you ought to give God praise that you don't have to live like your family did. You ought to give God praise that you can change. You can be like Jesus. You can live different. You can live different. You're saved, but your flesh resists surrendering to God. Galatians chapter five, verse 17, for the flesh desires what is contrary to the spirit and the spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict and war with each other so that you are not to do whatever you want. The flesh naturally opposes God's authority. This is why obedience feels difficult at times. Come on, the flesh doesn't naturally cooperate and naturally cooperate with righteousness. The flesh naturally desires the exact opposite of what the Holy Spirit desires for our lives. There's a struggle inside of every Christian. Hey, church, the struggle is a good thing. Hear your pastor, I'm gonna say it again. The struggle is a good thing. Struggle is evidence of spiritual life, not spiritual death. People who are spiritually dead,

they don't struggle with sin. They just happily live in it. Right, they're just in it. They just, hey, what you doing tonight? Right, they're just in it. Only spiritually alive people struggle with sin. The fact that you are struggling and you desire to please God means you're spiritually alive. Your spirit is new. And now you need your soul and your body to be sanctified. Because of salvation and the work of the Holy Spirit who lives in you as a Christian, you can live a life of victory over sin. But here's what you have to do. You have to do the word of the year at People's Church. You have to, you have to grow. Your soul and your body have to be sanctified through and through and through. And then Paul wraps up Romans chapter seven. There's a battle, there's a struggle, there's a war. We're saved, but we're struggling with our soul, our mind, our will, our emotions, our body. He says there's a war, there's a struggle. And then he wraps up chapter number seven and verse number 25, and he closes it out like this. Thanks be to God who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then I myself, in my mind, I'm a slave to God's law, but in my sinful nature, a slave to the law of sin. Thanks be to God, Paul says,

who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord. Today, church, no matter how much you're struggling, you really can live in victory in your mind, your emotions, your will, and your body. You say, pastor, how do I do this? I'm saved, but I'm struggling so much. I'm saved, but my mind, my will, my emotions, my body are controlling. I got the Holy Spirit, but I'm struggling. Pastor, practically, how do I get the victory? Don't miss next Sunday, because we're gonna dive in and talk practically about how to get victory in our emotions. We're gonna talk about the mind. We're gonna talk about the will and the flesh. We're going to help you to your life change. Father, I thank you for your word. I thank you for your presence. I thank you for touching hearts and lives right now. Lord, we struggle. A lot of people feel this Roman seven, the good I want to do, I don't do. Father, I thank you today that your Holy Spirit's already doing a deep work. Lord, I thank you right now that you're creating a desire inside of us like never before to wanna please you, to wanna honor you. To wanna overcome our hurts, habits, and hangups. Oh God, we need you.

Have your way, work in our lives. Father, have your way, in Jesus' name I pray, amen. Every head bowed, every eye closed for just a few moments. There's some of you here today, you don't know Jesus as your Lord and Savior. You've been chasing the things of this world, you've been living to please your flesh, living to please your emotions. You didn't even realize that there was another way. I'm here to tell you today that there is another way. Today you can have your sins forgiven. You can be in a right relationship with God. But it takes surrendering your life to him today. You can know that you're going to heaven when your time on earth is done today. Maybe you're here today and maybe you used to follow Christ but you've drifted away and the desires of your flesh and the desires of this world have pulled you away and you got sucked into that again today. God is calling you back home. And he's saying, I wanna wash that all away in your life. But will you come home today? It's time for you to come back home. If you're here today, you're far from God. You wanna make Jesus the Lord of your life, you want your sins forgiven. You wanna know that you're gonna go to heaven when you die one day. Or you drifted away, you're ready to recommit your life back to Christ today.

When I count to three, I'm gonna ask you to slip up your hand, I wanna lead you in a prayer to make Jesus the Lord of your life. He's gonna come into your life, he's gonna make all things new, the Bible says. If that's you here today, when I count to three, would you lift your hand? One, two, three, lift it right now. That's you, thank you so much, thank you so much. Thank you so much, thank you, thank you. Thank you, I see those hands, I see that hand. Thank you so much. Anyone else, you say, that's me, I need Jesus in my life today. Those of you who have your hands raised around this room, I want you to pray this prayer. The Bible says, confess it with your mouth, believe it in your heart, and the Bible says you will be saved. Let's pray with me now. Dear Heavenly Father, I realize that I'm a sinner, and I need a Savior. I thank you that you sent your Son, Jesus, to die on the cross for my sins, so that I could have a right relationship with God. Today, I surrender my life to you, Jesus. I give you all that I am. Be my Lord, be my Savior. In Jesus' name, I pray.

Amen, and amen. Come on, church, can we celebrate with those who said yes to Christ? The Bible says all of heaven rejoices with just one. Well, church family, as pastor was sharing this message today, there was a scripture that came to my mind, and it was this. It says, the same power that raised Christ from the dead lives in you. You see, the great thing about when you're a Christian, when you're a believer, is the Spirit of God that lives in you is the Spirit of God comes and lives inside of you, and the Bible actually calls the Holy Spirit the paraclete, and that's just a fancy word which means helper. So he's a helper who comes alongside of you. I don't know about you, but I need help in my life. I need help to overcome the struggles. I need help to overcome this flesh, to overcome my soul, and so if you're here today, I'm gonna ask you to stand up all over this room. Come on, if you need God's help, you need his Holy Spirit to help you in this battle against our flesh. Come on, would you sing this out? God, we need you today, Lord. ♪ Oh God, my God, I need you ♪ ♪ Oh God, my God, I need you now ♪ ♪ How I need you now ♪

♪ Oh rock, oh rock of ages ♪ ♪ I'm standing on your faithfulness ♪ ♪ On your faithfulness, oh yes ♪ ♪ Oh God, my God, I need you ♪ ♪ Oh God, my God, I need you now ♪ ♪ How I need you now ♪ ♪ Oh rock, oh rock of ages ♪ ♪ I'm standing on your faithfulness ♪ ♪ On your faithfulness, I need thee, oh yes ♪ ♪ Oh rock, I need thee ♪ ♪ And every hour, I need thee, yes ♪ ♪ Oh bless me now with my Savior's love ♪ ♪ Savior, I've come to tell thee, I need thee, oh I need thee, yes ♪ ♪ I've come to tell thee, I need thee, oh I need thee, yes ♪ ♪ And every hour, I need thee, yes ♪ ♪ Oh bless me now, oh bless me now, my Savior, I've come, I've come to say ♪ ♪ Oh God, my God, I need you ♪ ♪ Oh God, my God, I need you now, how I need you now, yeah ♪ ♪ Oh rock, oh rock of ages, I'm standing on your faithfulness, on your faithfulness ♪ Anyone glad you got a helper? Come on. Man, I'm just so grateful we serve a great God who's with us, who helps us along the way. To all of our guests here today, if you're looking for a home church, I hope you don't need to look any further. You really are among some of the kindest, most loving people in all of Oklahoma. Give us a year of your life. Really get plugged in and watch what God will do in and through your life. We're family here at People's Church. We shout it at the end of every service because we really believe it. Come on. Would you shout it with me on three? One, two, three.

We're family.