I Love It Here

Why don't we respond to that offer right now? You need to give God something more right now. He's here to set free. He's here to move.

Where the spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. There is freedom. There is every good thing that you may need. Jesus, we yield our hearts to you right now.

We yield our spirits. We yield our minds to you, God. Have your way. Have your way, God.

Whatever it looks like. It may not look like we may want it to. It may look silly. It might be outside of our comfort zone, Lord, but we yield to you.

We want your spirit at work and alive in our life, God. We need it, Jesus. We want it, Lord. We want it, Lord.

We want it, Lord. That's all right. I know at least in American culture, sometimes we don't like the idea of submitting ourselves to something or someone. We don't want to step out of line or get too improper because we have an image to uphold.

I I get that. I understand that. I'm for for him in the right place in the right time. But when the Lord steps in and he offers something that we cannot get on our own, that is the time to say, "Lord, I don't care what it looks like right now.

I don't care if it seems out of line. I don't care if it might feel strange to me because it's outside of something I would normally do. God, I am just so desperate for the transformational power of your spirit." And so, God, I'll lift my voice. God, I I'll raise my hands, Lord.

I'll I'll I'll open up my heart to you. I'll I'll step out into an aisle. I'll do whatever I have to do to accept the offering that you have given us this morning. I I promise you, I know it might feel strange maybe especially for us Americans, but it is the best thing that we can do is submit ourselves, submit our ego, submit our will to the Lord and allow him to have his way in our life.

It will transform everything. It'll be worth letting go of whatever you're holding back right now. It'll be worth letting let letting yourself loose in worship and praise and prayer right now. It'll be worth all of that because as we give ourselves to him, he will step in and he will give himself to us and it'll change everything.

It'll change everything. I'm thankful to be in a place where the spirit of God is welcome. He's not shy here, is he? I think that's because we've made him feel welcome.

As we continue to do that, he will continue to step in more and more and more. As we continue to give him more of ourselves, we're going to have greater access to what he's trying to He's already unlimited. He's already full. And really, you can have it.

The day you receive the Holy Ghost, what really holds us back is we've got to give him more of us. And as soon as we do that, we get that greater access to the presence and power and refuge of the spirit of God. It's here today. It's here today.

Y'all, I I really do wish I I wish that I didn't have to say a word. I wish I didn't have to preach. I wish I didn't have to convince. I wish it's the way the Lord has set it up and I'm submitted to him.

But I wish that the Lord would just show up and we all just loved it and we opened ourselves up to it and we allowed him to do whatever he wanted to do in this place. It would save us a lot of time. You wouldn't have to hear me for about half an hour. The Lord could just do his work.

I wish that's where we were. And I and I know the Lord has chosen the foolishness of preaching. Lord has chosen his word. Amen.

And we're going to do it. We're going to hear the word of God. But I I promise you that that boundary the Lord has just told us about an open heart. An open heart.

I promise you, you're going to see levels to this thing. Soon as you open yourself up more, you're going to be like, "Oh, there's more of him." You're going to open yourself up more again. Oh, there's there's more of him. Oh, wait.

You you you healed cancer, but as we turn ourselves over, he can do more than that. He can do exceedingly above what we could even ask or or think. He He He can go beyond the greatest things that we could ever think he could do. He can do more than that.

The answer is yes. And if we open ourselves up to him, we're going to begin to see that. We're going to begin to see that more and more and more. Amen.

One of the ways that he does that is through his word. And I feel the anointing of the Lord. I feel the presence of the Lord here. And I believe that the word of God is powerful and transformative.

It gives us access to the voice of the God who created us and leads us in all righteousness and all wisdom and in every good thing. So, we're going to turn to the word of the Lord. I I want to read an opening text here and then I I'll pray and you can be seated in just a moment, but stay with me, okay? Paul writes in Ephesians 2:19-22.

This is the New King James Version. It's close, brother Mlan. Paul says, "Now therefore, now now therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but instead you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone, and whom the whole building being fitted together it grows into a holy temple in the Lord in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the spirit. Yes, this passage is talking about the inclusion of Gentiles and the people of God.

And thank God for that because I'm not Jewish. I'm thankful that I get to be a part of this. But I want you to understand what Paul is talking about. He's saying Jew and Gentile alike are a part of this thing right here.

And it's called a dwelling place of God in the spirit. If I could just cut to the chase, the greatest thing about being a part of the church is that God is here and that he's alive and he's moving and he's working and he transforms lives and he heals and he restores. He does heal cancer. He does relieve us from mental distress.

He does all of those things. If I could just cut to a summary of what I'm trying to say today, there is a richness in living for God because he is here. I don't want to be any other place. I don't want to be where God is not.

I want to be where God is. I want to be where God's presence is. I want to be where God's power is. I want to be where God's love is.

