FREEDOM

Heart broke blinds closed, didn't even once see the sun Like a refugee with nowhere to run Eyes in my mind held me hostage like a loaded gun Stelling me I had no one, was no one God I was too prideful to pick up that phone 3 a.m. I knew I needed help but man I didn't want anyone else to know I was losing it Somewhere between the deepest hell and low is low I heard a voice from overhead saying, "Son don't you dare let go" I looked up, I looked up From the bottom and I saw you He was all you, I looked up I looked up, from the bottom and I saw you He was all you I was at my lowest at night on obviously Trying to wrestle with all the pain and hell I was dealing with Punching holes, throwing blows, pitching fits, trying not to drown Wasn't feeling like I was good enough I knew I just could never keep this up Started sinking underneath from all this endless overthinking I could not forget, I came again Spinning 40 days in the wilderness Feeling like I messed with too bad, so bad I'd never get out of there Feeling funny, I had it come and at least expect the waves A roommate and reader looked over at me and said, "It's gonna be okay man" I looked up, I looked up From the bottom and I saw you He was all you, I looked up I looked up and from the bottom and I saw you

He was all you, I looked up He was all you, I looked up He was all you, I looked up He was all you, I looked up He was all you, I looked up Sunday morning I just kept circling the church My heart was beating out of my chest Couldn't make a sound or even say a word Tried to figure out my phone, called my wife, and tell her how I feel All my hands were heavy as two stones, tinted two, stuck on a steering wheel How do you worship when you're soul ain't got a song to sing? It's hard to remember, when you are, forget the melody Jesus, when all I had was your name on my lips That's when I sinned and so last to heaven And heaven broken to come and rescue me I looked up, I looked up From the bottom and I saw you He was all you, I looked up I looked up and from the bottom and I saw you He was all you, I looked up He was all you, I looked up Sometimes I got to look back at the man I was To remember just how far you've brought me How far I've come, all those little victories were I'm so glad you always see the best in me You always do the man that I could be From the moment I got down on my knees I looked up, all my hands Mmm, mmm, mmm, mmm, mmm (gentle music)

[BLANK_AUDIO] - Everybody stand, let's worship. (upbeat music) Clap your hands. ♪ I was buried beneath my shame ♪ ♪ Who could carry that kind of weight ♪ ♪ It was my truth ♪ ♪ 'Til I met you ♪ ♪ And I was breathing but not ♪ ♪ Her life ♪ ♪ All my fingers I tried to hide ♪ ♪ It was my truth ♪ ♪ 'Til I met you ♪ ♪ You called my name ♪ ♪ And I ran out of that strange ♪ ♪ Out of the darkness into your broken estate ♪ ♪ You called my name ♪ ♪ And I ran out of that grave ♪ ♪ Out of the darkness into your broken estate ♪ ♪ Now you first see that saved my soul ♪ (upbeat music) ♪ I've been free on this song ♪ ♪ And I know ♪ ♪ The old making new ♪ ♪ Jesus when I met you ♪ ♪ You called my name ♪ ♪ And I ran out of that grave ♪ ♪ Out of the darkness into your broken estate ♪ ♪ You called my name ♪ ♪ And I ran out of that grave ♪

♪ Out of the darkness into your broken estate ♪ (upbeat music) Give it up for the Lord. (upbeat music) ♪ I made a respite ♪ ♪ My soul was heavy ♪ ♪ I would change ♪ ♪ But everybody would know ♪ ♪ I wish it to ♪ ♪ I was in love ♪ ♪ But we can't believe this ♪ ♪ When I was broken ♪ ♪ You were my healing ♪ ♪ That your love is the end ♪ ♪ And I'm breathing ♪ ♪ I have a future ♪ ♪ My eyes are open ♪ ♪ Until you called my name ♪ ♪ And I ran out of that grave ♪ ♪ Out of the darkness into your broken estate ♪ ♪ You called my name ♪ ♪ And I ran out of that grave ♪ ♪ Out of the darkness into your broken estate ♪ (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music)

♪ It was my cross you fought ♪ ♪ So I could live in the freedom you died for ♪ ♪ And now my life is yours ♪ # Forevermore # # Worthy is your name # # Jesus # # You deserve the praise # # Worthy is your name # # Worthy is your name # # Jesus # # You deserve praise # # Worthy is your name # # Ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh # # Now my shape is gone # # I stand amazed # # In your lover # # Denyable # # The grace goes on and on # # And I will sing # # Of your goodness # # Forevermore # # Worthy is your name # # Jesus # # You deserve the praise # # Worthy is your name # # Worthy is your name # # Jesus # # You deserve the praise # # Worthy is your name # # Worthy is your name #

