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Make Room
Are you truly living out your faith or just blending in with the world? Pastor Kevin invites you to examine your heart, resist spiritual deception, and embrace the transformative power of abiding in Christ. Discover how to create space for God, hear His voice clearly, and live with purpose rooted in His Kingdom.
Scriptures Referenced
Jeremiah 29:4-9, 29:11; Matthew 7:21-23; John 15:1-5, 18:36; Romans 12:18; 1 Thessalonians 4:11-12; 1 Peter 2:11-12
Key Insights
- Spiritual deception is often more dangerous than persecution because it’s subtle.
- Abiding in Christ requires creating intentional space to hear God’s voice.
- Deception convinces us we know enough and blinds us to our true spiritual condition.
- We are called to live set apart, not shaped by the culture around us.
- Evaluating how we spend our time reveals where our faith truly lies.
- True success in faith is measured by the fruit of the Spirit, not worldly achievements.
- Repentance means realigning both our thoughts and actions with God’s truth.
https://springhouse.captivate.fm/episode/make-room
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Gathering Times
- Sundays, 9:00 AM
- Sundays, 11:00 AM
- Thursdays, 6:00 PM
Contact Info
Springhouse Church
14119 Old Nashville Highway
Smyrna TN 37167
CCLI License 2070006
Transcript
There's also child care on Thursday nights. Kids ministry
Speaker:meets with junior Bible quiz and the youth meet on Thursday
Speaker:nights. And they'll be kicking back up this week, too. So a lot
Speaker:to be plugged into. If you've got capacity, I encourage you to be a part
Speaker:of that. Well, good morning. Are we awake
Speaker:this morning? Well, praise God. I'm glad that we're awake.
Speaker:It's a new year. How did we get to 2026?
Speaker:Oh, my goodness. Grace. Barbie says grace.
Speaker:Don't say that, Kevin. Okay. Sometimes
Speaker:things fleet in your mind, and it's like, I'm glad that didn't come out of
Speaker:my mouth. Thank you, Lord, for the power of
Speaker:filters. God is good. God is good.
Speaker:And I am excited about this new series that we're getting
Speaker:into for 20. A
Speaker:couple of disclaimers before we get into this. First of all, this is now a
Speaker:thing. So. Yeah,
Speaker:thank you. Talk about
Speaker:20, 26. So, you know, I feel like I'm in a
Speaker:fishbowl, because I am. These are bifocals, you know, so, you know,
Speaker:I can see both directions. So I'm gonna be taking them off and on. And
Speaker:so if I have them off and I don't say a word the right way,
Speaker:now I'm being trouble, right? Okay, so you know why. And I promise they're
Speaker:gonn much more stylish than this come next few weeks. Okay? But
Speaker:these are my starters. And so, anyway, so
Speaker:we're gonna start with that. And then also,
Speaker:you know, I was getting into
Speaker:this last quarter and just thinking about the
Speaker:things, and I was so excited about John 15. And
Speaker:the operative word was is key there, because.
Speaker:And I am excited because God's doing things. But have you
Speaker:ever gone to class, clean out a room, and you gotta make
Speaker:things messier before they become better? Well,
Speaker:welcome to Springhouse Church. We are about to go through a season of
Speaker:making some things messy before they get better. And
Speaker:so for those of you who are new to Springhouse, or even if you've been
Speaker:here, I'm gonna ask you to do me a favor. If
Speaker:I say something that offends you, if I say something
Speaker:that maybe you don't even agree with or just kind of hit you the wrong
Speaker:way, if you would wait till the first week of February to leave Spring
Speaker:Springhouse, but kind of like a gym membership, keep paying your tithe
Speaker:all through the year, that would be great. Okay. You know,
Speaker:but no, seriously, if you choose to leave Springhouse, please wait
Speaker:a little while. I just want, you know, I just want to get through these
Speaker:first couple of weeks because we are going to get messy because I think God
Speaker:has some real truth and some real revelation in his word for us.
Speaker:And, you know, can you look at your neighbor right now and ask them this
Speaker:question? Why are you here?
Speaker:Now, on the cuff, that answer. On the cuff, that answer might
Speaker:seem something. That's natural. On the cuff, it might seem
Speaker:something. But let me tell you, how many times, how
Speaker:many times do people dawn the doorsteps of the
Speaker:church and have no idea why they're in the
Speaker:house? And I believe that this morning,
Speaker:January 4, 2026, God has a
Speaker:powerful word for us. And it's going to open
Speaker:up and start a ripple effect in our lives if we will
Speaker:grab hold of it and we will allow him to mature it
Speaker:in our walk this week as we nudge forward week by week
Speaker:into this year. Now, last year we got off on the
Speaker:greatest stories ever told, and we started a message
Speaker:and kind of capped it nicely at the end each week. This series is
Speaker:gonna be an evolution. We different at the end of this year than
Speaker:we do at the beginning of this year because of this principle of abiding in
Speaker:Christ. And so my encouragement is that we really lean in
Speaker:this morning. And I'm gonna pray something that I don't usually pray after we read
Speaker:the Word. Are you ready for this? I'm actually gonna pray that the Holy Spirit
Speaker:of God will convict our hearts in this room.
Speaker:I'm not here to entertain. I don't wanna be entertained. I
Speaker:wanna be changed by the word of God. Anybody with me? So let's go on
Speaker:the journey together. Stand with me. We're gonna read from John, chapter 15. This is
Speaker:gonna be a baseline scripture for us through this series. And let's read
Speaker:it like we mean it with some passion today. Here we go. I am the
Speaker:true vine, and my father is the gardener. He
Speaker:cuts every branch in me that bears no fruit,
Speaker:while every branch that does bear fruit, he prunes
Speaker:so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already
Speaker:clean because of the word I have spoken to you.
