Why Salvation

Well, all right. Well, good morning, everybody. Okay. I know it’s July 4th weekend. Good morning, everybody.

All right, all right, all right. I am so glad to see you guys. Thank you for coming. If you could be anywhere else, you chose to be here. I want to thank you guys.

I know I have to say that our 18, 19 years of being in Virginia, I can guarantee you that this has been the hottest weekend I think that we have ever, ever seen. My word. I was talking to my brother Alex, and I asked him because he teaches surfing. I said, how was the beach? He said, dude, he goes, it was so hot, the beach was turning to glass.

And I was like, good Lord. Real quick, I want to go over a couple announcements before we get started into our message this morning. Starting this week, next week, we will have the trailer sitting out front. The first or second week of August, we’re going to be taking a bunch of school supplies over to our local school that we’re working with. And Alex, our outreach pastor, is going to be doing that.

We are going to be collecting anything that the school would need. Pens, pencils, crayons, different things like that, backpacks, whatever we can give them. We want to be able to bless the community that we’re in and let them know if you want to. You could see Tammy out at the front and she can kind of give you a little bit more information. She’ll point you to Alex, kind of get that going.

Next week is a big week. Next weekend is actually a big weekend for us. So next Friday, the 10th, we are doing our surfing outreach. Alex has a few young people that are signed up. He’s looking for more.

Saturday will be a. It’s actually being put on by Soul Hunters. We’re doing a church wide, just a. Just a gathering. We’re going to have a cookout and just kind of have a good time and just get to know each other in fellowship.

That’ll be next. Next Saturday between 3 and 6 o’, clock, again, see Tammy and or Casey out at the front. Cody and TJ will also be out there. They head up Soul Hunters for Virginia Beach. They can tell you more about Soul Hunters and give you all the information with that.

Sunday. Everybody say Sunday. Say a little bit louder. Sunday. All right, so next Sunday is going to be our worship night.

So we’re going to do service here. And then at 6 o’, clock, we are going to do a worship evening. We are going to come together, invite friends, family. TJ and his band are going to come and they’re going to lead us in a night of just worship. We are vastly approaching the middle of summer and we just want to invite God into everything that we do.

We’re coming with no agenda. We’re just going to sit with him and we’re just going to just pour into his presence. If you need prayer, if you need healing, if you need something, come expecting God to do great and mighty things. Also next Sunday we are going to do an impromptu and I know this is short notice, it’s a connections class. If you want to know more about me, my wife, our staff, our ministries, the church, I want to invite you guys to stay after service next Sunday.

We’re going to do a little meet and greet. We’re going to do just to kind of go through our ministries. We’re going to do pizza and some other things. We’ll take about an hour, hour and a half Each one of the ministry that are represented here, they’re going to come up and they’re going to tell you about themselves. They’re going to tell you about their ministry.

Okay, Ms. Tammy is going to come up and she’s going to talk about her stuff. Michaela and everybody, they’re going to talk about their ministries and why they’re important. Their ministries are important to them and why they’re here for you. And so we’re going to do that next Sunday, if you could and I know I’m dropping this on Ms.

Tammy when you walk out next today, when you walk out today, if you could just let Ms. Tammy know, hey, we plan on staying after church next Sunday. So that way we can kind of have a head count and we know how many people are planning on coming so that we don’t leave anybody out. And again, it’s very informal. It’s impromptu.

We’re just going to get together and we’re going to just talk. And I want to give them an opportunity for we have a lot of good things that are coming up in the fall. We’re right now in the process of putting putting together a revival night. We’re going to be calling it Breaking Barriers. Virginia beach, our home church, does it in the first or second.

I think it’s the first week of August or October, second week of October, they do Breaking Barriers. They’ve got multiple speakers coming in and we are going to do that here. It’s going to be a Sunday night through Wednesday night. We’re going to come in, we’re going to come together and worship. We’re going to bring different people coming in.

We will let you know those dates in the future, so pray about that. And we would love to get you guys to come. We’ve got a lot more exciting things to come, and we just thank you guys for considering this your church. Tell your friends about us and then online as well. We’ve got several people that watch online, and they kind of give us.

They give us feedback and they love us. And they’re not just family members. So it’s like my mother’s. My mother watches, but, you know, so she’s not the only one, so. But anyway, I am so happy to see some faces, new faces back.

