Transcription
[Music] Amen. Amen. Hallelujah. Y'all are excited. Do we have something to be excited about?
Amen. Hallelujah. Amen. Hey, we serve a mighty God. Amen. We serve a God of miracles. Of a God that changes things. If you came to the place today, you need something changed in your life, you're in the right place. That's all I got to say. Let's worship it, man.
[Music] [Music] I pray into the atmosphere. Spirit of God, you're [Music] all. I pray over my heart and mind. I am healed by your stripes. Your blood declares that I am free in the mighty name of Jesus. I pray calling on the power of praises. I proclaim every weapon formed against me must break in the mighty name of Jesus. Yes, I draw a permanent boundary line. The enemy has no right to come near my family.
[Music] No scheme could ever run undo God's plans. No matter the circle in the mighty name of Jesus, I pray calling on the power of heaven. I proclaim. Every weapon formed against me must break in the mighty name of Jesus. In the mighty name of Jesus, I know all the power of darkness must go. Cuz every key to every victory I hold in the mighty name of Jesus. In the mighty name of Jesus. In the mighty name of Jes. Jesus.
[Music] I will not fear. I will not fear when the enemy comes near. On the door frame of my life is the blood of Jesus Christ. I will not fear. I will not fear. There's an army of angels here. I'm protected on all sides by the blood of Jesus Christ. I will not fear. I will not fear when the of me comes near. On the door frame of my life is the blood of Jesus Christ. I will not fear. I will not fear. There's an army of angels here. I'm protected on all sides by the blood of Jesus Christ.
In the mighty name of Jesus, I pray. Calling on the power of heaven, I proclaim. Cuz every weapon forms against me must break in the mighty name of Jesus. In the mighty name of Jesus, I know every key to every victory. I hold every key to every victory. I hold in the mighty name of Jesus. In the mighty name of Jesus. In the mighty name of Jesus. Jesus.
[Music] Amen. [Music] [Music] cross [Music] [Music] of your goodness forever. 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.
[Music] [Music] And now my shame is gone. I stand of your love undeniable. [Music] Your grace goes on and on and I will sing of your goodness forevermore. Worthy is your name. Praise. Worthy your name. 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. Worthy is your name. Jesus, you deserve the praise. Worthy is your name.
[Music] Exalted now in the heavens glory fills his place. You alone deserve all praise. You're my name above all names. Be exalted now in the heavens as your glory fills this place. You alone deserve all praise. You're the name of our morning. We exalted hell with the heavens as your glory fills this place. You alone deserve our praise. You're the name of our name. Be exalted here with the heavens that your glory fills this place. You alone deserve our praise. You're the name above my name. Be exalted now in the heavens. Let your glory through this place. You alone deserve all praise. You're the name above all.
[Music] Oh, come on. [Music] 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, we deserve the praise. Worthy is your name. Worthy is your name. Jesus, you deserve the praise. Worthy is your name.
[Music] Exalted now in the heavens. As your glory fills this place, you alone deserve our praise. You're the name above our name. Be exalted now in the heavens as your glory fills this place. You alone deserve our praise. You're the name of our name. Be exalted now in the heavens. As your glory fills his face, you alone deserve our praise. You're the name above our name.
[Music] of [Music] 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 praise. Worthy is your name. Worthy is your name, Jesus. You deserve praise. Worthy is your name.
[Music] You deserve the praise, oh God. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Yes, God. You deserve the praise. See, a lot of times we make worship about us. You've heard me say this a million times. We make worship about us and how it makes us feel. Did we sing the song that we love? Did we sing the hit worship song right now that's going through the airwaves that just gives you that that feeling? Worship ain't about us. It should be from us, but it's about him. It's about God. It's about Jesus. It's about our love and devotion being poured out to him. He is the one who's worthy of our praise. So there's a line in that song says, "Worthy is your name, Jesus. You deserve the praise. Worthy is your name." I like how it starts off saying, "He's worthy." And it ends that line with worthy. And sandwiched in between says, "You deserve the praise." I don't know what you're going through right now. I only know what I'm going through. But even if it was from the best day to the worst day, Jesus deserves my praise. Whether I wake up on the right side of the bed or on the wrong side, Jesus deserves my praise. Amen. Free moral agents to give that praise to him. Amen. So before we move forward opportunity this morning through song to give that worship to him. Amen. Can we sing that chorus just one more time from the people to God. Worthy is your name. Worthy is your name. Hallelujah. Thank you Jesus. Thank you Jesus. Let's sing it together. Worthy is your name, Jesus.
[Music] You deserve the praise. Worthy is your name. Come on, sing it out. Worthy is your name. Jesus, you deserve. You deserve the praise. Worthy is your name. Come on, sing it out. And worthy is your name, Jesus. You deserve. >> You deserve. >> Yes, you do, Lord. Worthy is your name. >> Come on from your heart, from deep in your soul. >> Yes, God. Jesus. >> Hallelujah. You deserve the praise. >> Come on. Worship like you mean it this morning. Worship like you believe the words that you're singing. Come on. Hallelujah. Glory. >> You deserve the praise. >> Hallelujah. >> Yes. Oh God. >> Sing it to Jesus. >> Glory to your name, oh God. >> Yes, Lord.
[Music] >> Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Worthy is your name, Jesus. Worthy, [Music] worthy is your name. You are so worthy, Lord. So worthy of all the praise that we have to give. Whether it's through this worship in song or our quiet moments or us glorifying you in conversation to our friends, co-workers, family members, you deserve the glory. You deserve all the honor and all the praise because all that you do is for our good. Even when the things that are going on in our life, the circumstances seem dire and dark and dismal, all things, we know that all things work together for the good, for our good for those who love God and we're called according to his purpose. That's us. Your word tells us that in Romans and we believe it. You are good and you deserve you deserve all the glory, honor, and fame, God. And we give it to you freely today. Now, God, we pray that you bless the remainder of this service as the music begins to fade. Worship will not stop. That we will continue to worship you as we sit at your feet and receive your word today. We love you, God, and we just want to thank you and we want to give you all the praise, glory, honor, and worship because you deserve it all. And it's in the mighty name of Jesus that we pray these things. And all of God peop God's people said, "Amen and amen." Let's give him some glory this morning. Come on. Hallelujah. Thank you, Jesus. Glory. Glory to your name, God. We worship you. Amen.
