# The Pressure To Perform

An episode of [Elevation with Steven Furtick](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/216015753), 14 Nov 2025, 47 min.

Audio: https://podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/traffic.omny.fm/d/clips/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/cbb40a38-726f-4243-a86e-b0ed01477640/faa04296-20c7-49a8-afb0-b37f00e0eda0/audio.mp3?utm_source=Podcast&in_playlist=ff9164b2-aa64-410d-9ee1-b0ed0147765c

Is the pressure to post distracting you from living out your purpose? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

## Transcript

[0:01] Speaker 1: Let's look at John chapter seven together. I feel God's
[0:07] Speaker 1: presence in this place.
[0:10] Speaker 2: Now. Even if I didn't feel it, I would know
[0:12] Speaker 2: that it was real.
[0:14] Speaker 1: But it's good to feel it, and I feel God's
[0:16] Speaker 1: presence in this place.
[0:19] Speaker 2: Amen.
[0:21] Speaker 1: John chapter seven is a very interesting scenario, or more accurately,
[0:29] Speaker 1: episode in the life of Jesus. And I think you
[0:33] Speaker 1: probably will say I never really heard a sermon on
[0:37] Speaker 1: that story before, and then you won't be able to
[0:40] Speaker 1: say that after today.
[0:41] Speaker 2: But it's a.
[0:44] Speaker 1: Really human moment in the life of Jesus, and it's
[0:49] Speaker 1: a great example to us today. So as we look
[0:52] Speaker 1: at this, we hope that we will see the example
[0:55] Speaker 1: of Jesus and how it applies.
[0:57] Speaker 2: To our lives.
[0:58] Speaker 1: In John chapter seven, the Bible says after this, Jesus
[1:01] Speaker 1: went around in Galilee, purposely staying away from Judea because
[1:06] Speaker 1: the Jews there were waiting to take his life. But
[1:09] Speaker 1: when the Jewish feast of Tabernacles was near, Jesus's brother
[1:13] Speaker 1: said to him, you ought to leave here. How many know,
[1:16] Speaker 1: there's always somebody to tell you what you ought to do, always,
[1:20] Speaker 1: and usually as people with your same last name, you
[1:23] Speaker 1: know you oughta well, you ought to leave here and
[1:28] Speaker 1: go to Judea, so that your disciples may see the
[1:31] Speaker 1: miracles you do. No one who wants to become a
[1:33] Speaker 1: public figure action secret. Since you are doing these things
[1:37] Speaker 1: post them on Instagram. For even his own brothers did
[1:40] Speaker 1: not believe him, and therefore Jesus told them, the right
[1:44] Speaker 1: time for me has not yet come for you. Anytime
[1:48] Speaker 1: is right, salty Jesus. The world cannot hate you, but
[1:54] Speaker 1: it hates me because I testify that what it does
[1:57] Speaker 1: is evil. If you haven't had a head on collision
[2:01] Speaker 1: with the devil lately, it means you might be headed
[2:03] Speaker 1: in the same direction. That's what Pastor Mickey used to say.
[2:07] Speaker 1: Of course, I'm in conflict. I am a contradiction of
[2:10] Speaker 1: the world's values, and so it's not easy for me
[2:13] Speaker 1: to live on this earth according to Kingdom principles. But
[2:16] Speaker 1: Jesus said, verse eight, you go to the feast. I'm
[2:18] Speaker 1: not going to control you, but you do what you
[2:21] Speaker 1: need to do. You go ahead and go. I am
[2:23] Speaker 1: not yet going up to this feast because for me,
[2:27] Speaker 1: the right time has not yet come. I wonder how
[2:31] Speaker 1: different our lives would be if we would learn the
[2:33] Speaker 1: power of those two words, not yet not yet. And
[2:38] Speaker 1: having said this, he stayed in Galilee. However, after his
[2:42] Speaker 1: brothers had left for the feast, he went also, not publicly,
[2:46] Speaker 1: but in secret.
[2:49] Speaker 2: Not publicly, but in secret.
[2:53] Speaker 1: Now at the feast, the Jews were watching for him
[2:56] Speaker 1: and asking where is that man the crowds. There was
[3:01] Speaker 1: widespread whispering, widespread whispering about him.
[3:05] Speaker 2: Some said he is a good man. Others replied, no,
[3:10] Speaker 2: he deceives the people.
[3:12] Speaker 1: But no one would say anything publicly about him for
[3:15] Speaker 1: fear of the Jews. The key for this message today
[3:21] Speaker 1: is in verse ten. However, after his brothers had left
[3:25] Speaker 1: for the feast, he went also, not publicly, but in secret.
[3:29] Speaker 1: And what I want to talk to you about today
[3:31] Speaker 1: is the pressure to perform, the pressure to perform.
[3:36] Speaker 2: And let's pray one more time.
[3:37] Speaker 1: Spirit of God, I thank you for the accuracy with
[3:41] Speaker 1: which you register in the hearts and the minds of
[3:45] Speaker 1: people who are open. Give us this openness that we
[3:48] Speaker 1: may receive whatever you wish to speak, and we give
[3:50] Speaker 1: you praise.
[3:51] Speaker 2: In advance in Jesus name.
[3:53] Speaker 1: Amen, would you touch somebody on your way to your
[3:56] Speaker 1: seat and say, I don't have to post it to prove.
[3:58] Speaker 2: It's so great to.
[4:09] Speaker 1: Have the opportunity now to apologize to my mom. For
[4:12] Speaker 1: my teenage years, I just didn't have an appreciation at
[4:18] Speaker 1: the time for the pressure of parenting. You really can't
[4:23] Speaker 1: until you are blessed with the same pressure of parental
[4:27] Speaker 1: responsibility for yourself, because like, really, my mom and dad
[4:35] Speaker 1: stretched their resources in order for me as a as
[4:42] Speaker 1: a I guess, like a spoiled, entitled brat of a
[4:47] Speaker 1: kid to not appreciate the sacrifices and really the pressure
[4:55] Speaker 1: that they were under to buy me those rebock pumps.
[5:02] Speaker 1: And since my dad was a barber and he started
[5:06] Speaker 1: out just five dollars a haircut six dollars, by the
[5:09] Speaker 1: time he quit cutting hair, he was up to thirteen
[5:11] Speaker 1: dollars a haircut, I believe.
[5:14] Speaker 2: And my mom had been.
[5:15] Speaker 1: In education, teaching special education and then as an early interventionist,
[5:20] Speaker 1: which wasn't exactly a high paying job, but they provided
[5:28] Speaker 1: for me so competently that I never really thought about
[5:32] Speaker 1: the pressure that it must have been to try to
[5:35] Speaker 1: make sure that I.
[5:37] Speaker 2: Never really felt their pressure.
