SPEAKER_00 0:00

Hello, North Place Church. So great to be back with you. Absolutely love, love coming, and we love Pastor Brian and Haley so much. Can you put your hands together and let's honor your pastors? We love them. Happy anniversary to them. And on this trip, I have my oldest daughter, Candace. Baby, would you mind standing and waving there? Oh, you don't want to stand. My bad. That was my bad. All right, this is Candace right here. My oldest. Sorry about that. I won't repeat that sin in the next service. But uh so, so uh always look forward to coming and being a part of what God's doing here at this great church. Especially excited about the message on my heart today. I believe it's gonna encourage some people. As a matter of fact, why don't you turn to the person next to you right now and say, I'm so glad you came to church today? Won't you tell them that? I'm so glad you came to church today. Turn to the person on the other side and say, You look like you need some church today. Well, as we get ready to jump into God's word today, I want to open up with a story. Uh, years ago, I was speaking at a large church, they had multiple services. Matter of fact, on site on campus, they had some different venues, like they were, they'd have their main auditorium, but they also had a smaller, like fellowship hall type area, and so they kind of staggered their services. So I'd speak in one service and before it ended, but when I was done with the preaching part, I would slip over to the other venue, uh, just down the campus way a little bit and and uh speak at that service, and it would already be starting uh and and and already be underway by the time I would get there. And so uh finished the one in the auditorium, was going down to the other one, and as I was walking to this room, this room was packed, and so I had to walk down the the side of the room, and then I would be walking right in front of the people. So as I was walking down, I had my Bible, had my water bottle, I had my microphone, so hands full and walking, and I just could feel everybody, you know, like watching the person walking, like who's coming in, or what's that? So I just kind of felt that already, like, oh my goodness, there's no way to slip in here, right? And as I'm walking though, I realized, oh no, I forgot to take my gum out of my mouth. Which that means nothing to you, but if you're about to speak, that's a small little detail that you might just want to pay attention to as you're walking in and speak to hundreds of people, get the gum out of your mouth. And so I was like, no joke, y'all. As I got towards the front, about to turn in front of the people, I saw a garbage can. I thought, ram in the thicket. Look at what the Lord has provided.

SPEAKER_02 2:28

Oh, this is perfect, and so this is all happening so fast, right?

SPEAKER_00 2:33

As I walk in, I see that, and I'm like, man, you can't spit your gum out in front of the people of God like that.

SPEAKER_02 2:40

I mean, this is this is I I gotta figure out some smooth way to pull this off, right?

