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Psalm 51.

We were there last week.

I just felt led to go back there again this morning.

Psalm 51, verse 7.

Purify me from my sins, and I will be clean.

Wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.

Oh, give me back my joy again.

You have broken me.

I feel like there's some people that feel like their joy has been stolen.

Yeah, I feel like there's a lot of sadness in here today.

I know that because I didn't come in sad.

I didn't come in somber.

Like, I came in this morning feeling really good, feeling on fire, feeling ready for what God is going to do today.

And then I got in the room here for worship, and I just felt a great sorrow and a great sadness.

Oh, give me back my joy again.

You have broken me.

Some of you feel like God has broken you.

Like you feel like he's stolen everything from you.

You feel like he took everything that you had in mind.

But let me tell you something.

He's given you back something better.

I can see that hitting you something hard right now.

I can see it right now.

You feel like he's stolen the plans that you had made.

But let me tell you something.

What the enemy meant to harm you, he's going to work for good.

Come on.

The devil wants you to believe, oh, this is God.

He's doing this.

He's trying to hurt you.

And let me tell you something.

He's going to work it together for the good of those who love him.

Keep loving him.

Keep serving him because he's the only one that will work it together for good.

The devil wants you to give up.

The devil wants you to stop short.

The devil knows if he can get you to quit, that's how he wins.

There's joy in this house.

All of a sudden, you get your perspective changed and shifted in the name of Jesus.

And all of a sudden, you start to see what the enemy was doing, and you realize, oh, he wants me to quit.

He wants me to turn on God.

But God is the only one who can work it for good.

There's joy in the house today.

Go ahead, just...

Just say it with me.

There's joy in the house today.

I got the joy living inside of me.

Begin to believe it.

Take hold of that today.

Oh, give me back my joy again.

That's our prayer today, Lord.

Give us back our joy again.

You've broken me.

Now let me rejoice.

Even in our brokenness, we rejoice.

Don't keep looking at my sins.

Remove the stain of my guilt.

Create in me a clean heart, oh God.

Renew a loyal spirit within me.

He's teaching you loyalty today.

Will you stay loyal to him even when you do not understand what he is doing or why he is doing it?

That's loyalty.

He's creating a people that understand covenant.

We don't understand covenant in this world, right?

We don't know covenant, we don't understand that.

We don't.

We don't understand covenant, we understand convenience.

This isn't convenient anymore.

I'm leaving.

This relationship is not convenient anymore.

I'm leaving.

No, no, no.

You got to understand you are in covenant.

If you're one of God's people, you're a people of covenant.

He's trying to teach us covenant today.

Covenant is equal to loyalty.

Too many people treat covenant, treat marriage as if it should be convenient.

Too many people treat covenant as if they're, my goodness, if it doesn't serve me anymore, if I don't feel it anymore, well, I can just leave.

No, no, no.

Covenant is not about your feelings.

It's about a choice.

It's a choice to say, I said yes to this and I'm in it.

I'm not leaving.

I'm loyal.

I said yes to the Lord.

I'm in it.

I'm not leaving.

I'm loyal.

I'm going to chase him with all my heart, mind, soul, and strength.

We're a people of covenant.

Create in me a clean heart, O God.

Renew a loyal spirit within me.

Do not banish me from your presence and don't take your Holy Spirit from me.

Father God, that's our prayer today.

Please do not take your Holy Spirit from us.

Restore to me the joy of your salvation and make me willing to obey you.

There's a connection there between joy and obedience.

you want the joy restored to you, then step back into obedience.

Let that be your prayer today.

Father God, make me willing to obey you.

You might not be willing today, but you can pray that prayer.

You can say, God, please make me willing to obey you.

I don't want to obey you, but God, please make me willing to obey you.

He's the one who can change and transform the heart.

So if you're willing to let him,

Open up the door today.

Just say, God, please make me willing to obey you again, and he will restore the joy of your salvation.

Then I will teach your ways to rebels, and they will return to you.

Forgive me for shedding blood, O God who saves me.

Some of you, you're here today, and you're like, well, I've never shed any blood.

I've never murdered.

Have you hated somebody?

Well, Jesus said you've murdered.

Have you gossiped about somebody?

Have you slandered somebody?

That's murder.

Murder.

In the spirit realm, that is murder.

Forgive me for shedding blood, O God, who saves.

Then I will joyfully sing of your forgiveness.

Unseal my lips, O Lord, that my mouth may praise you.

My prayer is that some lips will be unsealed today and that we'll be able to praise freely at the end.

I just felt like there was so much just tied up and bound and chained in worship today.

And I believe he wants to set you free today.

He wants to release you.

You're a people of joy.

You're a people that know the joy of his salvation.

So just begin to declare.

You can just say it right now.

Go ahead, say it with me.

I'm going to tell you what to say.

You can say it if you want to join in.

He is my shield.

He is my strength.

I love him with all my heart, all my soul, and all my strength.

All right, let's pray.

Father God, we love you.

We praise you.

God, you're good.