[5:41] Speaker 1: I remember going to this telephone office, the Berkeley Telephone Company,
[5:46] Speaker 1: and my parents would clean the office at night after
[5:50] Speaker 1: they would get off their other job, and all I
[5:52] Speaker 1: could do was complain, and I thought that it was
[5:56] Speaker 1: child abuse that they made me empty the trash. But
[6:00] Speaker 1: I just didn't understand when she was making me run
[6:04] Speaker 1: the vacuum cleaner while she was cleaning the toilets on Saturday,
[6:08] Speaker 1: just like I didn't appreciate the pressure, even emotionally. I
[6:13] Speaker 1: remember when my dad kind of quit coming home. I
[6:17] Speaker 1: didn't realize that the reason he was doing that was
[6:20] Speaker 1: because of not having a father example for himself when
[6:24] Speaker 1: I hit the teenage stage, he had no frame of
[6:27] Speaker 1: reference for how to deal with what he felt, and
[6:31] Speaker 1: I thought.
[6:31] Speaker 2: He was lazy, so he went to go drink with
[6:33] Speaker 2: my uncle.
[6:34] Speaker 1: But it wasn't so much laziness, I now have come
[6:37] Speaker 1: to believe, as it was the fact that he was
[6:40] Speaker 1: under a weight that he hadn't felt like he had
[6:43] Speaker 1: been built for. And there is a sense in which
[6:45] Speaker 1: his pressure in his own life paralyzed him, like pressure
[6:50] Speaker 1: often can. When you find yourself in a situation where
[6:53] Speaker 1: you have not been exposed to that particular responsibility and
[6:58] Speaker 1: now you are responsible or something that you've never been
[7:01] Speaker 1: exposed to, it can create a lot of pressure, not
[7:05] Speaker 1: only on the financial side with with with kids, but
[7:09] Speaker 1: just emotionally and how by the time you come home
[7:12] Speaker 1: from work where you're providing materially, you don't have anything
[7:14] Speaker 1: left to give emotionally, and even if you do. There
[7:18] Speaker 1: was this dude that came up to me Friday night
[7:21] Speaker 1: at the baseball game and he just looked. He had
[7:24] Speaker 1: the look on his face like all parents get from
[7:26] Speaker 1: time to time, like if you shoot me, I'll give
[7:29] Speaker 1: you half the insurance money. It was just a parent look,
[7:31] Speaker 1: and you only know it if you've been there. But
[7:36] Speaker 1: I just said to him, kind of randomly, I said,
[7:39] Speaker 1: you're such a good man, because I could tell he
[7:41] Speaker 1: was having one of those days and he was running
[7:43] Speaker 1: back and forth and it kind of stopped him in
[7:44] Speaker 1: his tracks.
[7:45] Speaker 2: And he's like, really, I don't feel like a good
[7:47] Speaker 2: man today, you know. I was. I was.
[7:49] Speaker 1: I was at work and then I left work at
[7:51] Speaker 1: four because I'm supposed to get off it for But
[7:53] Speaker 1: then the idiot who took my next shift, he didn't
[7:55] Speaker 1: show up in time for a shift. So who does
[7:57] Speaker 1: the manager call Not the person who didn't show up,
[7:59] Speaker 1: but me, because they know they can count on me.
[8:00] Speaker 1: Because the people we treat the worst are usually the
[8:02] Speaker 1: people that we know, we can count on the most,
[8:04] Speaker 1: and we expect the most out of them. But by
[8:06] Speaker 1: the time he had got off work, he was throwing
[8:08] Speaker 1: the ball with his daughter to get it ready for
[8:10] Speaker 1: the game. And by the time he finished throwing with
[8:12] Speaker 1: his daughter, he said, this is what he's telling me.
[8:14] Speaker 1: By the time I finished throwing my daughter, my manager
[8:16] Speaker 1: been blowing up my phone. Now my manager is mad
[8:18] Speaker 1: at me, and I'm walking in the house talking to
[8:20] Speaker 1: my manager who's yelling at me, and my wife's got
[8:23] Speaker 1: dinner ready, but I can't eat dinner because I'm talking
[8:25] Speaker 1: to my manager, and so my wife is mad because
[8:27] Speaker 1: the food is cold. But I can't help it that
[8:28] Speaker 1: the food is cold, because if I lose his job,
[8:30] Speaker 1: we're not going to have any food to cook. So
[8:32] Speaker 1: coal food is better.
[8:33] Speaker 2: Than no food. And all I'm matter on the baseball
[8:36] Speaker 2: team and I want to die.
[8:37] Speaker 1: And funny thing is he doesn't come to the church.
[8:40] Speaker 1: He doesn't come to the church. He's only been one
[8:42] Speaker 1: time that I know of, And when he came that
[8:43] Speaker 1: one time, he told me it was a good sermon,
[8:47] Speaker 1: so I knew that he didn't have like a Christian vocabulary.
[8:50] Speaker 1: The word that he put in there. But he didn't
[8:54] Speaker 1: know that I was preaching on pressure today. He didn't
[8:57] Speaker 1: know that he was giving me, he was helping me
[9:00] Speaker 1: that it's not just as a preacher, or it's not
[9:03] Speaker 1: just those of us who stand on a stage who
[9:06] Speaker 1: feel this pressure. Because it used to be enough if
[9:10] Speaker 1: you just provide for your kids. It used to be
[9:14] Speaker 1: enough if you just protect your kids. It used to
[9:16] Speaker 1: be enough if you would just prepare your kids. And
[9:19] Speaker 1: sometimes all of those things seem to be in conflict,
[9:23] Speaker 1: that while you want to protect your kids, you also
[9:27] Speaker 1: have to prepare your kids. And so sometimes I don't
[9:31] Speaker 1: know should I catch you or should I let you
[9:34] Speaker 1: fall a little bit so you don't fall a lot?
[9:37] Speaker 2: Should I?
[9:38] Speaker 1: Should I let you skin your knee now so that
[9:41] Speaker 1: you don't break your neck later? Should I let you
[9:44] Speaker 1: peter sink down into the water and let you sink
[9:48] Speaker 1: and not let you drown. Sometimes even Jesus, if you
[9:52] Speaker 1: read the scripture, he did not prevent the failure. He
[9:56] Speaker 1: allowed the failure so that the person could learn the
[9:59] Speaker 1: lesson and that would enable them later. Sometimes there's so
[10:03] Speaker 1: much pressure coming from so many different directions, and if
[10:07] Speaker 1: you stop to think about the life of Jesus. He
[10:10] Speaker 1: was he was under pressure from the Pharisees who wanted
[10:14] Speaker 1: to kill him because he threatened their political power, And
[10:18] Speaker 1: so they were watching everything that he did, and they
[10:21] Speaker 1: were watching him with very, very scrutinizing eyes, even to
[10:27] Speaker 1: the point that if he healed somebody, not only would
[10:30] Speaker 1: they watch him heal the person, but they would they
[10:33] Speaker 1: would find him healing on the wrong day, and if
[10:37] Speaker 1: he healed on the Sabbath, they would stand up and
[10:40] Speaker 1: accuse him for doing something good. How would you like
[10:43] Speaker 1: to get accused not only for doing the wrong thing,
[10:47] Speaker 1: but for doing the right thing at the wrong time.