And before you get seated, why don't you shake a couple hands around you, hug a couple necks, tell somebody how glad you are to see them in the house of the Lord. Don't forget to smile, fix your face. Amen. In Jesus name. Thank you, worship team. God bless you. You are awesome. We appreciate you. It's good to be home. Amen. Praise God. Love you too, brother. God bless you. It is good to be home. It's always good to get away, but it is great to come back home. Amen. We were in the sunny state of Florida representing our church at the uh general council of the Assemblies of God. Happens every every other year. And uh this year it happened over in Florida. And so we were there at the Orange County uh convention center. Um the Florida Orange County, not not down like really down south, not just down south in Southern California. But it was a great time. again had a great time. Pleasant Christian Center. Amen. So, I'm so happy to see all your your beautiful faces. I want to just uh give a couple of of uh shout outs to some people who uh who worked hard while I was gone. It's always good when you're the when you're the lead pastor to know that if you step away for whatever reason, if you can't be there, that things don't fall apart. That's a blessing. That is such a blessing and a reassurance. I could be out there representing our church and spending some some PT with with my f brother Dan. Uh he gave sermon. He some of you don't know this. Amen. He stepped in for for brother Sam. Sam Sam Paralto was supposed to bring the word that morning. He got sick. He got real sick. And so uh we sent out some messages for folks to pray for him, but he was Johnny on the spot. Uh it was his son's uh both of his son's last Sunday here and he was going to be spending that with with them. But as soon as his pastor needed him, he stepped in. So, can we give him another round of applause of appreciation? Amen. And then some of you saw that wild and crazy video where the young adults kidnapped the pastor and threw him in a car and shipped them out uh because they wanted to have a a uh young adult uh focus. No, I wanted them to have the young adult focus. It was such an awesome thing. I was able to watch it uh online. I was able to see uh Brother Dan's message. I was able to see their message uh from the back roads of of a Florida forest. I was able to watch their their live stream and it was amazing. I was blessed to see that our young adults are in good hands with Josh and Joselyn. You got to see a little taste of one of their their young adults. Give a give a good word. Amen. So, can we give them a round of applause as well? Praise the Lord. Thank you to Pastor Sunshine for keeping all the day-to-day business going while I was gone as well. He holds the house down and and and brother Dan and and and all those who minister here. So, I want to say thank you for your faithfulness as well. God bless you. I love you so much. Amen. It sounds like I'm winning an Oscar or something like that.
All right, let's let's let's jump into the word. All right, we've been talking a lot about growth, okay? Over the last couple of months, I like to break these these series down into bite-sized pieces so that we can actually receive and and uh take in what what the truth is or what the message is that the word is giving us. I don't want to just kind of shove this all in in your face and you not hold on to anything. So, we try to break it up into bite-sized pieces. Amen. So, we've been talking about growth and how important it is. We're not talking about growth in in size or in numbers. That will come, right? But we're talking about si we're talking about growth in in in strength and the most important thing, maturity. Everybody say maturity. How many of you know that we are in our in our Christian walk, we should exhibit maturity. We should be mature men and women of God. In fact, the scriptures talk about that when we're spiritual babies, when we just come to Christ, we're drinking a steady diet of milk. But as we grow, we grow, we start to develop teeth. And those teeth need more than just leche, man. They need garne. Amen. We need to chew on that meat. The meat of God's word, the meat of truth. And so, we need to grow and mature, but not just physically like we see our babies do, right? And like even we experienced in our own physical bodies. We need to grow spiritually. We need to grow spiritually. and and and uh two weeks ago or three weeks ago when I when I preached last before I left to Florida, we talked a little bit about responsibility and how responsibility in the context of growth is very important. In fact, as you grow, you gain and receive more responsibility. Amen. Those who are immature can't carry responsibility. They can't handle it. They fail in responsibilities. In fact, we're talking about growth, you know, and talking about as it as it kind of pertains to responsibility. People who feel like they don't have respons role at home. Sometimes we go, I wish I didn't have this respons freedom. Not having responsibility is not freedom because responsibility and living up to that responsibility, answering that responsibility, fulfilling your responsibility grows you. You become stronger and more mature. When you don't have any responsibility, you don't have anything testing you and strengthening you and building you. So responsibility though sometimes it could be heavy and hard is important. Look at your neighbor and say, "Responsibility is important." Let them know. Go ahead. You don't want Hey, you don't have to be quiet. We're Pentecostal. Oh, so that we can become who God designed us to be. And again, a big part of that has to do with responsibility. Now, responsibility is a big thing and it can sometimes be scary. We talked about this a few weeks ago. It could be scary, right? But it can also be a source of great satisfaction, especially if you fulfill your responsibility successfully. In 1998, I know long time ago, I was given the responsibility by God and by my my swagos, the responsibility of my wife Lorena. And boy is she a responsibility, let me tell you. And see, and her mom's going, "Amen." I know. She She raised her till she was about 22 and then she handed her off to me. Praise the Lord. And I've been struggling ever since. No, I'm just kidding. Praise the Lord. I've been blessed ever since. That's what I meant to say. Blessed in the struggle. Hallelujah. That was my responsibility. And about a year and a half, two years later, I got the responsibility of fatherhood. Can I tell you something? Those two responsibilities are the heaviest and most difficult responsibilities in the world. Being a spouse, a husband, and being a father. Like I I remember when I held my daughter for the first time and I just wanted to ask God like are you serious? Like you're trusting this to me. Me? Come on. You you you heard a little bit about my my relationships uh you know pre-dating my relationship with Lorraine. I never had a girlfriend or relationship that lasted longer than a month. And now I'm getting married. Come on. I'm like you sure? You know, I even gave Lorraine an escape route before we got married. Before, you know, we we officially said I do to each other on this very platform. I gave her