I want to be where God's deliverance is. I want to be where the spirit of almighty God is. I don't want to be anywhere else. I I don't want to go anywhere else.

I want to be right here. I want to be in his presence. I was glad when they said unto me, "Let us go unto the house of the Lord." Why? Because God is there.

God is there. God is here. So, I want to preach a simple title to you. There's a little bit of a subtitle that will become clear as we go on, but here's my title.

It's simple but profound. I love it here. I love it here. I love it in the kingdom of God.

I love it in the church. I I I love it in the presence of God. I love it here. And here's the subtitle that's implied.

Here's what I'm really after today. And you will, too. I just feel the call of the presence of God right now. I love it here.

And there are people in this room that love it here. But I promise you step into here again and you draw on that strength again in the presence of the Lord. I promise you will too. You're going to love it here.

And so I want to talk about why I love it here and why you're going to love it too. Amen. Will you help me? This sort of response, this sort of message requires a response of faith.

It requires an open heart and a sensitive spirit to say, "Lord, I receive your word in faith. I want it to change and challenge and grow and lead me." So can we pray to that end right now? Ask that the Lord would help us. Jesus, your word is true.

Your word is wisdom. It is a sure foundation. God, I pray that it would lead us this morning. I pray that it would lead us and guide us into truth in every path of righteousness.

I pray it would convict us of sin. I pray that it would call to holiness. I pray, Lord, that it would heal. I pray, Lord, that it would show your love.

I pray, Lord, that it would usher in everybody in this room into your kingdom, into your presence, into a life of the spirit. God, we need your help to do that. We can't do that. that mere words can't do that Lord, but your spirit, your power, it can do that, Lord.

So, we trust in you and we ask for your help in the name of Jesus. And if you're going to be with me, say, "Amen." Amen. You can be seated. I want to tell you a story here at the introduction about a man named Thon Tran.

Thon Tran was just a child when his family fled Vietnam after the fall of Saigon in 1975. They were fearing persecution from the incoming communist regime. And so they escaped on a crowded boat with dozens of others. After enduring pirates and storms and weeks at sea with little food, they were rescued and they were taken to a refugee camp in the Philippines.

Eventually though, they were granted asylum in the United States. Thawn arrived in California at the age of nine. He didn't speak any English at the time. His father worked as a janitor and his mother worked as a seamstress in a factory.

They had very little, but they believed in the opportunity and the safety and refuge that America offered. This is what they would say. They would say, "Here, our children have a future." Now, Than took those words seriously. He learned English by reading comic books and watching TV.

He excelled in school. He graduated at the top of his class, earned a scholarship to Stanford, and even completed his MBA at Harvard. Eventually, Thawn founded a tech company in Silicon Valley that now employs over 200 people. He also volunteers with nonprofits that support refugees and lowincome youth.

When Thawn was asked, "Why do you love America?" he said, "This is a country where the son of a janitor and a seamstress who arrived with nothing can become a CEO. I love America not because it's perfect, but because it gives people the freedom to strive, to fail, and to rise again. And while I I definitely appreciate Thawn's comments about America, I'm thankful for America. I love the blessing of freedom that America is.

I believe that the Lord uses the freedom of America to establish his will and the kingdom and his kingdom in the world. I I believe all of that, but I also believe more so in the church. church and I believe that there is a spiritual component and correlation to what Thawn is saying because I believe that the church, the kingdom of God, this life in the spirit that we get to enjoy. It is a place of spiritual opportunity and it is a place of spiritual refuge.

You may come from a broken land. You may come from a bad situation. You may come from a life that is far from ideal and everything is falling apart. But when you step onto the shores of the kingdom of God, when you step into the church, when you step into a life of the spirit, you enter a whole new opportunity zone where there is safety from the storms of life, there is refuge from the sin that is in the world, and there is an opportunity to strive for a relationship with Jesus.

And if you'll do that, if you'll answer that invitation to strive for that relationship, everything, and I mean everything can change. Everything can be made different. This is the place where drug addicts are finally made free. This is the place where broken marriages are put back together.

This is the place where the wounded in spirit and the brokenhearted can come and find hope and healing and restoration and revival. This is the place where sinners can come beat down by their own decisions and their own choices and find miraculous forgiveness and salvation and renewal in their life. they can be justified and sanctified and put back into right relationship with Jesus. This is the place where all of that happens.

Y'all, I love it here. I love it here. I love I love that this is the place where my family found God. If you know their story, I've told it before.

There were drugs. There was a broken marriage. There was all sorts of mess. But they got a hold of Jesus one day and it changed everything.

They had 11 kids. One of which is standing here today trying to tell you that he loves it here and that you will too. I love that God can transform a life. I love I love that we can come in from a busy week, busted and disgusted and worn down by life, our job, family, career, whatever.