Lord, I just, I pray by faith that you're restoring the joy right now to your people, the joy of your salvation.

Lord, I pray that where there is a hindrance, where there's a block, that it would be removed in your name, Jesus.

We just apply your blood.

Your blood breaks every curse.

It releases the chains of your people.

And so I just pray, God, let us be free.

Let us walk in freedom today in the name of your son, Jesus.

Holy Spirit, have your way in me.

Have your way in my tongue.

Have your way in my mouth.

Have your way in my heart, in my mind.

Lord, I just pray that I would declare your truth and nothing else.

God, I submit everything I am to you today.

In Jesus' name, amen.

Psalm 127, verse 1.

Unless the Lord builds a house, the work of the builders is wasted.

Unless the Lord protects a city, guarding it with centuries will do no good.

I did.

I felt like in this season, we've been through a lot of seasons in this church.

In the very first year, I felt him say, we need a strong foundation.

And so we just, we got into the word, and we went to his word for how to build a strong foundation.

And then a couple years after that, we were down in North Omaha, and we were meeting at Abide.

And it's down in the heart of North Omaha.

And we're meeting there every Sunday.

And I felt him say, go to my word for the blueprint of how to build my house.

Too many people try to build the Lord's house the way they want to build it.

And I just felt him saying, go to my word.

It's a blueprint.

And now I feel like again in this season, this time he's saying, go back to my word.

I got all the plans for how to build my house.

And so for a few of you, you're going to be like, oh, I was here for foundations.

I was here for blueprint.

I've heard it all.

We need to hear it again.

And I'm telling you, like, he's got a fresh word for you today.

I believe that.

Because when you go to his word, it is like his mercies are new every day.

I believe there's something new and something fresh today in this season for us.

So we're going to build his house the way he asked us to build it, the way he lays it out in the word.

We just go to the word and we say, God, teach us your ways.

Your ways are better than our own.

So Matthew 7 verse 24 says this.

Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise like a person who builds a house on solid rock.

Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against the house, it won't collapse because it is built on bedrock.

But anyone who hears my teaching and doesn't obey it is foolish."

Like a person who builds a house on sand, when the rain and floods come and the winds beat against the house, it will collapse with a mighty crash.

So that's what we want.

We want to build his house on his word.

Everything we do, we want to base it on his word.

1 Peter 2 verse 4 says this.

Coming to him as a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious, you also as living stones are being built up a spiritual house.

You all are a part of the house.

If you say yes to being a part of his house, you're a part of a spiritual house.

You're a part of his house.

When you say yes to Jesus, you become an important part of the house.

You also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

You're a part of this house.

You're called to offer up spiritual sacrifices.

In Hebrews, it talks about a sacrifice of praise.

So some of you, you've said yes to Jesus, and you're like, yeah, I'm good, I'm all in, I want salvation.

You may not have understood everything that you've committed to, everything you've said yes to.

You're called to be a part of the priesthood to bring spiritual sacrifices.

In Hebrews, it talks about a spiritual sacrifice of praise.

Some of you, you come in here every week and you stay silent during praise because you don't feel like it.

Let me tell you something.

He is looking for people with a humble and contrite heart that will praise him.

Praise is not about a feeling or an emotion.

It's a choice.

And why does he prescribe this in his word?

Because he knows it's actually really good for you.

As you begin to praise, praise is a weapon.

And everything you come in with on a Sunday morning kind of bound up and chained and feeling kind of gloomy and dreary and weary, like, I just, I felt that today in worship.

Like, I could feel that.

Some of you, you came in today, and there's this book that we got for our kids.

I don't even know who gave it to us, but it's Pout Pout Fish.

You ever read Pout Pout Fish?

I think they're even making a movie about it.

It's kind of, it's whatever, you know.

It's not that good of a book, but it's just, this Pout Pout Fish is like, oh, you know, I got the dreary wearies.

Blah, blah, blah.

Like, I felt that in worship today.

And this isn't, like, this isn't, like,

Don't sit here and be like, oh, he's being kind of mean.

No, no, no, I'm just, I'm telling you, I could feel that.

The Lord feels that.

The Lord wants to set you free.

The Lord didn't call you to be a pow-pow fish.

He didn't.

Like, you just came in dreary and weary.

Oh, the world's hard, and I'm just getting beat up, and I just don't know if it's worth it.

I don't know if I want to go on anymore.

Like, I just, everything's bad, and I just, you got to get back into the Word, right?

You got to get back into the word.

The word is medicine for your soul.

You came in and you're feeling that in your soul.

But let me tell you something.

If you start to get into the word and you can what?

You can build up your spirit, man.

Like you are three parts.

You're a body.

You're a physical body.

You're a soul, your mind, your will, your emotions, your feelings.

And then you're a spirit.

When you say yes to Jesus and you invite the Holy Spirit in, he comes to dwell inside your spirit.

You have the living God inside of you, but you are submitting and listening to your feelings and your emotions and your soul.

Or you are submitting and listening to your body and you're just living off every craving and every hunger and every desire and you're just feeding your body and you're feeding your soul and you're never feeding your spirit.