[10:50] Speaker 2: This is Jesus.
[10:51] Speaker 1: He shows up and they follow him to see if
[10:53] Speaker 1: he's gonna wash his hands before he eats. How creepy
[10:57] Speaker 1: is it when you have people following you in the
[11:00] Speaker 1: bathroom to see One time I was at PF. Chanin's
[11:06] Speaker 1: and there was a man that was standing there watching me.
[11:10] Speaker 2: While I was and it was threatening to me. It
[11:18] Speaker 2: was threatening to me.
[11:19] Speaker 1: So I kind of looked at my fishes in the
[11:21] Speaker 1: bathroom and I washed my hands. I walked over to
[11:23] Speaker 1: him and he said, I was waiting to see if
[11:26] Speaker 1: you do wash your hands after you went I go
[11:28] Speaker 1: to your church. I'm like, bro, there's a lot of
[11:39] Speaker 1: other great churches I would like to tell you about
[11:41] Speaker 1: right now. But for Jesus, it was ceremonial. It wasn't
[11:49] Speaker 1: a hygienic thing. They were watching to see what he
[11:51] Speaker 1: breaked the law and not wash his hands.
[11:53] Speaker 2: They weren't worried about the.
[11:54] Speaker 1: Fact that he was trying to eat with people that
[11:56] Speaker 1: they considered unclean, because he was righteousness and grace and truth.
[12:00] Speaker 1: They were so focused on the cosmetics, and so everything
[12:02] Speaker 1: that he did was under scrutiny. Who he's talking with
[12:05] Speaker 1: a woman, Oh, he's touching a leper. He's not supposed
[12:07] Speaker 1: to act like that. He's not supposed to speak like that.
[12:10] Speaker 1: And then sometimes for Jesus, he would perform a miracle
[12:15] Speaker 1: for the crowd, but they would miss the deeper meaning,
[12:20] Speaker 1: which is what has just happened when we read on
[12:22] Speaker 1: chapter seven. Because he just fed five thousand men and
[12:27] Speaker 1: women and children, and he provided for their needs in
[12:33] Speaker 1: such a great way that they.
[12:35] Speaker 2: All ate and had their fill.
[12:38] Speaker 1: But after he filled them up physically, he turned to
[12:42] Speaker 1: fill them spiritually. And it turns out that they were
[12:45] Speaker 1: following him, not for the spiritual dynamics of who he was,
[12:50] Speaker 1: but for the physical benefits of what he could provide.
[12:54] Speaker 1: And when he began to speak at a deeper level,
[12:57] Speaker 1: the Bible says that many of them didn't want to
[12:59] Speaker 1: hear it.
[13:00] Speaker 2: After he fed them the.
[13:02] Speaker 1: Bread, he turned around and said, now that you've had bread,
[13:05] Speaker 1: recognize that I am bread. The miracle that I just
[13:08] Speaker 1: performed was not about what I did. It was to
[13:12] Speaker 1: point to who I am. I am the bread of life,
[13:15] Speaker 1: and if you eat my flesh and drink my blood,
[13:19] Speaker 1: you can remain in me. Well, they didn't like that
[13:22] Speaker 1: very much. It's like he had the crowd and then
[13:25] Speaker 1: he lost them. He had the following, and then he
[13:28] Speaker 1: lost it. And the Bible says in John six sixty six,
[13:32] Speaker 1: sixty sixty six, I always remember that like it's a
[13:35] Speaker 1: bad number, sixty sixty six. I always remember it because
[13:38] Speaker 1: it said many then deserted him and followed him no more.
[13:42] Speaker 1: Many then went away because this is a hard saying,
[13:46] Speaker 1: and followed him no more. And as they're walking away,
[13:49] Speaker 1: Jesus turns to his disciples and says, do you want
[13:52] Speaker 1: to walk away too?
[13:53] Speaker 2: And Peter said, we don't have no options.
[13:55] Speaker 1: I already gave my boat away for a little while,
[13:58] Speaker 1: and I already put my investment you and I got
[14:01] Speaker 1: to see where this ends, even if it ends at
[14:03] Speaker 1: a cross. That's the context of John chapter seven.
[14:09] Speaker 2: And it's one thing.
[14:10] Speaker 1: To kind of have to deal with opposition from the devil.
[14:15] Speaker 1: It's another thing to kind of have to deal with
[14:17] Speaker 1: it from inside your own house.
[14:22] Speaker 2: And Jesus had seven siblings.
[14:25] Speaker 1: Some traditions infer these are his human brothers, And whether
[14:30] Speaker 1: or not Jesus had any sisters, it's interesting to me
[14:34] Speaker 1: that it was his brothers who pulled him aside with
[14:37] Speaker 1: the strategy watch this for how to get his followers back.
[14:43] Speaker 1: And they've got it all figured out, and they've got
[14:45] Speaker 1: it all calculated, and they say, Jesus, do more of
[14:50] Speaker 1: the stuff like where you're feeding people, and less of
[14:55] Speaker 1: the cannibal stuff that you say in your speeches. Take
[15:00] Speaker 1: out the cannibalism. And why don't you go to Judea
[15:05] Speaker 1: because the Feast of Tabernacles is about to start and
[15:08] Speaker 1: you can come with us and you can do the
[15:11] Speaker 1: kinds of things that you've been doing here in Galilee,
[15:14] Speaker 1: which was in the northern part of Palestine, which was
[15:17] Speaker 1: not as densely populated as Jerusalem and Judea. You can
[15:21] Speaker 1: do publicly what you've been doing privately. You can take
[15:26] Speaker 1: this show on the road. We can get you a
[15:28] Speaker 1: headlining spot at the Coachella. Of the Old Testament, this
[15:33] Speaker 1: was the feast where they would come and build booths.
[15:36] Speaker 1: It was actually called the Festival of booths or tabernacles.
[15:39] Speaker 1: And they would build the booth when they got there,
[15:41] Speaker 1: and they would stay for a week, and they would
[15:44] Speaker 1: thank God for the water that he gave them, and
[15:46] Speaker 1: they would thank God for the sustenance that he gave them.
[15:50] Speaker 1: They would remember in the wilderness how God saw his
[15:53] Speaker 1: people through even though they didn't have quail or grain.
[15:56] Speaker 1: But he made manna, which literally means what is it,
[16:00] Speaker 1: and it means what it is? So God meets what
[16:03] Speaker 1: is it with what it is and it shows that
[16:06] Speaker 1: He can show up in any situation and take what
[16:09] Speaker 1: it is, and when He fills what it is with
[16:12] Speaker 1: who he is, it will become what you need it
[16:14] Speaker 1: to be for the season that you're in.