SPEAKER_00 2:45

And so I'm thinking, I got my Bible, I got my water bottle, I got my microphone, but if I can somehow just kind of smoothly just I thought this is gonna be how it's going to work. And so I got right there to that point, got ready, boom. Except for it didn't come off of my finger. I was like, oh no, already feeling like people are just like, you know, I could I could just feel their eyes, you know, like looking at me, and I'm like, oh man, oh man, couldn't get it off, y'all. Hands full, so now I'm kind of like leaning over the garbage can, trying to help with this other hand and a pulling. You ever had to just start stretching on you? Now it's stuck on both hands, you know. I couldn't get it off. It felt like an eternity. It just kept taking longer and longer. So now I've resorted to trying and wiping my hands on the garbage can, trying to get it off. Oh, I was stuck, and it felt miserable. Being stuck is never fun. Uh maybe you've been stuck in traffic before. It's like blood pressure climbing. Oh, it's not moving. I'm running late. You're maybe you felt stuck at a job. I don't want to work here, but it's the only place I can work right now, but I feel stuck here. Um, maybe you feel stuck in a relationship. If you're married, don't you say amen. But my stuck in a relationship that you wish that you weren't in. Maybe you just feel stuck in life. Uh, one of the worst places to feel stuck is if you ever feel stuck spiritually. And yet there are a lot of people today love God, believe in God, attending church, but they feel spiritually stuck. I'm so thankful for the power of the cross of Jesus Christ that we are free, we're no longer bound, we don't have to feel stuck. Anyone else thankful for the cross today? Come on, can you thank the Lord for the cross of Christ? I'm so thankful for the grace of God that's greater than all of my sins. Matter of fact, I like the way it's written in 2 Corinthians chapter 5, verse 17, where it says, Therefore, somebody say, Therefore, come on, shout, therefore, therefore, if anyone, that anyone includes you and me, this is anyone who is in Christ, that's anyone who has said yes to Jesus, you've surrendered your life to God, you've asked him to forgive you of your sin. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a, what does it say? New creation. The old has passed away. Behold, the new has come. Come on, who's glad that you're a new creation in Christ Jesus? I know that I am. Yet, if I'm so saved, why at times do I feel so stuck? If I've been changed, if I've been born again, why do I still struggle so much? Is it just me, or do you feel at times that I love God, but I just feel stuck? Oh, you're gonna leave me all by myself up here. Okay. I guess I am the only one. Listen, you better shout down to this preacher. Help me a little bit. Saved but struggling, free, I feel stuck. It can be discouraging, it can be frustrating. If God is so powerful and I really believe that he is, then why won't he help me in my marriage? If God truly is the healer and I believe that he is, why am I still stuck with this pain? If God is the one who liberates me and sets me free and I believe that he does, why am I still stuck in this addiction? You can be saved, but still feel stuck. You can be freed from sin and then still find yourself going back to it. I'm gonna make you vote this time. Anybody by a show of hands, since you gave your life to Christ, you sinned at least once. Come on, vote. Just vote. Okay, I kept the bar pretty low for us on that one, at least once. Proverbs chapter 26, verse 11, is so graphic. And when you first read this, we're like, Is can that be in the Bible? Is that okay? Look at it. Proverbs 26, 11 says, as a dog returns to its vomit. Well, there's a picture for you. So fools repeat their folly. Romans chapter 7. I'm so thankful for this passage of scripture. This is where Paul, the guy who wrote most of what we read in the New Testament, greatly used by God. And yet listen what he says about this sort of feeling stuck. He says, 7, 21 through 25, so I find this law at work. Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God's law, but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. Look at what he says, verse 24. What a wretched man I am. Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? Oh, I know that if you pause long enough and think about it, you can relate to that. He's saying the good that I ought to do, I don't do it, the stuff that I that I shouldn't be doing, that's what I'm doing. Man, I just feel like a wretched man. I just feel like I can't seem to get my head above water on this in this uh determination to live for God and follow God. I just feel like I keep slipping or struggling. Oh, what a wretched man that I am. Then he asked the question Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? And then the hope of verse 25. Thanks be to God who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord. Isn't that encouraging today? Who delivers us? Thanks be to God who delivers us through Jesus Christ. Paul was saved, but he was struggling. His hope was in the Lord, and yet he still had this wrestle going on. All of us, somebody say, all of us, that includes you, the person seated next to you right now. Even if you