What feeds the spirit?

The word.

As you begin to read the word and then you begin to declare the word, what happens?

It begins to strengthen your spirit, man.

And you begin to actually start to get some faith built up.

And you start, let me tell you something.

Some days I don't feel like it.

I've told you this before.

Sometimes I don't feel like it.

I don't.

It's like I'm getting beat up and I'm getting like the devil is coming after me.

And I'm like, Lord, I don't feel like it today.

But I start going back to the word and I just start declaring the word.

And what happens?

As you declare with your mouth, it goes out and it comes back in.

I'm telling you, just begin to declare it.

It goes out and it comes back in.

And it begins to strengthen you in your spirit.

And you begin to grow in your faith.

You have to start declaring the word of God.

Command your soul.

Some of you are just, you're letting your soul just kind of dictate everything.

Well, I don't feel like it today, so I'm not gonna do that.

I don't feel like working out.

I don't feel like eating good.

I don't feel like going to church.

Command your soul.

Take spiritual authority.

You are a man of God.

You are a woman of God.

You are filled with the Holy Spirit, the same spirit, the same power that raised Christ Jesus from the dead.

Come on.

Yeah, come on.

Some of you are waking up right now.

Command it.

Command your soul.

What's that old, I think it's a hymn or an old worship song.

Of course, Pastor Andrew, I can't even see him.

Command my soul.

Awake my soul.

Some of you, you wake up and you're like tired.

You don't feel like getting up.

What do I got to do at 5 a.m.?

If I want to get up and I want to start walking and spending time with the Lord, do I get up and do I feel like, man, I'm ready to start my day at 5 a.m.?

No.

I tell, no, right?

I tell my feet, get on the ground.

Get on the ground.

And what do I do?

I swing my feet out onto the ground.

And then I sit up.

I'm like, and then I'm like, I could just go to the bathroom and come back to bed.

Yeah.

And I go to the bathroom and then I'm like, don't go back to bed.

Don't you do it.

Some days I go back to bed.

Don't let the devil beat you up on those days.

Get up again the next day and say, not today, Satan.

Not today, Satan.

I'm going to move, and I'm going to move, and I'm tired, and I'm weary.

But the more I keep moving, the closer I get to the door, and I get out the door, and guess what?

It's too cold outside to be tired anymore.

And all of a sudden I'm awake, and I'm moving, and I'm going, and I'm like, I'm walking.

I'm walking with the Lord today.

Come on.

You can do it too.

Yeah.

I'm not special.

I'm not.

You can do it too.

You can get up tomorrow and you can say, I'm going to walk with you, Lord.

I'm going to choose today who I'm walking with.

And I'm not walking with my flesh anymore.

I'm not walking with my soul and my feelings and my emotions anymore.

I'm walking with the power of the Holy Spirit.

come on, just start moving.

I start moving and I get a block from my house and I'm like, I'm too far to go back.

I might as well keep going.

And I get two blocks.

I'm like, I'm feeling pretty good.

I maybe even could jog a little bit.

And I start jogging and my hammy tightens up and I'm like, well, maybe I'll slow down a little.

I probably should have stretched.

Listen, just start walking with him tomorrow.

Get up early.

Get up at 5 a.m.

Command your soul.

Command your body.

You have authority in the name of Jesus.

In fact, take hold of it in the name of Jesus tomorrow.

Just say, in the name of Jesus' legs, you're gonna move.

Guess what?

They're gonna move.

Come on.

Get up tomorrow.

Spend some time with him.

Begin to command.

Don't let your feelings dictate your life.

Don't let your flesh dictate your life.

Get into the word of God and begin to command everything you are in the name of Jesus by his word.

That's how we begin to build the house.

I felt the Lord saying, listen, you want to build my house?

You got to teach people how to build their house.

A strong church is built on strong houses.

Your house, your family, who you are,

Doesn't matter if you're single, if you're married, if you got kids, if you got grandkids.

A strong, healthy house starts with strong, healthy houses.

We want to be a house.

The church is a house, just so you know.

It's a family.

We are a family.

It's a family of these individual houses and families.

And if the individual houses and families are not strong and healthy, then the whole house won't be strong and healthy.

We have to build our lives and our houses, our homes on the word of God.

Do not build it on the sand.

Build it on the bedrock.

Build it, what's the bedrock?

It's the word of God.

Build your homes and your families and your life on God's word.

Stop building it on what you've seen from your family.

Stop building it on what you've seen from your past.

Like some of you, the only plans, the only blueprints that you've been building your marriage on and your home and how you parent is what you saw your mom and dad do.

You said, oh, I, you know, I turned out pretty good.

I turned out all right.

Did you though?

Like, did you, like?

Like, sometimes we don't have great self-awareness.

I grew up with that.

Like, I was like, I came from a strong Christian home, strong Christian family.

You know, I came into marriage thinking, like, I got it all figured out.

You know, I'm going to do great.

Like, I came from this.

I know all the answers.