Speaker:Remain as I also remain in you.
Speaker:No branch can bear fruit by itself. It must
Speaker:remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit
Speaker:unless you remain in me. I am the vine,
Speaker:you are the branches. If you remain in me and
Speaker:I in you, you will bear much fruit.
Speaker:Apart from me, you can do nothing. Let's read that last part
Speaker:again. Apart from me.
Speaker:Father, we believe that today, and Holy
Speaker:Spirit, I'm asking for you to convict
Speaker:our hearts today. I'm asking you to give
Speaker:us eyes to see things that we haven't seen before,
Speaker:ears to hear some things that we haven't heard before.
Speaker:That we would make some connections this morning that we weren't
Speaker:necessarily expecting to make when we came in. But by the grace
Speaker:of your Holy Spirit, you met us. You were preparing the
Speaker:atmosphere in our spirits before we even knew it, Lord,
Speaker:for this moment in time. So may we hear your
Speaker:word. May we respond to it today in Jesus name. And
Speaker:everybody said, amen. Amen. Amen. You may be seated.
Speaker:So I was getting into the Word and I was preparing for this series, Abide.
Speaker:And like I said, I thought, hey, I'm gonna jump in and
Speaker:this is gonna be easy. This is gonna be. I didn't really think easy. Cause
Speaker:nothing about it is really easy. But I thought, you know, I'm familiar with this
Speaker:word, so I'm gonna be able. We're gonna be able. Like a roller coaster. And
Speaker:boy, after pages and pages of notes, the Lord had me set
Speaker:that aside and he gave me something different. And I believe the
Speaker:Lord said, we're gonna have to unpackage some things. Do you know
Speaker:that it's just as important for us to unlearn things than
Speaker:it is to learn things? And I believe that there are
Speaker:some things that we need to purpose to unlearn so he can
Speaker:open some crevices to teach us some things that actually come from him.
Speaker:Some of us are wearing the residue of the world, the
Speaker:stench of the world. And we have no clue. Have you ever been around somebody
Speaker:that stinks? The most loving
Speaker:thing to do with somebody who stinks is to go up to them.
Speaker:Not in an unpleasant way, but if you love them is to say
Speaker:you have a stench. There's a smell about you.
Speaker:Okay, I'm reminded of a story I don't have time really to tell, but I
Speaker:went through a whole two periods of high school with a sugar smack on my
Speaker:cheek because I didn't have friends who cared. Cared enough about me to tell me,
Speaker:you got breakfast still on your face.
Speaker:We need to be a people who are willing to say the truth in love.
Speaker:And the Lord has some real things for us today. And so I
Speaker:was asking the Lord, okay, where do we go? And he took me back to
Speaker:the Old Testament. He took me back to the Old Testament. And
Speaker:I wanna take us back to the Old Testament to a moment in
Speaker:Israel's history. A moment that maybe some of you have never
Speaker:heard about, but one that will feel strangely
Speaker:familiar as we kinda unfold. Open what
Speaker:happened in the Old Testament with God's people? God had chosen
Speaker:Israel to be his people, not because
Speaker:they were perfect, not because they were polished, but because
Speaker:he loved them. And he called them to live differently
Speaker:than the nations that were around them, to worship him alone,
Speaker:to practice justice, to care for the vulnerable, and
Speaker:to reflect his character all around the world. But over many
Speaker:generations, something started to happen. They began to back away
Speaker:from this call, from this directive, especially the leaders.
Speaker:They started to chase gods of the other nations.
Speaker:They started to mix faith with idolatry. They trusted
Speaker:in political alliances more than God. They opposed the
Speaker:poor, and they ignored God's commands.
Speaker:And God didn't respond with anger at first, like he
Speaker:usually does. And in keeping with God's character, he was patient
Speaker:and he was kind. And in his great patience and his sovereignty,
Speaker:he sent prophets, prophets like Isaiah
Speaker:and Micah and Jeremiah, to render the true
Speaker:word of the Lord. And this is what these prophets would say. They
Speaker:would say, turn back to the Lord.
Speaker:Stop sinning. If you keep going this way,
Speaker:destruction and exile will surely come.
Speaker:Now, just like some of us, the nation of Israel did
Speaker:not like this word because this word caused
Speaker:them to have to do something and change behavior that they didn't want to change.
Speaker:And so alongside Jeremiah stood some other people
Speaker:with a voice that became louder and louder than that of
Speaker:Jeremiah's. And this voice, these voices would say
Speaker:this worry, God will never let
Speaker:anything happen to Jerusalem. God will fix your issues
Speaker:quickly. Now, Israel liked this word
Speaker:because this word was comfortable, this word felt
Speaker:good. This word didn't necessarily cause change
Speaker:and put all the onus on God and nothing on them.
Speaker:But the biggest problem was, is it wasn't true.
Speaker:Jeremiah, on the other hand, he brought a very different word. He says,
Speaker:this path will not end well.
Speaker:Babylon will rise, exile is coming, and it will
Speaker:not be short. And because Jeremiah's message was uncomfortable,
Speaker:the people rejected him. They mocked him, they
Speaker:treated him poorly, they threw him in a pit. They labeled him
Speaker:negative, unpatriotic, and unfaithful.
Speaker:And then it happened. The Babylon empire invaded
Speaker:Jerusalem. The city fell, the temple was destroyed.
Speaker:The very place where they worshiped God was destroyed. And a
Speaker:large portion of God's people were taken captive and carried
Speaker:far away into Babylon. I want you to
Speaker:imagine that moment. You have been fooled to believe
Speaker:that your God is going to take care of everything.
