Rooted Week 2 - Word

Thank you for your presence. Thank you for your spirit. We're going to have our prayer team come up to the front, and if you need prayer, if you're in need of anything, we're going to ask that you would come up through the sides and exit through the middle. As we continue to worship, you're free to come and just get your hands, um, get yourself laid on your hands and anything that you need. Um, you can make your way up to the front.

We ask that you lift your hands in this place as a sign of surrender to the one and only God. We thank you, Lord, for your spirit that is new every single day. We thank you for opening up our eyes to your truth. Lord, that whatever we came in here, we would trade it for your goodness. We would trade it for your yoke, Lord God, your burden. We would take on that. Lord God, we love you, Lord. We honor you. We need you. We need you, oh God. We do.

Spirit sound, rushing wind, fire of God fall within. Holy Ghost breathe on us, we pray, as we repent. Turn from sin. Revival lamb, smoldering breath of God into flesh. We need a fresh wind, the fragrance of heaven. Pour your spirit out. Pour your spirit out. Oh. Oh. We need a fresh. So from hearts that burn, from hearts that burn with holy fear, purified faith in deep, refiner fire, strengthen what remains. So we, the church, >> we, the church, may be your flame of city bright. King and kingdom come is what we say. We need a fresh wind from heaven. >> Pour your spirit out. >> Your spirit, spirit out. Holy anointing. >> I love your praise. >> Pour your spirit out. Your spirit out. Pour your spirit out. Pour your spirit out. Pour your spirit out. Pour your spirit out. Pour your spirit out. Pour your spirit out. Pour your spirit out. For your spirit. We pray for your spirit. Pour your spirit out. Pour your spirit out. Your spirit for your spirit. Shadow of the redeemed, prophesy and sing. We can hear the wind blowing, blowing, blowing. Move upon our bra. >> Six tons and daughters and daughter. We can hear the wind prophesy and see. We can hear spirit. We need you. One more time. HEAT. HEAT. HEAT. We can hear you. Let's become more aware of your presence. Experience the glory of your children. HEAT. HEAT. HEAT. HEAT. YEAH. HEAT. HEAT. HEAT. HEAT. HEAT. YEAH. We worship you. We spit. We need your Holy Spirit. What you want to do? We need you. We need you. We need your Holy Spirit to come. Have your way. My heart will be over by your presence, Lord. Come on. Is that your prayer this morning? Are you saying, "Holy Spirit, you're welcome here." Come on, Holy Spirit. You're welcome at this house of blues. Today, we declare this isn't a house of blues from the hours of 6:00 a.m. till noon. Oh, no, no, no. It's a house of hope. It's a house of healing. Come on. It's a HOUSE OF PRAYER. IT'S A HOUSE WHERE THE LIVING GOD can meet with US TODAY. OH, LORD, WE PUT A DEMAND ON HEAVEN'S SUPPLY. AND WE ASK, LORD GOD, THAT YOUR MANIFEST PRESENCE WOULD BE IN THE ROOM TODAY. We believe you for miracles. WE BELIEVE YOU FOR JOY. LORD GOD, WE believe that you're able to do exceeding and abundantly above all that we could ask or think or imagine.

One of my favorite parts of that song is, "Help me to become more aware of your presence." Come on. That's acknowledging God, your presence is everywhere. The issue is my lack of awareness of your presence. If I were aware of your power in your presence, oh wow, it would change everything. It's funny, my son, he's 4 and 1/2 years old, and the first time he ever saw an airplane, he saw an airplane in the sky. And so I remember the first time I said, "Hey, son, buddy, that's an airplane." And my son said, "Oh, Dad, that airplane is small." And then maybe a couple of months later, we were getting on an airplane for the first time. So we went to the airport and out of the window at the gate, he actually saw an airplane for the first time. And with shock and wide-eyed wonder, my son looked at me and said, "Oh, da, that airplane is big." >> And I said, "Yeah, it's big." He said, "Is that the same airplane >> FROM IN THE SKY?" I SAID, "YEAH, SON. It's the same airplane." What changed? >> My god, >> the airplane did not get ANY BIGGER, BUT THE PROXIMITY TO THE SIZE AND POWER OF THE AIRPLANE CHANGED. Worship doesn't make God bigger. But what worship does is changes your proximity TO HIS POWER AND TO HIS PRESENCE. So let's sing that again. Maybe become more aware of your presence. He was powerful yesterday. He was powerful on Friday. Become aware of it. Oh God.

In the room. HEAT. HEAT. HEAT. Experience the glory of your goodness. >> But God, we thank you that you're in the room. God, we thank you for every single person who's walked into the House of Blues today. We declare that your joy, that your peace, that your power be tangible in the room today. God, we thank you. We thank you that a holy God decides to dwell amongst us. So Lord God, we don't take your presence lightly or for granted. Oh God, we're so blessed to be able to be in your presence today. We love you. And Lord God, thank you for the gift of this day. And Lord God, the best thing we could do is give it back to you for what you've given us. So we give this day to you. And we ask, Lord God, would you bless it? Would you speak to us today? We come against every distraction right now in Jesus' name. Every demonic principality and power. And we ask Lord God that the power of the living God would be available to every single person today. Come on. In Jesus' name we pray. And we all said together, "Amen." Amen. Amen. Come on. Hallelujah. We're going to try that ONE MORE TIME. HALLELUJAH. HALLELUJAH. AWESOME. AWESOME. AWESOME.