[16:17] Speaker 2: Two people recognize good preaching when.
[16:19] Speaker 1: They hear it, and they say, come on and do
[16:24] Speaker 1: some of the flashy stuff that.
[16:26] Speaker 2: You've been doing. Here in Nazareth and.
[16:29] Speaker 1: Take this show fifty five miles south to Judea. And
[16:33] Speaker 1: if you can do these public things in front of people,
[16:36] Speaker 1: you can become a public figure. In fact, that's the
[16:41] Speaker 1: phrase that drew me to the text. It said, no
[16:44] Speaker 1: one who wants to become a public.
[16:47] Speaker 2: Figure acts in secret.
[16:50] Speaker 1: We live in a time where everybody wants to be
[16:53] Speaker 1: a public figure. We live in a time and please
[16:58] Speaker 1: don't get mad at me for saying this where even
[17:00] Speaker 1: people who have a private account spend their whole LIFs
[17:06] Speaker 1: posting stuff and commenting on stuff to create an image
[17:11] Speaker 1: and a projection of a reality that may bear no resemblance.
[17:16] Speaker 1: The awkward golf collaps really help me. I appreciate that
[17:19] Speaker 1: to the reality of their situation. And Jesus's brothers pull
[17:24] Speaker 1: him aside and say, we've got a great idea. Why
[17:27] Speaker 1: don't you show the world who you really are. The
[17:31] Speaker 1: interesting thing about the text, and I'm gonna give this
[17:33] Speaker 1: to you quick, because the nexus of this text is
[17:36] Speaker 1: in verse five. It says that even Jesus' brothers did
[17:41] Speaker 1: not believe in him, and since they didn't believe, they
[17:47] Speaker 1: were trying to get him to perform any time you
[17:52] Speaker 1: have unbelief in your heart, it will cause you to
[17:55] Speaker 1: try to perform to prove something that you don't really believe.
[18:02] Speaker 1: In psychological terms, it's called the fraudulence complex, or some
[18:07] Speaker 1: call it the impostor syndrome, and it speaks about how
[18:11] Speaker 1: many of us have an inability to internalize our strengths.
[18:17] Speaker 2: And our accomplishments.
[18:19] Speaker 1: Psychologists call it the impostor syndrome because they say that
[18:23] Speaker 1: many of us secretly, deep down feel like we're a fraud.
[18:29] Speaker 1: Many of us, secretly, deep down feel like we have
[18:33] Speaker 1: so much less to offer than what people expect, and
[18:37] Speaker 1: that even when people compliment us, we figure that the
[18:40] Speaker 1: reason that they're complimenting us is because they don't really
[18:44] Speaker 1: see us for who we are. And if they ever
[18:47] Speaker 1: saw us for who we are, if they ever saw
[18:50] Speaker 1: how stupid we feel, if they ever saw how inexperienced
[18:54] Speaker 1: we feel, if they really saw how nervous.
[18:57] Speaker 2: We really feel, they would kick us out thereat room.
[19:00] Speaker 1: It happens to fathers, It happens to mothers, It happens to.
[19:05] Speaker 2: Leaders, it happens to teenagers. It is the.
[19:08] Speaker 1: Fear of being found out to be less than they
[19:12] Speaker 1: thought you were. It is the fear that keeps you
[19:16] Speaker 1: in a performance mode. It is the fear that keeps
[19:19] Speaker 1: you spending money to look like something important, because deep
[19:23] Speaker 1: down you're afraid that you're really not. It is the
[19:27] Speaker 1: fear that keeps you overcompensating, and you get in situations
[19:32] Speaker 1: and rather than letting other people be the center of attention,
[19:35] Speaker 1: you feel the need to overcompensate to show how intelligent
[19:38] Speaker 1: you are because deep down you don't feel intelligent enough,
[19:42] Speaker 1: so people think you're cocky.
[19:44] Speaker 2: But you're really not cocky.
[19:45] Speaker 1: You're scared with the conflict between who they think you're
[19:49] Speaker 1: supposed to be and who you feel like you really are.
[19:52] Speaker 2: It's called the imposter syndrome.
[19:55] Speaker 1: It means that sometimes, even as I'm trying to fulfill.
[19:59] Speaker 2: My purpose, I feel like a fake.
[20:01] Speaker 1: It's not that I'm a hypocrite, it's not that I'm insincere.
[20:05] Speaker 1: It's just that, deep down inside, I'm a man who
[20:08] Speaker 1: sometimes feels like a little boy. I'm a preacher who
[20:12] Speaker 1: sometimes feels like a sinner. I want to be wise,
[20:15] Speaker 1: but sometimes I feel like a fool. And I'm wondering,
[20:18] Speaker 1: is there anybody here who lately has been up under
[20:22] Speaker 1: the pressure of an expectation, and when you feel that,
[20:34] Speaker 1: the temptation and the tendency is to prove it.
[20:40] Speaker 3: I gotta prove I'm a good dad. I gotta prove
[20:43] Speaker 3: I'm a good mom. I gotta prove I'm a good preacher.
[20:47] Speaker 3: I gotta prove it. When you do it to prove it,
[20:51] Speaker 3: it takes the joy.
[20:52] Speaker 2: Out of it. See Jesus, Jesus didn't.
[20:57] Speaker 1: Mind performing miracles, he just wasn't going to do it
[21:01] Speaker 1: for the wrong motives. Jesus was going to Judea. He
[21:07] Speaker 1: just wasn't going.
[21:08] Speaker 2: To make a public spectacle out of his power.
[21:12] Speaker 1: Jesus was ultimately determined to show the world who he was,
[21:17] Speaker 1: but he wasn't going to do it for the gram.
[21:29] Speaker 1: I think the key thing that he says in the
[21:32] Speaker 1: text is not now, I'm going to Judea, which is
[21:38] Speaker 1: the region where he would ultimately give his life, but
[21:42] Speaker 1: not now. And it's such a weird world we live in,
[21:47] Speaker 1: isn't it. I mean, I'm so scared for my kids. Honestly,
[21:52] Speaker 1: I don't even know what to tell him about growing
[21:56] Speaker 1: up in a time where we've always had the.
[21:58] Speaker 2: Pressure the performance.
[22:02] Speaker 1: Now everybody gets to experience performance anxiety. Because we all
[22:06] Speaker 1: perform our lives for one another all the time, just constantly.