an escape route and she stayed. Sucker. Anyways, let's move on. But when I held my daughter in my arms for the first time, I was like, what? Like, you come on, God. You know me. You of all people know me. I'm not worthy of this responsibility. And you know what? I was right. But in God's infinite wisdom and his grace and his favor, he allowed me to be a husband and a father. And there are sometimes where that responsibility is so difficult. We're human, right? We go, "God, man, we sometimes wish we didn't have that responsibility, but then you shake it off and you go, no, no, this isn't going to be easy and it wasn't always going to be." And it's a scary thing, but it can bring that great joy and that satisfaction if you dedicate yourself to it. Think about it. Think back to a time when someone, maybe your parents, a teacher, a boss, gave you responsibility. Think about that responsibility you were given. Maybe it was a small thing, maybe it was a big thing. And you took it seriously. You devoted yourself to that responsibility and you nailed it. You did what needed to be done, what was expected of you, what was asked of you. And you got that great sense of satisfaction with you like, I did this. I was given that responsibility and I did. I slam dunked it, man. And it feels extra good when that leader who gave you that responsibility comes up to you and says, "Great job, man. I'm proud of you. You took that responsibility and you nailed it, man. Great job. Great job. That feels so good." God gives us the responsibilities that he gives. And one of those responsibilities is our growth. We determine our growth in Christ. He has the power to grow us, but we have to show up day to day, moment by moment to receive that growth in him. Amen. One. Thank you, sister. God bless you. Sister Nelly's got my back. Hallelujah. Amen. That's the truth. We're responsible. God's going to give it to us, but we got to show up for it. We're growing in grace. That's the name. That's the title of this series, growing in grace. And that again, that has a a twofold meaning. We're growing in the bubble and the protection of God's grace and his mercy. But then we're also growing in the power of grace because grace is a superpower. It was something that was given to us and it's something that we can give to others. That's our responsibility to grow in that grace. God has put responsibility in our hands. responsibility for our own lives and for our own actions. We are free moral agents. Remember, we have a choice in whether we follow God in his way and we have a choice whether we want to discard that and go our own way. Sometimes that responsibility because it's so heavy and difficult can feel like can feel negative, right? Sometimes responsibility again it's scary, it's heavy. We stand there, we go, "God, really me? You're giving this to me?" Right? The only other time where I felt like I did being, you know, Lorraine's husband and my children's father was when God allowed me to be the pastor of this church. Right? Like, are you sure? I still ask God from time to time, God, are you sure? Are you sure you got the wrong guy? I know there's more qualified guys out there who can who can sit in this seat. And he goes, yeah, there are, but I chose you. I'm like, all right. Okay, God. And I'll run with it. Amen. So again, it can become it can be a a very scary and heavy thing. And so when we see scary and heavy, we label it negative. You hear me talk a lot about about working out because working out is such a great analogy to something like this. Going through the motions of doing the exercises of lifting weights is painful and it's literally destructive. Did you know that? When you're doing bicep curls, you are tearing the muscles. you're you're ripping the muscles in your bicep and then in between your workouts you're giving yourself rest so that muscle rebuilds and it rebuilds tighter, bigger and stronger. So, it's destructive in the beginning, but it's destroying in order to create. It's a painful process because not just not the next day after your bicep workout, but the second day after you go to grab that soda and you're like, right, you're like, "Oh, my arms." Right? Or leg day. I I I sleep upstairs. Me and Lorraine, our room is upstairs. So, leg day, I'm like, what's worse is coming downstairs. It's coming downstairs because you got to prevent yourself from kind of going down too fast. And when your legs are hurting, you're kind of kind of like a little duck. You're like, I can't bend my legs, right? So, it it it hurts. And it and that sometimes alone makes people stop the process of growth because they view that pain as a negative. when it is a net positive because it's going to produce results, good results, strengthening your muscles and making them more capable and able to handle anything and everything. So sometimes we again we equate them with negativity, right? So a couple weeks ago we started talking about some of these negative type feeling of responsibilities. Before we recap, let's go ahead and look at our our base scripture. So, if you have your Bibles today, digital or analog, turn to Ephesians chapter 4. We're going to look at verses 17 through 32. Open scriptures here. All right, Ephesians chapter 4, 17 through32. I'm going to start reading. You can catch up if you haven't got there yet. So, I tell you this and insist on it in the Lord that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do in the futility of their thinking. They are darkened in their understanding and separated from life in the understand or separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. So their thinking is is messed up because of the hardening of their hearts. Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge themselves in every kind of impurity and they are full of greed. Verse 20. That however is not the way of life you learned when you heard about Christ and were taught in him accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. You were taught with regard to your former way of life to put off your old self which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires. I I love how he puts that. Put off your old self like it's a garment as easily as you take off your jacket at the end of the day. As easy as you strip off the clothing that is tainted with the day, we're supposed to take off the old the old man which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires to be made new in the attitude of your minds. Verse 24, and to put on the new self created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. Therefore, each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbor, for we are all members of one body. In your anger, do not sin. Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry. And do not give the devil a foothold. Anyone who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work doing something useful with their own hands, that they may have something to share with those in need. Verse 29. Do not let any unh wholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Get rid of all bitterness, rage, and anger, brawling, and slander along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other just as Christ just as in Christ God forgave you. Amen. Amen.