Speaker:Yet here you are finding yourself in a different
Speaker:place where you've lost your land, you've lost your security, and
Speaker:you've lost every semblance of structure. Of your life.
Speaker:And in that confusion, the false prophets that
Speaker:communicated this message continued to run their
Speaker:mouths, as often false prophets do. And they
Speaker:said, don't unpack your bags, because God is gonna
Speaker:rescue you out of this exile. God is gonna take you away. God is
Speaker:going to come and serve you on your
Speaker:behalf. Their message sounded hopeful.
Speaker:Jeremiah's message sounded painful. But
Speaker:Jeremiah was the one telling the truth. So
Speaker:God speaks through Jeremiah again. This time he sends it in
Speaker:the framework of a letter that we read in Jeremiah chapter 29.
Speaker:And it says this. This is what the Lord Almighty God of
Speaker:Israel says to all of those carried into exile from
Speaker:Jerusalem to Babylon. Build houses and
Speaker:settle down. Plant gardens and eat what they
Speaker:produce. Marry and have sons and daughters. Find
Speaker:wives for your sons and give the daughters in marriage so that
Speaker:they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there. Do not
Speaker:decrease. Also, seek the peace and prosperity of
Speaker:the city to which I have carried you into exile.
Speaker:Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too
Speaker:will prosper. Yes, this is what the Lord Almighty
Speaker:God says to Israel. Do not let the prophets and the
Speaker:diviners among you deceive you. Do not listen to the dreams you
Speaker:encourage them to have. They are prophesying lies to you in
Speaker:my name. I have not sent them, declares the Lord.
Speaker:And so there is this letter, and the God of the universe is saying,
Speaker:I have sent you to this exile place.
Speaker:It tells me that the Lord God Almighty, in his
Speaker:mission, in his love for you, in
Speaker:his mission, in his chasing after your soul, will allow
Speaker:hardship to happen in your life, to bring about change.
Speaker:He will allow you to be in uncomfortable situations
Speaker:and live there for a season of time so that you will
Speaker:come to a place to acknowledge him as the
Speaker:Lord, as the Lord. And so God says,
Speaker:build, plant, get married.
Speaker:Increase, do not decrease.
Speaker:In other words, this is not going to be short. You're going to
Speaker:be here for a while. Don't put your life on pause.
Speaker:Don't hold your breath waiting for rescue. Live
Speaker:faithfully, right where you are. Seek the peace and the prosperity of
Speaker:the city to which I've carried you into exile. Pray for it. Because if it
Speaker:prospers, you're gonna prosper as well. This
Speaker:wasn't about the Israelites blending in
Speaker:with Babylon, and it also wasn't about them fighting
Speaker:against Babylon. It was about learning how to
Speaker:live as God's people inside a culture that did
Speaker:not share their faith. And I want you to understand,
Speaker:friends, that we live as God's people inside of
Speaker:a Culture that do not share our faith.
Speaker:We live as exiles in Babylon,
Speaker:learning how to live, work our jobs, build our houses,
Speaker:have our families within the construct of the world,
Speaker:living in the kingdom of God.
Speaker:The exile was not God discarding his people. It was
Speaker:God's way of reshaping them. He was teaching them how
Speaker:to remain his people even when the world around them
Speaker:did not reflect the kingdom. And that's where our story
Speaker:meets us today. Because like Israel in
Speaker:Babylon, we live in a world whose values don't
Speaker:always match the kingdom to which we belong. We build families, work
Speaker:jobs, live lives here, but our identity is somewhere else.
Speaker:I like to say it like this. In America, we have a constitution
Speaker:that gives us rights. And there are people who have given their life,
Speaker:people have laid down their life for the Constitution. And the Constitution
Speaker:of the United States gives you the freedom to speak, gives you the freedom to
Speaker:do kind of whatever you want to do. That's kind of, I guess, the purpose
Speaker:of the Constitution. But if you belong to the kingdom of God, the word of
Speaker:God is the constitution of the kingdom. And the word of God
Speaker:supersedes the Constitution of the United States every single time.
Speaker:You belong to a kingdom. And guys, I hate to tell you this, you have
Speaker:a king. It's not a democracy, it's not a presidency,
Speaker:it's not a negotiation. You have a king who is sovereign and
Speaker:sitting on a throne and wants to be the king of your life. The
Speaker:difference about this king, unlike other kings, is he actually knows
Speaker:your name and has a purpose and a plan for your life. Because
Speaker:later we see what God says to the people.
Speaker:Hey, build your houses, get married,
Speaker:live your lives. Because here's the thing, and we like to quote this verse,
Speaker:I have a plan for you declares the Lord, plans to
Speaker:prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a
Speaker:future. This promise was in the
Speaker:context of exile. We like to parade that
Speaker:truth around when things are going well, right? We like to parade that truth around.
Speaker:This was in the moment where God Almighty lent way
Speaker:and gave permission for his people to be in a place of
Speaker:captivity in exile.
Speaker:So the question becomes, as we begin this series on abiding
Speaker:in Christ, we have a question that we need to grapple with. And here's the
Speaker:question we need to grapple with. Will we be
Speaker:formed by the world we live in? Or will we
Speaker:remain rooted in the kingdom to which we belong?
Speaker:Will we be formed by the world we live in?
Speaker:Or will we remain rooted in the kingdom to
Speaker:which we belong? I'D like to suggest this morning,
Speaker:as I click this button that's not working, hit that
Speaker:next slide. The greatest danger
Speaker:in the world is not persecution. It's deception.
Speaker:Let that marinate for just a moment. I'm
Speaker:called to pick up my cross. I'm called to a life of
Speaker:suffering. I'm called. The greatest danger in our
Speaker:world living as Christians, is not that we are going to be
Speaker:persecuted, not even to the point of death. It's
Speaker:deception. It's deception.