I know some people have been sick. God’s been really good. And we’ve got some babies. We’ve got. What are you, three weeks out?

14th. Okay. We’re going to keep her in prayer. Lydia and George are expecting theirs. We’ve had a couple additions to our family.

We love babies. Hey, by hook or crook, we’ll grow the church, right? Amen. Amen and amen. All right, well, we’re going to get into our sermon today again.

Love you guys. If you are new with us, I want to welcome you. My name is Pastor Carl. I am the pastor at Salt Church. I, along with my wife, Pastor Alex, and TJ, who you just met.

If you are new with us, you’ll see one of these at the side of your chair next to you. If you could. If you would fill this out. We’re not going to spam you. We’re just going to.

We want your information so we could reach out to you if you need prayer. Put your prayer request on here. We have a team that prays for you guys, and we just want to know who you are. We want to know, you know, if you are interested in calling this your house. We’re not perfect people, but we’re perfect, imperfect people that serve a perfect God.

Amen. Amen. Amen. So without further ado, if you have been following along over the past few weeks, we have been doing a sermon series called Foundations. Now, I didn’t bring the book with me, but Foundations, it’s called First Passages, and it is written by who I call.

I don’t know my. Like, he’s my head pastor, and Dr. Hans Hess, who is pastor of Fountain of Life. Good Lord, man. Jeez.

Elizabeth City. Yes. He wrote a book called First Passages, and it basically goes over the foundations of our Christian walk. So over the past couple weeks, we’ve been talking about why Christianity. We’ve been talking about why.

Why Jesus. And today we’re going to cover why Salvation. Why Salvation? Okay, if you’ve missed the last two, I want to implore you guys, go back, listen to them, and I think you’re going to get a lot out of them. If you would like to get the book, the book is available on Amazon.

My wife and I have both been reading it, and it is very, very informative. He did a great job of writing this book, and I would highly encourage you to get it and to read it. Okay, so today we’re going to be talking about why Salvation? So our passage that we’re going to be drawing from is Acts 4:12, and it says this. Nor is there Salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men, by which we must be saved.

So why Salvation? Because whether people realize it or not, humanity has always been searching for something to save them. So whether they trust in money or whether they trust in their government or whether they trust in science or whether they trust in religion, today we find ourselves in a precarious position because many people, the younger generation and up, are putting their trust in AI or artificial intelligence. Some even speak of AI as it has godlike qualities because of its knowledge and abilities. But see, what we understand is that every generation has built its own Tower of Babel.

Now, if you haven’t heard about the Tower of Babel, it’s in Genesis 11. Go back and read that. It’s where during that time, men became full of themselves. They begin to think of themselves as godlike, that they are the Creator and the Creation all in one, and that they can do what they want to do. So what has happened is every generation has searched for a substitute savior.

Every generation has tried to save itself. Every generation has failed. But the problem is that they haven’t learned anything from their failures, because every generation tries again. So as I did a deeper study and I said, you know, I want to find out over the last 10 or 12 generations, what is each generation really looked at in as far as what they consider a savior. So we’re going to go back as far.

And bear with me a little bit, but I thought this was very interesting. So in the 1940s, the Babel. The Babel. The tower back then was of power. See, with the culmination of the Second World War and the development of the Manhattan Project, it reflected humanity’s unprecedented ability to harness the power of creation itself.

Through science and military strength. The thought was, we can secure lasting peace. The cry of that age was, what? We can control our destiny. And then as we move into the 1950s there was the babble of prosperity.

This was post war America, where economic growth was unlike anything that we’ve seen. Dreams became bigger, everybody could own a home. There were new cars. It was greater material gain and the better life. The cry of that age was that a better life is found in more.

The more I have, the better my life is going to be. The more money, the bigger house, the more cars, I have more. Then we came into the 1960s, and that babble was human revolution. It was the cultural revolution of the area that sought freedom from traditional authority or moral boundaries. They wanted to do away with the establishment of institutions.

The cry of that age was freedom comes by throwing off all restraints. In 1970s, in the 1970s was two years after I was born. There was the babble of self. It was the me generation. Personal happiness and self expression became the central values.

It was the cry of the ages that the answer is, is not in the word of God, or it’s not God. The answer is in me. I have all the answers. Then as we moved into the 80s, we got into the battle of success. The 80s celebrated achievements, financial gain and cooper and corporate power.