Now, that's a that's a mouthful. That's a big chunk of scripture. We're gonna we're gonna pull that apart in pieces. Now before I left, we talked about the first responsibility in that set of scriptures that could be deemed or looked at or felt as negative because it's so heavy and because it's so difficult. And what was that? It was changing your walk. God has given you the responsibility of changing the way that you walk. Not just the direction that you walk, but the way that you walk. Before you used to stalk and sneak in darkness. Now, because the scripture says that we're supposed to walk in the light as he is in the light, you stand up tall as a representative, as an ambassador of Christ Jesus the Lord. Amen. So, you have that responsibility of walking differently. And folks, there needs to be a difference in the way that you walk. Again, as we said a couple weeks ago, it needs to be tangible, meaning it needs to be seen, heard, and felt by others. They literally have to see you walking in a different way. Again, not physically, but spiritually. When God doesn't work on the inside, I'm going to tell you right now, it affects the outside. Amen. When God doesn't work on the inside, it affects the outside. People should see, hear, and experience that change in your walk. It needs to be tangible. It needs to be quantifiable, meaning it can be measured and proved and traced back to Jesus. It's not because you won the lottery. It's not because you got a new wife. It's not because you just had a brand new baby be born. It's not because you bought a new car and you're enjoying that new car smell. It's not because somebody took you out to lunch and you got free food. No, the way you walk has changed because of Jesus. You don't keep it a secret. Amen. You don't light a candle and hide it under a bowl. You let the world see. Thank you for that. No. I appreciate that. You you you understood the assignment. She said no out loud. Hide it under a bushel. I'm gonna let it shine. Amen. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. It's lit up for all the world to see. That's what the scripture tells us in Matthew. So, we should allow that change to be seen and we should allow people to understand that it doesn't come from anything that we've done except for surrendering to Jesus. Amen. It needs to be quantifiable. And it means that we have the responsibility of not living like we used to. We talked about that. Don't live like you used to. your speech, your actions, and even your thoughts must be different. And that's a difficult one. Sometimes we can get away with the actions and the words, but sometimes our thoughts are the hardest things to take captive. The Bible says, take captive your thoughts. That means that you have to actively police your brain. Can I tell you something? I know it sounds exhausting, but that's a good thing. Police your thoughts. And when negativity arises in your thoughts, take it captive. arrest it in Jesus name. You've been deputized by God Almighty in the name of Jesus to take captive those thoughts. You take those thoughts and you give them to the Lord. Forgive me Lord that thought in my mind I hand it over to you in Jesus name. I know it's it's it's that's a that's a it's a big ask. That's a difficult task right there. But it's worth it. It's worth it. If we're willing to work out our body, let's work out our mind as well in Jesus name. Amen. So again, your speech, your actions, even your thoughts. You do that, this is the part that's important. The way that you can do that is by killing the old man. You know who the old man is, right? It's you BC. It's you before Christ. That old man got into all kind of mischief. We got to put him in the dirt. Don't bury him alive because he'll just dig his way out and come back to haunt you like a zombie. And he'll devour you and take you over. Come on, somebody. You got to kill him dead. Bury him in the ground. Kill the old man. That old person you used to be is dead. I am no longer that person. I'm a new creation. And now because of that, there's no condemnation for me who is in Christ Jesus. Amen. So, you bury him dead. How do you do that? It's a It's easier said than done, right? But I'm going to give you the simple answer. Starve the old man. Starve the old man. Starve the old woman. What does that mean? Don't feed him or her. And what do they feed on? Negativity, sin, shame, all of that. All of that stuff, all the sin. That's what they love. So starve the old man and the old woman of that carnality. Learn how to say no. We practice that right now. Ready? One, two, three. >> Good job. So say that as loud and as vigorously to the enemy and to your own negative thoughts, to your own sinful thoughts as you did right now in the house of God when it was easy. Do it when it's difficult because that's when it matters. When you're being tempted and the enemies, he's slick, man. He is slick. He'll come through with that shiny iron pyite. You know what iron pyite is, right? Fool's gold. Looks like gold. Presents itself as gold, but it's not gold and it's worthless. So, he's going to come and dangle all those shiny things in front of your face to get you to follow his way. Learn how to say no in Jesus name. Take captive those thoughts. Say no in Jesus name. Don't live like you used to. Kill the old man by starving him to death of all those things that he used to feed on. And and and when it says don't walk like the world walks, how does the world walk? They it said so in the scripture that we just read in the beginning of it. In the futility of their own minds. meaning they've they're locked unswervingly and unwaveringly in their own beliefs. They walk with darkened hearts, with blind eyes, and they're drowning in sin. Do not be that person that you were before. Change your walk. Look at your neighbor. Tell them, "Change your walk."
All right. Second thing, second heavy responsibility that come can sometimes feel negative because it's so difficult and it's so hard to do. Controlling your anger. I I knew I would get that response. I know I got some angry people out here. My people, you you're looking at somebody who deals with anger on a daily basis. I mean, we all do, but some of us deal with it in a in a in a harder way, right? I may not look like an angry person to you because I'm working. I'm working on it. Amen. I'm struggling through it in the best way possible by giving it daily to the Lord. Sometimes I win and I celebrate that. Sometimes I fall on my face and then I got to say my apologies to those who I hurt with my angers. Then I got to stand up, seek forgiveness from the Lord, and start walking the path again. Remember watching I'm a comic book guy, so I love comic book movies. And I remember watching uh The Incredible Hulk, uh the the uh the Ed Edward Norton uh Incredible Hulk, the real Incredible Hulk. Um I remember watching that movie and uh he was working in in an environment where you know in those factories it says we've had so many days without incident or without injury right and and and he had that kind of sign in his in his room. I've had I've had so many days you know because his whole thing is getting angry Hulk's whole power comes from anger. The angrier he gets the stronger he gets right the more unbeatable he gets. It made it into a positive when man the more angry you get the stupider you get right and we sometimes feel like we've got not even minutes between our outburst and anger. Well our job is to make those those times stretch out longer to have more days between those those encounters with our anger. And it's tough. It's a difficult thing. Trust me coming from somebody who deals with it heavily. Anger is a very hard thing to control. But our first subpoint lets you know the truth. You have the power to control your anger. Period. You have the power to control your anger. Can you say that with me? I have the power to control my anger. One more time. I have the power to control my anger. Why do you have that power? Because you have Jesus in your life. He has gifted you the Holy Spirit of God which gives you the strength and the power to control yourself. It's not easy. It is difficult. One of the most difficult things in the world, especially if if you're one of those who's used to