[22:11] Speaker 1: I mean, if you if you cook a good meal
[22:15] Speaker 1: for your family, it does not count unless you make
[22:18] Speaker 1: an Instagram story out of the meal. This is a
[22:24] Speaker 1: very common thing to preach about. It is common because
[22:29] Speaker 1: it's killing us. Jesus said, if I go to Judea
[22:35] Speaker 1: for the wrong reasons, and if I show up with
[22:38] Speaker 1: the wrong motives, and if I live my life to
[22:42] Speaker 1: perform for others rather than to glorify my father, it'll
[22:47] Speaker 1: kill me. The religious leaders were waiting to literally kill Jesus.
[22:52] Speaker 1: But I wonder, what are the things that are killing you?
[22:56] Speaker 1: It says that he purposely stayed away from Judea. What
[23:01] Speaker 1: do you need to purposely stay away from in this season.
[23:05] Speaker 2: Of your life?
[23:07] Speaker 1: What do you need to purposely stop thinking about in
[23:10] Speaker 1: this season of your life? Who do you need to
[23:13] Speaker 1: purposely stop comparing yourself to in this season of your life?
[23:19] Speaker 2: For me, it's buck.
[23:24] Speaker 1: I was doing squats the other day and Chunks Chunks
[23:30] Speaker 1: was watching me do these squats and I was doing
[23:32] Speaker 1: them deep deep squats. I only do leg day once
[23:37] Speaker 1: every six weeks, so I got to make it count
[23:39] Speaker 1: when I do it, and I don't know if I
[23:41] Speaker 1: can do it in these genes.
[23:42] Speaker 2: I should have tested this.
[23:43] Speaker 1: I hadn't done this illustration yet, but I mean, I
[23:46] Speaker 1: was down deep.
[23:47] Speaker 2: On the squad now. Buck wasn't there that day.
[23:50] Speaker 1: Chunks was there, and Chunks was spotting me and he said,
[23:53] Speaker 1: what are you doing? And I said, I'm doing I'm
[23:57] Speaker 1: doing my squats like Buck. But he said something so important,
[24:01] Speaker 1: He said, don't do them like Buck. Buck is built
[24:06] Speaker 1: different than you. You're gonna break your back trying to
[24:15] Speaker 1: be like Buck. And I wonder how we look to
[24:19] Speaker 1: God trying to. You are gonna snap your hamstring. You
[24:28] Speaker 1: are gonna pop your quads, trying to trying to be Buck,
[24:34] Speaker 1: getting getting trying to try, trying to. I went on
[24:39] Speaker 1: Instagram the other day and I saw I saw Kevin Hart,
[24:46] Speaker 1: and I felt like a failure in my whole life.
[24:50] Speaker 2: I felt like, what am I doing with my whole life? What?
[24:55] Speaker 1: What is the point of my existence? Within fifteen seconds?
[25:01] Speaker 1: Here I am with a burden on me that I
[25:05] Speaker 1: wasn't built for by comparing myself to someone with a
[25:12] Speaker 1: different calling, and please don't judge me while I am
[25:17] Speaker 1: in this vulnerable position because the truth of the matter
[25:22] Speaker 1: is some of you are hurting in ways that you
[25:25] Speaker 1: don't have to hurt, because you are putting yourself in
[25:29] Speaker 1: a position that you were not built to live in.
[25:33] Speaker 1: Jesus said, I'm not going to Judea because you want
[25:36] Speaker 1: me to go to Judea. I don't have to post
[25:39] Speaker 1: it to prove it. I don't have to turn stones
[25:42] Speaker 1: into bread to show that I'm the son of God.
[25:45] Speaker 1: I live out of purpose, not for popularity. I live
[25:49] Speaker 1: out of purpose, not for the praises of men, but
[25:53] Speaker 1: for the praise that can only come from God. And
[25:56] Speaker 1: I wonder if there's somebody today who is content to
[25:59] Speaker 1: stay in Galilee to know that it's my season to
[26:03] Speaker 1: be obedient.
[26:06] Speaker 2: And that's all I have to do. All I have to.
[26:13] Speaker 4: Do is be obedient in this season of my life.
[26:20] Speaker 4: And Jesus said, you'll go. I'm not going. Not now,
[26:28] Speaker 4: you'll go.
[26:30] Speaker 2: I'm gonna stay.
[26:32] Speaker 1: I'm purposely staying away because if I go here to
[26:35] Speaker 1: impress people with that motive, it'll kill me. And trying
[26:40] Speaker 1: to impress people and trying to measure up to arbitrary
[26:44] Speaker 1: standards that are changing so fast it'll kill your contentment.
[26:47] Speaker 1: It'll kill your joy, it'll kill your marriage, it'll kill
[26:50] Speaker 1: your ministry, it'll kill your family. And now even Jesus
[26:56] Speaker 1: couldn't please everybody, and he was sinless and spotless. Jesus,
[27:03] Speaker 1: Jesus Christ, the Son of God, couldn't please everybody, and
[27:07] Speaker 1: we expect that we can. Even Jesus had to say,
[27:14] Speaker 1: y'all are my family. I love you, but it's not
[27:16] Speaker 1: for me, and just those words, it's not for me.
[27:25] Speaker 2: You ought to go down there to Judea, show them
[27:27] Speaker 2: what you've made of because I think.
[27:29] Speaker 1: They were under pressure too. Honestly, I think probably it
[27:32] Speaker 1: was a lot of pressure to be a sibling of
[27:34] Speaker 1: Jesus and you're bringing home sees in chemistry, you know,
[27:40] Speaker 1: and he's turning water into wine, like affecting molecular structures
[27:44] Speaker 1: in real time.
[27:49] Speaker 2: A lot of pressure.
[27:50] Speaker 1: You got that weird brother, you know, the one who
[27:54] Speaker 1: stays at the temple teaching people at age twelve.
[27:56] Speaker 2: It's a pressure to feel special.
[28:01] Speaker 1: And sometimes the pressure that we feel to be special.
[28:05] Speaker 2: Does not come from God. It comes from culture, who tells.
[28:10] Speaker 1: You that you've got to be so special, so different,
[28:14] Speaker 1: so unique, so set apart.
[28:15] Speaker 5: But you already are you already are you already? Are already?
[28:26] Speaker 2: Am set apart? Jesus?
[28:28] Speaker 1: If you go down to Judea, you could, you could, really,
[28:30] Speaker 1: you could show them who you are.
[28:32] Speaker 2: You could, you could show them who you are. I
[28:33] Speaker 2: don't need to show them.
[28:35] Speaker 1: I know. When you live out of that place, it
[28:40] Speaker 1: affects you to be able to do it for purpose
[28:45] Speaker 1: and not for proof, because really, who are you trying
[28:49] Speaker 1: to prove it to. I mean, whoever you're trying to
[28:52] Speaker 1: prove something to isn't paying attention because they're trying to
[28:57] Speaker 1: prove it to somebody who's not paying attention. And they're
[29:00] Speaker 1: proving it to someone who's not paying attention. And so
[29:04] Speaker 1: while we're busy posting to each other our results to
[29:07] Speaker 1: prove to one another what we're worth, our purpose is
[29:11] Speaker 1: dying in the place of our insecurity. When you know
[29:20] Speaker 1: it's real, when you know it's authentic, it enables you
[29:24] Speaker 1: to do it from a place of purpose.