We can come in here worn down, carrying the baggage of life, but then we begin to play and sing unto the Lord. And we begin to talk about how he's the King of Kings. We begin to talk about and sing about how he's worthy of praise even despite our situation. We begin to exalt him.

We begin to praise him. And all of a sudden, all that stuff, and it's real stuff, all that stuff begins to melt away as we realize the strength and power and help of the Lord that is made available when we call on him. Y'all, I love it here. I love that even though we live in a world that seems bent on confusing every mind and heart that it can.

I love that we live in that kind of the world, but I can come here and I can hear the true and enduring word of God and it has set me on the right path and it'll put a solid foundation under my feet and I don't have to be confused. I don't have to wonder. I don't have to be afraid. I can be sure because the truth of God's word is preached here.

I love it here. I love the fellowship of the people of God. I love that I can love you and you can love me. I love that I can take care of you and you can take care of me.

I love that I don't have to cry alone. I love that I don't have to rejoice alone. I love that I don't have to go through life alone. We've got the Fellowship of the Saints here, y'all.

I love it here. I love it here. I love it here. I love it here.

And I believe you will, too, if you don't already. Let's talk about here. How do we get here? It's a great starting question.

Paul tells us in Ephesians 2, read verse one and then skip down to four and five. He says, "As for you," and that's second person plural in the Greek, that's y'all. Says, "As for y'all, got Come on now." Amen. As for y'all, y'all were dead and your transgressions and sins.

Y'all were dead. Sometimes we got to remember that to understand how good we have it now. As for y'all, y'all were dead in your transgressions and sins. But because of his great love for us, no other reason but because of his great love for us, God who is rich in mercy, he made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions.

And I love it. Adds this little summary statement just to make sure we get it. You got to understand Paul says it is by sheer grace that you have been saved. Well, what are you telling me?

I didn't earn my win. That's exactly what I'm telling you. Are you telling me that that I don't deserve to be here, but God gives grace and mercy anyway? That's exactly what I'm telling you.

Are you telling me that I was unlovable? That I don't deserve the love of God, but he loves me anyway, both now and into eternity. That's exactly what I'm telling you. You're telling me that even though I have no merit of my own, I am loved.

I am accepted. I am sought after. I am chased down by the love of God and ushered into this new life called the kingdom of God. Yes, that is exactly what I am telling you y'all.

None of us deserve to be here, but we are all welcome here. I wish somebody'd get excited to get about that. None of us deserve to be here. We didn't earn our way here.

We didn't earn our way into the goodness of God. But we are welcome here. Why? Because God who is rich in mercy, who loved us so much, made a way for us to be here.

We didn't have a ticket. We were his plus one. We didn't have a way in. He ushered us in.

We don't belong here, but we get to be here. Y'all, I love that. I love that. You want to know why?

Because I don't have to front or fake about where I've come from. Y'all, I don't come from pedigree. And I love pedigree. I hope I've got six generations after me who are apostolic.

I I want that. That's generational covet keeping me. That's good. But I love that you don't have to come from that to be here.

I love that you don't have to lie about where you came from to be here, y'all. I love that you don't have to be buttoned up and pretty and have it all together to be here. Y'all, you can't earn your way in in the first place. You don't deserve this.

The only reason you are here is because of the love, the grace, and the mercy of Jesus Christ. It's because he looked down in your hot mess and said, "I love them so much that I'm going to make a way. I love them so much that I'm going to allow them to be here. I love them so much that I'm going to open the door and say, "Come on in.

Enjoy the blessing and the favor of God." Y'all, I'm just excited about that this morning. I don't deserve peace, but I've got it. I don't deserve love, but I've got it. I don't deserve favor, but I got it.

I don't deserve the goodness of God, but I've got it. Why? Not because of anything I've done, but because Jesus Christ made a way for me to experience it, y'all. I love it here.

I don't deserve to be here, but because I am, I love it all the more. I love it here. I love it here. Y'all got me worked up this morning.

I love it here. It's the best place to be. It's the best thing going. You know what I love also?

I love that even though Jesus got us here, he didn't just drop us off at the door and say good luck. Y'all ever showed up to something that was supposed to be dressy and you're wearing like jeans? Pastor Brad sets me up to fail all the time. He's like, "Yeah, come as you are.

People are in tuxedos. I'm like, what is happening? Right? He may have got me there, but he didn't set me up for success.

I love that Jesus, not only does he get us here, but he sets us up for success. Let me prove it to you. Ephesians 2:20 tells us that our foundation is built on the apostles and prophets. It's built on the apostles and prophets with Jesus Christ as the chief cornerstone, the one that lines it all up, gets it straight for us.

the foundations, the foundation laid by the apostles and prophets and Jesus, they serve as our firm foundation. Y'all, I I was raised a certain way. And if you do this, that's fine. I wish I could just stand on this real quick.