HEY, my name is Pastor Manny Orango. I I guess this is my third time I get to say this ever. I'm the lead pastor here at the garden, a brand new church plant in the middle of the center of the city of Houston. And so, uh, if you're with us for the very first time, we are so honored that you decided to hang out with us today at our 8:30 worship experience. We're super excited that you're here. Hey, if you're here with us for the very, very first time, we've got a QR code for you. Uh, we're not going to spam you. We just want to get your information. Uh, and I think this is dope. This is one of my favorite parts of our church. Uh, how many people know we've been a church for three weeks? Anybody know that? Been at church for three weeks. This is week three. Uh, we launched about three three weeks ago and uh last week was week two and y it's week three. You know, this the cutest 3-week old baby I've ever seen. You know what I'm saying? Uh, we a baby church. And uh, I'm so excited about what God's doing. And uh, hey, this is one of my favorite things about our church is that we take this moment of collecting information as a moment to be generous on your behalf. So, if you are new here today, anybody new here today, this your first time here? Anybody? Anybody? Awesome. We're so glad that you're with us for the first time today. Awesome. Hey, if you hit that QR code and you give us your information, uh, we will donate money on your behalf to an outreach or missions organization in the city that provides hot meals for families in need. Okay. And so based on just the three weeks that we've been a church, we've been able to provide hundreds of hot meals to families in need, just by people scanning that QR code and giving us their information. So if you scan that QR code, give us your information, we'll be generous for you. Come on. You know what's better than generosity? Somebody being generous for you. Come on. I need a good amen right there. Uh uh here we go. I typically do this whole welcome part with my bride. Uh, her name's Tia. Uh, but come on. I grew up at a church. Anybody like me? I grew up at a word of faith church and we were not allowed to say we're sick. My wife is eligible for healing. And I am too a little bit. You know what I'm saying? Uh, we're eligible for healing. So, uh, she she'll be at the second service, not this one. Uh, and, uh, hey, you may have walked in and looked at the symbols above me. They got symbols up there to represent Hinduism and Buddhism and all types of demon pagan gods. And uh I just want to make it very clear. We the garden, a Christian church, did not put any of those demonic pagan symbols up there. >> Amen. Thank you. Here we go. Uh I hope that none of those symbols offend you. I hope they don't bother you. Uh and more than anything, I actually hope they don't distract you. I hope that they remind you that there's a spiritual war going on that is real. Uh and that the moment you are tempted to just kind of chill in worship, you should be reminded of the fact that worship is how you wage warfare against the enemy. And you shouldn't be chill about that. You should be actively opposing every demonic power uh that is trying to steal, kill, and destroy your life. I need a good amen right there.