[29:25] Speaker 2: I'm going to Judea. I'm going to go. I'm just
[29:29] Speaker 2: not gonna go because you pushed me into it.
[29:32] Speaker 1: Be careful what you let people or cultural norms push
[29:36] Speaker 1: you into. You'll never be pushed into purpose. You will
[29:41] Speaker 1: be pulled from within. If it's pushing, it's not purpose.
[29:46] Speaker 1: God does not drive, he leads. They are very different.
[29:51] Speaker 1: Jesus said, I'm going when it's time for me to go.
[29:55] Speaker 1: I'm not going for clout, I'm going for cairos. That's
[30:00] Speaker 1: the Greek word that means the timing of God. In
[30:03] Speaker 1: Greek philosophy, fate determined timing. In Kingdom philosophy, God determines timing.
[30:09] Speaker 1: It means I'm where I need to be right now,
[30:12] Speaker 1: and I'm good in Galilee. I'm good in Galilee. I'm
[30:16] Speaker 1: good if nobody knows my name. I'm good being anonymous.
[30:20] Speaker 1: I was listening to a podcast the other day with
[30:22] Speaker 1: a former First Lady of the United States, and she
[30:25] Speaker 1: said the number one sacrifice that she gave to serve
[30:28] Speaker 1: the country was the loss of anonymity. That isn't it
[30:31] Speaker 1: crazy that everybody else is trying to climb out of.
[30:34] Speaker 2: The thing that she wishes she could have back.
[30:39] Speaker 1: And now we've got a whole generation that's just trying
[30:42] Speaker 1: to be a public figure. I went on somebody's Instagram
[30:45] Speaker 1: account the other day. They had seventy followers, and it
[30:48] Speaker 1: said public figure under the name.
[30:50] Speaker 2: Why do you need a label so bad.
[30:54] Speaker 1: Why do you so badly need to be perceived by others?
[30:58] Speaker 1: It's the pressure to be special, So it's the pressure
[31:01] Speaker 1: to be important. But when you belong to God and
[31:04] Speaker 1: you are living on assignment, and you know your anointing
[31:07] Speaker 1: and you know your gift, it.
[31:09] Speaker 2: Takes the pressure off.
[31:10] Speaker 1: Because I'm good in Galilee.
[31:13] Speaker 2: I'll walk on.
[31:13] Speaker 1: Water in Galilee. I'll heal blind eyes in Galilee. I'll
[31:18] Speaker 1: teach in Galilee, I'll pray in Galilee.
[31:20] Speaker 2: I'm good in Galilee. I see it even seep into
[31:30] Speaker 2: our ministry.
[31:32] Speaker 1: In very subtle ways when we sit down to measure
[31:37] Speaker 1: our ministry. If I'm not careful, I will become so
[31:40] Speaker 1: performance oriented in the way I pastor this church that
[31:45] Speaker 1: I will get my priorities more on.
[31:48] Speaker 2: The statistics than the substance.
[31:56] Speaker 1: And I felt it happening the other day because we're
[31:58] Speaker 1: looking at all of these Instagram that we put out
[32:00] Speaker 1: and we use it all. I promise you Jesus would
[32:03] Speaker 1: have had an Instagram account. It would have been the
[32:05] Speaker 1: dopest Instagram account that you've ever seen in your life.
[32:08] Speaker 1: You would have swiped up and got healed. You wouldn't
[32:11] Speaker 1: even had to click on anything after that, it would
[32:13] Speaker 1: have been but swipe up and lose your leprosy, it
[32:17] Speaker 1: would have been an amazing Instagram account. But what I'm
[32:20] Speaker 1: saying about it is I was in this moment where
[32:23] Speaker 1: we were showing how this.
[32:24] Speaker 2: Post perform, perform, perform, perform.
[32:27] Speaker 1: Now, for me, that's a dangerous word, because I am
[32:29] Speaker 1: performance oriented by nature.
[32:31] Speaker 2: I don't know why I would ask for your prayers
[32:34] Speaker 2: for that.
[32:35] Speaker 1: I sometimes feel like I'm just showing up to regular
[32:37] Speaker 1: conversations and oh God, I hope I say the right thing.
[32:40] Speaker 1: I had a friend who got in trouble the other day,
[32:42] Speaker 1: and it took me a week to call him, not
[32:44] Speaker 1: because I didn't care about him, but because I didn't
[32:46] Speaker 1: think I would have anything valid to say, so rather
[32:49] Speaker 1: than call him and say what I had, I waited
[32:51] Speaker 1: and hurt him by not calling him because I didn't
[32:53] Speaker 1: think i'd have something to say. And when I finally
[32:55] Speaker 1: called him, I realized he didn't need my performance.
[32:57] Speaker 6: He just needed my presence. He didn't need me to
[33:04] Speaker 6: say anything. He didn't need me to say anything, He
[33:11] Speaker 6: just needed me to be there. And when you don't
[33:16] Speaker 6: believe that, it kills you. Unbelief always leads to performance.
[33:22] Speaker 6: They didn't believe in him. They thought he was a fraud.
[33:25] Speaker 1: When you think you're a fraud, when you get unbelief
[33:27] Speaker 1: in your heart, when you go to those those places
[33:30] Speaker 1: in your mind, you kill yourself trying to prove something.
[33:38] Speaker 1: You know, we're we're analyzing and and and you can
[33:45] Speaker 1: look at it. You can look at how many how
[33:46] Speaker 1: many people like this post. And here's a sermon clip
[33:49] Speaker 1: we put out in here's a here's a song that
[33:52] Speaker 1: we put out, and here's another sermon clip. And this
[33:54] Speaker 1: one performed better than that one. And that's good to know.
[33:57] Speaker 1: I think you should look.
[33:58] Speaker 2: At all that.
[33:59] Speaker 1: I mean, I definitely want the person who's managing my
[34:02] Speaker 1: retirement account to look at the performance of the retirement account.
[34:04] Speaker 2: I don't just want them to pray about it. Amen.
[34:06] Speaker 2: Now it's losing money, but it's a great company.
[34:08] Speaker 1: We believe in their values, and I want to make
[34:10] Speaker 1: some money. But with ministry, you can't always measure that,
[34:15] Speaker 1: can you. And I don't really know if the one
[34:20] Speaker 1: that got the most likes was the one that God used,
[34:25] Speaker 1: because who am I to say that the one that
[34:28] Speaker 1: didn't get as many likes. Maybe it came across somebody's
[34:33] Speaker 1: feed when their hands were shaken too bad to click
[34:37] Speaker 1: like or to comment because they had a bottle of
[34:39] Speaker 1: pills in their hand, and something that was spoken through
[34:42] Speaker 1: that screen just really hit their situation.