I won't do it. Just, you know, again, personal preference, but imagine that I You can stand on this thing. And while the rest of the world is sinking sand and falling apart and everything's going crazy, you can have a sure foundation. This I I love this.

This is it can be a firm foundation. It can be a light in an otherwise dark world. Psalm 119 105 it says your word is a lamp for my feet and it's a light on my path. While the whole world is blind, we can see because we've got the truth of God's word.

Paul talking to Timothy, young man in the ministry, young man serving the Lord. He says in 2 Timothy 3:16-17, he says, "All scripture, it's inspired by God. God himself inspired. It says what he wanted it to say.

It's inspired by God and it's useful to teach us what is true. Thank God. It's useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It can point out what's wrong in our lives.

It corrects us. It doesn't just point it out and say, "Shame on you." It corrects us when we are wrong. And it teaches us to do what is right. And God uses it.

God uses the scriptures to prepare and equip his people to do every good work. Y'all, we've got it. We don't have to be confused. We don't have to wonder what is good, right, and beautiful.

We've got it right here and right now. You just got to open up the pages and say, "Lord, please teach me. Please use this to equip me. Please use this to lead me in the paths of righteousness, and he will and it will." Psalm 197 through11, just some summary statements.

The psalmist says, "The law of the Lord, it is perfect. The law of the Lord, it refreshes the soul. the law of the Lord. It's more precious than gold.

Before you go after a career and make a bunch of money, make sure you know this word. Before you pick up a bunch of hobbies and get real good at that and get all knowledgeable about that, more precious than gold, make sure that you know the scriptures and you know the word. It's your road map. It's your lifeline.

The the word of God, it's sweeter than honey. And and keeping them and keeping the laws of the Lord and keeping scripture, there is great reward. There is great reward in that, y'all. the the word of God, it it doesn't just inform.

It's not meant to just give us some head knowledge. It's not just meant to tell us some cool things about God or give us some cool proof texts. No, the word of God is meant to equip us. The word of God is meant to transform us.

The word of God is meant to usher us into a relationship with God. The word of God is meant to keep us grounded. It's meant to keep us wise. It's meant to keep us joyful.

It's meant to give us everything we need to live in this Christian life successfully. here. He hear me somebody that might be struggling and you're wondering which way is up and you don't really know what to do or how you're going to move forward and you're trying to figure it all out. The word of God, it gives us the resources that we would otherwise lack.

It gives us the wisdom. It gives us the understanding. It gives us the resources that we would otherwise lack. That we would otherwise not have.

In fact, we're told by scripture itself not to trust in our own ways. Says, "Hey, don't even trust yourself. Don't don't even do this. This is Proverbs 35-6.

It says, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding, but instead in all your ways submit to him or acknowledge the Lord and he will make your paths straight." Well, hold on. Wh Why can't I trust myself? I feel like I'm pretty intelligent. I'm pretty educated.

I've got some stuff going for me. I I feel like I can maybe work this out. Why do I Why do I have to do it the Lord's way? Why Why can't I figure it out my own way?

Well, Proverbs 14:12 tells us there is a way that appears to be right. By every measure, by every metric of our own thinking and our own planning, there is a way that appears to be right, but in the end, it leads to death. Well, how could that be? I'm intelligent.

I'm smart. I thought I figured this out. Well, the prophet Jeremiah tells us. He says, "It's because the heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure." This heart of ours will try to convince you that what you're doing is right.

It will try to convince you that those feelings you have about a certain situation is the good path that you should take. It'll try to convince you that all the plans you have for your life are the way that you should take. And it's going to feel really good. It's going to feel really good all the way to destruction.

It's going to feel really good possibly even all the way to hell. He says it's beyond cure. Who can understand it? But thanks be to God that that is not where we are left and that's not where the story ends.

Because Hebrews 4:12 tells us that the word of God is alive and it's active. It's sharper than any double-edged sword. And it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit. Joel, it judges the thoughts and the attitudes of the heart.

What does that mean? It means as you begin to map out your life and you're trying to find solid footing for your life to stand on, you start making plans. That's great. God can't, you know, he can't steer a parked car.

Start moving. Start doing something. But then you turn to the word of God and you say, "All right, Lord. I've got plans, but I'm going to study your word and I'm going to see what you have to say about this.

And all of a sudden, what felt so good as you begin to read the word of God, you're like, "Oh, okay. Hold on. I see there's a little bit of pride in my plans right now, and that's going to lead to destruction." Well, hold on. There's a little bit of foolish thinking right here, and that's going to lead to destruction.

Well, hold on. There's actually a little bit of sin in my plans right here, and so I I I can't trust the plans that I made, but I can trust the word of God. And it's going to take some faith because you're not always going to have the feels when it comes to following the word of God. You're just going to have to have faith and decide, Jesus, I trust your way.