Um, hey, we have an amazing kids ministry experience prepared for you. And, uh, we've got, uh, I think 3 months old until 5 in the Bronze Peacock. Did anybody check their kids in today before they came over here? Awesome. Uh, we've got amazing kids ministry servant leaders who are serving your children well. And, uh, we've got bigger kids, aged 6 through 12 downstairs in the punchline. Anybody check kids in the punchline today? Anybody? A couple folks. Okay, great. Uh I hope that you had an amazing experience checking your kids in. Uh our kids ministry volunt uh servant leaders are some of our best servant leaders in the whole church. And uh seriously, they sacrifice so much. Uh actually this morning at like I don't know what time it was, 7:15. At 7:15 I met with all of our kids ministry servant leaders and I preached my sermon to them. So even if y'all don't say amen, I know the message is good. The kids ministry servant leader said that the message was good. Uh, hey everybody. Are you excited for week two of Rooted? Come on. Week two of Rooted. Who was here for week one? Week one of Rooted. Awesome. Did you get your stamp? You got your stamp from week one. Great. Did you remember to bring your your book again? Come on. Who's about to get a stamp for week two? Let's go. Uh, before we jump into the word, before we jump into the word, I uh I want to make sure that we operate in generosity. Uh, I gotta share I want to share a really cool praise report with you. Uh, and now that we're a church, ain't it dope to say that we're a church. We're a church. You know what I'm saying? So, we get to talk about church stuff. Uh, uh, you may not know this. Um, but months months, like two years ago, we started fundraising for this thing called the garden. Uh, cuz churches are not free. I wish the House of Blues just took Faith as a payment, but they don't. Uh, they take USD. Okay. Uh, and so, uh, it costs $9,550, uh, to Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh, thank you. It's not time to do that yet. Good job, Jared. Thank you, Jared. Hey, let's meet somebody you don't know. Come on, put up the ground. There we go. You got 90 seconds to hang out. I shouldn't have even made you sit down. I'm so sorry. Come on, work those quads. Get those hamstrings. Come on, meet somebody you don't know. We're a social church. We don't want anybody being lonely. Come on, hang out with somebody. Single folks, this is the time to mingle. Heat. Heat. Awesome. Come on. I hope you met somebody you didn't know. Especially if you spent Valentine's Day by yourself. I definitely hope you met somebody. Come on now. Church the best place to meet folks. I hope actually I hope that this church is a good place to meet. Well, we may need more than three weeks to disciple people and, you know, run some freedom groups and, you know, we'll we'll get it right, Anthony. We'll get it right. Um, hey, let's get make let's make sure we throw up the QR code to get people's parking validated. Hey, if you parked in the Lamar Street lot, we don't want you to pay for parking. We want to make sure that you get your parking validated. So, here we go. Uh, that QR code will ensure that your parking is validated. Come on, somebody say thank you. Come on. Uh, uh, that's a perfect segue. Our contract with the parking lot. That's why you got to fund raise. Come on. Uh so let's operate in generosity. Um this week, can I share a praise report? >> This week I got a phone call uh from a church that maybe some people know. I don't know. I think they're kind of popular. I got a phone call from Elevation Church in North Carolina. Um, okay, people know who they are. Okay. Uh, Elevation Church called me and said, "Hey, we heard about your sponsor a Sunday campaign." Um, did anybody know about that? That we launched a campaign called sponsor a Sunday? Okay. A couple of months ago, once the House of Blues let us know that we could not pay in faith, we were like, "Okay, fantastic." So, we've got to fund raise uh the $9,550 that it's going to cost to be in this venue every single Sunday. And so, we started a campaign. We purchased a website called www.sponsorasunday.com. Yes, we did. And up until today, we've had 25 Sundays get sponsored. 25 Sundays. 25 Sundays. And here's the best part. Some of those Sundays, actually, I I can say the exact number. Nine of those Sundays were sponsored by people sitting in the room right now. Nine of those Sundays sponsored by people on our serve team, which used to be our launch team. Uh, but our launch team became a serve team on February 1st cuz we became a church. Um, and so it cost $9,550 to to rent this venue uh every single Sunday. And so we started sponsors.com. And you ever start something and you're like, "This is foolish. You don't you're not even in faith unless you feel stupid doing it." And so I was like, "This is dumb." People don't think to themselves, "If you can't afford to be at the House of Blues, why you asking me for money?" 25 Sundays later. Ain't it crazy how God will want to provide for you, but you know too much. You're in your own head way too much. So we launched sponsors.com. So this past week, this past week, Elevation Church, like Pastor Steven Ferdick with the biceps, okay, called us and was like, "Hey, we want to sponsor a Sunday." And uh I I I said on the phone, I said, "I'm blown away." Like I don't even know what to say. Like, "Thank you." He said, "You don't need to say anything. There's a check for $9,550 on its way to Houston, Texas. We know that people are going to get saved every single Sunday. We know that the Bible's going to get taught every single Sunday. We know that worship is going to go up to heaven every single Sunday. And this is the quote that took me out. Y'all ready for this? This is what one of the pastors on staff at Elevation said to me. He said, "Actually, it's easy for us to send you $9,550." He said, and I never want you to forget this. He said, "Here's why it's easy." He said, "Cuz seed is cheap. It's soil that costs money. He said, "Seed is cheap. Soil's expensive." He said, "Manny, we've looked for people who have good soil and couldn't find anybody. You have a doctorate. You're you're faithful to your wife. You're passionate. You're charismatic. You teach the Bible." He's like, "Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. What it costs for you to get your soil healthy is way more than $9,550. He said seed seed cheap. Soil not cheap. Actually, do you have this? DO YOU HAVE THIS LITTLE MEME WE MADE? COME ON. Did you go TO HOME DEPOT RIGHT NOW? You get seed for like 2.98. Soil whole another story. And let's not talk about land. Seed cheap land expensive. Can I help us to reframe the offering today? Whatever you're about to put in the offering, it's nothing in comparison to how good the soil is here. The reason I can take up the offering every single Sunday full of confidence is cuz I know this is good soil. I know this is good soil cuz there are people on what used to be our launch team that's now our serve team who've been tithing here for over a year and their lives have been blessed in every way shape or form because this is good soil. The tagline for our church is this is where people flourish. And our prayer uh the reason that we got all those Sundays sponsored was actually because we didn't want there to be a burden on all of you to pay $9,550 every single Sunday. Don't worry though, we'll get to a place where we won't have to spons sponsor Sundays no more. Guess what day I'm praying for? One day I'm going to call a church planter who's planting a church in Phoenix, Arizona. who's planting a church in Seattle, who's planting a church in Anchorage, Alaska, and I'm going to say on behalf of the Garden, on behalf of all the generous tithing people at the Garden, there's a check coming your way to cover all of your cost and all of your overhead for one Sunday so that you can do ministry just for one Sunday with no stress. And so, hey, I want to make sure to give you an opportunity to sew today. Uh, you've got seed, we've got soil. Together, we make an amazing combination. And I believe that we're going to see revival in the city of Houston. Uh, I believe there's so many amazing churches doing so many amazing things, but I think we get to do something really unique, and I'm really, really, really excited about it. There's so many ways to give here at the garden. If you need an offering envelope, you can flag down one of the ushers. They'll give you an offering envelope. Uh, there's other ways to give. We've got them up on the screen. There we go. Uh, hey, my favorite way to give is recurrent giving. Uh, me and my wife, you know you got faith when you just let God take it. You know what I'm saying? No, that wasn't funny. Okay. Tough crowd. Tough crowd. Come on. Recurring giving is what me and my wife have set up. Uh, it just comes out, you know? We don't even have to think about it. It just comes out. The reason I put my tithe and offering on recurring giving is because my phone bill is on recurring autopay. And so I'm scared to lose contact with y'all, which I should be scared to lose contact with favor. So if I'm going to put my phone on autopay, I should put my tithe and offering on autopay as well. Uh you can give in person. Uh you can text to give. You can text uh the word give in the amount to 712-354-473 or you can scan that QR code or there are tap discs in front of you. Uh if you tap that disc uh you can give that way. Uh we can uh pray for the offering and then we can pass the buckets. God, we thank you right now for every gift, for every giver. We thank you for every generous person uh in the room. Lord God, there are so many families under the sound of my voice. God, an entire church just sponsored a Sunday, but there are just literally single individuals who sponsored Sundays over the course of the last month or two. Uh there are families that have sponsored Sundays. Uh and I'm believing by faith right now. All 52 Sundays for this year are going to get sponsored. Um, and we believe that by faith. Uh, and I thank you, Lord God, that as your people are generous today, I'm asking that you would bless them, that you would bless their businesses, that you would bless their jobs, that you would bless their professions, that you would bless everything they put their hands to. Lord God, I thank you so much. Thank you, Lord God, for this this church that you're helping us to build. Lord God, we love you. Lord God, bless the offering today. Bless every gift. Bless every giver. In Jesus name we pray. Come on. Are we all said together? Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. The buckets can pass. Come on. As the buckets pass, we're going to uh we're going to start getting into the message. Come on. Who's uh who's excited for week two? Uh, let's see who knows all five levels of spiritual maturity. Come on. What's level one? >> What's level two? >> That's what we're going to get into today. What's level three? >> Let's go. We're going to we got to I'm going to make sure that I land the plane today and and kind of tease us up for where we're going for prayer. Uh, what's level four? >> Fellowship. That's good. And what's level five? >> Witnessing. Witnessing. Witnessing. Um, Christ word, prayer, fellowship, and witnessing. A spiritually mature Christian is a Christian who knows Christ, who knows the word, who who communicates with God in prayer, is in fellowship with other believers, and is witnessing to the world around them. That is a spiritually mature believer. And uh today we're going to look at Matthew 4:E4. And Brian Pard, I feel full of the Holy Ghost today. I'm going to preach this thing like I feel it. Okay. I was I wrote this sermon on Tuesday and it's just been cooking. Just been in a crockpot all week. Okay. And so I'm I'm I've been thinking about preaching this since Tuesday. Okay. Uh I'm excited. Okay. And don't let me preach better than y'all respond in this 8:30 service. Okay, there we go. I hear you, Joya. Come on. Matthew chapter 4. Come on. If there's a word that I don't say, you can say the word that I don't say. Then >> was >> by the >> INTO THE >> WILDERNESS. >> SO, THE DEVIL AIN'T THE ONLY ONE WHO LEADS YOU IN THE WILDERNESS SEASONS. >> THE WILDERNESS SEASON IS NOT JUST A CURSE. THE WILDERNESS SEASON IS A TEST TO SEE WHAT YOU'RE MADE OF. TO SEE IF WHETHER OR NOT THE ONLY THING IN YOU ARE YOUR THOUGHTS OR GOD'S WORD. >> HERE WE GO. CUZ WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN IN THE WILDERNESS? YOU ARE GOING TO BE TEMPTED BY THE DEVIL. SO LET ME JUST SAY RIGHT HERE, IF THE DEVIL TALKS TO YOU, YOU ARE NORMAL. YOU'RE NOT DEMONPOSSESSED JUST BECAUSE THE DEVIL TALKS TO YOU. THE DEVIL WAS TALKING TO JESUS. >> THE DEVIL TALKS TO ALL OF US. >> THE ONLY QUESTION IS, DO YOU TALK BACK? COME ON. OH, I'M going to preach this thing. I'm going to preach this thing. >> WHEN THE DEVIL TOLD ME AND MY WIFE THAT WE WOULD NEVER GET PREGNANT, I DID NOT TALK BACK. WHEN THE DEVIL TOLD ME I WOULD BE DEPRESSED FOREVER, I DIDN'T talk back. WHEN THE DEVIL TOLD ME I would be uh uh UH IN A PRISON OF ANXIETY, I DID NOT TALK BACK. WHEN THE DEVIL TALKS TO ME, I DON'T TALK BACK. I LET THE BIBLE TALK TO THE ENEMY. YOU COME AGAINST ME WITH SPIRIT, SWORD, AND JAVELIN. I COME AGAINST YOU IN THE NAME OF THE LORD GOD ALMIGHTY. I DON'T TALK BACK TO THE ENEMY. I LET THE WORD TALK TO THE ENEMY. THIS WAS ADAM AND EVE'S PROBLEM. THE ENEMY STARTED TALKING TO THEM, THEY STARTED talking back. I was a youth pastor for a long time, 10 years. The kids in my youth ministry used to do this thing where I would ask them like, "Is this your boyfriend? This your girlfriend?" They be like, "Nah, pastor man, we just talking." I'd be like, "There's no such thing as just talking." And I'm And I' I'd tell them like, "Yeah, even a serpent was just talking. You could lose everything just talking." Just talking. You're just talking. Okay, you keep talking. Talking to get you in a whole lot of trouble. Talking is a form of intimacy. So when the devil told me and my wife we would never get pregnant, I didn't talk back to the enemy. Why would I put my thoughts in the ring with Satan? No. No. I have a word from God. I have a promise from God. I can already tell. Here we go. This is a lot of our problem. You talk to the enemy. So when you feel depressed, all you can rely on is your own thoughts. And news flash, the level of intellect that got you into the problem is not going to get you out of the problem. If you could have thought your way out of this problem, you would have never thought your way into this problem. Which means when the enemy starts telling you that you're going to be depressed forever, what you should be saying is this is the day that the Lord has made. I will rejoice and be glad in it. Oh no, no, no, no. Joy. Rejoicing is an act of my will. Joy is an act of my will. What I say is Isaiah 61:3 that for a spirit of heaviness, I've decided to put on a garment of praise. I don't say nothing back TO THE DEVIL. WHAT I SAY BACK TO THE DEVIL IS WHAT the word says. I QUOTE SCRIPTURE. >> Jesus was led by the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. After fasting for 40 days and 40 nights, he was hungry. Okay. The tempter came to him and said, "IF YOU'RE THE SON OF GOD, TELL THESE STONES TO BECOME BREAD." DOES JESUS TALK BACK? NO. It is written. ARGUE WITH THIS, BRO. ARGUE WITH THIS. BUT HERE'S THE PROBLEM. WE DON'T KNOW THIS. YOU CAN'T USE A SWORD YOU'VE NEVER SHARPENED. >> SO NOW THE WILDERNESS HAS PLACED A DEMAND ON DISCIPLINES THAT YOU DON'T HAVE. >> AND SO NOW YOU NEED A WORD. UHOH. UHOH. UHOH. SO YOU NEED A WORD. AND every time you think you need a word, you're like, I need a word. I need a word. I need a word. I need to go to church. I need a word. I'm about to break your brain. Here we go. >> BUT WHAT YOU DON'T REALIZE IS EVERY SERMON is milk. When Paul writes, I want you to move from milk to meat. There is no such thing as bottled milk in the first century. Ain't no almond milk. Ain't no oat milk. The only kind of milk that exists when Paul writes those words is mother's milk. So what Paul is saying is I wish you didn't need someone more mature than you to eat the word, digest the nutrients of the word, and then feed you the word. I wish you were mature enough TO GET A FORK AND A KNIFE AND GO AFTER MEAT FOR YOURSELF. IT DON'T MATTER HOW INTELLECTUAL MY SERMON IS. IT'S MILK UP IN HERE BECAUSE I DID THE STUDYING THIS WEEK. I ENGAGED WITH THE WORD THIS WEEK. THE HOLY GHOST TALKED TO ME THIS WEEK AND I AM SERVING MILK THIS WEEK. THERE ARE NO PREACHERS OFFERING MEAT. >> Not possible. YOU CAN'T GET MEAT through a mediator. Let him cook. >> YOU CAN ONLY GET MEAT FROM READING THE WORD FOR YOURSELF. >> DO YOU KNOW THE WORD OR DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOUR FAVORITE PREACHER HAS TO SAY? JESUS ANSWERED, "IT IS WRITTEN, MAN SHALL NOT LIVE ON BREAD, >> BUT ON EVERY WORD THAT COMES FROM THE MOUTH OF GOD." Then the devil took him up to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. Just because you defeat the enemy one time don't mean he's done with you >> on the highest point. Verse six, if you're the son of God, he said, "Throw yourself down for get the Ooh. Ooh. Ooh. Here we go. So now the devil understands that Jesus just going to keep quoting the Bible. So now the devil is like, "For it is written. He will command his angels concerning you and they will lift up their hands so that you will not strike your foot against the stone." Uhoh. Uhoh. Help me, Lord. They're not going to like this. They're not going to like this. For some of the devil knows the Bible better than a lot of y'all. You can't beat an enemy who's better at your weapon >> than you are. >> Help me, Lord. Help me. I got 21 minutes. Okay, come on. Come on. Come on. Here we go. Jesus answered him. It is also written. So now the the Jesus is like, "No, no, we not about to play this game. I definitely know the Bible better than you, bro. It is also written." Do not put the Lord your God to the test. Again, attempt number three. The devil took him up to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. All this I will give you, he said, if you bow down and worship me. What does Jesus say? Verse 10, Jesus said to him, "Away from me, Satan, for it is written, worship the Lord your God and serve him only." And here's what I want for everybody in the room today. I want verse 11 for you. Then the devil left him. >> I believe that if you resist the devil, he will flee. I want the enemy to stop talking to you. I want him to start to stop tormenting you. I want his voice to become mute and silence in your ear. And we got to get you to the place where you have victory, where you have authority. Then the devil left him and angels came and attended him.