just flipping out and hulking out, right? You can do it. Your anger has to do with you personally. I'll say that again. Your anger and how you express it, even just the way that you the fact that you feel that anger, that has to do with you, not anybody else. Yes, it may have been direct a direct result of what somebody did or said to you, but that anger is yours. And contrary to popular belief, you can control it. So that's the first thing I want you to understand. It's your anger. Yes, somebody may have said something to you or done something that caused you to be angry, but what you do with that negative emotion is you. You are the only person who can determine what gets done. You can give it to God and let him handle it or you can take it by force, Hulk out and handle it yourself and see what happens. You know what the Hulk is known for besides anger, right? Destruction. He breaks stuff. Hulk smash. Amen. It doesn't say Hulk discusses rationally. No, it says Hulk smash and then when the anger is burned off, he turns back into Banner. What happened? Oh, if it was that easy. Oh, it's just this rage monster. I I can't take any responsibility for what I did when, you know, if you make me angry, you know, you won't like me when you when I'm angry, right? I it's our responsibility. We don't have a rage monster that lives within us unless we allow that rage monster to live within us. We are that rage monster depending on how we handle our anger. You can control your anger. God has given you the power to control every emotion, even intense anger. That power comes from the Holy Spirit. Galatians chapter 5 22 and 23. You know this scripture It says that to those who allow themselves to walk in the spirit, walk by the spirit, there's evidence of the spirit's work in their life in the form of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, and what? Oh, come on, say it. Self Yeah, I know. Sorry guys, you're not off the hook. If you claim to be a Christ follower and you're allowing the spirit to lead you and guide you, then that fruit, those fruits will be evident in your life. They will be seen and felt. They are the evidence of the Holy Spirit's work in your life in the fact that you have chosen to walk in the light as he is in the light. to follow the spirit and not the nature of your flesh and your sin. Now, do we win all the time on this? Of course not. We're we're sinners. We're covered in flesh. We mess up. But what you do when you mess up matters. Say your apologies. Make it right as best as you can. Then get back up and keep walking on the path that God laid before you. Amen. That's a that's a proper self-control. When you can do that, then you can see that you have the power to to apply that self-control even before you mess up and those instances between explosions become further and further and further. Does that make sense? You have the power and the power is Christ in you. The power is his holy spirit. And if you are allowing the Holy Spirit to live within you and you're following in, you're keeping in step with the spirit, then you will have that evidence in your life of self-control. And folks, we need to use self-control. Not just with our anger, but in all areas of our life. Amen. It's a difficult one. I'm here to tell you it's hard. Yes, I'm with you on that. But together, we can do that. We can grow together, keeping each other accountable, praying for one another, challenging one another, right? Encouraging one another, but you are the master of your own emotions. And by the the power of the Holy Spirit, you have the final say on whether those negative emotions like anger get to control you. You have a choice. Look at your neighbor. Tell me you have a choice. A and before you twist it, anger is not the problem. Anger is not sin. Even God gets angry. We see in scripture the fury of God. But but the difference between God and us is that he has righteous indignation, righteous anger, righteous wrath. And we have carnal anger, carnal wrath. When he is in control of his anger and he directs it in a constructive way, our anger leads to destruction if we don't control it. Amen. So anger is not the problem. It's what we do in our anger. Anger in and of itself is not a sin, but it can however lead to sinful deeds. Anger is a natural and normal part of life. We feel it even towards our our closest friends and family members. So how many of you are married? Some of you probably got mad at your spouse today. Amen. Oh no, not us. Liar. If you connected your life with another person, you are bound to get angry sometime, right? You may be good at holding it back or you may be very expressive with it. Either way, you feel it. You show me a couple who doesn't get angry at each other, I show you a couple that's not going to last. It's they're they're lying. They're lying to themselves. They're lying to each other. Everything ain't always sunshine and roses and lollipops and unicorns in marriage. You get on each other's nerve. You get under each other's skin. And that is okay because two lives are coming together and they don't just fit hand and glove all perfectly all the time. Come on, somebody. It's getting real quiet in here. Starting to think my marriage is in shambles. Knock it off, guys. Say amen. Jeez. It's true. But we have the power to control it in a constructive way with the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Amen. Brothers and sisters have anger towards each other all the time. Parents and their children deal with anger as well. Husbands and wives, folks, sometimes the fireworks in the bedroom have nothing to do with romance. It has to do with arguments. Knockdown dragouts. Amen. They get mad at each other. You're having this conversation and you're that's what you tell your kids. You guys were you guys were really loud. Oh, me and mom were having a conversation last night. You know, that's that's code word for argument, right? You were mad. You were sharing those emotions, those negative emotions. It happens. But we have to control that anger. The Bible tells that we can't let that get to us. It says that we must with his help deal with it and squash that anger before the sun goes down. Look at uh Ephesians 4:26 and 27. In our base scripture today, it said this, "In your anger, do not sin." So, he's given you permission to be angry. You're going to get angry. God gets angry. But in that anger, do not do anything destructive. Do not do anything that causes shame to you or to somebody else. In your anger, do not sin. And here's how he said you can do that. Do not let the sun go down on your anger. Let's handle that that part first. Don't let the sun go down on your an Handle it. Look at your neighbor. Handle it. Handle that anger. Deal with it. Don't just write it off. Handle that anger. Deal with it outright. Say you're sorryries. Roll over and tell your wife that you were wrong. And ladies, it goes the other way, too. and all the men's ministry said, "Hallelujah." Right? Roll over and say, "Honey, I love you. I'm sorry." Even if you still feel like you're right, I'm sorry that I let it get there. I'm sorry that I let my intense feelings be expressed as anger towards you. Last thing I want to do is hurt your feelings. I love you, honey. That's bad. The respect Unless she rolls over. So, but you do admit you were wrong, right? Woman, come out of that demon. Anyways, let's move on. Yeah, some of you will get that on the rewatch on YouTube. Praise the Lord. Right. The respect there. He may still feel that he's right, but he didn't have to blow up up at me and he took responsibility. Or or the other way around. Do not let the sun go down in your anger and therefore give the devil a foothold because that's a foothold for the enemy right there. Your spouse is your partner in life. You co-lead that house, your children, the finances, the health, spiritual health of the home, physical health of the home. You should be counting on each other. So you got to work that out. You cannot let the sun go down in your anger and therefore give the devil a foothold. The last thing in the world we want to do is give the enemy a foothold because you give him an inch, as the old saying goes, he's going to take a mile. I don't know if you passed by, go down Alam