But here's what the scripture says about the one who trusts the word of God over themselves. In Psalm 1, it says, "Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of the mockers, but blessed is the one whose delight is in the law of the Lord and who meditates on his law both day and night." That person, the person that loves the scriptures, the person that meditates on them. They're going to be like a tree that is planted by streams of water. They're going to be a well-watered tree.

And because they're well watered, they're going to bear their fruit in every season. The leaf is not going to wither. And whatever they do, they are going to prosper. Whatever they do, they are going to prosper if they just trust the word of God.

Y'all, I feel like it slowed down a little bit in here, and I'm just not standing for that. Okay? I believe that if you trust the word of God, your life will be radically better than it is if you don't. I I believe that sometimes it's harder.

Sometimes it doesn't feel right. Sometimes you got to crucify this flesh and you got to tell yourself no. But I promise you, you begin to follow the word of God, your life will improve tenfold, hundfold, whatever. Your life will be better because of the word of God.

Especially in moments where you don't have the answers. Especially in moments when you're genuinely confused about where you should go in your life. Here's what Psalm 119:14 says. Says, "You are my refuge and my shield.

I have put my hope in your word. I have put my hope in your word. I have staked everything on the truth of your word, God. I have put my entire existence.

I have put my entire life. I put all my money. I put all my talent. I put my family.

I put my friends. I put it all and staked it to your word and the belief that it is true and the belief that it will lead me well and the belief that it is wise and wisdom for every human heart. that will receive it. And I can testify today that the word of God works.

The word of God works. Y'all, I've got a great marriage. My wife is beautiful. Nobody say amen unless you're a woman.

My wife is beautiful. I've got a great family right now. I've got a son named Lincoln who was trying to kill my wife a second ago. Now they're out there probably wrestling.

I've got a great family, great marriage. You want to know why? It's not because I followed this thing. It's because the scriptures told me, "Husbands, you love your wife like Christ loved the church, willing to tie.

Give up your preference. Give up everything that you think is right. And you serve her and you love her and you submit to her and you love her in a way that Christ loved the church and you present her that makes salvation easy for her. Make loving the Lord and loving the kingdom easy for her." I love that it says, "Husbands, you need to treat your wife with respect.

You you need to treat your wife the the King James said like the weaker vessel meaning taking care and compassion and providing for her and walking with her and making sure she's okay. Yeah, that's why that's why I have a good marriage and trust and follow some of the stuff too. Wives, there are things about husbands and wives both you both are covered. The reason I I think I'm an all right dad and I love being a dad is because I heard the scripture and I read it.

Fathers don't provoke your children to wrath. and said, "You should bring them up in the teaching and admonition of the Lord. Train them to be like Jesus." And do you know what's cool about that? When I started doing that, I said, "All right, Lincoln, you're going to be like Jesus." Do you know what I had to be?

I had to be like Jesus. And so, all of a sudden, parenting became a sanctifying process as I followed and trusted the word of God. And God began to transform me. He began to transform my marriage.

He began to transform our parenting. And there is s y'all hear me. There is safety. There is beauty.

There is good when we follow the word of God. Amen. So, I love the word of God. But here's another cool part.

Here's why I love it here and why you're going to love it here, too. We also have the spirit of God. Scripture calls it our helper, our common advocate. Ephesians 2:21-22, it says tell it tells us what we are being built together into.

Says we, the church, we're being built together into a dwelling place of God. in the spirit. That means when you become part of the church, you experience salvation. You're filled with the Holy Ghost.

You as an individual, you become a dwelling place for God. He lives on the inside of you. And then as we gather here together as a body of Christ or wherever the body of Christ would gather overseas, down the road, whatever, God is there. God is present.

Paul talking to Timothy again, he's trying to help him understand. He's going through a hard time. Some things are difficult. He says, "Timothy, I need you to understand some stuff, man." He says, "The spirit that God gave us.

It's not a spirit of fear. The spirit that God gave us, it's not meant to make us afraid or timid." No. The spirit that God has given us, it's meant to give us power to overcome to face the world with square shoulders and make it and be okay. The spirit of God is meant to give us love.

It's supposed to root out all that bitterness and hatred and anger and whatever else you might have cooped up in your heart. It's meant to get rid of all that stuff. It's meant to help us abound in love both for ourselves, for God, for others. It's meant to abound in us.

Says the spirit of God also gives us self-discipline. In other words, it it helps cure our laziness or lethy. Or maybe maybe we have apathy towards the world because of wounds or hurts that we have. Well, the spirit of God can get rid of all that and it can give us self-discipline.

If I could just summarize what the Apostle Paul is trying to tell this young man is that when you got the spirit of God in your life, you have everything you need to overcome. You have everything that you need to make it through this life. You have everything that you need to face any and every problem that you would go through on this side of heaven. Now, how could Paul say something like that just so emphatically?