Here we go. Here's my title for the day. I don't feel like this is just a title. I feel like it's a prophetic declaration for where we are. Come on. A word in the wilderness. A word in the wilderness. Come on. I may be walking through a wilderness, but it's the word that's going to get me through. Come on. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will not fear because you are with me. God, I need your word. God, I need a word from you more than I need you to bail me out. More than I need you to rescue me, God. I need you to sustain me with the power of your word. God, give me your word. Come on, a word in the wilderness. Lord God, help me to preach this the way I heard it from you. In Jesus name I pray. Amen.

First thing, come on, we going to fly. Are we ready to fly? >> I feel like 8:30 y'all came ready. You know what I'm saying? 10:30 we got to do work. But you know what I'm saying? 8:30 y'all like I'm saved. Okay, here we go. First thing right at the top. JESUS DOES NOT USE HIS DIVINITY TO DEFEAT THE DEVIL, BUT HIS DISCIPLINE. NOT HIS DIVINITY, BUT HIS DISCIPLINE. THERE'S SO MANY OF US. YOU THINK THAT DEFEATING THE ENEMY IS GOING TO take I need more anointing. I pastor, I was at a event this a couple months ago and this girl was like, "I think I got a demon." I was like, "No, you don't." First of all, if you had a demon, you wouldn't be saying, "I think I got a demon." It's the people who got demons that don't say stuff like, "I think I got a demon." Okay. Second of all, second of all, you don't have a demon. You have a lack of discipline. Discipline. If Dave Ramsey or a gym can fix it, it ain't a demon. Baby girl, you ain't got no demon. You need a budget. You not you not you don't have a demon. That's called high fructose corn syrup. You need discipline. Discipline. Okay, here we go. Jesus could have defeated the enemy with anything in his arsenal, which means he could have leaned into his divinity, but chose not to because Jesus wants to set a precedent that you cannot be a disciple without discipline. It is not possible to live as a disciple if you don't actually bring daily disciplines into your life. Disciplines which means Jesus had to memorize memorize the three passages OF SCRIPTURE THAT HE QUOTED TO THE ENEMY. HE DIDN'T JUST KNOW HIM BECAUSE HE'S GOD. He learned them >> and then memorized them. ACTUALLY, I WOULD SAY THAT THE TESTIMONY OF MY LIFE IS THAT I was raised in wilderness. MY FATHER TOOK ME TO A CRACK HOUSE WHEN I WAS FIVE. My mother WAS PREGNANT WITH MY OLDER SISTER AT 12, pregnant at 13. I was raised in wilderness. Neither of my parents were saved. Actually, if we gonna be real, I was raised worse than wilderness. I was raised in Egypt, raised in bondage. But here's A TESTIMONY OF MY LIFE. MY MAMA, WHO DIDN'T KNOW GOD, WAS A WHOLE SHOPLIFTING, DIDN'T KNOW THE LORD, UNBELIEVER, MADE ME MEMORIZE SCRIPTURE. AIN'T THAT WILD? SO NOW, OH, THIS GONNA HELP SOMEBODY. BY THE TIME I'M 18, I'M UNLEARNING WHAT SHE TAUGHT ME WITH THE WORD SHE TAUGHT ME. SO I'M UNA I'M ABLE TO UNLEARN VICTIM MENTALITY WHICH SHE TAUGHT ME WITH BIBLE VERSES THAT SHE TAUGHT ME. AND FOR MANY OF US, YOU CANNOT APPRECIATE THE BLESSING OF A PERSON BECAUSE THEY ALSO HURT YOU. It was my mama. I'm This why we don't stream. IT WAS MY MAMA WHO'S CRAZY. My mama's nuts. We're a family. We're a church. It's okay for y'all to know my mama's crazy. Okay. The internet don't need to know my mama's crazy. It's just us. We just She crazy. But she got one thing right. She got the word in her son. She got the word in her son. So she taught me poverty mentality but also gave me scripture. Taught me victim mentality but also gave me scripture. Which means she got me sick and gave me the medicine at the same time. How good is God that he could use the same person TO INFECT YOU AND GIVE YOU THE SOLUTION TO YOUR OWN INFECTION AT THE SAME TIME? HOW OMNISIENT IS GOD THAT HE WOULD USE A FLAWED PERSON TO GIVE YOU ALL KINDS OF TOXIC MINDSETS, BUT INSIDE OF THE TOXICITY BE BURIED, HIDDEN IN PLAIN SIGHT, A WORD THAT UNLOCKS EVERYTHING THAT YOU NEED FOR life and godliness. A word in the wilderness. Here we go. Brian Pard, you're gonna be so proud of me. JP, you're gonna be so proud. Here we go. I lost 30 pounds in 2025. WE KEEPING FAT MANY DEAD. Fat Many dead. Just stay dead. >> Come on. GOT MY SHIRT TUCKED IN TODAY. YOU KNOW WHAT I'M SAYING? You should not be able to tuck in no shirt. You know what I'm saying? Just you know what I'm saying? And you y'all can tell me if I'm right. Y'all can tell me if I'm right. This is the advice I got. Okay. to lose weight because I was thinking if I'm going to lose weight, I got to stop eating. And then I sat down with a nutritionist and they was like, "You don't need enough." And I was like, "What do you mean I don't eat enough? I'll be eating." I was like, "I promise you I eat." They're like, "No, no, no. You're actually at a caloric deficiency every day. You don't eat enough. Actually, if you ate what you were supposed to eat, chips would stop talking to you at 10:00 at night. If you would actually use your calories where they belonged every day, if you would eat your proper amount of carbs, your proper amount of protein, and your proper amount of fat every day, and then go to bed. So when I FIRST STARTED, I WAS SCARED cuz I was used to white knuckle. Discipline. I want to reframe discipline for you because discipline is not just willpower. Discipline is deciding no, no, no. I choose what I eat. And the only reason you eat pornography is because the word is not in you. >> The only reason you eat unforgiveness is because the word is not in you. The only reason you eat bitterness is cuz the word is not in you. You are at a caloric deficit. And the way that you overcome sin is not by eating less. It's by eating more. You need the word every day until you get the word in you EVERY DAY. YOU WILL NOT DEFEAT SIN IN YOUR LIFE. YOU DON'T NEED A SERMON EVERY SUNDAY. YOU NEED THE WORD. EVERY DAY. YOU NEED TO START READING WHOLE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE. >> LET ME SIT down and eat some Ephesians real quick. Let me sit down. You know what? I've been a Christian for 30 whole years. Ain't never ate no Leviticus. Don't even know what Leviticus tastes like. Leviticus, what you taste like? Lamb. Oh, shoot. You taste like lamb. Oh, yeah. You do taste like lamb. You undereat and over sin. Here we go. Big idea. Your diet is your defense. What does Jesus say? Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. How much word have you memorized? By the time I was a teenager, I I started memorizing scripture based on the alphabet. Like what's the first letter of the alphabet? And without faith, it is impossible to please God because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly and diligently seek him. What's the next letter of the alphabet? Blessed is any man who stands under trial because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has provided for all those who love him. >> What is the next letter of the alphabet? Come to me all of you who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me for I am gentle and humble in heart. You Oh, D. Do not offer your bodies, Do not offer the members of your body to sin, but offer the members of your body to righteousness. Oh, come on. Come on. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me. 15 years old, can go all the way to Z, but I got nine minutes on the clock and we not about to do that. How much Bible have you memorized? Every day. Every day since the age of 12, I've woken up and I've said the same confession of faith. This is the day that the Lord has made. I will rejoice and be glad in it. I am crucified with Christ. Christ has redeemed me from the curse of the law. I am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, not I that lives, but Christ lives by faith in me. His word dwells in me richly. Therefore, I can confess. I'm blessed. I'm healed. I'm delivered. I've been set free. Sickness cannot dwell in me. Sin cannot dominate me. WHY? BECAUSE JESUS CHRIST IS MY LORD. BY FAITH, I HAVE THE ABUNDANT LIFE AND THE VICTORY THAT HE PROVIDES. NO WEAPON FORMED AGAINST ME SHALL PROSPER. GREATER IS HE THAT IS IN ME THAN HE THAT'S WITHIN THE WORLD. I CAN DO ALL THINGS THROUGH CHRIST WHO GIVES ME STRENGTH. AND AS THE REDEEMED OF THE LORD, I SAY SO. I'M I'M HERE TO TELL YOU I THIS IS WHY I DON'T WANT TO STREAM SERVICES because people who don't know me would take this out of context. IF I DID NOT HAVE THIS ON STAGE, I could preach just on the verses I've memorized. And you can't take that out of your mind. >> I've been brainwashed. At some point, what became more real to me were the pages were the words on the pages than the walls of the crack house my father took me to. >> AND UNTIL THE BIBLE BECOMES MORE REAL TO YOU, THAN YOUR TRAUMA, THAN YOUR PAST, THAN YOUR SIN, THAN YOUR STRUGGLE, THEN THE WORD AIN'T JUST THEN IT'S JUST PAGES. IT'S JUST WORDS ON A PAGE. AT SOME POINT, THIS HAS TO BE YOUR FOOD, YOUR BREATH, YOUR LIFE. I LIVE, EAT, BREATHE, THE WORD. >> THE WORD. DO YOU KNOW THE WORD OR NOT? >> If you want to come to a church where the pastor preaches a cool sermon AND DOES NOT CHALLENGE YOU TO MEMORIZE scripture and read it every day, this ain't the church for you. don't know what to tell you. If you're listening to me like he's intense, this probably in the church for you and that's okay. There's so many awesome churches out here. BUT WE'RE DOING SOMETHING CALLED ARMY here and soldiers can't be in the army >> without a weapon. THE QUESTION HERE IS NOT DOES MY sword work. >> The question here is, does your sword work? >> Cuz if I'm the only one showing up with my sword every Sunday, we're upper a creek without a battle. We're We're up a creek without a paddle. Did you bring your sword? Here we go. Here we go. Your diet is your only defense. Here we go. God's desire is to move you from discipline to devotion because discipline is not enough. It's funny. I I want to try to find this for the second service. When my son was born, I was still traveling a lot. So, I was still doing 70 to 80 speaking engagements a year. When my son was born, I was very hard on my wife, very hard on my son, very hard on me. Come on. Any dads in the room? You've had to choose between whether to be present or whether to be a provider. Any dads? Come on. can can relate. Okay, I've had to make a decision. Man, providing for my family means that I leave. And that was the hardest thing for me. And so, you want to know what I started doing? Anybody want to know what I started doing? I started writing letters to my son that he would read one day. And I got to find the first one that I that I that I wrote. I try to find it for the second service. And and I would just write letters to him. I' I'd so if I was in Seattle, I'd find a postcard from Seattle and I would write him a letter. and or if I was in Portland, I'd go get a, you know, a postcard from Portland. And and and you know what would break my heart is if one day I gave my son all the letters and he was like, "It's too much work to read this." If I gave my son a box of letters and he said, "It's boring. This is old. When How old was I when you wrote this? What's this? 20 years old. Think about how we talk about the Bible. I mean, is it even relevant for today? I mean, it's just kind of oldfashioned. I mean, just I just need a preacher to explain it to me. We're talking about your dad. Your dad has a purpose for your life and he wants to reveal your identity to you through his word. Which means discipline is just where we start. >> At some point you got to get to devotion that I don't just do this because I have to. I do this because I like to. I love to. You know what? When I first started going to the gym. It's like, why am I here? Like, I'm not that fat. You know what I'm saying? I used to say all kinds of stuff like I'm really not that fat. And like, I mean, I'M SUCCESSFUL AND FAT. SO, is that too in truth? Y'all don't want to be in my thoughts that day. I just be like, I mean, I didn't made it this far. And now JP don't have to hit me up no more. I hit JP up this week. You want to run? my idea. I miss it. But if you think you're gonna get a runner's high the first day you go out there, that may be an unrealistic expectation. But if you never get a runner's high, then you're not going to last long. God's desire is that you wouldn't just stay at discipline. So I have a question for you. If you've been saved for like 10 years and reading God's word is still discipline, why hasn't he gotten your heart yet? Because the Christian life is not to be endured, it's to be enjoyed. Because here's the reality. The enemy offers a lot of things for you to enjoy. If you don't ever get to a place where you enjoy his presence and you enjoy his word and you enjoy prayer, then you are never going to get to a place where you can do this forever. Because this is not about what you want. It's about what you want more. And God is not just after your discipline. He is after your desires. God's desires to move you from discipline to devotion. Here we go. Here's my favorite point. Uh oh. Oh gosh. Uh, I'm gonna say this one really fast. God wants you to read what he wrote so that you can hear what he's saying. At some point, where you should move next is not