Speaker:Now, deception can come in various forms. In
Speaker:my experience, deception often comes from the person who
Speaker:always has something to say. Have you ever known a
Speaker:leader who's got an opinion about every single thing that's said or done?
Speaker:Have you ever followed somebody who just every single time there's something that
Speaker:comes up, they've got something to say about it? Here's what I've
Speaker:learned as I've matured as a leader in the Lord Jesus
Speaker:Christ. It stands to reason, when you become a leader, you would think, man,
Speaker:I've got to learn what to say and when to say it. But what I've
Speaker:learned as a mature believer in Christ and what I'm learning as a leader
Speaker:is that it's more important for me to learn when to shut my mouth.
Speaker:There's a man by the name Bruce Kobel, served on staff here for decades.
Speaker:And let me tell you, Bruce had a lot of opinions. He
Speaker:had a lot that he could have said.
Speaker:But Bruce rarely spoke. But
Speaker:when he opened his mouth, the room was silent
Speaker:and everything changed. I admire that
Speaker:man because he knew from the Holy Spirit when it was time and
Speaker:place and appropriate for him to insert
Speaker:his thought or his opinion. And also more
Speaker:than that, I've heard that man come back many a time and apologize,
Speaker:even in the vein. Even in the vein of not saying much at all.
Speaker:Come back and say, you know, what I considered and I had
Speaker:weighed what I said to you, and I don't believe it was rightly placed. Would
Speaker:you forgive me?
Speaker:Be leery of leaders you follow who always have to say something
Speaker:about everything, because you won't
Speaker:know very clearly what the Holy Spirit's saying and
Speaker:what's just their opinion. First, Thessalonians
Speaker:4:11 says this. Make it your ambition
Speaker:to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and work with
Speaker:your hands so that your daily life may win the respect of
Speaker:outsiders. You know, there are a few people that I think about when I read
Speaker:this scripture. And in this gathering, the couple that I think about are Michael and
Speaker:Rhonda Frazier. Do you know what type of
Speaker:a powerhouse couple Mike and Rhonda are?
Speaker:Rhonda has a gift of teaching that would literally, I
Speaker:think, ripple and change generations just in one setting.
Speaker:What the deposit she carries, whether it's with students or adults or
Speaker:whatever, whatever Rhonda puts her hand to, it's done with such
Speaker:excellence. Have you heard Michael compose anything? Do you hear him
Speaker:play the anointing he carries from this platform? And whenever he gets behind
Speaker:the keys or whenever he's involved with composing or orchestra, all those.
Speaker:The weight and the gravity that this couple carries. But here's the thing. Most
Speaker:of you in this room probably don't have deep connections with Mike and Rhonda.
Speaker:They are not vying for the spotlight. They are not vying for time in the
Speaker:stage. They're not looking to say, look and see what I've got to say here.
Speaker:They just lead their lives. And they step into places where the power
Speaker:of the Holy Spirit meets them. And he says, speak and do. And they speak
Speaker:and they do. This is the type of
Speaker:lives we're supposed to lead. We're not supposed to be
Speaker:looking to elevate ourselves in the world's eyes. We're not supposed
Speaker:to be looking for great grandiose platforms to speak from.
Speaker:And if the Lord gives those places, those places should be met with a huge
Speaker:degree of humility.
Speaker:Are you glad you came to church today? The next
Speaker:verse says this. If it's possible, as far as it depends on
Speaker:you, live at peace with everyone. I don't
Speaker:know where we got this idea as Christians that we're supposed to declare war
Speaker:on the world. The Lord God
Speaker:Almighty. Listen. He has placed us
Speaker:contextually in this world bubble to live
Speaker:as a servant of the kingdom. He has placed us here, which
Speaker:tells me if the world's got stuff going on, he's going to take care of
Speaker:the world. In fact, some of us have succumbed to the
Speaker:notion that God is about trying to make the world a better place.
Speaker:But God is going to come and destroy this world, and he's going to establish
Speaker:his kingdom. So if you're under the illusion that the
Speaker:world's going to become a better place, it's not becoming a better
Speaker:place. Allow yourself to be undeceived in
Speaker:that. Okay, as foreigners and
Speaker:exiles. This is Peter. Okay, one Peter. This tells me, as
Speaker:foreigners and exiles, what does that make us? Foreigners and
Speaker:exiles abstain from sinful desires which
Speaker:wage war against your soul. Stop sinning.
Speaker:Let's pray. No, listen. It says, live
Speaker:such good lives among the pagans. That
Speaker:though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your
Speaker:good deeds and glorify God. Now let me give you the.
Speaker:The shallow Christian version of this scripture. Are you ready for it?
Speaker:Though they accuse you of doing wrong, that they may watch
Speaker:your Facebook post and hear what you say to glorify God.
Speaker:No, it's not what it says. It says, see your good deeds and
Speaker:glorify God. That means that what you say, you better be walking.
Speaker:What you preach, you better be walking. Let them see
Speaker:you actually model the faith. Remember a few weeks ago we talked about, do
Speaker:you believe what you really believe? Let the world see you
Speaker:model your belief by your faith. And that will change
Speaker:people's lives
Speaker:as foreigners and exiles in the world. And so this is what we
Speaker:contend with. We have the context. We have this
Speaker:world that we live in. But here we are in the middle, in
Speaker:the kingdom of God. And so what does that
Speaker:look like? The world says, hold on a second.
Speaker:The world tells us to seek approval. The kingdom of
Speaker:God tells us to seek the king.
Speaker:The world tells us to build our platform. The kingdom of
Speaker:God tells us to humble ourselves.