love God, and this message is assuming that you do, and if you don't, you can surrender your life to Christ before we leave today. Biggest and best decision that you'll ever make. But for anybody and everybody who says, I love God, I'm a follower of Jesus, like you can be saved, but still struggling. You struggle with sin, I struggle with sin. If you ever meet a person who says, I don't struggle with sin, what they mean is it's not a struggle, I just do it. I mean, that's what they're saying. Listen to what Paul also says when he writes to the Thessalonians in 1 Thessalonians chapter 5, verse 23, he says, May God Himself, God Himself, the God of peace, may He be the one to sanctify you. That's a key word. May He sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, somebody say all of it. May your whole spirit, soul and body, spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, the one who calls you as faithful, and he will do it. Who will do it? He will do it. May God Himself, the God of peace, may He be the one who sanctifies you. What does it mean to be sanctified? Well, sanctification is a theological term that that made it plain, just means looking more like Jesus, growing to become holy as he is holy. So what happens is at salvation, your spirit is immediately saved. We just read and we we uh saw here in First Thessalonians that we're triune beings. You are a spirit, you have a soul. That's your emotions, your mind, your personality, but you live, you're housed in a physical body, right? So you are a spirit, you have a soul, you live in the body, and what he's teaching us here is as you begin this new life in Christ, it is a process of becoming like him. You're saved. When you're saved, your spirit is saved instantly. How many of you are thankful that that was not a process? How many of you are thankful that when you're praying, Lord, just forgive me of my sin? He's like, he's not looking at you going, You're getting closer? Keep talking. How many of you are thankful that when you say, God, please forgive me? He didn't say, You're getting warmer. I'm thankful that I said, Lord, please, please come into my heart. He didn't say, I'm starting to. How many of you are thankful for that? That in the moment you surrendered your life to Christ, you are saved, and you are sanctified in the sense that his righteousness is applied to your life. And then he says, Now go ahead and be saved, be sanctified. The God, the God of all peace, he himself will sanctify you. And yet, when you start your journey with Jesus, you realize that we have a role. Not that I can save myself, but he says, You're saved, now go work out your salvation. This is really, really interesting. So I realize that when I get saved, my spirit is saved, but my soul and body are now going on this journey of becoming like Jesus. Because when I got saved, I still looked a lot like Scotty. Anyone else can relate to that? So my soul, my personality, my way of thinking, my way of living, my body needed to be subject to the word of God and following the plans of God and the commands of God. And so basically, what you have to understand is that if you had wrinkles before you got saved, you know, I'm a new creation, and you looked in the mirror, you might be a little confused. Your spirit was saved instantaneously, but then this process, I like me some Southern gospel. Anybody else in here you enjoy listening to Southern Gospel and music? Anyone else? Yeah, I thought I'd get a few uh friends there. I love me some Southern Gospel, and uh I I one of one of the songs that I love singing is I looked at my hands, my hands look new. Y'all know I could be in the Gaither vocal band, can't you tell? You can just preaching ever doesn't work out. I'm going on the road. I looked at my hands, my hands looked new. I looked at my feet, and they did too. No, they didn't. My feet look just as yanky, granky, glunky as they did before. My spirit, new creation. If when you got saved, you say, I just feel like this weight fell off of me. I just felt like the burden of sin, I felt like the chains were gone. Well, when you step on a scale, you're gonna think all that sin is still holding on to you. Saved in spirit. But growth, growing, becoming like God is in Christ Jesus is a process of sanctification. And today I don't want us to take just a few minutes in case for somebody today who feels stuck. I just want to bring you a message of hope that you can live in the freedom that Christ has for you. I don't want anybody to think that maybe salvation is for everybody else because you can't seem to do this thing called Christianity. You can be saved, but still struggling. You can be born again in Christ Jesus, but still got a lot of growing to do. Today, if you feel stuck, let's look at how to get unstuck. Number one, write it down. Number one, change your mind. How do you get unstuck? Change your mind. You can change your mind. Tell your neighbor right now, you need to change your mind. You got some things that just need to be a little bit different between the ears. Romans chapter 12, verse 2. Paul says, Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed. Be changed. How? How are you going to be transformed and changed? By the renewing of your mind. This being renewed