Success became the measurement of growth. The cry became, you are what you accomplish. You have ultimate power. Then in the 90s, we hit the babble of globalization. See at that.

In the 90s, we got to the end of the Cold War, the rise of the Internet and global connectivity. The cry of that age was technology and cooperation will ultimately unite the world. Then we enter into the 2000s, and it was the babble of information. The Internet placed vast amounts of information and knowledge at our fingertips. The cry of that age is that if we know enough, we can solve anything.

Do you see a pattern in 2010? In the 2010s, we got the babble of identity. The dominant message became define oneself or better yet, to thine own self be true. What most don’t know is that. That, quite honestly, is the satanic motto.

To thine own self be true. Identity became self determining rather than derived by God, family, community or tradition. The cry of that age was that I determine who I am. And now we enter into the 2020s. We have the babble of technology, the rapid advancement of AI and biotechnology and algorithms.

Algorithms define everything. If you want to ask any business person, and they’ll ask you, what are the algorithms? And the digital systems have promised to overcome any human limitations. The cry of that age is that we can engineer a better humanity. See understands this.

The bricks didn’t change. The bricks changed. But the pride never did. You can change the house, but the pride always stays the same. See, what makes the babbles similar is not political, theological, wealth, or movement of themselves.

The problem facing humanity is and always will be spiritual. And the Bible calls it sin. See, in Genesis 11:4, when they begin to talk about the Tower of Babel, it says, let us make a name for ourselves. But Scripture consistently points to God as the source of Salvation, unity, security and prosperity. The Gospel stands.

The Gospel stands in complete contrast to the world’s babbles to the world’s systems. Humanity attempts to ascend to heaven versus God, who has already descended to us in the person of Jesus Christ. See, every nation, every generation has built a Babel, but only Christ built a kingdom. So what do we look at is, when we’re looking at this, the bad news is, quite honestly, is as generation after generation after generation, we’re constantly looking for a Savior for a Babel. But there’s been a problem all along.

Humanity has a sin problem, and we just refuse to acknowledge it. Again, it goes back to that, to thine own self be true. See, we were created in the image of God, designed for relationship with him. But sin entered into the story. And sin is more than just about breaking rules.

Sin is rebellion against God. It chooses our will over his sin. It just isn’t a matter of, well, I’m just gonna do what I want to do. It’s basically looking at God and going, God, I know better. See, John Wesley defined it as this.

He said, a voluntary transgression of a known law of God. Its root. At its root, sin contains three things. And these are three things that you can point to every generation coming down to the line of where we’re at today. Unbelief, pride, and disobedience.

Understand this. The first sin was not murder Cain versus Abel. The first sin was unbelief. The first sin was humanity deciding, I know better than God. Does that sound familiar?

When you look at the generations, generation after generation, the Manhattan Project, biotechnology, algorithms, what does it all speak to? Humanity is consistently trying to find something through their own power. Instead of realizing, I don’t have the power. We’re trying more and more to replace the one thing that’s already been built into us. See, we can’t save ourselves.

Every religion or occult that is here today recognizes that something is ultimately wrong with humanity. But see, they offer it in different solutions. Most religious and cults say, do more, try harder, become better, earn your way. But Christianity says something radically different. It says, it’s not about what you can do for God.

It’s about what God has already done for you. And he did it 2,000 years ago. We spend trillions of dollars. We spend countless hours of time to try to find a better way. And it’s already been done because it’s pride, it’s rebellion.

It says, because if I go to him, I. I heard this saying, Theo Vaughn, and I probably said this before, but it bears repeating. Theo Vaughn, who is one of the most influential podcasters or whatever, I don’t follow him, but I heard this saying, and he had somebody on his podcast, and he said, he goes, do you read the Bible? And he goes, yeah. He goes, I’m really trying to find God.

And I’m really trying to. And he goes, well, you know, why don’t you just give your heart to the Lord? Why don’t you just say, lord, come into my life? And he goes, you know, and he said, well, have you ever asked for me? He goes, well, he goes, you know, I want to ask God for a miracle.

And he goes, well, why don’t you ask him? He says, because I know that if I ask for a miracle, that God will do it. And if he does it, then at that point in time, I’m going to be held accountable from that point on. See God, we’re waiting, and we’re thinking that the government’s our answer. We’re thinking that, well, a bank is our answer, or my life situations can change.

And God’s going, I already have the answers. I’m waiting for you. I’ve been here all along, but it’s up to you. Okay, so why is Salvation found only in Jesus? People often ask, why is Christianity so exclusive?