Speaker:The world tells us to strike back. The kingdom of God tells us to
Speaker:turn the other cheek. Are you with me this morning? The
Speaker:world tells us to fear losing control. The kingdom of God says,
Speaker:surrender. The world tells us to walk
Speaker:away. You know what the kingdom of God says, forgive.
Speaker:The world tells us to secure our future by
Speaker:any means necessary. The kingdom of
Speaker:God tells us to store up treasure in heaven. The
Speaker:world tells us to seek comfort and what feels good. The kingdom of
Speaker:God tells us to take up our cross. The world tells us to run
Speaker:faster. The kingdom of God is telling us to slow
Speaker:down. The world tells us to follow our
Speaker:heart. The kingdom of God says, follow Jesus Christ.
Speaker:Jesus says this. He says, my kingdom is not
Speaker:of this world. Would you say that my kingdom is
Speaker:not of this world? And so we are succumb
Speaker:to. To deception.
Speaker:Deception. And deception creeps
Speaker:in every single day of our lives. And
Speaker:deception starts like this. We know we belong to this kingdom. I
Speaker:can delineate clearly between myself and the kingdom and the world.
Speaker:But as deception creeps in and nothing's done about it, you
Speaker:realize that slowly, slowly and slowly, all of a
Speaker:sudden, you look no different than the world.
Speaker:And I wonder how many Christians are in this place
Speaker:looking no different than the world we live in.
Speaker:There's that scripture where we read in John 15 and it talks about the tree,
Speaker:and there's a branch on that tree, and it says, when the branch doesn't bear
Speaker:fruit. He cuts it off and he throws it away.
Speaker:You know what's interesting about that? For a branch to be
Speaker:connected to the tree. It tells me at one point in time it had life.
Speaker:At one point in time, it had life. See, you can be
Speaker:connected as a dead branch waiting to be cut off the
Speaker:tree. And I'm wondering if there's any fruit being
Speaker:born in your life. Is there any fruit being born in my life?
Speaker:But deception begins to lead us towards sin, leads us toward
Speaker:destruction. Deception always promises an
Speaker:easier path. Deception always promises an
Speaker:easier path. Some of you have bought 1999
Speaker:subscription to something that told you were gonna lose £100 in three days.
Speaker:Some of you invested money thinking in two weeks time
Speaker:it was gonna blow up and exponentially increase. You know why? Cause it's not
Speaker:enough to trust the Lord God, the one who owns the cattle on the hill
Speaker:with your finances. So we resort to the world's schemes and
Speaker:listen when it prospers. When something happens, we go, oh, glory to God.
Speaker:When it backfires on us and we didn't hear from the Lord, then we go
Speaker:to God and say, what happened? I don't understand. He says, I
Speaker:didn't tell you to do that in the first place. Deception always
Speaker:promises an easier path.
Speaker:So here are two of the greatest deceptions I believe we can come under.
Speaker:The first one is, I'm not deceived. Conceived.
Speaker:The Bible says this. The Bible says, he who says he is
Speaker:without sin is a liar.
Speaker:Where is sin conceived? It starts with deceit.
Speaker:It starts with a thought. So
Speaker:congratulations, every one of you. You have been deceived.
Speaker:I have been deceived at one point and the other. We've been
Speaker:deceived. And the deception is. Grows exponential every
Speaker:day. Every day. And it's not glaring that,
Speaker:oh, I wish I had a sign. I have props. I don't have this prop.
Speaker:I wish the enemy's holding a sign saying, here I am to deceive
Speaker:you. No subtle ways. In
Speaker:fact, what the devil does is he puts on that Christian T shirt,
Speaker:he carries a Bible with him. Are you with
Speaker:me? He literally says a
Speaker:version of the truth that will lure you in and get you
Speaker:off course enough so that you begin
Speaker:to become more familiar with his voice because it's more comfortable
Speaker:than the voice of a holy God. The second
Speaker:greatest deception is I know more
Speaker:than I really do. Listen to me.
Speaker:If this right here is everything you could possibly know
Speaker:about God, Everything, I mean everything.
Speaker:This is God. It's everything. You can know.
Speaker:That's how much I know. This is how much
Speaker:Justin knows. This is how much Barbie knows.
Speaker:We'll give Ronnie two stones. This is how much Ronnie knows.
Speaker:Listen to me. This is super important to me.
Speaker:Some of you will walk in here and build your entire life based on this.
Speaker:When you've got access to this,
Speaker:you will build your entire foundation. And not only will you build
Speaker:your foundation, you will try to build your kids foundation on this.
Speaker:And this is only what I think I know. This
Speaker:is what I think I know. Now, I'm not trying to dissuade you from
Speaker:coming to church and listening to the teaching here, because God the
Speaker:Holy Spirit can do exponential things with just a little bit. But when we
Speaker:come here, when we come here, we're coming here
Speaker:to enthrone him on our praises, to be
Speaker:reminded about what he did on the cross and to be nudged
Speaker:along in our faith. What happens here should
Speaker:affirm what you are already learning and walking in through
Speaker:the week. The best thing that you can do
Speaker:is get a Bible, dust it off, and start reading and
Speaker:learning about the God you say you love.
Speaker:We have to not build our lives on hollow
Speaker:deceptions. We have to not be deceived. And
Speaker:I am afraid with a holy
Speaker:righteous fear that I walk in places where I think
Speaker:I've got it right, but I've got it so wrong because my spiritual
Speaker:ears are not cleaned out enough to know. This is the voice of the Holy
Speaker:Spirit. Spirit. This is the voice of the
Speaker:Holy Spirit.
Speaker:And so.