is a process. Salvation is immediate. Sanctification takes time. That's why you can be saved but still talking like you used to talk at times. You can be saved but still battling some of the thoughts that you had before you prayed to Jesus. You can be saved, but still struggling with hurts, habits, and hangups. And if we're going to truly be changed, truly be transformed, our minds must be renewed. We cannot allow ourselves to be stuck with our old stinking thinking. Anybody ever fall into some stinking thinking? That's what this verse is saying. You got to get rid of that. This is so important. Here's why. How you view life will determine how you do life. In other words, if you feel stuck, the starting place to getting unstuck starts right here. You don't have to stay stuck in that old pattern of thinking. Let me give you for just a minute here a little insight into your brain that may just help you understand how this is not just some wishful spiritual concept, but this is truly how God has set it up and planned it for us. Your brain and mind are made up of billions of neurons. Billions of them. Our minds will form these neural pathways. And those neural pathways are the way that we process information, the way we think about life, the way we view life, and they're created by the repetition of things that we see, the things that we say, the things that we do repeatedly. So maybe let me just give you a visual that will help a little bit. If you're gonna go walk into the woods and they're very thick woods and there's no path, and you're kind of having to trailblaze through it, that's very, very difficult. But if you take that same path again, and then that same path again, and then that same path again, and you do that every day over and over, what happens is the path begins to clear. Now it becomes the default go-to, just path of travel. That's what we're talking about. And there used to be a way that I used to think that was my normal, but then I came to Christ and He made me a new creation, and then I find myself still thinking like the old Scotty used to think. If you can't say amen, at least say, Oh my, because I know I'm preaching to somebody today. Those pathways can become strongholds that keep you and me in a mental prison. You daily think fear, you daily think lust. You're feeding those lustful thoughts, you daily think hate or negative thinking or anxious thinking or greedy thinking. I want more, always thinking about money, whatever it is. Those things form the way we view life, thus the way we do life. But Paul says this, and you need to hear it to us today. He says, Church, you don't have to continue to think this way. You can be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Do you believe it today? Let me give you another medical term here. It's neuroplasticity. I'm giving you a big word like that because I want you to feel like you got educated today when you came to church. Neuroplasticity is your brain, your mind's ability to change and rewire itself. Like this is what can happen. And it's not all of a sudden because we see it in science or a medical term, they're like, oh, it must be true. No, God said this a long time ago. Your mind can be renewed. You can grow, you can be changed, your whole life can be changed just by renewing your mind. What we know from this is your brain is not fixed, you're not stuck. It can change, it's moldable. Your brain builds and rebuilds neural pathways, it strengthens the repeated ones, it weakens the unused ones. So you're not stuck. Tell your neighbor right now, you're not stuck in that thinking, you don't have to stay there. The way Paul says it is, it can be changed by renewing your mind. You're not stuck because you're not, or you're not stuck because it's no matter of being not saved. It's because of my old thinking and patterns. It's not because you don't love Jesus, it's that some things happened to you in your childhood and you've carried that in your brain into your adulthood. It's not because you're not born again, it's because you have been influenced by culture, perhaps your upbringing, something that was said to you, something that was done to you, a way of being parented. And how many of you know every family has a little bit of crazy in it, every single one of them, right? So there's not a single family that's exempt, but even if it's not from our family, from culture, the things that we watch, the movies that we watch, the things that we listen to, that is do not be conformed to the pattern of this world. This world has a pattern and it shapes our thinking. Oh, that's how you go about relationships. Oh, that's how you handle it when somebody does you wrong. Oh, that's how you're supposed to go about feeling loved and valued. All of that influences, all of that media, all of that social media goes into shaping our thoughts, our perspectives, our mindsets. And Paul says, when you come to Christ, you have to renew your mind. Let me give you a second thing. Number two is this not only change your mind, but you need to try some new nouns. Man, I just went from science to English on you right here. Now, you'll remember what a noun, well, most of y'all will remember what a noun is, right? A person, place, or thing or idea. And what I'm