going to be in the Bible. Who you should marry is not going to be in the Bible. What you should name your next kid, not going to be in the Bible. But his rama word, everybody say Rama.

Which is uh which is his spoken word. Everybody say Rama. It's his spoken word. His spoken word is built on the foundation of his logos. What's his logos? His written word. Many of us think we're hearing his Rama, but we've never read his logos. AND YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT HIS WRITTEN WORD EVEN SAYS. SO NOW YOU OUT HERE SAYING STUFF LIKE, "I MEAN, God told me to steal that." Whoa, whoa. First of all, the Bible says don't steal. He's never going to say something to you that goes against his word. But you don't know his word. So you So, so the enemy can manipulate the scriptures to make you believe stuff that's not even real. Which is why Uhoh. Oh god. I don't have time for this rabbit trail. WHICH IS WHY THERE'S SOME OF YOU, I'M NERVOUS FOR YOU TO TALK TO A Jehovah's Witness. They may actually confuse you. I'M NERVOUS FOR YOU TO TALK TO A MORMON CUZ YOU MAY WALK OUT OF THAT CONVERSATION LIKE, "OH MAN, THAT MADE SENSE. I'm ner I'm nervous."

Here we go. Last point. Oh, Lord. Is this helping anybody today? Come on. The word. The word. Here we go. Everybody say authority.

Here's how authority works. Every time you give in to a sinful temptation, it robs you of authority. Come on. Let's let's think about anytime you've given in a sin. It means you've lost authority over your decisions. You've lost authority over your family. You've lost authority. Sin costs one big thing. It always costs your authority. It costs your authority to witness to unbelievers. I mean, it it costs authority. How many people come on? It even costs your confidence. Every time you give into SINFUL TEMPTATION, IT COSTS WHAT? AUTHORITY. There's a debit in your authority. However, every time you obey the word, you submit to its authority. AND GOD THROUGH HIS WORD WANTS TO GIVE YOU BACK ALL THE AUTHORITY THAT SATAN HAS STOLEN from you through sin. SO, EVERY TIME YOU'VE LOST AUTHORITY, GOD SAYS, "OH, NO, NO, NO, NO. I'M NOT GOING TO LET THE ENEMY TAKE YOUR AUTHORITY and keep IT THROUGH THE POWER OF THE WORD AND THE SHED BLOOD OF JESUS. I WANT TO GIVE YOU BACK ALL OF YOUR AUTHORITY. I WANT YOU TO HAVE AUTHORITY OVER YOUR PROPERTY, AUTHORITY OVER YOUR FINANCES, AUTHORITY OVER YOU, AUTHORITY OVER YOUR FEELINGS, AUTHORITY OVER YOUR EMOTIONS, AUTHORITY OVER YOUR MIND, AUTHORITY OVER YOUR CHILDREN, AUTHORITY OVER YOUR WIFE, AUTHORITY. I WANT YOU TO HAVE DOMINION, WHICH MEANS WE HAVE A uh an equation THAT DISCIPLINE PLUS DEVOTION EQUALS DOMINION. DOMINION, WHICH IS WHAT ADAM AND EVE WERE MADE FOR. THEY WERE MADE FOR DOMINION. I WANT YOU TO RULE. GOD PUT THEM IN EDEN so they could rule and reign. THEY WANT DOMINION. If you don't GET ANYTHING FROM THIS SERMON TODAY, I NEED YOU to get this. Throw up my last point. We're going to read this together. You can ONLY RECEIVE FROM THE WORD to the degree THAT YOU'VE SUBMITTED TO the authority of the word. GOD DESPERATELY WANTS YOU TO GIVE YOU BACK YOUR AUTHORITY. To every husband in the ROOM THAT HAS LOST AUTHORITY through lust, God wants to give you your authority back. To every parent IN THE ROOM WHO'VE LOST AUTHORITY THROUGH anger and parenting your kids in ways THAT ARE NOT GODLY, HE WANTS TO GIVE YOU YOUR AUTHORITY BACK. FOR EVERYBODY IN THE ROOM who through THE WICKEDNESS OF SIN, YOU'VE WASTED MONEY ON STUFF THAT WAS SINFUL. HE WANTS TO GIVE YOU YOUR AUTHORITY BASED ON STARTING CHRISTIAN BUSINESSES SO THAT YOU CAN GET YOUR FINANCES IN ORDER. HE WANTS TO GIVE YOU YOUR AUTHORITY. But here's the reality. Like the Roman centurion, you will never have more authority than the person who has authority over you.

