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[Music] [Music] How many's fired up for summer 2025? Let's go. Let's go. Let's go. Best summer ever. I love how Pastor Mark proclaimed that. The best summer ever. I'm believing God for it. I just love being here. My favorite place on the planet is to be at Church of the Highlands on a weekend.
We want to welcome you. Let me take a moment to welcome all of those that have joined us. We are one church in many locations. Welcome all those at one of our location, one of our campuses. We love you. We love you. Shout out to Silicaga because I know Pastor Mark and Jill are there today visiting at one of our campuses. I know that's their heart to get to all the campuses and we just want you to know I just like saying the word Silicaga. It just sounds Alabama. So shout out to Silicaga. And then also let me say a big love to all those watching online. We love you. We love you.
And then I can't forget, because it's so important, those that are experiencing church at our correctional facilities. And let me just put it on pause for a minute because I just want to say thank you to the most generous church on the planet. I know yesterday we were at the Women's Montgomery Correctional Facility in Kilby and uh we were able to go there and bring support and bring resource and bring hamburgers and hot dogs and jump houses and dunk boos and and preaching the word doing worship for friends and family day that takes place once a year. You were there supporting. Hey, many people made their decision for Jesus Christ right there at that experience. Again, because of generosity, faithfulness of your tithe and offering. You can see it at work. And so we love all those that are at our correctional facilities. So welcome, welcome to Church of the Highlands from Grants Meal. We just thank God for you.
I'm really enjoying this series. There is more uh every single installment. I just love that idea more. I like that word. We'll talk about it a little bit, but there is more. There is more in God. There is more. We heard about it the first week. Pastor Mark talked about step up, great message. Then Dave Ramsey talked about it for our resources and our finances. And then last week, what a great message from our pastor. There's more for our families. It was incredible. Incredible. Incredible. I've listened to it a couple times because I just need that in my life. I want that embedded in my heart as a dad, as a granddad, as a husband. And and I just thank God for this series. And I just believe that God is speaking to us. I believe God is saying to each of our lives, to us as a family, to us as a church, to us as individual, that he has more for us. God has not lost the recipe of a miracle. And and I'm just believing God for it.
You know, I'll celebrate this summer 40 years of being in ministry. Now, some of it was bivocational. We started our church in Baton Rouge. Those years I was cutting grass, washing cars a little bit on the side. We started our church. I've been full-time in some other jobs for seasons and but really 40 years ago this summer uh I said yes to an interim youth pastor job and and and I love the view. I I loved it then and I love it now and after all these years of ministry and all the different views and all the different opportunities and then being a part of of Highlands these last dozen years or so, I just can tell you this right now and I'm 60. I'm an old-timer. Glory to God. You know, I'm one of the old-timers. You know, you don't say old-timer like old-timer. You say oldtimer. And so I'm an old-timer and I've been in it a while. And can I tell you, I have never been more fired up, more excited, more enthusiasm, more expectation, more hope in my life and what God is doing than right now. I'm believing God for it. Greater things in my life, greater things for our church to continue to see God move in our lives because he has more for each of us.
So, I want to talk for a few minutes on the idea that there is more for our church. More for our church. And when I say church, I just mean you and me, all the us, just us. And I believe God's got something for us today. Let's pray. Father, we love you. Speak to us for a few minutes. We We thank God for your presence. We sense it here. Lord, we lean into you. We need you. We need you in our life. We need more of you in our life. So, Lord, we we we submit. We surrender. We ask for you to speak. We're ready to hear your word. Lord, I pray right now you'd give us more. Four of you in Jesus name. Everybody said a good amen. Won't you turn to the person next to you and say, "There is more." Come on. Turn to that other person was your second choice and tell them, "You look like you could use a whole lot more, my friend. I got a whole lot more." Our key text is Ephesians 3:20-21. Such a big promise. Verse 20. Now to him, it is always about him. I love a church that's always been built on him. Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more. There's that word more. Immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine according to his power that gives us the source. Gives us the hope that is at work within us. All us. There's an us. There's a you. There's a me. And then there's an us. Verse 21. To him be glory in the church. Lord, we pray for your glory to be in the church. You sense it during worship. Lord, we want the glory of God in our life when we gather in small groups and we gather on a First Wednesday and we we gather in those moments where we sense your pray the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout not just the state of it but throughout all generations. Aren't you glad that God is not a one-generation God? I love that this summer, summer of 25, you could hear Pastor Mark talking about all the things for all the different generations. Love a church that has always had a heart for generations forever and ever. That means it's ongoing forever and ever. I love that word there in Ephesians 3:20. More. That's what we're talking about. That's what the whole idea is around. I believe it's a word from the Lord. That word more actually is a layered word. More is a layered word. The only way I can think about it, it's like a like a seven-bean layer dip. Y'all know what I'm talking about. It's just like different layers and you get to one layer and you you you dip and say, "Oh Lord, there's something else down there." Well, that's a surprise. Come on. Let's all go to Chewies right now. We're running to Chewies. And and so it's layers layers. And and God says, "I've got layers for you. There's there's something else I have for you." It means it keeps revealing. It's ever expanding. It's ever increasing. That it surpasses the norm. Like way, way, way more. God has more for us. He's a God of more.