# Jesus # # You deserve the praise # # Worthy is your name # # Worthy is your name # # Jesus # # You deserve the praise # # Worthy is your name # # Worthy is your name # # Worthy is your name # # # We exalt it now in the heavens # # As your glory fills this place # # You will own to serve our praise # # For the name above all names # # We exalt it now in the heavens # # As your glory fills this place # # You will own to serve our praise # # You will name above all names # # We exalt it now in the heavens # # As your glory fills this place # # You will own to serve our praise # # For the name above all names # # We exalt it now in the heavens # # As your glory fills this place # # You will own to serve our praise # # You are the name above all names # # We exalt it now in the heavens # # As your glory fills this place # # You will own to serve our praise # # For the name above all names #

# We exalt it now in the heavens # # As your glory fills this place # # You will own to serve our praise # # You will name above all names # # You will own to serve our praise # # You will own to serve our praise # # You will own to serve our praise # # You will own to serve our praise # # You will own to serve our praise # # You will own to serve our praise # # You will own to serve our praise # # Jesus # # You will own to serve our praise # # You will own to serve our praise # # You will own to serve our praise # # Jesus # # You will own to serve our praise # # You will own to serve our praise # # You will own to serve our praise # # Jesus # ♪ You just left ♪ (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) ♪ All of the saints and angels ♪ ♪ They bow before your throne ♪

♪ And all the elders cast their crowns before the realm ♪ ♪ Of God and say you're worthy of it all ♪ ♪ You're worthy of it all ♪ ♪ For from you all thanks to your all thanks ♪ (upbeat music) ♪ All the saints and angels ♪ ♪ Bow before your throne ♪ ♪ And all the elders cast their crowns before the realm ♪ ♪ Of God and say you're worthy of it all ♪ ♪ You're worthy of it all as you are ♪ ♪ For from you all thanks to your all thanks ♪ ♪ You deserve the glory of your worthy ♪ ♪ You're worthy of it all ♪ ♪ You're worthy of it all everything ♪ ♪ For from you all thanks to your all thanks ♪ ♪ You deserve the glory ♪ ♪ All the glory, all the glory ♪ ♪ All of the glory, all of the glory ♪ ♪ All of the glory, all of the glory ♪ ♪ It's yours, it's yours ♪ ♪ Day and night, night and day, let it in since the rise ♪ ♪ Day and night, night and day, let it in since the rise ♪ ♪ Day and night, night and day, let it in since the rise ♪ ♪ Day and night, night and day, let it in since the rise ♪ ♪ Day and night, night and day, let it in since the rise ♪ ♪ Day and night, night and day, let it in since the rise ♪ ♪ Day and night, night and day, let it in since the rise ♪ ♪ Day and night, night and day ♪ ♪ 'Cause she is worthy of it all ♪ ♪ You're worthy of it all ♪

♪ For the fact that my heart is ♪ ♪ To your all things ♪ ♪ You deserve the glory, yeah ♪ ♪ You're worthy of it ♪ ♪ You're worthy of it all ♪ ♪ Everything I am ♪ ♪ You're worthy of it all ♪ ♪ So great you are ♪ ♪ For a fact that you are worthy ♪ ♪ To your all things ♪ ♪ You deserve the glory ♪ ♪ 'Cause he is worthy of it all ♪ (upbeat music) ♪ He is worthy of it all ♪ ♪ For the fact that my heart is ♪ ♪ To your all things ♪ ♪ He deserves the glory ♪ ♪ 'Cause he is worthy of it all ♪ (upbeat music) ♪ He is worthy of it all ♪ ♪ For from them all things ♪ ♪ And to them all things ♪ ♪ He deserves the glory ♪ (upbeat music) - Jesus, you deserve all of the glory in this room. You deserve all of the thanks for where we've come and what we've been through and who we were and who we are today. You deserve all of the thanks for the repairment that you've done in our families,

for the repairment that you've done in our homes, for the repairment that you've done in our lives, and for the things that maybe you haven't done, you still deserve all of the glory and all of the thanks in this room. Lord, let our worship be yours. Thank you for the people that are here today, because I know that a lot of them have had circumstances where they should have died and where they should have been somewhere else, but by the glory and the grace of God, they're here today and they were made new and I was made new. And God, we just thank you for the renewal and the grace that you've had on our hearts and Lord, we vow to permanently serve you for the rest of our lives, no matter what that looks like, no matter the sacrifice that's to come, Lord, you have our yes and you have our hearts and for the people that maybe haven't done that in this room tonight is the night that you will give him your full and entire yes and Lord, we love you and we thank you for the grace that you give us each and every single day. And God, I just pray that you would equip us more and more and more as we choose to follow you. And Jesus, we thank you for the time that we have in this room, for the gift that we have to worship you and for to never take that for granted, to just say thank you and to choose to sit in your presence