[34:45] Speaker 2: And you can't measure that.
[34:51] Speaker 1: When you do it for the wrong audience, when people
[34:55] Speaker 1: don't clap, you quit and they don't say thank you,
[35:01] Speaker 1: or when you get the feeling like they don't even
[35:02] Speaker 1: appreciate me, they don't even notice, they wouldn't even miss me,
[35:09] Speaker 1: they don't even they don't even know what I bring
[35:12] Speaker 1: to this. They don't really Jesus wasn't doing it for
[35:18] Speaker 1: the people, and he certainly wasn't doing it for their praise.
[35:23] Speaker 1: He was doing it for a purpose, and the people
[35:27] Speaker 1: were not his audience.
[35:30] Speaker 2: And when the brother said.
[35:31] Speaker 1: You need to do it so they'll see, you need
[35:36] Speaker 1: to do it, so they'll know you need to do
[35:37] Speaker 1: it to prove it, Jesus said, I believe. Twenty nineteen version.
[35:43] Speaker 1: Jesus said, I don't have to post it to prove it.
[35:48] Speaker 1: I don't have to do it because they're clapping. I
[35:50] Speaker 1: do it because I'm called. I'm not doing it for clout,
[35:59] Speaker 1: I'm doing it for calling I am not chasing their approval.
[36:05] Speaker 1: I am fulfilling my assignment. Now this message is for
[36:09] Speaker 1: our generation. And I do not mean people that are
[36:12] Speaker 1: my age. I mean the time that we live in
[36:16] Speaker 1: is consumed and obsessed with chasing clout, approval and publicity.
[36:22] Speaker 1: But some things ought to stay private. Some things that
[36:26] Speaker 1: God does in your life are not for ppa. Some
[36:31] Speaker 1: things are not for a public display of ability or
[36:34] Speaker 1: a public.
[36:35] Speaker 2: Display of affection.
[36:36] Speaker 1: You know, back in my day, if you were making
[36:39] Speaker 1: out with somebody in public, they.
[36:40] Speaker 2: Would holler at you. Get a room. And I heard
[36:43] Speaker 2: Jesus say, when you pray.
[36:45] Speaker 1: Don't do it out in public like the Pagans do
[36:49] Speaker 1: trying to impress somebody or the Pharisees do. But get
[36:52] Speaker 1: in a secret place, Get in your closet, get a
[36:56] Speaker 1: room where you get alone with God. Ask God, what
[37:01] Speaker 1: am I called to do? What am I called to be?
[37:05] Speaker 1: I can't take my cues from culture or the crowd
[37:09] Speaker 1: is killing me. God, what do you want me to
[37:12] Speaker 1: do in this season? It's too much pressure to please people. God.
[37:17] Speaker 2: I just want to please you. I do it for
[37:22] Speaker 2: you God.
[37:25] Speaker 1: I show up for you, I stay late for you,
[37:29] Speaker 1: I forgive for you. I love for you, I serve
[37:33] Speaker 1: for you, I breathe for you, I live for you,
[37:37] Speaker 1: I worship for you. It's not for an audience of film.
[37:43] Speaker 2: God is my audience.
[37:49] Speaker 1: And when God is your audience, the opinions of people
[37:54] Speaker 1: are no longer your sustenance.
[37:58] Speaker 2: I don't turn stones into bread.
[38:05] Speaker 1: We so need this word from the Lord because we're
[38:07] Speaker 1: sure not going to get it from the world.
[38:12] Speaker 2: It's getting weirder and weirder and weirder.
[38:16] Speaker 1: How we're all performing for each other all the time.
[38:21] Speaker 1: It's exhausting and it sucks, and it's worthless and it
[38:26] Speaker 1: doesn't matter.
[38:27] Speaker 2: And God sent me today watch this with a word
[38:33] Speaker 2: of sanity. The crowd will kill you. I love the
[38:40] Speaker 2: phrase that he put.
[38:41] Speaker 1: Jod said, there was widespread whispering about Jesus. Everybody had
[38:48] Speaker 1: a comment to make, but nobody had the courage to
[38:50] Speaker 1: say it out loud to his face. Everybody was whispering.
[38:54] Speaker 1: And this is the world that we live in. And
[38:57] Speaker 1: when we give too much weight to the whispers of
[39:01] Speaker 1: people and not enough weight to the word of God,
[39:07] Speaker 1: it will kill us on the inside. So the impostor
[39:16] Speaker 1: syndrome was coined as a phrase several decades ago in
[39:23] Speaker 1: psychological terms, but it's as old as Moses, who stood
[39:28] Speaker 1: up one day just to see a burning bush that
[39:31] Speaker 1: wasn't consumed talking about who am I that I should
[39:34] Speaker 1: go stand before Pharaoh. No matter how many miracles God
[39:38] Speaker 1: did through Moses, he still had trouble believing that he
[39:42] Speaker 1: was enough to lead the people. That's why he struck
[39:45] Speaker 1: the rock insteadus speaking to it. That's why he was
[39:48] Speaker 1: still trying to prove at the end of his ministry,
[39:51] Speaker 1: I am something, I am somebody I can't do it.
[39:55] Speaker 1: And now I'm spending too much money over here, and
[39:58] Speaker 1: now I'm spending too much energy over here, and now
[40:00] Speaker 1: I'm becoming something that I don't even like to prove
[40:03] Speaker 1: it to.
[40:04] Speaker 2: Who to who?
[40:09] Speaker 1: Jesus said, I'm going to Judea when it's right for me,
[40:16] Speaker 1: and God give us the clarity to know what's right
[40:21] Speaker 1: for us, what we're built for, so we stop finding
[40:26] Speaker 1: ourselves and compromising positions that do not even fit our
[40:32] Speaker 1: build God give us the wisdom to know when people
[40:37] Speaker 1: are pushing us. Just because it's normal doesn't mean it's wise.
[40:43] Speaker 1: God give us the wisdom to know our timing. Give
[40:48] Speaker 1: us the wisdom to know when we need to put
[40:49] Speaker 1: something in a journal not on Facebook. Give us the
[40:54] Speaker 1: wisdom to know when it's your voice. Father, I thank
[41:00] Speaker 1: you for what you've spoken today, and I believe that
[41:03] Speaker 1: I will be hearing for a long time how it
[41:07] Speaker 1: was applied in individual lives. With everyone standing, I want
[41:13] Speaker 1: to pray a prayer or a blessing over you today
[41:17] Speaker 1: that if you can receive it with your spirit, it
[41:21] Speaker 1: will save you so much pain and consternation and agony.
[41:28] Speaker 2: To be able to receive that.
[41:31] Speaker 1: You don't have to live on bread alone, but every
[41:33] Speaker 1: word that proceeds from the mouth of God.