And the longer I've lived and the longer I've walked with the Lord, the more he's shown me, listen, it was fine.

It's nothing against what you came out of, but I got something better for you.

Like, it was built on some of my word, but not all of my word.

The goal is, it's not to say, like, oh, man, mom or dad or grandpa or grandma, like, they did it wrong, they're the worst.

They did the best they could with what they knew.

But the Lord has given you revelation in this season so you can go further and farther.

Don't you want to go further and farther?

Don't you want that for your life, for your family, for your wife, for your husband, for your kids, for your grandkids someday, for your great-grandkids?

You want to leave a legacy.

And you want, guess what?

You want to set them up to go further and farther.

So don't look at this like, oh, he's knocking on my mom and dad.

They didn't do it right.

They could have done it.

No, no, no.

They did the best they could with what they knew.

But guess what?

We're going to do the best we can with what he's showing us right now, not on what he showed mom and dad.

We're going to go to the Lord for a fresh revelation, and we're going to say, Lord, teach us how to build your house your way.

Teach me how to build my life your way.

It starts right here as the individual.

It starts right here with you.

Some of you, you're married right now, and you're like,

Every time you come here with your spouse and I preach a message, you're kind of elbowing your spouse and you're like, that's for you, that's for you.

No, it's for you.

It's for you.

Like, you gotta learn to look inward before you look to your right and to your left.

You gotta look inward before you look outward.

Some of you, if you're taking notes today, write that down.

Oh, I should probably look inward before I look outward.

Some of you, you got weddings coming up.

You got marriages coming up.

Here you go.

Here's some good marriage advice, all right?

Pastor Stone, you're right here in the front.

I know we got a wedding coming up this fall, you know?

Look inward before you look outward.

Early on, when I got filled with the Holy Spirit about five years ago, and I started really listening to him and spending time with him, and he was showing me revelation, he was teaching me so much, and all these things he was teaching me, there was moments that I was like, this is for my wife, this is for my wife, this is for my wife.

And I had to learn like, oh, I should probably work on this for me first.

Guess what?

Like, look inward before you look outward.

And then, listen, if you're in a relationship, if you're married,

Let me teach you something.

Learn to lead gently and patiently.

Like you might be getting revelation and you might be on fire with the Lord right now and you are running and you're just sprinting and your spouse might be like, they might not be there right now.

You might be sprinting in this race and they're still kind of just like at the starting line.

Like they've said yes to Jesus, but they're like, I'm not sure.

You might be married, some of you to a spouse that hasn't even said yes to Jesus.

And you're kind of frustrated and you're like, you're thinking like, I should just leave them in the dust.

Like God's got all these things for me.

And he's like, no, no, no.

If you're in covenant...

It'd be convenient to leave them, wouldn't it?

But we're in covenant.

Paul says, whatever situation you're in, when you come in to Christ, do not leave that situation.

If you're married, great.

If you're single, great.

Like, don't look at that.

Don't, married people, don't look at that and be like, well, I'm following Jesus.

I'm called to run this race.

And this person, they're not following Jesus yet.

Like, guess what?

It says, wives, you should be winning your husbands to the Lord through your great conduct.

Through the way you're walking with him, it will actually lead your husband to a place to follow the Lord.

You don't leave him behind and say, peace out, see you later, sinner.

That's really bad.

All right, don't do that.

All right, that's dumb.

Don't do that.

Okay?

No, no, no.

You just keep walking with the Lord.

Some of you, you both said yes, but one of you, you're walking a little bit faster.

You're sprinting right now, and you're excited, and you're just kind of leaving them in the dust.

Guess what?

You can still walk and run with the Lord, but you can actually come back to the starting line and say, hey, we're going to walk this out.

We're going to navigate this season together, and you can lead gently and humbly

rather than saying, peace, see ya, hope you catch up.

Hope you figure it out.

No, no, no.

Love gently, love humbly, love kindly, love patiently.

That's the fruit of the Holy Spirit.

Don't love conveniently.

That's not covenant.

Covenant is not about convenience.

But let me tell you something.

His yoke is easy and his burden is light.

So as you step into covenant with him, all the things you've been striving for and you've been wanting and desiring, if you would just learn to submit to him and just say, Lord, I want to do things your way, if you would just learn to submit to him and say yes to him, you would actually begin to find that life doesn't have to be as hard and difficult as you have made it.

Some of this we've brought on to ourselves.

We're people of covenant, not convenience.

But we don't actually understand, like when we begin to walk with him, his yoke is easy, his burden is light, that's actually a lot better than convenience.

That's a lot better and a lot healthier than convenience.

You're part of the holy priesthood.

You're called to offer up spiritual sacrifices, it says in 1 Peter.

Therefore, it is also contained in the scripture, behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, elect, precious, and he who believes on him will by no means be put to shame.

Therefore, to you who believe, he is precious.

But to those who are disobedient, the stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone and a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense.

They stumble being disobedient to the word to which they also were appointed.

Some of you keep stumbling because why?

You're disobedient.

Learn to be obedient in this season.

Submit to him.