Well, the simple answer is, because Jesus is who he says he is, and no one can be reconciled unto God but by him. In John 14:6, it says this. I am the Way, the truth, and the life, and no one comes unto the Father except through me. Jesus is not exclusive because he wants to keep people out. On the contrary, he’s exclusive because there’s only one Savior who came in.

If there were many cures for sin, God would have already told us. But if Jesus is who he claims to be, then the narrowness of the way is not arrogance, it’s truth. Exclusivity is rooted in the uniqueness of Christ. If Jesus truly died for the sins of humanity and rose from the dead, then he’s not merely one option among many. He’s the only option.

Period. Let me say that again, because maybe you didn’t hear it. He’s not merely one option among many. He is the only option. Period.

There is no other option. Islam doesn’t hold it. Buddhism doesn’t hold it. Secular humanism doesn’t hold it. The lottery doesn’t hold it.

Your boss or career don’t hold it. Your well behaved children don’t hold it. Only God does. Only God does. See, there is no bias on the side of Jesus or Christianity because it doesn’t matter what your race is.

It doesn’t matter what your nationality is. It doesn’t matter what your social class is or background or even past failures. It doesn’t matter. We are in society today and we talk about this. Well, there’s a black church or there’s a Korean church or there’s this church.

Hey everybody, I got news for you. I am the church and I don’t give a rat’s rear end what color you are, what culture you come from or how screwed up you are. You belong here, here. And if you see those churches or you go to those churches where they go, well, this is a black church and we only do this kind of culture run because I can guarantee you, you know what heaven’s going to look like? Do you know what heaven’s going to look like?

Heaven’s going to be everybody. Black, white, red, pink, purple. It doesn’t make a difference. Because there’s one thing that will not enter heaven and that is sin. We’re not perfect.

We just serve a perfect God. He doesn’t care what your past is. He just needs you to acknowledge the fact that he’s your only way. That’s it. That’s it.

And when you learn and you fall at his feet, you realize I’ve been fighting way too hard and way too long. See, Christianity is exclusive in its savior, but it’s inclusive in its invitation. Let me say that again. Christianity is exclusive in its savior, but it’s inclusive of its invitation. He doesn’t ask you to get cleaned up.

My wife a long time ago had introduced when she worked for a local government agency and my wife didn’t preach, my wife didn’t go in and she just went in and did her job and that’s what she did. And people would come and ask her questions. And she said that there was a woman that she had befriended there and she said, you know, she goes, I’ve often thought about going to church, but I just don’t know. And she was a known lesbian and she said, well, you’re not going to want me to come to your church. And my wife says, why wouldn’t I?

She said, why wouldn’t I? She goes, I’m a sinner. She goes, I was invited. And she says, well she says if I come walking through your church, she says I’m probably going to burst into flames. And my wife looked at her and she goes, well, I’ll stand by with the, with the fire extinguisher.

You laugh. So one Sunday my wife’s standing out front because my wife handled the VIP and the greeters and here comes that lady from her work. So my wife turns around and she grabs a fire extinguisher and she meets her at the door and she goes, I don’t see you bursting into flames. That’s God. That’s God.

Freedom is found here. We talk about 250 years of freedom and freedom is hard fought. But Jesus already did it. He shed his blood on the cross. He said, father, it is finished.

It is finished. So the only thing is it’s not you. There’s nothing you can do. He already did it. The only thing you really have to do is die to yourself and walk through the door and say, God, here am I, here am I.

See a few things that we’re going to run through in that. Why Salvation is because number one, Jesus claimed to be God. No prophet ever claimed to be what Jesus claimed. No religious founder ever claimed what Jesus claimed. Jesus claimed to be the one true creator, God in human form, proving his authority through absolute moral perfection and his bodily resurrection.

Other figures either meant they were a spiritual mirror of God or a multi God universe, or they just claimed it to exploit people for power. See, Jesus declared in John 10:30, he says, I and the Father are one. So when you have Islam that says, well, Jesus isn’t really God, he’s just a prophet. Or when you have different religions, say, well Jesus was a prophet or he was a great teacher. John 10:30 says I and the Father are one.

And here’s the ironic part of that. And I said this last week, if you go back to the Quran, the Quran will even tell you, go back to the Torah and the gospels because therein lies the truth. So the Quran’s already telling you to go back to here because the truth’s right here. And when you read in John 10:30 it says I and the Father are one. Well that shoots their whole ideology.