Rock when you're coming to church uh and Alam Rock uh church down the street over there across from uh Home Depot. They have their sign up and it says, "If you give the devil an inch, he becomes your ruler." I like that. I was like, "What?" I was ready to see I was ready to read the last part as he'll take a mile and then say you give an inch he becomes your ruler. Bam. That was good. If we give him a foothold in our life, he will struggle with you for control until you give in and give up or tell him where he can go. Amen. And you tell him where he can go by doing contrary to what he wants you to do. You walk in the spirit, not in your fleshly desires. Somebody say amen. Now, some people deal with constant anger. You heard me say that. I have a short fuse. I can I can praise God right now and testify today that my fuse is longer than it ever has been. BC, I had a short fuse. Do not light it because you can't throw it quick enough. That firecracker will go off. Had a lot of reasons to be angry. I'm a ble I'm a blessed man. I came up in a in a great home. My mom and dad were together until he went to be with the Lord. Had a strong family, a strong faith, but I was still angry. I had anger problems. I dealt with that that anger and I had a short fuse and it usually went off to the people that are closest to me. Isn't that how anger works sometimes? Your anger usually hurts the most the people that you're closest to and who love you the most and you love the most, right? But thank God because of his grace and his mercy and a lot of work, he has made that fuse longer. I wish it was super long, like went out the door, but it kind of gets to the end of my foot now. Praise the Lord. Hallelujah. But it's longer and and I'm working on it. And sometimes that's that's what it takes. And I have more strength now and wherewithal to catch myself when I'm angry. I see what I've said or done and I apologize for it. for when I'm really on it. I catch it before it even comes out my mouth. Those words of anger and frustration. So, it's something that we have to grow in. And sometimes people deal with constant anger. They deal with anger day in and day out. From the time they wake up to the time they go to bed, even the smallest little things make them angry. Right? You ever been in a in a rage? Something made you mad and and then you keep dropping something? You ever done that? And then you pick that thing up, chuck it, and then you got to take that walk of shame to go pick it up because you really needed it. Right? It happens, right? And and and your family's looking at you like, "You are you okay?" "No, I'm not okay. Why are you so mad? I dropped the deodorant like 15 times." Yeah. And then you chucked it across the room. Now you got to go walk a shame and go pick it up, right? Because not only your armpits stink, but your attitudes stink. You better check yourself. Amen. Right. We we we get upset. Some people deal with that and it takes the smallest thing to set them off. Whether it's just a series of circumstances that is happening to
Them, or they're just wired that way, and they get angry at the littlest things. Folks like this get used to being angry. In fact, anger becomes their closest companion. They don't feel comfortable unless they have something to be mad at. So, they go around looking for things to be angry at. It sounds insane, but it's real. It's real. Trust me. I lived there for a long time. You're just looking for something to get angry at, and you refuse to believe that you're actually doing that. You blame it on everybody else. "They're just making me mad. Stop making me mad." Right. "You're chewing too loud. You're breathing too loud." Can't control that, right? I'm sorry that my, that me existing is making you angry, but that's what it is. So, you're looking for something to make you mad because anger has become one of your closest companions and confidence. That's not good. It's not healthy.
Some people even learn to use their anger for their own benefit, right? You know what that's called? Kids do it all the time. It's called throwing a tantrum, a hissy fit. You get mad, you go in a rage, and you find that once you start doing that, some people will back off and give you what you want. Kids do it all the time, and they should not. You know what? That's a sign of immaturity. Thank you. That is a sign of immaturity. If you use your anger to get what you want, that's immaturity right there. Because you cannot do what you need to do in a mature, Christ-like fashion. So, you turn into a rage monster and scare everybody around you until they fold. I love it when I see parents not giving in. Like you're walking in Target and this kid's screaming for the toy. I don't like it when they ignore that whole ignore thing. That's hard because you might be good at ignoring your child from screaming in the Target aisle. But I'm not. I can't ignore them. They're screaming their head off, right? I love it when I see that parent just walk up to them, look at them, grab them by the arm, and walk them away. Because I know where they're going. They're going to get course-corrected. I don't know how mom or dad's going to correct that course, but they're taking charge and not letting the rage machine right there at their side dictate how long they stay at Target or what they walk out with. And they're not allowing their child to dictate how everybody else around them is going to feel in their immaturity because they're a kid. The mature adult, who is the parent, because that's how God works it out, gets to take them to the side and correct their course. Amen. Don't spare the rod and spoil the child. Acting out like that, argument, or, you know, hissy fits and tantrums are a huge sign of immaturity. That is not how we are supposed to be acting as Christians. We do not get to throw tantrums. I've seen it happen one too many times. And, and it's funny when they, that person doesn't want to admit that they threw a tantrum or that hissy fit. They just say that they're standing up for what they believe in. Okay. Right. "Oh, I just had, I had to make my stand." Didn't look like you were standing to me. You look like a bull in a china shop going crazy, not caring who, who your words affected, right? It may be directed at one person, but everybody's getting tossed left and right. That is not how Christ-like individuals are supposed to work their anger out. We're not supposed to be throwing tantrums and raging on people. Amen.
So, this begs the question, how do we deal with our anger? Problems caused by or sins committed in anger cannot be left to fester. First and foremost, handle it. Amen. Handle that anger. Do not leave it to fester. These problems, they need to be dealt with as soon as possible. Now, I will say this. It's okay to have a cooling-off period. Some of us need to walk away from those things that make us angry. How many of you know what I'm talking about? You got to give yourself space between you and that thing because you, you just might hulk out right now and do something destructive. So, you need to walk away. Now, if you are connected to a person who needs a buffer zone when they get angry, do not follow them. Leave them be. Okay? "We need to fix this right now. Where are you going? Don't walk away from me. You get back here right now. We need to handle this." And that is not helping. Their rage is only building. The thermometer is peaking, and you're pushing them to a point where they're only going to be able to see red. Amen. Let them walk away. And, and, and don't follow them physically, but also don't follow them with your words. Just let them go. Let them walk away for a moment. If that's what they need, they need to go in the garage and tinker with something. When I get mad, sometimes I, I do the things I don't want to do, the things I like least to do, like fold laundry or, or like clean something. I hate that about myself because she sees me do it and thinks that I like it. "I don't like that." Or she gets wise and goes, "Wait, he gets mad. He cleans. Good old poke the bear through some vacuum your feet." Let them go away and breathe because sometimes all it takes is for us to step away and allow the thermometer to go back down again for us to regulate our temperature.