and give it our all. And Lord, we just love you. We thank you for this place. We will take care of this place. We will sit at this altar for the rest of our lives. In Jesus' name and the church said amen. (congregation applauding) - Let's give it up for the worship team. What a wonderful, incredible job they did, leading us in worship tonight. (congregation applauding) It is so good to be, yes, there you go. It is so good to be in the house of the Lord. It has been an honor and a privilege to be with you on the first Tuesday of each month this year and to share God's word with you. I love coming and being with you and seeing what God is doing in your life here and the testimonies of victory, how God is stabilizing and how God is growing you and how God is transforming you. It is a wonderful sight to see. Give yourselves a hand tonight. God is doing a great thing in your lives. Amen. (congregation applauding) Well, by special request from Tanya, there was this elderly couple that lived in Wisconsin. This was a few years ago.

It had been a long, long, cold winter. It'd been a long bitter cold winter. They needed to get out of that weather, so they decided they were gonna go to Florida for a few days. Well, the problem was they couldn't get two seats on the same flight. So they made a plan. The husband would fly down the first day and the wife would follow him down the next day. So the husband flew down and checked in to the resort that they were going to, and he wanted to send his wife an email and tell her that he had arrived safely. But accidentally, he left one letter out of the email address. The email did not go to his wife. The email went to a woman in Houston, Texas, who had just gotten back home from burying her husband, who was a pastor. She opened her email up and immediately passed out. The heading on the email was to my darling wife. I want you to know that I have arrived safely. It was a great trip. And the accommodations prepared for us here are absolutely marvelous. And I want you to know that all arrangements have been made for your arrival tomorrow. You'll be so happy to hear they have free Wi-Fi here and you'll be able to message the children. P.S., it's really hot down here.

(audience laughs) Now, just for you, Tonya. Just for you. Our lesson tonight out of our workbook is entitled Victory. I'm titling the message that I want to share with you freedom. And I just tell you, God is awesome. You might not have noticed it or not, but I noticed in the first two worship songs tonight, both of them talked about freedom that Jesus Christ has provided for you. How many of you know this evening he who the sun sets free? Let me say it again, he who the sun sets free is free indeed, amen. How many have experienced that in your life tonight? You've been liberated by the Lord Jesus Christ. You've been set free by the grace of God. And I want to tell you something, God wants us to walk in that freedom. I want to share some verses with you. Actually 17 verses, more verses than I would typically read, but there's just such a richness in this passage of scripture from Colossians chapter three, beginning in verse number one. Since then, you have been raised with Christ. You know who that's talking to? That's talking to men and women who have submitted their hearts and lives to Jesus Christ who have experienced the new birth who have been born again by the spirit of God. Since then, you have been raised with Christ.

Set your hearts on things above where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on earthly things. For you died and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory. Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to the earthly nature, sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires, greed, which is idolatry. Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. You used to walk in these ways, in the life that you once lived. But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these. Anger, rage, malice, slander, filthy language from your lips. Do not lie to each other since you have taken off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in the knowledge in the image of its creator. Here there is no Greek or Jew circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, scythe, slave or free, but Christ is all and is in all. Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly love, clothe yourself with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, bear with each other. Forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another.

Forgive as the Lord forgave you, and above all these things, all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. There's some rich stuff in those verses right there. I want to share three words with you tonight. How do we experience the freedom that Jesus Christ has provided for you? First of all, I want you to know that your freedom It was paid for on the cross of Calvary when Jesus Christ surrendered Himself. He took our sin on Himself that we might receive His righteousness. So your victory, your freedom is already paid for. How do we walk in that freedom that God wants us to experience in our lives every day? It is not the will of God that you are still in bondage to sin. How many of you know that from time to time we still struggle with some stuff? Raise your hand if that's you. Some time to time we still struggle with some stuff. But it is not the will of God that you're a slave to that anymore. By the power of the Holy Spirit, God has given you the ability to walk away from that and to stay away from that. God wants you to experience the freedom that He has provided for you. Three words I want to give you tonight.