Speaker:Jesus says this, not everyone who says to me,
Speaker:lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only
Speaker:the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.
Speaker:This tells me that there are people who attend church faithfully
Speaker:who will be casting out demons who will be worshiping all in his name.
Speaker:And they're going to get there that day and he's going to say, I
Speaker:never knew you.
Speaker:You cannot live your life on
Speaker:the coattails of my faith. You
Speaker:cannot live your life on the coattails of your parents.
Speaker:You cannot live on the coattails of your faith
Speaker:alone. You must have a relationship with this
Speaker:holy God. The reason he went to the cross was because
Speaker:he wanted an intimate relationship with you. And it
Speaker:is available right now, today.
Speaker:Have you forgotten your first love? Have you forgotten your
Speaker:first love? Why are you here this morning? What were
Speaker:you expecting? Besides chicken after church at a restaurant? What were you
Speaker:expecting? What did you expect to happen when you walked
Speaker:into this place? Are you looking to be transformed by the truth of
Speaker:God's Word to be encouraged with other believers. Why are you here
Speaker:today? What's the point of this?
Speaker:So what do we do? God? Lord,
Speaker:am I being deceived? Lord, I'll tell you how Kevin's
Speaker:wired. Lord, if I'm being deceived, I want to start doing something right now
Speaker:to make sure I'm not deceived. Get me in the driver's seat. I want to
Speaker:figure out what I'm doing. I'm turning every stone. I'm messing things up.
Speaker:Because we have a propensity. Every single time some type of
Speaker:conviction comes our way, the very first mistake we make is that we feel
Speaker:like we got to do something. And what we don't realize is what we did
Speaker:is what got us in the first. Got us in the situation in the first
Speaker:place.
Speaker:So the very first place that we have to look at
Speaker:is something. It's a commodity that every one of us have.
Speaker:Every one of us have this commodity. It's a precious commodity. And
Speaker:believe it or not, you're actually in control with what you do with it, and
Speaker:that is your time. Why do we
Speaker:have to start here? We have to start here.
Speaker:Not start by trying to dissect what the word abide
Speaker:means and all of these things. Oh, I got. I need to clean out this
Speaker:drawer. No, we need to stop so that
Speaker:we understand. Clear. Have you ever been in a situation where you're
Speaker:giving instructions to multiple people and the person over here is on their
Speaker:phone not paying attention, and these people are talking and you have to repeat yourself?
Speaker:Any teachers in the room,
Speaker:you would have gotten the correct instruction had you listened correctly
Speaker:the first time, but you were distracted. Well, how
Speaker:do we address the distractions? We have to carve out
Speaker:capacity to learn his voice.
Speaker:Lord, do you want me to do this? I'm talking about
Speaker:everything. Lord, do you want me to go to breakfast with that person?
Speaker:Do you want. What do you want me to say at this breakfast? What do
Speaker:you want me to do at lunch when I read my Bible? I see Jesus
Speaker:wake up every morning. This is what I see. Daddy, what do you want to
Speaker:do today? Kevin, how do
Speaker:I do that? I got a job. I got kids, all that stuff. You wake
Speaker:up and you start with, daddy, what do you want to do today?
Speaker:And then he takes your everyday, ordinary, step by
Speaker:step, going to work, all that stuff, life as you place it
Speaker:before him as an offering, and he meets you right there, and he speaks to
Speaker:you. We are creatures of habit. We start getting in this
Speaker:habit, and then we say, I don't need you, God, anymore. I've got
Speaker:this down. Let's
Speaker:start with this. Busyness is not a badge of honor.
Speaker:Busyness is not a badge of honor.
Speaker:God has given grace gifts to every
Speaker:person in this room. The grace gifts in
Speaker:quantity that he has given me are not the same
Speaker:quantity that he's given Justin, that he's given Wyatt, that he's
Speaker:given Vonda, that he's given Carol, that he's given
Speaker:David or any of you. The grace gifts in quantity and what they
Speaker:are differ from person to person. And so what that
Speaker:means is if I'm. If God has grace gift me in
Speaker:this season to do a lot of things, then if I
Speaker:do short of what he's asked me to do, I'm walking in disobedience.
Speaker:If God has only graced you in this season to do two things
Speaker:and you try to do seven because you see somebody else doing seven,
Speaker:you're headed toward destruction and walking in disobedience because God
Speaker:hasn't graced you to do seven things he's graced to do too.
Speaker:Read the Parable of the Talents. Five,
Speaker:two, one. It's up to him. He's the
Speaker:God of the universe. He knows what he's doing. I actually trust Him,
Speaker:Do I?
Speaker:May my actions model the truth that I trust the Holy Spirit.
Speaker:He's given each of us grace gifts. One of the things I
Speaker:particularly thankful for about our eldership and you learned about this
Speaker:last week, was that every year the elders pray
Speaker:and ask the Lord, should I actively serve in the year to come?
Speaker:Why? Because seasons change.
Speaker:The grace gift. Listen to this. This is important. The grace gift he
Speaker:has given you right now is temporary.
Speaker:It will be there for as long as he chooses for that grace
Speaker:gift to be. And when you continue to run doing that
Speaker:thing. Listen. There are had a grace gift for 10 years and they
Speaker:ran in that 11th, 12th, and 13th year. And they caused more damage
Speaker:in those three years than any fruit that was caused in those first 10 because
Speaker:they outran the grace season they were in.
Speaker:This is why it's important that we are constantly in check with the
Speaker:Holy Spirit. Lord, am I doing your will? Am I following
Speaker:your purpose? Am I supposed to be saying yes to this? Am I supposed to
Speaker:be saying no to this God? What do you have for me and what's the
Speaker:evidence? The evidence is in the fruit. The
Speaker:Holy Spirit of God is not going to be involved with something he's not called
Speaker:you to do. So there is no way for you to bear the fruit of
Speaker:the Spirit, if you're doing things that don't have his covering, does that make
Speaker:sense? And so we learn
Speaker:this. A calling without grace becomes striving without covering.