Now, to those of you who need to step away, we've talked to the people on the other side not to follow you, not only physically but with their words as well. You have a responsibility. Remember, we're talking about responsibility. You need to step away, calm down, and breathe. Pray. It's the first thing you should do. Your responsibility is to come back and handle business. Not even one amen. Your responsibility is to come back and deal with that problem. And sometimes, hopefully, in the moments that you took to breathe and pray, first and foremost, God dealt with your heart and your anger. And if you're wrong, He helps you see it. And you come back and humble yourself. I know, guys. I'm so sorry. But that's the only way to do it. You have to humble yourself. First, you humble yourself before God, and you reveal all of your heart to Him and say, "God, help me to deal with this. Show me if I'm wrong. Show me what to do." And if He shows you that you're wrong, then you take that humility that you gave to God and you carry that to your spouse, or to your child, or to your brother, your sister, your friend, your co-laborer in Christ, whoever you're angry with, and you come back with that humility and you apologize for your part in that. Amen. "I'm angry. I'm not sorry that I'm angry, but I'm sorry how I am. I did not have to do that or say that or react that way. I apologize." If you're wrong in the argument, then you admit that you're wrong. "I messed up. I am so sorry. Please forgive me." And then you put the ball in their court. If you are the offendee and you've been offended and you're still angry, receive that apology. Receive it. And it's not faking it till you make it. You're receiving that apology by faith. You're recognizing that it came. They, they, they admitted that they were wrong and they humbled themselves. That took a lot for them to do that. And you receive that apology and then you walk away and you deal with that apology. You let God deal with you and that apology because they've done their part, and now the ball's in your court, and you have to practice self-control. Do not, when they, when they figure it out and God's told them that they're wrong and they humbly come back and they apologize to you, don't go, "Well, thank you. Don't ever do that again." You know what you did? You just, instead of, you know, helping to put out the fire, you strapped on a blowtorch and just ignited it again. Is this making sense? We can't do that. We cannot do that to ourselves and to each other. That perpetuates the problem. Right? So, in our anger, we do not sin, and we do not let the sun go down in anger. We do that by handling it. You can step away and take a breather, but your responsibility is to come back. If you're not the one who needs to step away, when that person comes back, you receive them with a clear head and you work towards a constructive outcome instead of a destructive one. Remember, you serve a God of construction. He creates. The enemy is one who destroys. He seeks to steal, kill, and what? Destroy. And He would love nothing more than your partnership with that person to be destroyed when God wants nothing more for it to be strengthened and become a, a powerhouse. Amen.
So, we got to deal with that problem again. It's okay to have that cooling-off period, but you got to come back. As soon as that cooling-off is done, we need to come back together, talk, offer apologies, ultimately reconcile our diffic, reconcile our uh differences. Here, here's the thing. Sometimes you're going to have to, uh, make a compromise. Sometimes your arguments aren't going to have a clear-cut, they're right, they're wrong. Sometimes you're going to have to agree to disagree and walk away. Does, does that, is that a dealbreaker? Can you, can you disagree with your brother or sister in Christ? Is that a possible thing? Yeah. You can, you may not see eye to eye on some thing, some minute little detail, but you see eye to eye on Christ Jesus the Lord and who He is, who He calls you to be, and the fact that He's called you to work together. Amen. You're not always going to get along. You're not always going to like the ideas of others. When my pastor was, was the head of this church, I didn't always agree with the things that, that he did. And a lot of times he would involve me in helping to make those decisions. And I remember he reprimanded me very nicely, very lovingly. He asked for my input, and I said, "Pastor, whatever you want to do, you're the man of God. I got your back. I'm your armor bearer. I got you." And he goes, "Mate, thank you for your, your loyalty. I really appreciate that. But I'm asking you what you feel." I go, "Like, really? Not a test? Like, you're not, I want to be David, man. I want to be the armor bearer that I'm called to be regardless of whether I agree or not." So, you don't agree? Are you really asking me? He says, "Mate, I give you permission to tell me how you feel." And then I would tell him, "All right. All right. We're going to think about that. We're going to pray on that." And you know what he did? Sometimes he would take my suggestions. I don't know anything. I'm just a youth pastor. What do I know? Right? He allowed me to lead with him. There were times where I did not agree, and he built a relationship with me where I can come to him and say, "Pastor, I'm kind of having an issue with that." And he would say, "All right, let's talk. Let's talk about it." He wouldn't get offended that I didn't like his idea. So, I try to do that. I try to extend that grace to everybody in my life as well. It's not easy, let me tell you. Because sometimes when you feel right, you're right. And to have somebody come to you and say, "I don't like that idea." Okay. "Well, tell me why." Instead of getting offended and getting mad, taking it personal, listen to what that person has to say. Maybe they're right. Maybe they've got something there. We may have to agree to disagree. Sometimes we may have to walk away not seeing eye to eye, but seeing eye to eye on this one thing. We're moving in that direction with Christ, and we're brothers and sisters in Christ. So, I'm moving with you, and you with me. Amen. We're in this together. Whether we agree 100% of the time or not.
