Why Can't I Change? | Dan Lian

Good morning, Battle Creek family. So good being with the 11.30 gathering, the last service, best service. Come put your hands together if you love Jesus here in the room, and so good to get together and praise Him. On a Sunday, if we haven't met before, my name is Dan Leanne. I am the Chinese-Australian member of Pastor Alex's preaching team here. I'm not a guest. I really am a part of the Battle Creek family. If we haven't met before and you're a little confused right now, I was born in Australia. That's the reason I sound this way. My mother and father are Chinese. That's the reason I look this way. I live in the South. Now that's the reason I drive a truck and I say y'all a lot. And I'm actually a converted Oklahoma fan now. So the strong Suna evangelism that's taken place over here over the last couple of years has converted this Australian. And I'm believing for a good year out there in Norman, Oklahoma. Can someone say a good amen to that? And I do love Pastors Alex and Meredith so much.

Love the whole team here. Y'all have a very, very special church. And if you're relatively new to the Battle Creek family, I do hope and pray that you lean more and more into what God is doing, because this is something very rare in our nation. It's very rare in the earth. How we put our hands together and encourage all of our pastors and our leaders and our team who serve us so well every single week. It's just incredible. I've got a really simple word for you today. I've got a flight to catch at 1.45. And so we're gonna go quick. And, but it's not gonna take long to talk about the kind of freedom that God sent his son Jesus to give. This message is called Freedom Indeed. And it feels really appropriate this 4th of July weekend, because Americans love a lot of things, but they don't love many things as much as they love their freedom. I was doing an event in East Texas on Friday night. It was a church that puts on this incredible fireworks event. They've been doing it for 21 years. And they had over 7,000 people out there in East Texas, watching the fireworks, listening to some of the music they were playing,

the water park they had set up. And there was a 20 minute opportunity for me to preach the gospel. So I got out there on Friday afternoon. It was an exciting event. The time for the message came around. And I started the talk with this reflection, that a lot of people were there that night to see the fireworks. But just remember, as you see the night sky lit up by those fireworks, fireworks, that's a Chinese invention. You're welcome. They didn't laugh. They booed and jeered a little bit. And I got through the message and people came to Christ that night. We celebrated, it was amazing. And as I stepped off the stage, I had one of the production guys come straight to me and thank me for the message, take my microphone. But then he let me know that even though China may have invented fireworks, it was America that invented freedom. I don't know if that's true or not. But I know for a fact that we love freedom here in this country. I think about the Declaration of Independence. I think about the statement about every single person here

with a God-given right to pursue life and liberty and happiness. I think about the Statue of Liberty that I got to visit when I first moved to America. I wanted to make it a point as a family, we're gonna go together and see this symbol of what America is, a place where you can pursue a better life in a free space. I think about the social media posts that I saw last night, maybe over the last 48 hours, my American friends posting pictures of the American flag, fireworks of cookouts and barbecues. And this statement, I love living in America, the freest country there is. America loves its freedom. You love your freedom here. The question I've come to post tonight or this afternoon is, is the freedom that you pursue, the freedom that you wanna enjoy, the same freedom Jesus came to give? Think about that. There's no question we live in a country that loves its freedom. fights for his freedom, that wants to protect its freedom, that lifts up and celebrates the concept of freedom, but is this definition of freedom the same freedom Jesus came to give? Because Jesus came to give freedom. That's the reason in Luke chapter four, verse 18 and 19, Jesus entered into a normal church service,

took the stage, unfurled the scrolls and declared, the spirit of the Lord is on me because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor, he has set me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor. Later on in John chapter eight, Jesus having an interaction with the religious leaders of the day, and he's declaring that he wasn't there just to set up a new or fresh religion, he was here to set people free, free indeed. You love your freedom, Jesus loves freedom, the question is, are those two things the same thing? What comes to your mind when you think of the word freedom? I know for a lot of people, they're thinking of the concept of self-determination, I can choose to do what I want, where I want to, when I want to, no one can tell me anything. If you're free from every constraint, anything that would prevent you from stepping in the spaces that you wanna step, then that's freedom. But does that play out logically? Is that what freedom is? Is freedom just being able to do what you want, when you want, where you wanna do it? Like if I stepped off the stage right now,