Speaker:A calling without grace becomes striving
Speaker:without covering. So we don't measure it by
Speaker:productivity or busyness or opportunity or visible success. We look,
Speaker:if peace disappears, gentleness drains. If joy dries up,
Speaker:we are living beyond grace capacity. Guys, I have to tell
Speaker:you, abiding requires the capacity to hear him and hear him
Speaker:clearly. Abiding requires the capacity
Speaker:to hear him. We just read Luke, chapter 10, Mary and
Speaker:Martha. Martha is out doing all of the things and just
Speaker:making all of the effort of preparing the room. And Mary is
Speaker:resting at Jesus feet. And Jesus says, what is best?
Speaker:Was it that Martha, the things that she was actually doing, were they wrong? Were
Speaker:they bad things? No. But what was
Speaker:needed at that moment was to be at Jesus feet.
Speaker:Oh, may we not be a people who miss the times that we're supposed to
Speaker:sit at Jesus feet.
Speaker:And so the Lord gave me an object lesson several years ago,
Speaker:and I'm gonna do that object lesson again here
Speaker:because I really felt that the Lord had given me something profound and
Speaker:he had shown me this. And maybe some of you have seen this, seen this
Speaker:illustration before, but so many times in our life, when we get to the beginning
Speaker:of the year, we look at restructuring and reprioritizing. And what
Speaker:happens is, is we will fill our life up with those frivolous, frivolous
Speaker:little things that don't really matter, that aren't really important, because
Speaker:we like those. Those taste good, feel good, look good,
Speaker:very little responsibility with them. And so we'll just kind of fill up our life
Speaker:with these frivolous little things. And then behind those things,
Speaker:we'll graduate to some of those, maybe perhaps a little bit larger
Speaker:things in life that carry a little bit more gravity,
Speaker:a little bit more importance. And so we'll be there. But then God
Speaker:gives us these big boulders in our life that are real important. The priorities,
Speaker:like reading the word, your marriage, church, going to
Speaker:church, prayer time, stewardship
Speaker:of your funding, rest. What's this one say?
Speaker:Obedience. Okay. And these may be different for every person, but there are
Speaker:boulders, there are real staples. And then after doing all this, we try to
Speaker:fit these things in, and. And they don't fit.
Speaker:And so we go, man, I'm out of line here. I'm out of priority.
Speaker:God, Lord, would you help me? Help me to structure and
Speaker:reprioritize? And he says, okay, well, the first thing that needs to happen
Speaker:is all of the things that are the big boulders, we need to put them
Speaker:in first, right? And so we go in here and we put work and prayer
Speaker:and Bible reading and going to church, marriage and family all in first.
Speaker:And look. Oh, wow, they all fit. That's great.
Speaker:Okay, so now we go behind that and we say, well, let me put
Speaker:in, like. Let me put in these. Let me put in these kind of
Speaker:slightly bigger things here.
Speaker:We'll take that one out.
Speaker:Slightly bigger things here.
Speaker:We'll put him back in there. Okay. Slightly bigger things,
Speaker:okay. And then all of those small things, we
Speaker:put those in. And isn't it interesting
Speaker:that when our priorities are in line and the big things go
Speaker:in first and we pay attention to those bigger boulders,
Speaker:everything fits. Everything fits.
Speaker:Same amount of stuff, but everything has a place.
Speaker:And wouldn't you know that when you get this at the beginning of
Speaker:the year and you achieve a lifestyle that mimics this
Speaker:right here,
Speaker:We take that and we go,
Speaker:Look at me. Aren't you proud of me? I fit
Speaker:all of the things in my jar. I can do
Speaker:all of these things because they're in proper order. Aren't I so
Speaker:good? Isn't this great? It's all
Speaker:priority. And then God says,
Speaker:but what about the unexpected?
Speaker:Some of you have red balls around you. Would you hold those up in the
Speaker:air for me if you got them? Hold them up high. Look
Speaker:around at any moment, this many unexpected
Speaker:things could happen in a day's time.
Speaker:God, I don't have room in my organized,
Speaker:packed, wonderfully organized
Speaker:life to fit any unexpected things. And God
Speaker:is saying, well, here's the problem, Kevin. You don't need me in this. You
Speaker:need me in this. And so I'm willing to let this come
Speaker:about because this is where you're gonna find me. Not in here.
Speaker:And I go, God, what do you mean?
Speaker:All my life I've just learned that you've got to put the priorities first.
Speaker:You got to put them in order. God, this is. Isn't this what
Speaker:you want from me? Like, this is all these are desires of my heart and
Speaker:all this stuff? And he says, yes, there's nothing. Listen to me. There's not
Speaker:necessarily anything wrong with what's inside here.
Speaker:But he says to me, kevin, I don't want you to wake up every day
Speaker:like this.
Speaker:I want you to wake up every day like this.
Speaker:And when you wake up every day like this, then you give
Speaker:me the opportunity to reach into your stuff and say, I want you to
Speaker:do this today. I want you to do this today.
Speaker:And when that unexpected thing comes, look at all the capacity you
Speaker:have. Because your life was spent
Speaker:making me the priority, says the Lord. Not
Speaker:your desires, not the big boulders, not all those things. Listen,
Speaker:what happens is we get really busy. We get really, really busy.
Speaker:And then we say, I'm so busy, I'm gonna start creating boundaries.