Sometimes you'll have to compromise in beneficial ways. The other part of dealing with anger is understanding that sometimes there will be no victory for you outside of your ability to give it to Jesus. Are you hearing me? You sometimes you're not going to get the clear-cut answer, and you're just going to have to, by faith, trust God. I always tell my wife when she thinks I'm wrong, I go, especially about like spiritual things or like churchwide things, like, "I don't think you should do that. I think you need to do this." And I go, "Well, I haven't heard from the Holy Spirit yet. So, I'm going to wait to hear from the Holy Spirit more than you. I love you, but the Holy Spirit's my, He's my boss boss, right? So, pray to God and ask Him to tell me if I'm wrong or that I need to do something different than what I've already planned." And, and I told her, I told Lorraine, "He will hear you and He will answer that prayer. And then trust that your husband is humble enough to not only receive God's change of direction, but then I'll also apply it." You're just going to have to trust God. So, I'm going to keep doing what I, what I think is right until the Holy Spirit speaks to me. If you think it's wrong, talk to my boss. Go straight. I'm giving you permission to go straight to the big man himself and ask Him. And He is faithful to do that. There have been times where I've been wanting to go a certain way, and I know she's prayed and asked God to show me, "Is that the right way?" And then God comes to me and, and speaks to my heart and shows me. It's real, folks. Do we believe that God answers prayer? Do we believe that God hears us? And instead of getting mad with me, she could take that to the Lord. Instead of getting frustrated because she doesn't agree that I should do this, she takes it to the Lord. She takes it to the one who can change my heart. God is better at changing the hearts of men than our spouses are. Amen. God is better at changing the heart of our wives better than our husbands are. Amen. He is the great convener. He is the great redirector. Sometimes in our right intentions, we just cause an argument. But if we pray and we ask God, and you know where I learned that? I learned that from my pastor. My pastor, we were sitting down talking about something one time, and we were, I was talking about a disagreement me and, me and Lorraine were having, and he goes, "You know, this has worked for us." And he told us that very thing. And I've seen that work in our life as well. If you guys have a problem with what I've said or what I'm doing or with the direction that I'm taking this church and asking you to follow me, it's okay for you to talk to me about it. It absolutely is. But more than that, pray and ask the Holy Spirit to guide me. "Father, I'm not sure Pastor Matt has taken us in the right direction. So, I'm bringing this to you because you, you are God. You are his leader. You are his direct leader. Speak to my pastor's heart. Reveal the truth to him. Show him which way he's supposed to go." And then add this. "And if I'm wrong, God, help me to accept it." Because folks, it always takes two to tango. Amen. There's always responsibility on both sides. If you come to me and you express that you're unsure about a direction I'm going, I'm gonna, it's my responsibility not to go crazy, take it personal, and be mad at you, but to talk with you. And it's your responsibility that if God does answer your prayer and shows that the way that He's taken me is the way that He wants me to go, then it's your responsibility to accept that and adapt your walk to it. Can we make that, can we, can we make that that exchange, that understanding? Amen. It is okay. That's how we handle things and not ever let anger seep in because the moment anger seeps in, sometimes we just let our brains go crazy. Amen. Amen.
So again, the other part of dealing with anger is understanding that sometimes there will be no victory for you outside of your ability to let it go. Give it to Jesus, build a bridge, and get over it. Sometimes that's all you can do. And most of the time, that's the best thing to do. But none of this can happen if you do not, here it comes, if you do not humble yourself before God. You must humble yourself before God. Pour out your anger before Him and put your trust in Him to handle all of those negative things that provoke that anger inside of you. Amen. Praise God. I got two more points. I'm gonna do a solid for you. We're going to end right here. I didn't, I didn't know that me talking about anger was going to be a whole service thing. So folks, if God's talking to you, then we need to deal with that right now. Amen. I'm gonna ask the worship team to come and help me close out this morning. Come quickly, please. I want to give you an opportunity to hit this altar. Whether you do that with one of our prayer partners who are going to walk with you through it and agree with you on it, or whether you want to come down and just bury your head in this altar or one of these seats up here and just get alone with God and take responsibility for that, I feel a, a, a huge responsibility right now to give you an opportunity to deal with that anger if you are somebody who deals with it. Now, let me preface this, this next move with this. If that's you, listen to me. Do not feel shame. Do not feel shame. Here's why. Shame will keep you from this altar. Do not let shame put up a wall of pride between you and getting that anger dealt with. Amen. If you're dealing with anger, maybe it's not a lifelong thing. Maybe you're just, just recently you're dealing with something that is causing you great distress and great anger. And God is giving you an opportunity today to handle it right here in His house, in His presence. I'm going to ask our, our prayer team to come, our prayer partners, any of our deacons and their spouses, would you come? They're here to pray with you, to pray for you. Utilize them. They'll be up here. But if you just want to come and spend that time in His presence, then let's do that right now. Amen. Let's stand to our feet and let's pray. And I'm gonna release you to come to this altar and deal with whatever God, whatever you're dealing with right now, to bring that right here to this, this altar. Father, in Jesus name, we thank You today for focusing, laser focusing our attention today on controlling our anger. God, You're talking to us about responsibility from Your word. That, that, that portion of scripture in Ephesians 4 is all about Christian living. We can't live like the world anymore. We've got to live like Christ. And that's a heavy responsibility. And that responsibility sometimes can feel too difficult. Well, here's the good thing. You don't ask us to walk that path alone. You ask us to walk with You. That You will walk with us. And You will help us in those moments when things get heavy, things get difficult. Especially in this area, You've asked us to, to control the way we walk, to change the way we walk. And today, You're asking us to control our anger. You're pinpointing that one negative emotion because we deal with that, God, on a daily basis. Some of us deal with little bouts of it, and others are angry all day. Whoever we are, however we carry it, however we're affected by that anger today, may we be sensitive enough to feel Your Holy Spirit lead us to this altar. And may we have the trust and faith in You enough to allow You to help us with our anger. That though our, our anger never decrease, but, but that we learn self-control and how to handle that anger. There are people who are dealing with anger on a daily basis. Seems like from the moment they wake up to the time they go to sleep, they're just angry. God, I pray that You help them, that You, that You shape, reshape their outlook as they wake up in the morning. Let them wake up just being aware, fully aware and sensitive to the glory of God, to Your glory, God, to Your goodness and Your mercy. God, let them wake up to Your voice whispering in their ear about grace and mercy and forgiveness, Lord. God, help them to take the scripture seriously that says to think on the good things, whatever is good, whatever is noble, whatever is pure and lovely, think on these things that their mind will be turned to that, God. And as they immerse themselves in You, as they continuously walk in Your Spirit, less and less of that carnal anger would take root in their hearts. Father, I pray as we're at this altar today that God, You would work on us. We humbly submit ourselves to You today, knowing nothing that we do or say will change our predicament, but knowing full well that as we come before You and humble ourselves before You, You have all the power to help us, God. God, have Your way. Strengthen us and let this be the moment that we get the victory over anger and frustration and rage and how we express that. We give it to You today, right now. Just continue to pray. Continue to seek the face of God. Seek His mercy. Seek His grace. Seek a transformation. The, the, the worship team is going to lead us in a song this morning. And we just want you to pray through. God is here. God is in the business of answering prayers. He's in the business of transforming lives. Submit yourself to Him right now and allow Him to do that work today in Jesus name. Come on, let's pray this thing through in Jesus name.
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