They stumble being disobedient to the word, which they also were appointed.

But you, but you, I believe this is for you right here, right now.

So you're like, oh, he's talking to somebody else.

No, I'm talking to you.

You, 1 Peter says this, Peter is saying this, you are a chosen generation.

You are chosen.

You need to understand your identity in Christ Jesus.

You are chosen.

He wasn't just thinking of Peter.

He wasn't just thinking of Paul.

He wasn't just thinking of John.

He was thinking of you.

I'm telling you right here, right now, you are chosen.

He chose you.

You.

Now the devil's whispering, not you, not you.

The devil's a liar.

Tell him to shut up.

In the name of Jesus, you say, be quiet, devil.

I'm chosen.

Let's say that.

Be quiet, devil.

I'm chosen.

That's good.

You have to say these things.

You've got to get this deep inside of you.

I'm telling you, the devil wants you to doubt your identity.

That's how he wins.

He's a defeated enemy.

Jesus has already won on the cross, but what's he want to do?

He wants to take everyone he can with him into hell.

Did you know hell was not created for you?

It was created for Satan and his fallen angels.

It was not created.

God does not want anyone to go to hell.

In fact, it says in his word, he is patient that all would repent and turn to him.

He doesn't want you to go to hell.

He chose you on the cross through Christ Jesus.

He doesn't want your friends to go to hell.

He doesn't want your family to go to hell.

Hell wasn't made for them.

It was made for the angels.

It was made for the devil.

But let me tell you something.

If you keep choosing disobedience, if you keep choosing to run from him,

Who are you joining?

You're joining the rebels.

God, teach us not to be rebels anymore.

Teach us to submit to you, to submit to your word, to submit to your ways.

You are chosen.

You're chosen.

Some of you got that right there.

A royal priesthood.

Not just me.

Not just Pastor Andrew.

Not just Pastor Steph.

You are a part of the royal priesthood.

You understand the call on your, I don't think any of us understand the call on our lives.

When you say yes to Jesus, you are a part of his house.

You are a spiritual piece of his house.

You're a part of the royal priesthood.

You're not just a guy.

You're not just a girl.

You're not just some nobody.

In the kingdom, in the spiritual realm, when you say yes to Jesus, you are a part of the royal priesthood.

There's a great calling on your life that maybe you didn't understand until today.

You're a part of that when you say yes to Jesus.

That's why every decision, every choice you make, it does matter.

Like some of you, you believe this lie, like I don't really matter.

Nobody's paying attention to me.

God doesn't really care about me.

Like he doesn't have plans for me.

No, no, no.

He has plans for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you.

Let me tell you something.

He has great plans for you.

You're called.

You're chosen.

You're a part of the royal priesthood.

Your identity in Christ Jesus has completely changed.

So don't believe the lie from the devil like, oh, it doesn't matter.

I can do whatever I want.

I can live however I want.

The choices I make, it's not harming anybody.

No, no, no.

Let me tell you something.

You're a part of the royal priesthood.

You're a temple of the Holy Spirit living inside of you.

You.

I keep saying that because there's people in here that don't get that right now.

They're like, that's for somebody else.

That's for the pastors.

That's for the worship leaders.

That's for the people on stage.

That's for the people serving coffee.

No, no, no.

You are a part of the royal priesthood.

You have a great calling on your life.

Don't let the devil convince you otherwise.

a holy nation, his own special people, that you may proclaim the praises.

What are we talking about praising?

Praise is a spiritual sacrifice.

What are his people called to do?

Proclaim the praises.

Some of you are like, oh, you don't have to praise.

I think his word says different.

I think you should start to live your life a little differently today.

I think when we close in worship, I think you should just try it today.

You should just try to begin to proclaim his praises, begin to declare who he is, declare his goodness, sing a song unto the Lord.

Rejoice and be glad.

He's worthy of your praise.

Come on.

Proclaim the praises of him who called you, called you, called you, called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

Some of you know what you've been called out of and what you've been called into.

And right now the devil is trying to call you back into it.

He's trying to say, don't you want to go back there?

Don't you want to go back into hiding?

Don't you want to go back into that life?

It was better, it was better, it was better.

He's trying to convince you of that because all of a sudden, when you start walking in the light, all of a sudden the attacks start to come, right?

Because guess what?

You're not on the same team anymore as the enemy.

All of a sudden you've chosen sides and you've said, I'm on the team of the light.

I'm on the team of goodness.

I'm on the team of Jesus Christ.

And when you do that, it brings an attack upon your life.

And some of you, you are uncomfortable in the attack and now you want to go back.

Don't listen to the lies.

That's the deceit of the enemy.

He wants you to believe life was easier there.

But if you'll go back and really remember what it was like, you were living in shame, you were living in condemnation, you were living in guilt.

He's called you out of the darkness and into his marvelous light.

It's better in the light.

And if the attacks are intensifying, and if the attacks are getting harder, and if the attacks are striking you where it hurts the most, then let me tell you something, you must be getting closer to the will of God in your life.