You know, thinking about our time together, preparing and and praying, reading the scripture, I love these scenes in the Bible that when you read them, you think, "Man, I'd like to been there. I'd like I'd like to just be standing on the sideline when Jesus fed the multitudes. That would have been awesome to watch that when when God parted the Red Sea. It would have been great to to have a front row seat, just watch that whole thing play out. But I don't know if there's a better story in the New Testament of a of a moment in the life of Christ that would have been that I would have loved to watch. And and it's found in Matthew, it's found in Mark, and it's found in Luke. We'll be looking at the account in Luke, but it is the transfiguration of Jesus. It's a big word. The transfiguration of Jesus. Jesus is at the end of his earthly ministry and is is facing the cross and the resurrection power being the obedient son. He's going to pay for the sins of the world. And and and he's talking about his death, his burial, his resurrection. Peter has said, "You are the son of God. It's being revealed." There's talk about it. And then there's this moment. I love it in Luke 9:28-43. And I think it says so much as a now word for our church and a now word for us. I believe it's a picture and a visual of what God wants to do in each of our lives. Verse 28, it tells us at about 8 days after Jesus had said all these things. That gives you the context. He took Peter, John, and James. Just a little little small group within a group. He took them with them. They all went together. They went up on a mountain to pray. As he was praying, the appearance of his face changed. His clothes became bright as a flashing of like lightning. Just flashing and lightning. It's amazing. Two men showed up, Moses and Elijah. They appeared in glorious splendor and they're talking with G. That happened on a on an evening. It happened in a moment where Jesus is there on the Mount Peter, James, and John. And there's this glory, this revealing of the of the savior, revealing of the son of God. He is the fullness of the godhead. He is the same today, yesterday, and forever. He is God Almighty. And on that mountain, he is revealed as God's son like never before on the earth. Right there in that moment. And Moses and Elijah, think about how powerful this is. They appear. They begin to speak to Jesus. What are they talking about? Verse 31, they spoke about his departure, which was he was he was about to bring the fulfillment of it all in Jerusalem. They're talking about the cross. They're talking to him about the sacrifice. They're having this small group, this moment. Moses and I, Moses representing the law, Elijah representing the prophets. And right there, the law and the prophets are speaking with Jesus. Why? Because he is the fulfillment of everything in scripture. We see it right here in this moment. That's why it's such a big deal. Peter and his companions were sleeping. Really? But when they became fully awake, they saw the glory and the two men standing with them. As the men were leaving, Jesus, Peter said to the master, "It is good for us to be here. Can we build three chalet? Little shelters. I want to put a condo up here. Come on. Shout out to Gatlinburgg. Let's just build some shelters right here. Just want to build some houses. Just some little I just want to stay here. We'll build one for you. We'll build one for Moses. We'll build one for Elijah. He did not know what he was saying. Have you ever been nervous and you get chatty? Do you have a friend that's chatty? Just why am I talking? I can't stop talking. Peter's just saying he's like, "It's built a house." My goodness. While he was speaking, a cloud appeared, covered them. I love this. They were afraid. As they entered the cloud, a voice came from the cloud, saying, "This is my son whom I have chosen. Listen to him." And some of the greatest words in scripture. Listen to Jesus. When the voice had spoken, they found that Jesus was alone. Just Jesus. No, he's fulfilled it all. The disciples kept this to themselves and did not tell anyone at the time what they had seen. On the next day, when they came down from the mountain, a large crowd met them. A man in the crowd called out, "Teacher, I beg you, look at my son, for he is my only child." A spirit seizes him. Suddenly, he screams. It throws him into convulsions, foams at the mouth. It scarcely ever leaves him. It scarcely ever leaves him. Look at this plea for the dad. It's destroying him. Think about that parent, grandparent. Your child is being destroyed and you've you're watching it. You some of you have seen pain with your child. Some of you have watched your child go through tough things. Destroying him. I beg your disciples to drive him out. They couldn't do