Concentration, elimination, application. In Colossians chapter three, it begins in verse number one and verse number two. It says, since then you have been raised with Christ, set your heart on things above. Do you know what we need to be doing every day? We need to be setting our heart on the things of God. It is so easy for us to get distracted when it comes to spiritual things. Do we have any people in the house that like a little football from time to time? Anybody like a little football from time to time? I'm going to be honest with you. I have never got distracted watching a football game and had to back it up so I could see what happened. When a football game's going on, I'm paying attention to it. A lot of times I'm calling for a foul before they throw the flag. I'm into it. I'm that, I'm right there. But here's the sad truth. There have been times when I'm reading the Bible, when I'm studying the Word, and all of a sudden my mind is way out there in the blue somewhere. I'm balancing my checkbook. I'm thinking about when's the last time I changed you all in my truck? I got a little light that comes on for that.

I don't even have to think about that. But it is so easy for us to get distracted when it comes to the things of God because we have a spiritual enemy that does not want you to grow in your walk. He doesn't want you to grow in your faith. He doesn't want you to experience the freedom that God has provided for you. So you know what we need to do? We need to concentrate. We need to just set our heart on things above. And then it says in verse number two, set your mind on things above. Let me tell you something. It matters what you're thinking about. It matters what you're taking in. It matters what you're focusing on. It matters where the attention of your heart is. We need to commit ourselves to spiritual concentration. We need to decide I'm gonna focus on the things of God. I'm gonna pay attention to the things of God. Few years ago, I was in a small group of men and we were really challenged to spend the first hour every morning in the Word and in prayer. I think that's a great thing for everyone to do. And the small group that I was in, everybody committed to do that. And one of the guys in the group said, "I'm just not a morning person. "I don't know if this is gonna work, but I'm gonna try."

So the next week, we were all sharing how our experience went. He said, "I'll tell you the truth." The first morning I woke up and I said, "Lord, I'm just gonna lay here before you "and talk to you for a moment." Next thing he knew, he was right back to sleep. Said that happened a couple mornings. And then he realized, "Well, I gotta pay more attention. "I'm gonna get out of bed and kneel down beside my bed." And he said, "The next thing I knew, "I discovered I could sleep on my knees." So here's what he said he did. He said he went in the bathroom and he stood up on the top edge of the tub. And he looked in the mirror at himself and he said, "I'm telling you right now, "if you fall asleep, you're gonna bang your head "on that sink and kill yourself. "You better stay awake." And he stayed awake and prayed because he was determined to press into God. You might have to do some uncomfortable things. You might have to adjust your schedule. You might have to adjust your activities. You might have to adjust your associations. [BLANK_AUDIO] and I've shared this with you before, the three years prior to that, I didn't make a good decision in three years.

My life was a wreck, drugs, and alcohol, and all kinds of stuff. I went to church one Sunday night, sitting in the back, I was high, sitting in the very back row. I couldn't tell you what the preacher said, but at the end, the Holy Spirit grabbed a hole of my heart, and I went forward to that altar that night and recommitted my life for the Lord Jesus Christ. My little country passed her down in Marietta, Georgia. He didn't go to Bible school for a minute. I don't even think he graduated from high school, but he was a godly man, and he was smart enough in the things of God. He came up to me and he says, David, I want to tell you a couple of things. First of all, you need to quit your job, because I was getting high every day with the people I worked with on the job. He said, you need to stop associating with all the people you've been running around with for the last three years. And I'm so thankful today that I listened to his counsel, that I did what I needed to do to become established for my focus to be on the things of God and not on the things of the world. We need some spiritual concentration in our life. We need to wipe out all the noise and begin to focus on the things of God. You know, one of my favorite sport movies is "For the Love of the Game." It's a Kevin Costner, a baseball movie.

And how many of you have seen "For the Love of the Game"? I love that movie. It's a great movie. It's really not so much about baseball. It is about him, but it's a great movie anyway. And if I have this saying right, in the movie he was pitching in Yankee Stadium and they were all, the whole stands was yelling and making noise and trying to distract him. And he would say something like this. I may not have the exact terminology. Clear, thank you, Tonya. See, that was good right there. I appreciate it. He would say, "Clear the mechanism." What am I saying tonight? Some of us need to clear the mechanism. We need to eliminate all that peripheral noise that's going on around us so that we can focus in, we can set our minds and set our hearts on the things of God. The second word that I want to share with you is out of verse number eight. In verse number eight, it talks about what I'm calling elimination. It says, "Put off the old man." How many know that when we came to Christ, every one of us, we brought some baggage with us? Are you there? We brought some baggage with us.