You must be getting closer.

Don't stop now.

You're right on the edge of the promised land.

And the devil doesn't want you to walk into it.

He doesn't want you to walk into all that God has for your life.

And he wants you to quit.

He wants you to stop short.

And he wants you to go back to Egypt.

But I'm telling you, command your soul.

Command your body.

And say, I'm moving forward today in the name of Jesus.

I'm moving forward today in the name of Jesus Christ.

That's a hard word.

Because there's a lot of fear about what it means to move forward.

There's a lot of fear about what you might be giving up.

There's a lot of fear about what you're leaving behind.

But he's the restorer.

He makes all things new.

And I'm telling you,

What you think you're losing isn't as great as what you gain when you step forward by faith into the kingdom of heaven.

What you will gain is greater than anything that you're leaving behind.

What do the Israelites keep saying when they were walking around following Moses in the wilderness?

We should go back to Egypt.

We had melons and leeks.

We had food.

We had melons and leeks.

But God wanted to take them where?

Into the land of milk and honey.

I'll take milk and honey over melons and leeks.

I don't even really like melons.

Like those orange musk melons or whatever?

I don't know.

I don't get it.

I don't know.

There's something better.

He's got something better for you.

Step forward today.

Hebrews 3, verse 1.

And so, dear brothers and sisters who belong to God and are partners with those called to heaven, think carefully about this Jesus whom we declare to be God's messenger.

Most of us do not think carefully about this Jesus, right?

We don't.

We hear it and we take it lightly.

We take everything so lightly in the house of God, in his word.

It's just a suggestion.

It's just a nice thought.

Oh, it's just, you know, maybe that's for somebody else.

No, no, no.

Think carefully about this Jesus.

Think carefully about his word.

Whom we declare to be God's messenger and high priest.

For he was faithful to God who appointed him just as Moses served faithfully when he was entrusted with God's entire house.

But Jesus deserves far more glory than Moses.

Just as Moses, just as a person who builds a house deserves more praise than the house itself.

For every house has a builder, but the one who built everything is God.

We need to read that again.

Hebrews, look at that.

If you're not there yet, get there.

Hebrews 3, verse 3.

But Jesus deserves far more glory than Moses, just as a person who builds a house deserves more praise than the house itself.

I love this house.

I love revival.

I love what God is doing here.

Jesus deserves all the praise.

Jesus is the builder of the house.

Jesus deserves more praise than the house itself.

We love revival.

We're passionate about revival.

We celebrated five years of revival.

It's not about revival.

It's about Jesus.

Like, we don't, like, I love, like, churches do these birthdays, and, you know, and we talked about, you know, people have been kind of wanting to do one, and this is the first time that I was finally like, okay, we can do one.

But it's got to be about Jesus, because it's not actually about, it's not actually about us.

It's not actually about this church.

It's not actually about what building we are in or not in or what park we're meeting in or what community center we're meeting in.

It's about Jesus.

He deserves more praise than the actual house.

If our house isn't about him, then this house will fall.

This house will crumble.

He is what it's all about.

And so we have to understand that.

The builder of the house deserves the praise.

But sometimes we get so caught up in the house and we're like, oh, this house, this house.

I love this house over here.

I love this house over there.

No, no, it's about Jesus.

He's the builder.

It has to be about him.

Jesus deserves far more glory than Moses.

Just as a person who builds a house deserves more praise than the house itself.

For every house has a builder, but the one who built everything is God.

Moses was certainly faithful in God's house as a servant.

Myself and Pastor Steph, we are servants in the house desiring to build a house that honors Jesus, that honors God.

This is not about us.

This is not about Pastor Andrew.

This is not about, this isn't about us.

It's about Jesus.

We are just servants.

And guess what?

You, when you say yes to Jesus, you are now servants along with us.

You're a part of the royal priesthood.

He's the builder.

The one who built everything is God.

Moses was certainly faithful in God's house as a servant.

His work was an illustration of the truths God would reveal later.

But Christ, as the son, is in charge of God's entire house.

We submit everything we do to Christ Jesus.

He is the head of this house.

You have to understand, in this house, I do not take anything lightly.

Pastor Steph does not take anything lightly.

We think about Jesus carefully and what he wants.

We go to his word and we pursue him carefully.

We pursue him because we know as teachers, as preachers, as leaders in the house, we will be judged more strictly than those who do not teach and preach.

So if you think for one second that I come up here and I'm a little flippant sometimes and I'm a little careless sometimes, if you think I haven't been thinking about this all week, I haven't been thinking about this word, I haven't been spending time in prayer, I haven't been spending time with the Lord, oh, he's just up there, he's reckless, he's whatever.

No, no, let me tell you something.

I know I'm going to be judged someday.

I'm going to stand before the judge, and I will be judged more strictly than those who do not teach and preach the word of God.

I'm going to stand before him.

I'm afraid of that.

I want to serve him well.

When I say I'm afraid, I don't mean like I'm walking around in fear.

I have a healthy fear of the Lord in saying I want to build his house his way because I don't want to screw this up because I will be judged for how I build the house of the Lord.