He's like, "Paul, listen. Quit being a baby. The spirit of God has got you. It's got everything you need.

You need to trust in the Lord." Why? Why could Paul be so upfront like that? Well, it's because the spirit that takes up residence in our life is the very real presence of God Almighty. It's the very real presence of the same God that spoke the world into existence.

It's the very same God that spoke the people of God into existence. It's the very same God that set the boundaries for the seas and the oceans. It's the very same God that created the sun, moon, and stars. That sort of God is taking up resonance in our life.

I just want to give you a cursory review of what the Bible says about the God that has taken up resonance in our life. Psalm 145:8 says that the Lord is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, and rich in love. that God in our lives. Isaiah 40:11, he tends his flock like a shepherd.

He cares for and he guides and leads. That kind of God, taking up residence in our life. Psalm 34:18, the Lord is close to the brokenhearted. The God that cares about those that are broken.

The God that cares about those that are wounded in life. He has taken up residence in your life. Isaiah 40:28 through31 says that he gives strength to the weary. That kind of God, the God that enjoys and delights in giving strength to those that are weary, giving strength to those that are struggling, that kind of God has taken up residence in your life.

Psalm 24:8 says that the Lord is strong and mighty. The Lord is mighty in battle. It is that kind of power. It is that kind of God that has taken up residence in your life.

Come on. This isn't a weak God. This isn't a weak spirit. This isn't a just barely get you by kind of presence.

This is an overcoming presence. That's why the scriptures say, "Greater is he that is in me than he that is in the world." We have everything that we need. That's why the writer of Hebrews, reflecting on the goodness and greatness of God, he says in Hebrews 13:6, "So we say with confidence. The Lord is my helper.

I will not be afraid." Why is it that the Christian can go through life and face storm and face trial and face heartache and be okay, not unscathed? We're going to have a hard time. We got to fight some battles. But do you want to know why we can make it?

It's because that kind of God has taken up residence in our lives. And so we can say with what? With com. Come on y'all.

We can say with what? With confidence, the Lord is my helper. Come on, Brett. Come on, Brett.

His mom diagnosed with cancer. The first thing he did, you okay with this? First thing he did is he sent me a 15 minutee long voice memo telling me about how much he trusts God. Told me how good God was and how he was going to rely on his word and the truth of his word.

He's going to rely on the spirit of God and he's just going to walk with the Lord and we're just going to see what happens. We're going to trust him all the way through. You want to know why this young man can do that? because he's got the spirit of almighty God living on the inside of him.

This isn't just stuff you read on the pages of a book. This is a lived real experience of the power of God and it can change everything. It can change everything. And we rejoice again that he trusted God and God delivered.

He trusted the Lord and the Lord healed cancer. He looked cancer in the face and say, "The Lord is my helper. I will not fear." Was it hard? Did he have rough days?

Absolutely. But because the spirit of God was in his life, he could stand up every day and say, "We're going to make it. We're going to be okay. We're going to be all right.

It's going to work out." Because the power of God was present in his life. Y'all just hear me. The power of God is here. It's in the church.

It's in the kingdom of God. It's in every life. And the greatest reason why I love it here is because he is here. The greatest reason I love it here is because no matter what comes in this life, I know that he is right here beside me.

I know that he is leading the way. I know that he has me camped around me. I know that I'm in his hand. He is here.

He is here. He is here. Y'all, what I'm trying to say is that there is a richness. There is a safety.

There is a refuge here. Somebody hear that again. There is a refuge here from beginning to end. There's a richness.

We got here not by our own merit, but because Jesus made a way. We don't we don't belong here, but we're here. We got brought in by him. We're led by him when we get here, y'all.

We don't have to figure this out on our own. We've got the word of God and we've got the spirit of God. We just got to tap into him. So, we get in by him.

We're led by him and then we are sheltered and sustained by him. I just want to ask, has anybody ever just been through it and you found a moment in prayer? You found a moment in an altar. Maybe you're saved already.

You're reading the word doing all this stuff, but you're just Christians go through it. You said, "Lord, I just need your help again." And he in all his mercy, his grace, his faithfulness, his goodness, he stepped in and rescued you. Can you just raise your hand if that has been Raise it high with confidence. The Lord has ever stepped in and helped you, y'all.

There is a richness. There is a refuge that is made available here. And I love it here, y'all. I love it here.

I don't want to be anywhere else. I don't want to go anywhere else. In fact, there's no better place that you could go. I love it here.

But to truly understand what I'm talking about, to truly get at the goodness and the richness and the refuge that a life with God is, you can't just listen to me get excited and scream and I'll get excited and scream about the goodness of God any chance you give me because I love it here. You can't just listen to me. You've got to experience it yourself. Or to use biblical language, you've got to taste it.