suggesting to you as part of getting unstuck is to pay attention to all of the voices, all of the input in your life. Because if you want to change the output, you've got to pay attention to the input. And so Paul is basically teaching us, and you thought your youth pastor made this up, but Paul is saying that show me your friends and I'll show you your future. Paul's the one who said, Uh don't be misled. Bad company corrupts good morals. But even going all the way back to Proverbs, King Solomon said, He who walks with the wise grows wise. But a companion of fools suffers harm. Some of you are stuck where you're stuck because of what you listen to, what you pay attention to, what the people you're hanging around, the voices in your life, and part of being changed or being renewed is realizing that just because it happened to you way back when somebody said something, you don't have to play that on repeat. In your heart and your mind today. You need some new voices. You need some new self-talk. New self-talk. Say, what are you talking about? I'm talking about how you talk to yourself. Some of you are like, man, that's weird. I did not talk to myself. You do. You're just not self-aware enough to even know you talk to yourself. You don't even realize it. You're having conversations you don't even know you're having. Self-talk. But there are some of you because of what created those previous neural pathways, that way of thinking, like you continue to reinforce it. You continue to keep that path clear because of that bad negative self-talk in your head today. Just because it happened then doesn't mean it has to hold you now. Just because they said it way back when doesn't mean that you have to believe it right now. You may need to start a new conversation. You may need to start declaring what God's word have to say about your marriage, your family, your parents. Listen, some of you have so listened to those voices, self-talk in your mind. I'm so tired of these kids. These kids are getting on my nerves. I can't stand these kids. I just, you know what? You keep saying that over and over, you keep thinking that over and over. No wonder they're on your nerves. Some of y'all feel stuck in parenting, like I feel even a little guilty because I feel like I probably ought to like my kids. Well, you should. You really should. But you know what you can do? You can change your perspective on your job, on your husband, on your wife, on your children by changing the self-talk. Some of you, the best thing that you can do is take out a little note card with what God's word has to say about whatever situation it is that you're struggling with. You need to declare it. You need to define it. If you can't define it, you can't defeat it. You need to write it out. What is it? What does God's word say about that? And speak that over your life. You need new voices, new self-talk. Try some new nouns. You need some new habits for some of you. When you get tired, when you get stressed, when life gets hard, you have some go-to things for coping. When you look at it, if you're being honest, you'd have to realize those things don't make me want to be closer to Jesus. Those things bring shame or guilt or condemnation. Steadily over here going, God, why won't you just help me? God, why won't you just deliver me? Well, God will sanctify you. And then he says, now go on and work out that sanctification. There's some things that you and I do, and Paul gets very, very clear on this. Instead of reverting back to those things that are not good, that are not healthy, that are not holy. He says that you got to declare war on those harmful habits. Look at what he says in Romans 12, 9. He says, hate what is evil. Somebody shout hate. Hate what is evil. Not hate each other. Not just hate, being mad, mean, or angry. Hate what is evil. Look what it says. And cling to what is good. Don't flirt with evil. Don't play with it. Don't negotiate with it. Don't, don't, don't uh try and compromise with it. Paul says, hate it. That's why for some of you, you gotta pay attention to what are the things they're feeding your mind. Pay attention to what's coming in. Some of you are driving down the road, listen to that same old radio station that was before Jesus came into your life. You still listen to that same radio station today. That same music, those same songs, talking about breaking up, talking about betraying, talking about adultery, talking about lustful things, all these things. Feeding your mind, gonna shoot somebody, feeding your mind, all this stuff. You say, Well, it's just a song, feeding, you're like, God, why do I feel so trapped? You got to renew your minds, pay attention to what you're feeding on. Did you know some of you, this will be a breakthrough for you? You didn't even realize this. Did you know that when you come in to the house of God and you begin praising and worshiping God, you know how you feel something shift on the inside? Did you know it's because of what you're declaring about the goodness of God? It's because you're singing and worshiping God, you're declaring the promises of God, and what happens is all of that in your head space starts affecting the whole way you feel. Did you know that that does not have to happen only on Sundays?