and I hit you over the head with this microphone, and I stole the money out of your wallet and took your keys and jumped into your truck, I don't know if you have a truck, but you look like you have a truck, you give truck, you know what I'm saying? Like a large truck, like not like an F-150, you're like F-250, F-350 kind of energy, you know what I'm saying? If there's a 450, you might drive the 450, but that's what you look like, all right? If I stole your truck, and I drove down the highway at 120 miles per hour, and a police officer pulled me over and asked me what I was doing, and I said, freedom, is that freedom? It's not. It doesn't play out logically. So freedom has to be more than just living in such a way where we do what we want, when we wanna do it. Think about it. Is freedom just growing up and living in America, in a place where there are laws and there are frameworks that assure your freedom? Just because you live in a free country, does that make you free? Does that play out logically? I don't know about you, but I pass the people every single day that live in a free country,

maybe the freest on earth, but they live enslaved. They live wound up, bound up and ground up by fear, anxiety, darkness, depression, held back by their past, frozen by their future. A lot of people in this room right now live in a free country, but you know the feeling of not feeling free. So that's the million dollar question for us this morning flowing to the afternoon. We all love freedom. Jesus wants to give you freedom. Are they the same things? And what would happen if we really understood the kind of freedom that Jesus came to give, and we lent into that deeper in the days ahead? How would your life change? How would your household change? How would your marriage change? How would your family unit change if we lent into that kind of freedom? So that's the million dollar question. Okay, Dan, I hear you. I know that freedom as Jesus wants to give might be different than my picture of freedom in my head. But what is this freedom? I'm glad you asked. If you're taking down notes, you can pull out your leather bound journals and scribble a few things down right now. I'm not saying that you need to take notes

to get into heaven. I'm just saying, why take a chance? You know what I'm saying? Get to the end, it might be an open book quiz, and you're not messing around. Don't write that down. That's terrible. But I know for me, it's always helpful to scribble a few things down for review later. How many times have we had one of those situations where we go, I know God was telling me something. I just can't quite remember what it was. Write it down, it'll help you going forward. iPhones and iPads, open up the Note app and thank the Lord Jesus for Steve Jobs as you do so. That's a wonderful piece of technology you have right there. Who's got a Google device or a Samsung situation? Who's got one of those things? Okay, you can put it away. I've got nothing for you. And for your friends, because you mess up our group texts with your green bubble. No, I'm messing around. It's very invasive. Just a few reflections on freedom this 4th of July weekend. The kind of freedom Jesus came so far to give. So first and foremost and most importantly the freedom that Jesus comes to give is freedom from sin and from death. Freedom from sin and death. Romans chapter 6 verse 22 and 23 famously declares, but now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the

benefit you reap leads to holiness and the result is eternal life. That's a whole sermon in itself. For the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. All of us have fallen short of the glory of God. Every mistake we've made, every lie we've told, every act of murder we've committed with our mouth, every skirt of pride that we hold on to, the arrogance that we carry ourselves with, all of this does not match up to God's perfect standard and because it doesn't match up to God's perfect standard, justice demands that we are punished. And the Bible says the wages of these sins is death, eternal separation from God. This is hell. That's the reason when people say I can't buy into a God who says he's loving but sends people to hell. That doesn't hold water because God doesn't send anyone to hell. It's our sin, it's our rebellion, it's our rejection of God that sends ourselves to hell. We all deserve it but then Jesus steps in. And even though we deserved eternal separation, the gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord. Jesus doesn't just post the bond or pay your bail. He steps in on your behalf and he pays a price that you couldn't afford to pay. How many people have been pulled over speeding before? Anyone been pulled over speeding before? Hey 1130 service, God is watching, do not lie. Who has been pulled over speeding before? Okay let me just ask you out of curiosity, where my people in this room who when you pull over speeding, you play, you play dumb, you play cute, you try to like kind of work your, come on, if you are someone who's like, oh really officer was I doing that? Where you at? Where my people? Yes I was thinking, I was looking at you because you kind of, you look like I'm gonna like, like bat my little doe eyelids. Oh my goodness did I really do that? I was like, really doing 75 in the 35 zone? Yes, alright. Let's be real right now, we're in a house of God where there's no shame but there is gonna be some judgment if you lie. Where you, where my people at who try to talk their way out of a ticket? Where my people who are, let's be real right now, a little bit argumentative, a little bit like, I really was, where my people was, I need to see the radar, show me the right, this dude over here, right over here, show me the radar. For me, you know what I do, I'm