Psalmist even tells us, he gets so bold about the goodness of God, he says, "You know what? I'm tired of trying to convince you. Why don't you just taste and see that the Lord is good? Why don't you find out for yourself that blesses the one who takes refuge in him?

Why don't you just figure it out for yourself? The invitation is open. Why don't you just try him and and see how it works?" Here's the truth. Each of us are born into a world that is full of chaos.

We're born into a world that has been broken by sin. The original sin of Adam and Eve in the garden all the way down to the sin some of us committed this week. The world has been broken by sin. And because the world has been broken by sin and people commit sins, tragedies happen, traumas happen, people struggle in this world and this life and Christians are not exempt.

Y'all, none of us get out of this life alive. None of us get out unscathed. We all will have wounds. We all will have battle scars.

We're all going to have troubles in this life. That's the reality. You know what's cool about the kingdom of God and why I love it? The kingdom of God is the only place where you can forever take refuge from the storms of life.

I I understand that life may have wounded you when you were just a young teenager. I understand that maybe some things were done to you no fault of your own. The storms of this life hit you hard and now you're wondering who you are in a world and you're wondering if the world can be trusted. You're wondering if you're lovable or you can love somebody.

I I understand this sickness has struck this congregation and now we're questioning all sorts of things. We're have to wonder and figure things out. I I know all that. I understand storms and chaos are real, but hear me.

It's also true that the kingdom of God is the only place where you can reliably and forever take refuge. Do you get out unscathed? No. But can you be kept safe on this side of heaven?

Oh yeah. Can you find healing and refuge? Can you find a place where God can restore you? Can you find a place where God can teach you that you're lovable again?

Can you find a place where God can teach you that your sins are not determining your future anymore, but his goodness is. Can you find a place of refuge where that happens? Absolutely you can. I love the psalmist says in Psalm 91, you can tell I love the Psalms today because I like to sing about the goodness of God.

Psalmist says, "Whoever dwells in the shelter of the most high, whoever does that will rest in the shadow of the almighty." Now, how does that happen? Verse four tells us, "It's because he will cover you." It's because he will cover you with his feathers and under his wings, you will find what? You will find refuge. Well, I don't know what you walked in with today.

I don't know if you walked in with heartache. I don't know if you walked in with shame or fear. Maybe life has made you hopeless. You don't think you you get up and the sun's out, but you don't really see it.

It seems dark all around you. You got a lot of stuff going on in your mind. You're struggling. Maybe you walked in with confusion.

Maybe you walked in with sin. You know that you're the one that made the mistake and you need forgiveness. I I don't know what you walked in with today, but somebody hear me. You can take refuge today.

Y'all, you'll just have to forgive me. I'm I'm going to try to make this appeal as quickly as I can. But you can take refuge today. You want to know how I know that?

Because some young teenagers who didn't have answers took refuge because a young man who had struggles of his own came in from the rain and found refuge. It's because I know story after story where life was broken and it seemed impossible that God put could put it back together, but they called out to the Lord and they found refuge. Somebody hear me. I know that the clouds are above your head.

I know that the rain is pouring down. I know you see the lightning and you hear the thunder. I I know the waves are above you. I I know it seems like the boat of your life is going to go under.

I I know it seems impossible. I I know you might be thinking, "Well, I've taken refuge so many times and I messed it up again. I don't think I could find shelter in the Lord again. I I know maybe those thoughts are going through your head, but I'm here to tell you none of those things are true.

None of those things are the reality. You can find safety today. You can find refuge today. You can experience what we're talking about today and you can have the same encounter that we had.

And you'll be saying, "Man, I love it here. I I was out in the rain. I I I was out in the storm and things were crazy, but I I called on the Lord one day and now I'm here and and I love it here. I love it here.

I love it here. Why? Because everything changes here. Why do you love it here?

Because your life can be made new and be made different here. Why do we love it here? Why are you going to love it here? Because that brokenness can be put back together here.

It can be transformed here. Be transformed here. Here's what I want to do. I believe in altter calls.

All right. Lord, I'm all alone. There is no one left. I believe in altar calls.

And here's why. There's nothing magical. It's beautiful painted well. There's nothing magical about this space up here.

Maybe you kneel at your chair. There's nothing magical about it. But when an altar call is, it's a catalyst moment. You say, "Lord, I've heard the truth of your word, and now I want to put my faith and mix my faith with it, and I'm going to do something with your word, and I'm going to cry out to you and say, God, please let your word take effect in my life." And when you do that, where the magic happens, if you will when the word of the Lord meets the faith of the church, all of a sudden, the spirit begins to break out.

But here's what I believe. Miracles are going to happen here. Families are going to be put back together here. Minds are going to be restored here.

Broken bodies are going to be healed here. Do you believe that with me? Would you stand with me? We're going to allow the Lord to do something.

We're going to allow him to move and work in ways that only he can. And remember, you don't earn it. He doesn't. It's all him.