SPEAKER_01 26:44

Did you know that?

SPEAKER_00 26:47

Instead of listening to all of the foul language, all of the immorality, and this what's making your toe tap, and this what you're filling the car with, did you know you can turn on what a gun, what a gun, and start singing and praising and lifting up the name of the Lord as you drive to work, as you go to school, what do you do and change some nouns? He says, Hey, what is evil, cling to what is good. In Colossians 3, verses 5 through 5, and Paul says, put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature, sexual morality, impurity, lust, evil desires, and greed, which is idolatry, because of these things, the wrath of God is coming. Look at what it says in verse 7. Look at it, look at it, look at what it says. He says, You used to walk in these ways in the life you once lived. He says, But now you must, who must? You must, I must. This is not, you must let God do it, or God's gonna do it. He's gonna wave a magic wand. He says, You must also rid yourselves of such things as these anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. Do not lie to each other. Why? Since you have taken off, who's taken it off? I have. You have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self. Who has? We have, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its creator. See, it's a process, it takes time, which is why I want to end with this third one. Number three, be consistent and stay with it. Be consistent. If you're like, man, I'm trying, trying to pay attention to the influences of my life. I'm trying, but I still stumble, I still struggle. Listen, just picture a toddler, a young child learning to walk, and there it's a process of learning to crawl, then you learn to walk, then you learn to run, and sometimes along the way in that process, you miss a step. You have a hiccup. You are saved, you're being saved. Don't you listen to the devil. The devil is a liar. You don't have to give up, you don't have to think this is not, I guess I'm not cut out for this, I guess it's for everybody else. No, listen, for God so loved you that he sent Jesus Christ his only son. That whoever, including you, would believe in him, would not perish but have everlasting life. And as you grow in him, as you stay consistent to the house of God, I'm so glad that you came to the house of God today. Just don't make it a weekly decision if you're coming back or not. Be faithful to the house of God, be faithful to the community of believers. You get into a group. Why? I want those kind of voices in my life. Stay away from those things that pull me away from Christ. Hate what is evil, cling to what is good. Surrounding myself with the truth of God, the promises of God, God, declaring the goodness of God over my family, over my job, over my health. Stay consistent with it. Stay committed to it. You may stumble, you may fumble, you may fall. But Proverbs says, though a righteous man falls seven times, he gets up every time. Only person who's down is the person who stays down. You don't have to stay stuck, you can get up. You have a hiccup, just get up. Don't stay down. Don't stay stuck. Some of you are like, Well, this my grandfather was like this, he was he had a temper, my father had a temper, and I have a temper. No, you don't have to stay stuck. You can be changed, you can be delivered, you can be born again. Well, I saw porn when I was a little kid and I've been trapped under no no, you can be changed, you can be born again, you can be delivered, you can change the way you view life, you can change the way you do life.

SPEAKER_01 30:45

Stay at it, don't give up.

SPEAKER_00 30:50

Keep on keeping on, and may the God of peace in partnership with you as you look to him and trust in him, may He sanctify you through and through in Jesus' name. Amen. Would you bow your hands and close your eyes with him? I want to pray over you today. This first part is just for anybody and everybody who, you know what, you've been struggling today, you've been reminded you can keep on keeping on. The Lord is with you. What's your next step, practically speaking? What do you need to delete? What old contacts do you need to get rid of? What old driving patterns do you need to stop so you're not driving by those places of temptation? What do you need to change? What do you need to add? What do you need to fill your heart and your mind with? Daily giving your day to the Lord, daily getting into his word, staying faithful to the house of God. So, Lord, I pray in Jesus' name that you would help all of us to walk in the victory, the freedom to flourish the way you want us to. By your grace and your strength and your Holy Spirit working in us. Heads still bowed, eyes still closed. I want to pray for one other group. This is anybody and everybody who, if you're just gut level honest, you'd have to admit you're not right with God. He's not the king of your heart. He's not the Lord of your life. If you're just cutting it straight, man, you're not walking with Jesus. He's not your priority. I want you to know it's not by chance that you're here today. I don't care where you've been or what you've done or how many mistakes you've made, your one heartfelt prayer away from being changed from the inside out. Experiencing the life in Christ that we've been talking about today, his help in this hurting and broken world. You can't find life apart from Christ, but today I give you this opportunity to say, are you ready to come home to him? For God so loved the world that he gave his only son. That's the story of the gospel. Jesus died for your sin so that you wouldn't have to die in your sin. He died for you so that you could live forever in heaven with him. Today, if you want to surrender your life to Christ, I'm gonna ask in just a minute for a show of hands. And by lifting your hand, you're just saying, Yep, that's me. I'm ready to commit or recommit my life to Christ. I'm gonna pray for you. If that's you without hesitation, all over this room, those watching online, you want to commit or recommit your life to Christ, biggest and best decision you'll ever make, just slip your hand up right now and I'm gonna pray for you. Did you raise it up? Awesome, awesome, awesome. So many hands in every single section going up. I want you to pray this prayer as I lead you, mean it with all of your heart. Let's all pray it together. Say, dear God, thank you for your grace and your mercy. Thank you for not giving up on me. Today I ask you to forgive me of my sin, to come into my heart and be Lord of my life. In Jesus' name I pray it. Amen. Let's thank the Lord together today.