And we need to check that baggage at the curb. We need to get rid of that baggage. Hebrews chapter 11, verse number one says it like this. It says that we should lay aside all the sin that entangles and all the weights that encumber. It talks about two different things there in Hebrews 11. It says, "Lay aside the sin that encumbers." Well, most of us know we need to stop sinning. The problem is we often don't. But if you know there is sin in your life, you need to repent of that sin before God and get that sin. You need to get rid of that. The sin that hinders and the weights that encumber. There's snares that hold you down. Some of us are carrying things around that we don't need to be carrying around. We are holding on to things. Some of it from our past, some of it from our present that shouldn't be in our lives. There needs to be some spiritual elimination in our lives. And you say, "Well, I thought God did that for me." That's not what Paul said. He said, "You put off." You put off. You know, from time to time, I believe that every one of us

needs to have some spiritual inventory. God, show me the things in my life that are not of you. Show me the things in my life that are hindering me from growing closer to you. Show me the things in my life that are weighing me down and keeping me from running this race for your honor and for your glory. I wanna tell you something because I prayed that prayer many times down through the years. If you prayed that prayer with a sincere heart, God will show you. And then you and I have a responsibility to follow through and to discard some things from our life. There may be some friends that you have that aren't good for you. Need to remove them from your life. You say, "That's cruel." That's not cruel, that's growth. The second word is elimination. And then the third word is application, and it comes out of verse number 10. It says, put on the new man. Do you know something? There is nothing better than understanding you are a new creation in Jesus Christ. We can remember who we used to be, but we're not that anymore. There's a phrase, and I may have shared this, we did before, but there's a phrase

that just really gets under my skin when I hear people say, I'm just an old sinner, say, by grace. I used to be an old sinner. Can I still sin? Yes, but I'm not a sinner anymore. I'm a blood wash born again, believer in Jesus Christ. I'm a new creation in Jesus Christ. I'm not gonna go around declaring myself to be something that I no longer am. You need to put on the new man. You know, it tells us to get rid of a, there's quite a list in there. Emorality, impurity, debauchery, anger, lust, envy. It says, get rid of all of those things, but put on the new man. Can I tell you this evening, you and I have a responsibility to clothe ourselves right before God. When you come to Jesus Christ, repent of your sins, and accept Him as your Lord and Savior, He robs you. He robs you in the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. You can't put on righteousness. God puts that on you for Jesus Christ's sake. But you and I have a responsibility to put on the servant's towel. You and I have a responsibility to put on the garment of praise.

You and I have a responsibility to gird ourself with the word of God, the shield of the spirit. We're to put on the armor of God in our lives each and every day. The word of God says now, you put on for the new man, for the new self. If you wanna walk in victory, if you want to walk in the freedom that Jesus Christ has provided and desires for you, you need to begin to concentrate on the things of God. Set your mind on things above. Set your heart on things above. You need to eliminate. Read yourself of anything that is hindering you in your walk with Jesus Christ. Let me just say it plain. Read yourself of anything that is hindering yourself in your sobriety. Just eliminate it from your life. And then you need to apply the word of God. You need to apply the garment of praise. You need to apply the armor of God. You need to put it on. And I can promise you this evening, if we will begin to walk in the new person, if we will begin to clothe ourselves in what God has provided for us, we will see, experience, and celebrate victory in our lives each and every day.

Let's pray together. Heavenly Father, I thank you for this time this evening. I thank you for my brothers and sisters who are here. I thank you God that you have a wonderful plan of victory and freedom for them. And I pray right now if there is one person here who has not yet surrendered to Jesus Christ, that tonight they would. Your word says if we confess our sin, you are faithful and just to forgive us of our sin and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. May that happen this evening, Lord. Father God, if there are things in our lives that we need to rid ourselves of, may we make a bold decision and be determined to do that. And may we every day put on the new man, the new purposes, the new passion, the new provision that you have called us to, in Jesus' name, amen. (audience applauding) - I don't know who, all the time. - All right guys, if that wasn't a word, I don't know what he is. Thank you, Pastor David, that was amazing. And for clearing the mechanism, that is one of my most favorite movies. I am a sports fanatic myself. And we want to invite all of you guys to come back next week. The one thing that you can do is we can get a blue chip tonight when we have our chip ceremony, and that's a way of eliminating if there's something that we need to eliminate, or if you've not made the decision

to make Jesus Christ your Lord. So, do I announce the church stuff online? Do I announce the church stuff online? I don't do it. I didn't think so. So we just wait for online community to say good night. Okay. We do the serenity prayer first. Okay, I'll have this down next week, I promise. All right. So together, if you guys will stand, we will start with God. Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference. Living one day at a time, enjoying one moment at a time, accepting hardship as a pathway to peace, taking as Jesus did this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it. Trusting that you will make all things right if I surrender to your will so that I may be reasonably happy in this life and supremely happy with you forever in the next. Amen. Okay, now we can have a seat and we can say goodbye to the online community. That's my fault, y'all. So just give me grace. I don't want to fade. I don't want. [BLANK_AUDIO]