the come clean guy. I'm like the right, I will go, I will straight up say, I was me, I'm so sorry, I wasn't paying attention and maybe my owning of my mistake will invoke some grace and I got pulled over earlier this year. I was driving back from our Greenwood campus which is about an hour from where I live and I was preaching at a men's event that night and you know sometimes when you're coming through a town, there's a slowdown, okay. I didn't see the slowdown and I go on through blue lights and I'm getting pulled over. So I pull out my license and my registration, I wound the window down, the police officer comes up and says, do you know how fast you were going? I'm so sorry, I know I was speeding, I don't know the exact number, I'm so sorry and he says, wait a second, where's your accent from? I said, I'm from Australia and he goes, I love Australians, really? And I really turn on the Australian accent. He goes, what are you doing this time of night driving through this town? I said, well I was actually preaching as a pastor, you say pastor, he giggled, he giggled a little bit and then at our church and I'm on my way back, he goes, you're a pastor? I said, yes, yes, yes, I'm an Australian pastor and then he says, I can't give a minister of a gospel a ticket, can I? And I said, no you can't, you can't, you can't. He says, alright, get out of here, slow down. That doesn't happen often but I, for me, every single time I get pulled over, I'm the guy who owns it quick because I've been caught red-handed, I know there's not much I can do. Every single one of you, by default, as nice as you are, as kind as you are, as moral as you I mean, as hard as you've tried, you've all been caught red handed. The God of this universe sees it all. And all of us by default, deserve eternal separation. But then Jesus steps in, and again, does more than post bail, does more than leave a bond. He steps in on our behalf. And he says, whatever they deserved, put it on me.

And because of that, you get set free from sin and death. Come on 1130 service, you better smile a little bit. That's really good news. I know that for some people in this room, you're halfway through the year, and life hasn't been going your way. Some people found it really difficult to get to church even today. And you feel like you have nothing to be thankful for in 2026 so far. Can I just lovingly disagree? He said that every day when you look in the mirror, you're not looking at a bad person who made a decision to now be good. If you know Jesus, you're a dead person, destined for death forever, and you were made alive. He sets you free from sin and death. The second thing we get free from, because of Jesus, are strongholds. There are cells that we find ourselves returning to. Prisons that we're released from that we keep on showing up at again. And the Bible reminds us that not only because of the blood of Jesus, are you freed from your sin and your death sentence, you are now free from these old patterns in your life. That's the reason in Galatians chapter five in verse one, the Bible says, it is for freedom that Christ has set you free. Can you see there are two different things here?

There's getting free by the blood of Jesus, but now there's living in freedom, disconnected from these old patterns of yesterday. Stand firm then, and do not let yourselves be burned again by the yoke of slavery. It's the wildest thing to see as a pastor. It's the wildest thing to see in the mirror sometimes. Old rhythms and old patterns, all broken ways of living that we all return to. But we're told here that when we come to Christ and we find ourselves free from sin, now we are filled with the Holy Spirit. The old is gone, the new has come, and we get to now flee the past and pursue a new, brighter, freer future. And that is what each and every single one of us get to do by the grace of God. Amen. For those who know my story a little bit, my family and I have been in a green card process for six years now, and it has been a headache. We're here legally, it's all good. So don't be calling any hotlines, it's all good. It's great, but we're here and we've been waiting and we can see the light at the end of the tunnel. In fact, we've got some good news. We're gonna have a ruling one way or the other in the next couple of weeks. Now, if it doesn't go our way, you'll be seeing a video from me on Instagram