He didn’t claim to know the way because he claimed to be the way. If Jesus is God and his words matter more than your opinions, God’s got nothing to Prove to you. All he’s saying is, I’m here, here. Number two is Jesus fulfilled? What was written about him hundreds of years, thousands of years before his birth, Scriptures described.

And I’m going to roll through these and you can go back and listen and understand these. His lineage. Isaiah 11:1 2 says, out of the stump of David’s family will grow a shoot, yes, a new branch bearing fruit from the old root. And the Spirit of the Lord will rest on him. Well, some of us go back and go, what’s he talking.

Why is branch capitalized? Why? Well, see, branch is capitalized here because biblical translators treat it as a noun and a prophetic title for the Messiah. Jesus. His birthplace was foretold, Micah 5:2.

But you, Bethlehem, Ephrathah, you are a little among the thousands of Judah. Yet out of you come, come forth to me, the one to be ruler of Israel, whose going forth are from old and from everlasting. Already telling him about his birthplace, his ministry is talking about in Isaiah 60:1 and 1:2. The Spirit of the sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim the good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and to release from darkness from for the prisoners.

Because that’s not only said there, it’s also said that in Matthew, his betrayal was foretold. In Psalm 41:9, where David says, even my close friends, some I trusted, who share my bread, is turned against me. Here we see David, through his own pain and suffering, was foretelling of Jesus betrayal. In Isaiah we see about his suffering, and it says Isaiah 53 but he was pierced for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities.

His punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. Understand this. It’s not about will your wounds be healed, it’s that they are healed. Past tense. You have a sickness.

Let me explain something to you. And I know that there’s a lot of pastors go, well, well, you know, you come to our healing service, or you come to this service, or you come to that service or whatever. Sir, let me explain something to you as a child of God. Scripture says it’s not that you will be healed if you come to this service or go to that service. It says that you are healed.

You believe what the Word of God says. You stand on the Word of God and it says that you are healed. Healed, done, done. Cancer’s got to go. Anxiety’s got to go.

Sickness has got to go. Death has got to go because it’s got no place where the Spirit dwells. If his Holy Spirit dwells here, guess what? Sickness can’t dwell here. The devil has no power over me.

Too many of us walk around as we are victims. Oh, woe is me. The doctor gave me some bad news. Let me explain something to you, and I’ll say this again and again. Three weeks ago, my brother Alex thought he was taking me and I wasn’t coming back.

God says, I’m not done. I’m not done. There’s still work to be done. And you know what? God’s looking at you and you online and saying, you’re not done.

I don’t care what your past is. I don’t care what your sickness is. It is finished. It is finished. See, Jesus, and it even talks about his death.

And I’m going to roll through these. Isaiah 53, 8 and 12, we talk about the purpose as it was a substitutionary death. In Psalms 34 and 20, it’s where they talk about the manner. And it talks about there was never a bone to be broken on his body. In Daniel 9, 26, it talks about the timing.

He was slain before the ultimate destruction of Jerusalem. In Isaiah 53, 10 and 11, the finality he conquering of death. See, Jesus. Jesus didn’t actually. He didn’t accidentally fulfill prophecy.

God was writing the story long before Bethlehem was ever in the picture. Number three. He died for our sins. See, this is the heart of Salvation. The wages of sin is death.

Justice demands payment. God said, I provided payment. And it was at the cross, because at the cross is where justice and mercy met. We’ve stated this throughout this series and you’re going to hear it probably even more. Jesus took what we deserved so we could receive what we never deserved.

We don’t deserve freedom. We don’t deserve forgiveness. We don’t deserve mercy. He freely offers it. The cross is where God and holiness and God’s love meet.

Number four. Jesus rose from the dead. The resurrection is God’s declaration that the payment was accepted. The grave couldn’t hold him. Every founder of every religion and cult is dead.

In the grave you can go and you can find their bones. Jesus died and on the third day walked out of the grave. And when he walked out of the grave, that when he died, the enemy thought, we’ll take that. Enemy doesn’t like that. See, when he died and he said, it is finished, the enemy decided he was going to throw a party until one day he got a knock at the door and Jesus kicked the gates of hell open and said, I’m demanding the keys because you’re done.