I am a servant to him and I want to build it his way.

So if you think for one second, oh, he doesn't really care.

He's just doing whatever he wants.

He's just kind of flipping.

He's just doing it.

No, let me tell you something.

I spend time with him and I seek him.

Sometimes I think people are frustrated because I don't make decisions as quick as they would like or I don't do something as fast as they would like.

I want to be careful because I want to honor him first.

I have lots of people coming to me with ideas and I have lots of people that send me all these churches and podcasts and sermons and they're like, we should do this and we should do that and this would be good, this would be good.

And let me tell you something.

I love you.

Some of you are like...

Oh, shoot, that's me.

Hey, listen, I love you.

I'm not saying don't send me stuff.

Don't tell me stuff.

But let me tell you something.

I got to go to him first and foremost.

I'm going to him every time.

I cannot because I won't be judged in how I listen to this person or that person.

I'll be judged by how I listen to him.

It's heavy, but it's worth it.

It's worth it to build his house his way.

It's worth it.

I feel the Holy Spirit kind of hitting right there.

This has been a hard day, a hard morning.

I don't know, maybe some of you were coming in hoping for a really, like, great Mother's Day message.

We've been going five years.

I've never really preached a Mother's Day message.

Moms, we love you.

You are called to it.

You are.

You're gifted.

You're called.

You're equipped to it.

Moms...

Get in line with the word of God and being a mom is gonna be easier than when you keep trying to do it out of your own power and your own strength and your own plans and how you think it should look because this is how you saw your mom do it.

Here you go, this is my Mother's Day message right here.

Get into the word of God and get aligned with his will.

He wants to bless you and protect you.

He wants to bless and protect your marriage.

In fact, I did have a little bit of Mother's Day stuff planned today, but I'll keep it simple.

I'll keep it simple.

Get in line with the order he's established for the house.

Mom, some of you are trying to do it out of order, and you're actually in rebellion to what God's Word says.

Because here's what God's Word says.

It says right here, Jesus is at the head of the house.

Above Jesus is the Father.

And then it says Jesus sends the Holy Spirit.

And then what do we have in the house in Ephesians 5?

It says we have the husband.

And then we have the wife.

In Ephesians, it says, wives, submit to your husbands.

I preach that message.

I preach that verse a lot at weddings, and I get a lot of bad looks and bad stares sometimes.

How dare you talk about that?

How dare you?

No, no, no.

Submission is not a bad thing.

It's a beautiful thing.

There's order there.

There's protection there.

Wives, there's some of you

They're like, I think I got this illustration.

You guys go down to my illustrations.

I made a little image because I'm very visual sometimes.

You got that?

It's like, yeah, yeah, yeah.

This is what he set up.

The father sent the son.

The son said, it's better that I go so I can send the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit came.

And then guess what?

We got husband, wife, children.

And then wives, go to that next one.

Go to that next one.

Hit that.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Wives, some of you are going outside of the cover and the order that God has prescribed in his word.

And you're wondering why your life is so hard.

Because you're not under his protection and blessing.

You're living outside of his will.

You're trying to do things out of your own.

And let me tell you something.

It's a little bit, you think it's the Holy Spirit.

But no, it's a spirit of fear.

You're a little bit afraid.

You've been hurt before.

You've been harmed before.

You've been abused before.

I don't know what's happened exactly.

And let me tell you something.

If there's abuse, like, get out of that.

Like, run.

That's not biblical.

But let me tell you something.

The spirit of fear says, oh, no, no, no.

You just need to trust yourself.

The Holy Spirit says, no.

All authority is established by God, and he establishes order.

He establishes order in the church, and he establishes order in the home.

In Ephesians 5, it says the husband is head over the wife, just as Christ Jesus is head over the church.

But wives, some of you are living like a lot of churches and the churches are going around Christ Jesus and they're not submitting to him and they're building the church the way they want, the way that it gives them power and control.

Why?

Because that's the spirit of fear, right?

That's not the Holy Spirit.

But if the church would just submit and say, we trust Jesus Christ as the head and we trust all authority is from him, then we can submit and there's a lot of freedom and protection and blessing in submission.

When we stop trying to be God ourselves.

Get back in order in this season.

Because look, where's the protection and blessing?

It's in the order he's established.

When you walk outside that order and you try to surpass the husband who is the head of the wife, you're not under the protection and blessing anymore.

And you keep wondering why your life is so hard, why you are struggling, why your kids won't listen to you.

Get back in line in this season.

Submit to the order he's established.

Now show the next one.

It's the same way for you.

The moms are like, I hope he does the husbands next.

There, I did.

I did.

Husbands, some of you, you're living outside of the protection and blessing of the Lord.

You're not going to the Lord.

You're not spending time with him.

You're not submitting your life to him.

You're not submitting anything to him.

You have taken everything out of a spirit of fear and said, I want control.

I don't trust God.

I can't.

And it starts, once again, we talk about finances all the time.

It starts with finances because that's the least of things.