it. Just disappointed. I love what Jesus says. You unbelieving and perverse generation. What is up with y'all? How long shall I stay with you? Put up with you. Bring your son here even while the boy was coming. Look at this. The demon throws him on the ground convulsing. Can I tell you this? Sometimes right before the breakthrough, there could be an attack. Right be right before the victory, right before the freedom, the enemy with a a last a last hurl, a last punch will come against someone. But Jesus rebuked that unpure spirit, healed the boy, gave him back to his daddy, and they all were amazed at the greatness of God. Thank you. My my my There's nowhere else in scripture it it describes a result of a moment like that. They all everyone that was watching the scene, they were amazed at the great that word greatness is the vastness of God. The limitlessness. Can I remind you today, you serve a God without limits. You serve a God that is boundless. You serve a God that is glorious. He is infinite. He is higher than the skies. He is deeper than the ocean. He is stronger than the storms. And he is your God. Right. And he's enough. He has more. And he's got more for our church. He's got more for your life. I believe with all my heart. I I don't know if I've ever believed it more than I believe it right now.
I love summer. Summer of 25 is going to be exciting. I love everything that's that's going on. I love summer. I was raised in a summer city, Myrtle Beach. Uh we had summer jobs. Uh you know, summer work. I I just I love the beach. I'm a summer baby. I was born in July, so I love summer. Uh when when I was 13 years old, I was working at night for my dad and I wanted a day job, so I became an assistant lifeguard. Let me tell you what an assistant lifeguard does. He just lives in the heat and the sand and the sunscreen. That's all I did. I I just I just became an assistant. I wasn't a lifeguard. I was an assistant lifeguard. And I I lived my life just just among the heat, just hot and down there on the ground just I I lived it at sea level. I lived it at earth level. I lived it at ground level. But every once in a while, I would look up and see the lifeguard. Wow. It's awesome. And then you hear the whistle every once in a while. And you'd hear that whistle. I didn't know what was going on because I'm living at ground level. I mean, my life is chairs on chairs and umbrellas and and I'm living with the floats. I'm chasing floats down the beach, picking up trash, trying to find lost kids. I didn't know what was going on, but I'd hear the whistle and I'd see that lifeguard come off of that tower. And in that world, there was a small group of lifeguards. If one tower blew, the two towers next to him, everybody respond. He'd blow that whistle. He'd hit hit that beach and just start running like slow motion. He'd hit that water. I barely see. I'm hanging out behind an umbrella. What's going on? What's going on? And then one day, lifeguard, I was 16 years old. He said, "Hey, man. You want to be a lifeguard?" Yes. He said, "We get certified." Like, "Okay." It's like next Friday. Really? So, he walks out there. Swim out the end of that pier. This Hey, in 1979, y'all. 1979. Swim out the end of that pier. I think he walked off. Swim on back. I swam out in the pier, came on back. You a lifeguard? Really? I was a lifeguard. So I certified. Certified. Verified. That next day I came to work. How y'all doing? I I made the climb. Come on. I like that we're doing this on Move Up Sunday. I moved up. I went from lifeguard assistant from the chairs to the umbrellas. Oh yeah. So I'm talking about I made the climb. I moved up. Oh. The view was amazing. I'd been seeing the back of a chair. I've been hanging out in the float shack. Now I could see the horizon. I could see more. Oh, it changed everything. My perspective, my context, my vantage point, everything changed. I could see why they responded. I can see everything. I now it made all it made total sense to me. Why? Because I was spending I was having some tower time. Tower time is needed. She understand the perspective of the beach. Leads me to my first big idea. This is a real simple message. It's a visual about who we are as a church. It's a visual about who we've been from day one and who we will continue to be. You know what the first big idea is? Elevation brings revelation. You get elevated, there's revelation. You see things you didn't see before. Can I tell you how important it is that you and I don't live at ground level with God? Don't live at sea level. Don't live at earth level. Don't live at care level. Don't live at just in the here and now. No, no, no, no. We get that revelation from God. We get in God's word. We get in worship. We get in prayer. Prayer will reveal things to you. Because you know what