You’re finished. My blood. My blood takes it. My blood takes it. See, the enemy thought he was playing.

The enemy thought he was playing a game. Unfortunately, it was a game that he lost. That’s right. A dead savior cannot save anybody. I serve a live king.

A live king. Number five. Jesus still changes lives today. 2000 Years and he’s still changing lives. One of the greatest evidences of Christianity are transformed people.

It doesn’t make a difference if you’re Islamic. Doesn’t make a difference what your past is. It doesn’t make a difference anything. The mere fact that your life. I’m looking at changed lives.

Look at Peter. He was a man who denied Jesus around a campfire, but became a man who preached Christ before thousands. What changed? An encounter with the living God. An encounter the source.

Peter’s transformation is widely attributed to the Holy Spirit. His boldness was not a result of natural charisma or extensive theological training, but a direct result of spirit filled life. And his deep, unwavering personal conviction with regarding the resurrection of Jesus and Peter isn’t alone. For 2000 years, Jesus has been transforming addicts and atheists and criminals and skeptics. Broken marriages have been healed, wounded hearts and hopeless people.

Jesus didn’t merely change history, he changed people. He changes people. The fact is that you can walk out of here today. Your changed life, your transformed life doesn’t start stop here at the door. It walks out.

You have a choice. You can walk down Atlantic Avenue and the Holy Spirit can walk with you. There’s a lot of people that sit here and go, well, you know, the Holy Spirit and baptism in the Holy Spirit and we’re going to get into all this stuff. But that was for then and it was only. No, it’s for now.

Because I can tell you in my prayer closet and in people that I’m around when the Holy Spirit comes in like a fire and comes in like an unction, things happen. It happens. Demons begin to run because they can. You’re giving them no quarter. Christianity is different.

Every religion begins with humanity trying to reach God. Christianity began with God reaching humanity. He chased after us. He’s chasing after you. Every religion offers advice.

Jesus offers rescue. Every religion says do. The gospel in Jesus Christ said do. Done. Done.

The cross was enough. The blood was enough. The resurrection was enough. The work is finished. Understand this.

Grasp this. The difference between mere religion And Jesus is the difference between striving and surrender, between earning and receiving, between man’s effort to find God and God’s love coming to find man. So that brings us back to our question. And you can stand, and we’re going to close. And I want you to take this as reflection.

I want you to think about this and chew on this. So why Salvation? Because humanity has a problem it can’t solve. Why Jesus? Because God provided a savior that we could never become.

Why the cross? Because sin demanded payment. Why the resurrection? Because death couldn’t hold him. Why respond today?

Because there is no other name under heaven given among men where we must be saved. You could be sitting here today, and you can be sitting here going, I’ve made mistakes, and, you know, my marriage is on the rocks, and I just. I don’t know where I’m at. Jesus says, I don’t need you to get cleaned up to come to me. Me, I’m standing right here.

And he’s saying, come, come, come. Think about this. If you’re a parent, how many times has your kid absolutely torqued your last screw, made you mad to where you could literally see you’re seeing red. But the moment your child gets hurt or falls, all that goes to the backside and you’re there and you’re coddling them and you’re holding them. And let me explain something to you.

It doesn’t make a difference of whether they’re eight months or 18, because you’ll still do it once you’re a parent. You never stop being a parent. And God gives us that perfect ability. God is not looking at you going, I’m really disappointed in the choices that you’ve made. I’m really, I’m really.

He doesn’t look at you and he says. He looks at you today and he says, daughter, son, I don’t care what you’ve done in the past. We have right now. We have right now. And I want you to know I love you.

I’ve been watching you every day. I see your struggles. I see what you go through. When you’re crying, I’m crying. When you’re happy, I’m happy.

It doesn’t matter what your addictions are. It doesn’t matter what your struggles are. All he’s asking you to do is come to him. And when you come to him and you release to him, he’s got blessings upon blessings upon blessings upon blessings upon blessings. I have watched the toughest of men.

I have watched men that were literally the explicit definition of a man. And I’ve watched when God got ahold of them, they crumbled like a child. And they reached out to God and they said, all I want is what he has for me. That’s all that matters. To be tough doesn’t mean that you’ve got to stand strong.

A lot of times what it means is that you have to be willing to give up. And when you give up and you stand before the Lord and you say, God, I can’t do this anymore. I’m done. I can’t do this anymore. Tired of being in debt.