Speaker:Let me tell you something about boundaries. The Lord has not called you to
Speaker:put boundaries in your life. He's called you to obedience. And when you
Speaker:obey, the boundaries will fall where they're supposed to be.
Speaker:Obedience is the call. Listening to the Holy Spirit,
Speaker:that's the call. Putting boundaries, fashioning them for yourself because
Speaker:it feels good and it makes sense in your life is only another way for
Speaker:you to exert control in your life. Obedience
Speaker:is key. And so I'm looking at all of this as we're
Speaker:getting into the abide series, and I'm saying, God, what about it?
Speaker:How do I. What do I do? God? Because we are creatures of doers.
Speaker:We don't like being. And God says, I
Speaker:actually have something for you to do.
Speaker:I want you to repent.
Speaker:I want you to change the way you think
Speaker:about your time and your calendar.
Speaker:And then, and only then, will we begin to get to a place
Speaker:where you will actually hear my voice clearly
Speaker:and do what I'm asking you to do on any given
Speaker:day. Guys, we do the same thing with our finances. Barbie was up here talking
Speaker:about the tithe we get in this place. There are several of you who have
Speaker:been faithful tithers for years, and God's taken care of. But this is what
Speaker:you do. 10% check. 90% is just
Speaker:as packed as that jar was. And then what happens?
Speaker:I want you to give $1,000 to that person. Well, God, that
Speaker:doesn't fit in my budget. That doesn't fit in. What I. That doesn't fit in.
Speaker:There's no margin for God to move.
Speaker:Stop taking what he's given you and packing it
Speaker:out and walking away from the one who gave it to you.
Speaker:The very first thing he wants you to do when he gives you something is
Speaker:give it back to him. Because it says, God, thank you
Speaker:for what you've given me, but I trust you more with it than I
Speaker:trust myself. Repentance,
Speaker:changing the way that you think. Girls, come on out here.
Speaker:These are my daughters. I want you guys to stand right
Speaker:here, and I want you to actually face me. Okay? I just
Speaker:need to talk to you for just a second, okay? Don't worry about them. They'll
Speaker:Talk amongst themselves. Listen,
Speaker:I love you, Ruby. I love you, Nora. I love you,
Speaker:Lucy. I love you.
Speaker:And I want to ask you to forgive me this morning
Speaker:because I have not been always a present. Dad.
Speaker:I have oftentimes chosen the people that are
Speaker:sitting behind you before. I've chosen you not because the Holy
Speaker:Spirit's told me to, but because I felt some type
Speaker:of way that I've got to lean in and make sure that they know that
Speaker:I'm here for them. And I have sacrificed my time with you.
Speaker:And I want you to know that there are a million people that God could
Speaker:raise up to be a pastor of this church, but there's only one
Speaker:daddy in this universe that can be the dad to you.
Speaker:I'm tired of my cell phone coming between us. I'm
Speaker:tired of my calendar coming between us. And I know that
Speaker:from this point, I'm gonna mess up because I'm not perfect. But,
Speaker:Ruby, you know how many times in the last week you said you wanted cuddles
Speaker:from me? I love cuddling with you. I love seeing
Speaker:your laughter. I love seeing you grow in the. The Lord,
Speaker:you are a priority in my life. And the Holy Spirit
Speaker:has given you as gifts to me. And so I repent to you.
Speaker:And I ask you to forgive me as your dad
Speaker:for not being the dad I'm supposed to be. And if you will
Speaker:help me on this journey. I want to be present for everything.
Speaker:I want to spend more time together. I want to laugh together. I want to
Speaker:love together. And I know that if I walk in obedience to him,
Speaker:him in this, everything else is going to fall in place like it's supposed to.
Speaker:I love you this morning. Will you forgive me, Hadassah?
Speaker:Will you forgive me, Lucy? Will you forgive me? Will you forgive me?
Speaker:I love you, girl, so much.
Speaker:Okay, now give me kisses. I got a. Bless the people.
Speaker:I love you.
Speaker:Repentance leads to life.
Speaker:Changing the way you think leads to an abundant
Speaker:form of life that you have never experienced.
Speaker:And so this morning, the invitation. The
Speaker:invitation is to surrender your time
Speaker:to him, to allow him to align everything. And
Speaker:it's not a surrender on January 4th that you just walk away
Speaker:from, but it's a surrender to say, God, on January 5,
Speaker:I need to surrender on January 6, I need to surrender on January
Speaker:7, and so on and so on. The call that this morning
Speaker:is to say, I'm done being in control.
Speaker:And I need you, God, your grace, in my life
Speaker:to begin this journey of hearing your Holy Spirit.
Speaker:And, guys, if we will make that commitment to him, I promise you,
Speaker:he will start to take things out of the drawers we didn't even know were
Speaker:there, all of this stuff. And we will begin to clean up things
Speaker:that need to be cleaned up. Would you stand with me
Speaker:this morning, with those who are going to minister this morning and
Speaker:pray with people, Would you come?
Speaker:Living a life for the Lord is no joke.
Speaker:Committing yourself to the Lord Jesus Christ is the best thing that you will
Speaker:ever do in your life. And so if you're here this morning and you would
Speaker:say, I want to render control, I want to surrender control, I know we're going
Speaker:to need many more prayer warriors than this. If you're in leadership here, come on
Speaker:down. If you want to surrender this morning,
Speaker:take that step of faith. The God of the universe is here. Remember, we prayed
Speaker:and I said, lord, would you convict our hearts? He's here this morning,
Speaker:and all we have to do, it's not about going, you don't have to have
Speaker:the answer walking out the door. It's taking a step of faith that says is,
Speaker:it's me, God, I surrender to you. Come and pray with these
Speaker:brothers and sisters as we worship.