from whatever country I get deported to, and I'll be praising Jesus anyway. If we do become Americans, you're gonna see a video as well. And it's gonna be me with my shirt off, with the American flag tattooed on my chest, with an eagle that's gonna come up onto my neck. I'm gonna be excited, all right? But in the meantime, we technically can't leave the country or come back in. We've needed to get special permission from the government to go in and out of the country. We received that, but the only catch is every time we come back into the US, we have to be technically detained. So we're arriving in the US without formal visa documentation. We have to explain our situation, and after explaining the situation, the border officer can let us in. So it's a little scary. When you arrive back after a long haul with your family, we explain the situation to border security, and then they take us off to a room, put us in their room and lock the door. Your heart races until an officer comes in and you gotta explain the story to them, and depending on their mood that day or their understanding of this particular kind of migration situation,

we could get denied and get sent back. And we've done it five or six times now in the last couple of years, and I'm telling you now, every single time, the border security agent says, you know what, I know what's going on here. Hey, you guys are free to enter. Boom. Boomp, boomp, boomp, and they open the door. Do you know what I don't do? I don't make small chat. I don't hang around. I don't say, you know what? This chair is really comfortable. Where'd you get it from? No, no, I get up and I head out of that door as quick as I can. In fact, what I do is I go into the terminal and I try to find my first group of Asian people and I try to blend in. I'm just trying to blend in. It's kind of racist, you shouldn't have laughed. And I'm like kind of. It's one thing to have the cell door opened, it's another deal to now run for your life. I'm here to let you know that Jesus went through so much to open up that cell door in your life. Stop hanging around. Come on, run for your life. There are new patterns.

There are new ways to live. There is new thinking for your life. There are new things to fill your heart with every single day. Run for your life. It's for freedom. You've been set free. You get to flee the old and pursue something new. Thirdly and lastly, freedom is freedom from sin. Freedom is freedom from strongholds. And freedom is freedom that is found in surrender. Found in surrender. 1 Corinthians 9 and verse 19, Apostle Paul, whose side note was writing all of this from a prison. The freest man that wrote much of the New Testament was writing this from a cell. How? Because he was free from sin, free from strongholds, and now he was surrendered. Though I am free and belong to no one, I have made myself a slave to everyone to win as many as possible. Your greatest experience of freedom this side of eternity will be found on the other side of surrender to Christ. Every day, when the Holy Spirit pokes you and prods you, challenges you and woos you, every time you choose obedience, you step into greater freedom, which is counterintuitive.

We don't like the word surrender in America. I was talking to my friend, Rob, and he's got a family who wrestle. And wrestling is another kind of sport. Those are some tough, tough, tough kids. And I'm sure that there will be many a time where he's told his kids, you know what? If you're the one who quit, if you don't quit last, you'll win. And no matter what's happening, don't give up. Whatever you do, don't submit. Whatever you do, don't tap out. And in so many areas of life, that's a wonderful piece of advice, but it's a terrible piece of advice when it comes to the voice of God in your journey. Because in fact, your greatest freedom will be found on the other side of Jesus asking you to obey. The Apostle Paul understood it. He said, I'm not a slave to anyone. I'm totally and absolutely free in Christ. I understand what the blood of Jesus has purchased me. I know the power of the resurrection in my life. There isn't a person on earth who feels as free as me, but this is how I go deeper into my freedom. I now sell my life to the cause of Christ. I live out my days for His glory. I was made on purpose. I will live out that purpose.

And that makes me fully free. That should be your story too. God has made you on purpose, fulfill your purpose, and that's how you live free. I love the personal rights that you get here in America. Trust me, as someone who has grown up in another country, has family in many other countries, has spent the last 30 years travelling around the world, preaching the Gospel, I'm telling you now, here in America, you get a very unique gift, your individual right to pursue better for you and for your family. It's a beautiful gift, but never allow this personal pursuit to get in the way of understanding that your highest form of freedom will be surrendering your life daily into the loving hands of a God who is more for you. You feel most free when you're surrendered to Him. How many people served or got involved with youth camp a couple of weeks back? Anyone like served and, didn't you feel it? Like when you're there serving, it just feels, I feel like I'm so alive. You're seeing young people worshipping God, you're giving of your time. You might have taken annual leave, it cost you money to be around to serve, but for some reason you felt so free. Why? Because you're aligning yourself with your purpose. Did you feel free before we were worshipping God? We were singing and you walked in here with the pains and the problems that I feel as well. The