Tired. Tired of the bill collectors. I’m tired of the addictions. I’m tired of the fighting. I’m tired of the anger.

I’m tired of the bitterness. Tired of the anxiety. I’m tired of it. God. God says, are you willing to turn it over to me?

Because I’m going to handle it for you. But see, it’s not. He can do it in an instant. But God says, we’re going to walk this together. We’re going to walk this together.

And part of walking it together is to get into a house where people love you. See, this is when you look over the generations, what have we done in the 1940s, when we look at it, my grandfather used to tell me, in the city of Baltimore, they never locked their doors. Baltimore city, they never locked their doors. Matter of fact, they were all French. They were all front porch people, brownstones.

They would sit. My grandfather used to tell me, he goes, I knew I had to be good because if I wasn’t the lady two doors, two streets over was going to tell my mother how bad I was because they didn’t lock their doors because neighbors watched out. Now we’ve become a society that we’re. We’re garage door. We are a garage door Christians.

We’re not Christians, but a society. We get off work, we come home, we pull our car in the garage, we shut the door, and that’s it. Let me explain something to you very, very quickly. And I know that with COVID and the onset of the Internet and we have online church. Online church is not church.

Let me say that again, and I’ll say this for my own Bible believers. Online church is not church. Church is fellowship. Church is coming into a house and having people hug you and love on you and. And hold you accountable for what you’re doing.

It’s called doing life together. It’s building relationships. You may not agree with everybody. You may not like everybody. Paul did.

Peter and Paul. Paul didn’t like Everybody. But he loved them. Paul absolutely found some people. Some of the disciples were absolutely annoying to him, but he still loved them.

But you come into the house because that’s where you meet the Lord. And then what you do is you take what you learn in that house and then you go off to your own quiet space, you go into your own house, and then that’s what you do. If you’re looking for a house, we’re open. I’m not a perfect pastor. I don’t have a perfect marriage.

I did marry a perfect wife, though. I will give you that one. I did marry a perfect wife. But understand this. We do life together.

We do life together. We struggle together. We pray for each other. I came in yesterday, or Thursday. It was a Thursday.

We came in and it was only me, Alex and TJ. And I came in and I said, look, I’m just gonna be transphoria. I said, I’m struggling. There’s some things going on. And I was very open and honest with them.

And immediately they just dropped what they were doing and they surrounded me. And we began to pray, we began to pray. And I’m like, this is home. This is home. You knew mothers.

This is home. This is home. We’re not, you know, if you’re looking, like I’ve said this before, if you’re looking for a seeker friendly church, this probably isn’t it. Because what we’re doing is we go by this. We believe in signs, miracles and wonders.

We believe in the power of the Holy Spirit. We believe in the anointing. You know why? Because there’s power in that. And I want you guys to go out with power.

I want you guys to have everything that you need. So let us pray. If you’re here today and you don’t know the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior, I want to invite you. We’re going to say a quick prayer and I want you to agree in your heart. And if you agree, then I want you to grab Ms.

Tammy or fill out on this card and say, I gave my heart or I recommitted in my heart to the Lord and we want to reach out to you. But say this in your heart. Heavenly Father, I’ve been away from you. I don’t know you like I should. But Father God, today on July 5, 2026, I’m rededicating my life or I’m going to dedicate my life to you from this point on.

I want to live my life for you. I want to know you fully give me a desire, Lord God, for your word. Give me a desire for the things of you. Let me lose the taste of my addictions, Lord God, of my sin. Father God, I pray that you would be with me.

Save my soul. Forgive me of my sins. I accept you as my personal Lord and savior. Amen. And Amen.

If you said that again, I want you. I want to congratulate you. You are in the house of God. Praise God. Thank you.

Fill this out, let us know. Amen and Amen. Well, I am so glad that you guys are able to meet with us today. I love you guys. I care about you.

We’re gonna pray you out. Heavenly Father, I pray right now for these people and for us, Father God. I pray that a fresh anointing would go upon them. I pray, Father, that they would. That everything their hand touches and everywhere their feet goes, Lord God, that right now they would be blessed.

I pray that they would have more than enough right now, Father God, I pray that you would expand their influence. Father God, I come against debt. I come against lack. I come against sickness. I come against everything that would hinder them from walking in your promises.

Father God, we take it right now. We look to the throne room of God, Father. Bless us as we go out in your name. Amen. And Amen.

Go with God. He’s going with you.