So, here's what I want to ask. If you are comfortable and you want to cry out to the Lord for yourself or for someone else, I'm going to invite you. I'm going to be down here, too. I'm going to invite you.

Would you step out and just begin to make your way up to the front and say, "Lord, I want to take refuge here. I want to take refuge in your kingdom. I want to take refuge in your church." If you're not comfortable coming up here, that's all right. Why don't you just find a place right where you're at?

Maybe you need to kneel in your chair. Maybe you need to ask somebody to pray for you. But here's what I believe. I believe that we are just one altter call moment away for some of us from God radically changing and transforming something in our life.

And if we will just be willing on this Sunday morning at the end of a sermon to say, "God, I'm turning myself over to you." If we'll just be willing to do that right now, God will begin to work in your life, begin to move in your life, even if you've been saved for 50 years, but you need to take refuge in the kingdom of God right now. I invite you. Why don't you find a place and say, "Lord, I need you. Lord, I need you to show up.

I want a life. I want a life of grace and mercy. I want a life of your word. I want a life full of your spirit.

I need the transformative work of God in my heart and in my mind. Come on. If that's you, if that's what you desire, why don't you make your way? Find a place.

Find a place to seek the face of the Lord to entertain the presence of God. As you do this, as you do this, he's going to begin to work. You're going to feel him begin to speak to you. You're going to feel him to begin to work on your heart and speak to your mind.

Maybe he'll send somebody to you and they'll begin to pray for you and pray over you. Maybe they'll begin to speak through the spiritual gifts. will begin to speak the truth of God's voice into your life. It can happen a myriad of ways, but God wants to do it today.

Let's find a place. Jesus, we need you. We desire you. We want you.

We're after you, Lord. We're after you, Lord. I'd ra be no place I'd I'd ra be no place I'd I'd ra be no place I'd rather be I'd Here in your love, here in your love. Set a fire down in my soul that I can't contain, that I can't control.

I want more of you, God. Set a fire down in my soul that I can't contain, that I can't control. I want more of you, God. I want more of you, God.

No place I'd rather be than here in your love. Here in your love. No place I'd ra be. No place I'd ra be than here in your love.

Here in your love. No place I'd ra be. No place I'd ra be than here in your love. Here in your love.

No place I'd ra be. No place I'd ra be. Here in your love. Here in your love.

Set a fire down in my soul that I can't contain, that I can't control. I want more of you, God. Set a fire down in my soul that I can't contain, that I can't control. I want more of you, God.

Set a fire down in my soul that I can't contain, that I can't control. I want more of you, God. I want more of you, God. No place I'd ra be.

No place I'd ra be. Here in your love. Here in your love. No place I'd ra be.

No place I'd ra in my soul that I can't contain that I can't control. I want more of you, God. I want more of you, God. Set a fire down in my soul that I can't contain, that I can't control.

I want more of you, God. I want more of you, God. I want more of you, God. I want more of you, God.

I want four of you, God. No place I'd ra be. No place I'd ra be. No place I'd ra be than here in your love.

Here in your love. No place I'd ra be. No place I'd ra in your love. Here in your love.

Set a fire down in my soul that I can't contain, that I can't control. I want more of you, God. Set a fire down in my soul that I can't contain, that I can't control. I want more of you, God.

I want more of you, God. Set a fire down in my soul that I can't contain, that I can't control. I want more of you, God. I want more of you, God.

Set a fire down in my soul that I can't contain, that I can't control. I want more of you, God. I want more of you, God. Set a fire down in my soul that I can't contain, that I can't control.

I want more of you, God. I want more of you, God. No place I'd ra be. No place I'd ra be.

No place I'd ra be. No place I'd ra in your love. No place I'd ra too because in his presence is fullness of joy. and at his right hand are pleasures forever more.

And I like the way Isaiah wrote it in chapter 12 and verse three. He says, "Therefore, with joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation here in his presence where he is doing a saving work in each of our lives. in his spirit and in his word. We can draw with joy from his presence.

We can do that on any day of the week. So tomorrow and Tuesday and Wednesday, you can draw with joy from the wells the the neverending always plentiful wells of his presence. We can draw joy. Would you stand with me and would you thank the Lord that that is a neverending supply?

Lord, I thank you for the refuge that you are today. I thank you for your spirit and your presence that is at work today, but I'm thankful that it never ends. I'm thankful that we have found refuge in you today and we can do the same tomorrow and again on Tuesday and on throughout the week. I thank you that you are everlasting and never failing.

Lord, we love you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. I feel like today some have many if not all have drawn with joy from the presence of the Lord. through the word that's been preached, through the worship, through the interaction, the fellowship of the body of Christ.

He supplies to us what we need when we are in his presence. And I am so thank I love his presence. I love his presence and thankful for what God is doing.