You're afraid to trust him with that 10% because you're like, oh, no, no, I need that.

I need it all.

He's your provider.

Just trust him first and foremost.

It's submission and obedience because you're saying, I'm going to submit to his word and what his word says because I believe his word is better than my ways.

But fear says, oh, no, there's lack.

You don't have enough.

You need everything you have.

You need control.

You need to be, right?

Because fear.

Don't listen to a spirit of fear.

God did not give us a spirit of fear and timidity, but a spirit of power, love, and a sound mind.

You can trust the living God as provider of your life.

You can trust.

Guess what?

He wants to take care of your family, your wife, your kids more than you do.

Some of you think you're a better God than God.

And that's why you keep going outside of the order that he's established.

You are in fear and you're trying to be God of your life.

Submit to him today.

Get back in order today.

That was my Mother's Day message.

There's protection and blessing in the house and the order he's established.

Get back in order today.

Husbands, some of you are like, that's you, that's you.

Listen, you better be sitting with the Lord.

You better be a man after God's own heart like David.

You better be willing to repent first and foremost.

Be the lead repenter in your house, husbands.

Be that.

I had to learn that.

I had to learn to teach my kids that because I didn't really grow up in a family that owned our sin.

Mom and dad were always right.

Grandpa and grandma were always right.

And it was like, no, no, no.

We have to be the lead repenters.

And so when we sin against our kids, when we lash out in anger, when we lash out not from a spirit that's from him, but from a spirit of fear and control and manipulation, we have to own that.

Pastor Steph and I have had to learn that in these last five years.

There's times where we're like, well, we're the mom and dad.

We're always right.

Sometimes we're not operating out of the Holy Spirit.

We're operating out of hurt.

Sometimes what I've found leading a church is sometimes I'll get hurt in an area of the church where I'm, you know, somebody's hurt me, somebody's, you know, done something that's frustrated me or angered me, and I handle it really well.

And I just, I handle it biblically, and I handle it the way it should be handled.

And then I come home, and one of my kids does something, and I lash out at them in anger.

And I'm pastoring my church better than I'm pastoring my family.

And that's a sin.

And so I've had to go to my kids and say, I'm sorry, that was wrong.

I was hurt over here, and then I brought that hurt and that pain into our home.

And so I have to own those moments when I've done that and say, I'm sorry.

I was not patient or kind with you in this moment.

I did not show you the fruit of the Holy Spirit living inside of me.

There was no love.

There was no joy.

There was no peace.

There was no patience there.

There was no kindness.

There was no gentleness.

Some of you, you're doing that.

You're frustrated at work.

You're frustrated in your marriage.

You're frustrated in your friendships.

And then you're showing them more peace, patience, kindness, and goodness.

And then when you get home, you lash out at your husband.

You lash out at your wife.

You lash out at your kids.

You need to own that and you need to repent and say, I'm sorry.

I'm sorry.

I sinned against you.

But I want to turn from these wicked ways and I want to go back and be in line with the Lord and in line with his word.

God wants to heal you today.

I'm telling you, he's healing marriages.

He's healing families.

It starts, that's where revival starts.

Revival starts in the individual, and then it moves in to the relationships that you're in.

It moves into the friendships, the family.

It moves into the family.

It moves into the home.

And revival, that flame, that fire, it works its way through the entire church.

Tend the flames of revival in your heart.

Seek the Lord with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength.

That's where revival begins.

Seek the Lord.

You, yourself, individually.

And then begin to seek Him with your family, with your friends, with those around you.

Begin to seek Him with the Lord.

Honor Him.

And I'm telling you, we're going to see the greatest revival.

We're going to see the greatest revival take place in this city.

We're going to see the hearts of the fathers turn to the sons and the hearts of the sons and the daughters turn to the fathers and the mothers.

We're going to see hearts turn.

We're going to see hearts turn back to the Father.

Worship team, you can come up as we get ready to close.

But Jesus deserves far more glory than Moses.

Just as a person who builds a house deserves more praise than the house itself.

For every house has a builder, but the one who built everything is God.

Moses was certainly faithful in God's house as a servant.

His work was an illustration of the truths God would reveal later.

But Christ, as the Son, is in charge of God's entire house.

And we are God's house.

We are God's house.

You, you are God's house.

If we keep our courage and remain confident in our hope in Christ, that is why the Holy Spirit says today, when you hear his voice, don't harden your hearts as Israel did when they rebelled.

When they tested me in the wilderness, there your ancestors tested and tried my patience, even though they saw my miracles for 40 years.

So I was angry with them and I said, their hearts always turn from me.

They refuse to do what I tell them.

Don't refuse anymore.

Don't harden your heart.

Turn to the Lord today.

Choose today whom you will serve.

So in my anger, I tuck an oath.

They will never enter my place of rest.

Be careful then, dear brothers and sisters, make sure that your own hearts are not evil and unbelieving, turning you away from the living God.

Make sure, what did I say?

Look inward, not outward.

It doesn't say, make sure your wife's heart, make sure your husband's heart, make sure