world feels heavy, the issues are all around, but for some reason with our hands lifted and our voices loud we felt so free. What was happening? Because you're surrendering. You feel free. Come on, anyone felt like just the weight of their world was on their shoulders and then they hit their knees, start to pray, talk to God and then all of a sudden all that weight gets lifted. Why? Because prayer is just another word for surrender. You will feel most free in your journey when you understand that you're free from sin and death, that you don't have to go back to that jail cell that he lets you free from, and that you get to live your life every single day on purpose for the God who made you on purpose. That's freedom. So as we wrap up our time I just want to do two simple things. First and foremost I want to give an opportunity to someone in the room to simply say yes to Jesus. He's already said yes to you. That's the reason over the last 30 minutes there are some people here who are going, you know what, I feel like God's trying to talk to me. I feel like God's trying to take the control seat of my life. I feel like he's trying to get to the center point of my journey. That's the reason some of y'all have felt this strange knocking at your heart's door. You've been confused about what that experience was. I'm just here to let you know that's what it feels like when God tries to get through to you. But you push back, why does God bother knocking? Isn't he God? Can't he just kick the door down? No, no, no. Love never forces itself. Love allows you to choose. And that's the reason you have felt that knock over the last 31 minutes. So if you're in this room right now and you're going, hey you know what, I need to make Jesus Christ my Lord, my King, my Savior. I need to make him number one. I need to follow his way. I want to invite everyone in the room just to close their eyes right now, but to open up their hearts. And if you felt that knock, would you allow me to lead you in a prayer that heaven will hear? I prayed this prayer when I was 17 years old and it has been changing my life for the last 34 years. And I believe that it will change your life as well. So with every eye closed, but every heart open, you've been saying, you know what, Dan, I heard Jesus knocking on my heart's door. I want to give him my life. When I count to three, would you

lift your hand where you are? Are you ready? One, two, three. Just lift your hand where you are. You were saying yes to Jesus. I see your hand over here. I see your hand over there. I see your hand over there. Amazing. I see your hand over here as well to my left. I see your hand there in the back left as well. I see your hand here in the middle as well. Amazing. With your hand lifted, I want you to pray this out loud after me. In fact, we'll do it all together as an act of love and support. Let's pray this out loud. Dear Jesus, I surrender my life to you. Thank you for your love. I repent. I turn your way. Help me now by your Spirit to live for your glory. I am free. Amen. Come on, can you put your hands together for all the people who lifted theirs? Wow. So cool. At the end of this gathering, I want to encourage you, if you lifted your hand, to connect with maybe the person that brought you along, maybe a pastor here in this room. We are so excited about the step that you took. We want to be there for your whole journey. Come on, one more time, put your hands together for them. It's so cool. Now finally, with every eye open and every head raised and everyone looking around in a judgmental manner, I do this all the time because it creates a humbling environment. And the Bible says God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. I've learned over these 33 years of walking with Jesus that He makes promises and He keeps them. So I'm trying to activate a promise for your life before you leave today. Because all of us need some grace to live out what God has stirred in our heart. So with every eye open and every head raised if you would say you know what I need more freedom in my life and you know that over the last 33 minutes as you've heard this message you're going you know what in that area of my life in that space of my journey I just need more freedom. If that's you I would love to give you an opportunity to lean into the grace available to you through this humble move. So with every eye open every head raised if that word was for you today if God has stirred in your heart today regarding freedom and you need more of it would you lift your hand high in the sky and just let us know right now. Okay so you're not alone keep it

lifted and out loud I want you to pray this with me. We'll do it all together Dear Jesus I surrender my life to you. I hold you to your promise that you will give me grace to find more freedom in my journey. I love you God. Thank you for your love for me. I will be freer going forward. Amen. Put your hands together and praise God for what he's doing. Well happy 4th of July weekend family. I'm so grateful for this church. It's breathtakingly beautiful. Every year I get to visit to see how far we have come how much we have grown and here's the best part our King Jesus is just getting warmed up. Our best days lay ahead. God bless and I'll see you next summer.