[41:37] Speaker 2: And just to know in this moment.
[41:41] Speaker 1: That it's okay to stay in Galilee, it's okay to
[41:47] Speaker 1: operate in your gift. It's okay to do it the
[41:52] Speaker 1: way you need to do it. And that proving stuff
[41:55] Speaker 1: to people never produce the power of God.
[41:58] Speaker 2: Never.
[42:00] Speaker 1: Even when Jesus hung on the cross, they were still
[42:03] Speaker 1: trying to get him to prove it, if you are
[42:05] Speaker 1: the son of God, come down from that cross. But
[42:08] Speaker 1: he couldn't come down. He wasn't up there to prove it.
[42:12] Speaker 1: He was up there to do it for you and
[42:15] Speaker 1: for me. To despise the shame and to endure the cross.
[42:25] Speaker 1: The presence of the Lord is here to remind you
[42:29] Speaker 1: of your righteousness and to remind you that you don't
[42:35] Speaker 1: have to perform a religious act or a behavior modification
[42:38] Speaker 1: program to be accepted by your heavenly Father. With your
[42:43] Speaker 1: head's bowed and your eyes closed, there's somebody here who's
[42:47] Speaker 1: been feeling like you're not enough, and it has caused
[42:50] Speaker 1: you to enter into modes of communication and methods of
[42:55] Speaker 1: life and paces of lifestyle that do not even fit
[42:58] Speaker 1: your assignment or your And there are some places that
[43:02] Speaker 1: you're going to purposely need to stay away from in
[43:05] Speaker 1: the coming days, places in your mind and places in
[43:10] Speaker 1: your imagination. There are places that you will need to
[43:13] Speaker 1: stay away from on.
[43:15] Speaker 2: Purpose in order to live in peace.
[43:18] Speaker 1: And you've been under a pressure that did not come
[43:21] Speaker 1: from God to live up to something that was not
[43:24] Speaker 1: even originated in his heart. Today, I pray that the
[43:29] Speaker 1: peace of God would be your portion as you enter
[43:32] Speaker 1: this next season of your life, and that whatever you do,
[43:36] Speaker 1: you would not do it for popularity or for praise,
[43:39] Speaker 1: but that you would do it on purpose, That you
[43:42] Speaker 1: would do it on purpose, with an intentionality like Jesus
[43:46] Speaker 1: had as he set his face toward the future with
[43:50] Speaker 1: destiny in his heart, praying, even under pressure in the
[43:53] Speaker 1: garden of gethsemone, nevertheless, not my will, but thine be done.
[43:57] Speaker 1: May God give you this spirit of and determination to
[44:02] Speaker 1: raise your family and to run your race, and to
[44:05] Speaker 1: live your life, and to ignore the whispers to come
[44:09] Speaker 1: out of unbelief. Stop trying to prove it. You don't
[44:14] Speaker 1: have to prove it. It's already spoken. It's already settled,
[44:21] Speaker 1: with heads bout and eyes closed. This is the moment
[44:24] Speaker 1: of our service where we give you the opportunity to
[44:27] Speaker 1: begin a relationship with God. If you are here today
[44:32] Speaker 1: and you are far away from God, you don't have
[44:33] Speaker 1: to leave that way, and you don't have to perform
[44:36] Speaker 1: up to a standard. That's what they tried to do
[44:39] Speaker 1: through the law, but nobody could keep it.
[44:41] Speaker 2: There is none righteous, no not one.
[44:43] Speaker 1: And you can make plans to change your life, and
[44:45] Speaker 1: you can have better priorities, and you could try to
[44:48] Speaker 1: be a better person, but none of it will get
[44:50] Speaker 1: you there. It all comes down to the grace of God.
[44:53] Speaker 1: It all comes down to believing and surrendering your life
[44:56] Speaker 1: to Him.
[44:57] Speaker 2: And I believe there are.
[44:58] Speaker 1: A special few today, that God brought you here for
[45:01] Speaker 1: this moment, for this moment, that He can make you
[45:04] Speaker 1: his child, that He can give you a new beginning
[45:08] Speaker 1: in your life, that you can begin to walk with Him,
[45:10] Speaker 1: that you can give your life to Jesus Christ. And
[45:13] Speaker 1: with our heads bowed and our eyes closed, we pray
[45:16] Speaker 1: together as a church family, out loud on every campus
[45:19] Speaker 1: for the benefit of those who are coming to God
[45:22] Speaker 1: or coming back to God. The Bible says, if you
[45:24] Speaker 1: confess with your mouth Jesus's Lord and believe in your
[45:27] Speaker 1: heart God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
[45:30] Speaker 1: It is by grace. You are saved through faith. It
[45:33] Speaker 1: is the gift of God, not of work. So no
[45:35] Speaker 1: one can boast. It's not about what you can do.
[45:38] Speaker 1: It's about what has already been done. He died for you,
[45:41] Speaker 1: He rose for you. You can rise today. This can
[45:44] Speaker 1: be your moment with head's bout and eyes closed. If
[45:47] Speaker 1: you want to give your life to Jesus Christ, repeat
[45:50] Speaker 1: this prayer after me. Church family pray along. Heavenly Father.
[45:53] Speaker 1: I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God
[45:58] Speaker 1: and the savior of the world. And today I make
[46:02] Speaker 1: Jesus the Lord of my life. I believe he died
[46:06] Speaker 1: that I could be forgiven and rose again to give
[46:10] Speaker 1: me life. I receive this new life. This is my
[46:15] Speaker 1: new beginning. On the count of three. If you prayed
[46:18] Speaker 1: that prayer, shuit your hand up high, one, two, three.
[46:20] Speaker 2: I want to celebrate with you. Bless your gods, Bless him,
[46:25] Speaker 2: bless him. I think we can celebrate better than that.
[46:29] Speaker 2: Let's do it like a family. Let's do it like
[46:32] Speaker 2: the angels.
[46:34] Speaker 1: Let's throw a little party, a little birthday party.
[46:37] Speaker 2: Come on, let's throw a little birthday party. Welcome to
[46:40] Speaker 2: the Family of God. Thank you for joining us.
[46:45] Speaker 1: Special thanks to those of you who give generously to
[46:48] Speaker 1: this ministry.
[46:49] Speaker 2: Is because of you that this ministry is possible.
[46:52] Speaker 1: You can click the link in the description to give now,
[46:55] Speaker 1: or visit Elevation Church dot org slash podcast for more
[46:58] Speaker 1: information and enjoyed the podcast, you can subscribe.
[47:02] Speaker 2: You can share it with your friends.
[47:04] Speaker 1: You can click the share button, take a screenshot and
[47:06] Speaker 1: share it on your social stories and tag us at
[47:08] Speaker 1: Elevation Church.
[47:09] Speaker 2: Thanks again for listening. God bless you.

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