I found out? You can't make it in this world at ground level. You got to go up. We got That's why First Wednesday, I got to get to First Wednesday. I need some word cuz I'm living on among the umbrellas. I'm I'm living with the burden of the chairs and with all the sand and all the heat. I got to get up. I've got to get some revelation. Revelation of Jesus Christ in who he is, his lordship over my life, his lordship over my family. We got to be there on the weekends. We're a part of First Wednesday. We're in a small group. Why? We need revelation. Can't live in the norm. Can't live in the here and now. In the temporary. The temporary will you'll die on the beach. Come on, somebody. You go missing. You can't make it. Too much heat. In this world right now, there's some problems. It's a pain. I've got to ascend. I got to get above it. I got I got to get a higher view of what God is saying about my marriage, about what God is saying to my family, about what God is saying to my purpose. Cuz you know what? The enemy wants to keep you at beach level. Oh, you ain't never going to be nothing is all there is. Wants to keep you in the suffering. Wants to keep you down in the valley. God Almighty is inviting us in summer of 2025 to come on up. Come experience my presence. Come get my word. Come be in the house of God. Come experience everything I have. We got to make that climb. Revelation. Yes. Cuz elevation brings revelation. But you know what I found out? I think it's important to know this. This is so important. That the lifeguard power isn't just for watching or just whistling. We're We're not up here. You You don't get in You don't go to the lifeguard tower just to kind of like, "How y'all doing? How y'all doing? It's over there." Not just watching. No, no, no, no, no. We're not just kind of like whistle up here. No, no, no, no, no. It is a launching pad for action. That's good. Thank God for church attendance. But thank God for church action. Yeah. Thank God for for for for consuming what God is doing. But it's another level when you and I get to contribute to what God is doing. That's right. So the lifeguard tower isn't just for watching. You're not up there just No, no, no, no. It's we're ready. It's a launching pad. Get into action. That's why I love this verse. I just want to pause at this verse because I think it is so important. I think it's a survey verse this summer. I think it's a small group verse. It's all these things. 1 John 3:18, it's like a life preserver verse. It's a It's the real deal. Little children, let us not love with words or talk, but in deeds and truth. Don't just talk about it. Don't just watch. Don't just stand back. No, no, no. Deed. Truth. Truth right there is is you're speaking. You're proclaiming the gospel. It's important that we have truth. That means we share words. God's good. Amen. Good to see you. How you doing? God, I'd love to invite you to church. Is there anything I can do for you? Words. You speak, you share, you chat, you communicate, you say things. Hey, good to see you. Wow. Bless you. Woo. God's good. Other I was sitting with somebody the other day. They said, "You know what?" He said, "Man, how you doing?" I said, "Man, I'm doing better. Better than I've ever been." He said, "How'd you say that?" I said, "Man, God's helped me." It's like, well, interesting. I got to say words open my mouth. We're we we we we speak to people. We serve and we speak. We serve with words and then deeds. Demonstration. We serve. We're a church of demonstration. We love what happens on the mountain. But guess what? We don't stay on the mountain. Huh? Elevation brings revelation. Revelation brings response. There's a response. The other day traveling, sent a little shop at a small airport. I'm reading my Bible, getting in the word. Glory. I'm at the airport in the glory cloud. The G I'm waiting on Moses and Elijah. I'm getting ready to preach the gospel. Flying to it. I'm ready. Glory cloud. Shakana glory. And I look at the door and there's a precious lady trying to get the door on a walker walker. And I'm in the word and it was like the Holy Spirit blows the whistle. The Holy Spirit is a whistleblower. It'll blow the whistle on you. I need you to get out of the word and do the word. Yeah. Just it'll blow the whistle, y'all. Blow the whistle. He blow the whistle and I'm like, "Go help her." Hey, how you doing? Good. Good. God's good. Can I help? Anything? How you doing today? Good to see you. God bless you. It's good day. Where you going? Philadelphia. Oh, I love Philly. Mowtown Philly. I'm all about Philly. Back back over there. She comes and sits right across from me. She's looking at me with my Bible open. I'm so glad that at that moment because of the whistle of the Holy Spirit, I became a living word. So good. Got