SO IF GOD'S WORD IS AN OPINION, you'll never have authority. IF HIS WORD IS OPTIONAL, YOU'LL NEVER HAVE AUTHORITY. If his WORD IS A SUGGESTION, YOU'LL NEVER HAVE AUTHORITY. AT SOME POINT, YOU HAVE TO SAY, "NOPE." IF THE BIBLE SAYS DON'T FEAR, THEN FEAR IS NOT MY AUTHORITY. THE WORD OF GOD IS MY AUTHORITY. IF THE BIBLE SAYS I HAVE PEACE, ANXIETY IS NOT MY AUTHORITY. BUT PEACE IS MY AUTHORITY BECAUSE HIS WORD IS MY AUTHORITY. I ONLY HAVE authority to the point that I have elevated the scriptures to what? Their rightful place of authority. Can I ask you a question? Do you have the discipline to consume the word? Do you have the devotion to be committed to the word? Then here's a question. Have you submitted to the authority of the word? Or when the word offends you, do you find interpretations to out talk the word out of what it's actually saying? Yeah, I agree with what the word says, but man, we start talking about money. I don't know. Okay, cool. Then money is your god, not the word. Simply put, I mean, I I agree with the word. You know what I'm saying? But I don't know about them passages about homosexuality. Okay, cool. Then our current cultural climate is your god, not the word. Cool. I mean, I I hear what you say about about past unforgiveness. Okay, cool. Then your own unforgiveness is your God, not the word. And at some point you are going to have to begin to declare to the degree that I put the word as the authority over me is the strength of the rock of the word beneath me. And I can't stand on scriptures that I don't even respect. The only way that this will become a firm foundation is if I begin to say I believe every word in it. I believe it's the authoritative word of God. I believe that it's a miracle. I believe that it's living and active. It's sharper than any double-edged sword. I don't think this is equal to the Quran. I think that this is alive and that the Quran is dead. I think that this is the defining book on how to be human and how to know God. I don't think there are any flaws in it. I don't think that men have tinkered with it. No, no, no, no, no. This is the unadulterated true word of God. This thing is my authority in life. And to the degree that I elevate its authority, guess what? I realized that I was standing on it the whole time. And by elevating it, I elevated my life. The reason this is important is because if you don't get authority from the word, you'll pray like a victim.

So nothing I say next week will even matter. Because step three is prayer. And if you don't get the word right, you going to get prayer wrong. And I'd rather you spend 15 minutes in prayer that are actually effective then pour your heart out to God for an hour and all of it was victim mentality. Cuz Jesus is not your therapist. He is a God that wants to heal you. But you are going to have to learn how to speak his language. And you learn how to speak that language by washing your mind clean with the water of his word. Let's pray. Pray and dismiss. We not going to play that trailer. We have a podcast called the Bible department. We release episodes every day. If you're in the room and you're saying, you know what, I want to consume the word every day. Go to Spotify, go to YouTube, go to Apple Podcast and type in the Bible department. You will see my face. We release a 20-minute episode every day leading people through the entire Bible. Because the first core value of this church is the Bible is how we know God. We're going to be a biblically literate church. If we don't do nothing else, we going to know the Bible. If you're looking for a church that's going to force you to learn the Bible, you're in the right place. Hey, last announcement and then I'm going to pray a prayer of the dismissal. In two weeks, February 28th, hey, we are doing a massive restoration project. Here at the garden, we don't really use words like outreach, missions. We call that stuff restoration. Uh, and we've got a massive restoration project. We are doing a uh a project in collaboration with the city of Houston and with Convoy of Hope. We'll be feeding over 500 families. An 18-wheeler full of food is going to pull up and guess what we get to do? We get to put on green t-shirts and we get to serve. Okay. Uh, call time is 8:00 a.m. We'll be feeding families from 10:00 a.m. till 12:00 p.m. on February 28th. What day is that? February 28th. Call time. We will be at the Sunnyside Health and Multi-ervice Center. The Sunnyside Health and Multi-Service Center. You'll get more info next week when you're in church. Uh, but I wanted to make sure even if you have not gone through Cultivate, even if you have not officially joined the church, guess what? I think it'd be good for all of us to serve on that Saturday. That's not next Saturday, but the Saturday after that. February 28th, call time 8 a.m. feeding over 500 families. Come on, let's pray. Everybody stand up all over the room. Was week two okay?

Well, week two of Rooted. I want to pray this prayer over you. I actually want to start ending service like this every single week. This is the ironic blessing. This is straight out of Numbers chapter 6. Uh this is what God told his told Moses uh to tell Aaron to tell the people. So I'm going to say it to you guys at the end of every service every single week. Uh the Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you. the Lord turn his face towards you and give you peace while you're all standing. Here we go. If you're in the room today with all heads bowed and all eyes closed, if you're in the room today and you don't know the Lord as your personal Lord and Savior, you don't know Jesus, man, we want to give you an opportunity to surrender your life to Jesus today with all heads bowed, all eyes closed, nobody's staring at you, nobody's looking at you. If you walked into service today and you're saying, you know what, I don't know him on worst case scenario, if I died tonight, I don't know where I would spend eternity. That's you. You don't know the Lord Jesus, but you want to surrender your life to him. Can you just lift your hand right where you are? I want to pray with you. I see your hand. I see both your hands. I see two hands. Amazing. I see your hand. Can we all just pray this prayer together? Say, "Jesus, thank you for loving me. As of today, I confess that I belong to you. I confess that you died for my sins. You rose from the dead, and I belong to you. I'm a new creation in Christ. And the old has gone, and the new has come."