to get into action. Got to jump up on the table. Got to hold a door. That's practical. That's just surface level. You know why? Because you just don't watch from the tower. Revel elevation brings revelation. Revelation brings a response. Respond to those around us. We have a chance to respond at survey. We have a ch because here's you know what's important. I think we've got to remember this. We thank God for the tower. Oh, I need the tower. Oh, I need the presence of God. I need CJ worshiping. I need me some preaching from Pettis and Pastor Chris. I need some preaching. Need a small group. I need prayer. I need 21 days of prayer. I need motion. I need Summer Blessed. I need the tower. But you can't rescue anybody from the tower. Cuz see, we aren't people in this church that just point out the danger. Y'all got some problems. He's drowning. I hope a small group floats by. Man, people in what's wrong with all these addicted people? No, the higher elevation and the revelation let me say it like this: the more you see, the more you're responsible for. That's really good. Can I tell you something? I'm be I'm be real. I'm going to be real. I hope you remember this visual. We're not up here to look down on people. We're a church. We don't look down on people. You know what we do? We look out for people. Amen. See, we've been from day one up here just thinking, "Yeah, y'all got some problems. What's wrong with the world? What's wrong with this young generation?" No. Right. See a need, meet a need. We blow the whistle, get our small group, get our team. It takes all of us. The world is in chaos, my friend. And it takes community to make a difference in chaos. You know what we do? We I see his hand going up. I think he's in trouble. I think the rip tide's got him. He's going under. That pain, that worry, that addiction, he's going under. You hit the sand. Yeah. You hit this jumping over chairs, blocking kids, elbowing moms. We hit the water. We hit the water. We swim out. We throw a line. It's who God's called us to be. Because what you get on the
Mountain, you take down to the valley. What? Oh, what you get in Oh, I need the mountain. I feel the Holy Ghost on the mountain. We singing. Woo! Feel the Lord. But what you get on the mountain, you take down to the valley. So, so good. So good. Revelation; elevation brings revelation. Revelation brings Hey, what does that do? It brings a response. And what is a real true response? Not about me. A true response reveals Jesus. Let Jesus be revealed in my words. Let Jesus be revealed in my demonstration on this day. Painting this house, bringing that food, walking across the street to see that neighbor, planting that church, going to that correctional facility, giving out that voucher to the widows, the single mom, the military wives in the school when I stop and pray over my lunch. All these demonstrate Jesus, cuz that's what people need in the valley. Huh?
I love the end of that story. Jesus came down from the mountain. He meets this dad, this son. He never knows when the attack's going to come. His son doesn't get to play with all the other kids. People are worried about him. People ask him, "What's wrong with your boy?" He thinks in his mind, "He'll never marry. He'll never have a normal life. I think everything's okay." And then the enemy creeps up on him. "I don't know what to do." Jesus is here. He brings his disciples. He can't get his boy to the mountain. His boy's in the valley. People are dying in the valley. They're in the valley of hurt. They're in the valley of addiction. They're in a valley. They don't know how to make a move. They're in the valley. He can't get to the mountain. Peter says, "Jesus, we got to stay here. Got Moses. We got Elijah. We got a glory cloud, man. We're hearing from heaven. Can we stay here? I like it here. I feel safe here. I'm used to here. I'm comfortable here. Jesus, let's stay [Music] here." Peter, thank you, but no thank you. Yo, Moses, I'mma check you later. Elijah, I'mma see you on the other side. We got to bring the mountain. We got to bring the mountain to the valley cuz they they can't get to the mountain.
I'm going to bring the mountain to the valley. I have witnessed it my whole life. I've had moments in the valley, lost, but in that valley, I've witnessed the faithfulness of God. Oh, some of you know what it's like to be in a valley. When you found your marriage in a valley, when you found your life in a valley, when you found your hope. Oh, but I have w Hey, he's good. He's strong. He's constant. And guess what? I am confident in God Almighty at Church of the Highlands. We will see more of God. And we will see it again and again and again and again for my life, my family, my future, my healing, my hope, my addiction, my pain, my trauma. I witnessed it.