Game On: Draft Day // Pastor Chuck Colegrove // Sept. 21, 2025

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Yeah, come on, great to see you today.
You look great, you sound great.
Why don't you just tell yourneighbor how good they look
right now?
You look good, you look good,oh, you look good.
Well, listen, god is good.

(00:21):
Welcome all of our guests today.
Thank you for joining us.
A little bit of celebration.
Last week we baptized 23 peoplein the 11 am service Such an
incredible time registered to bebaptized.

(00:46):
So we prepared them and walkedthrough with them and had their
baptism certificates ready andwe started baptizing.
And at the end of baptizingthose 16, seven more people
stepped up and said they wantedto be baptized in their church
clothes.
They didn't want to wait for usto get the shorts and t-shirts
ready for them.
They just went all in and, man,I'm telling you, god is moving
in this house.
So if you're a guest today,thanks for joining us.

(01:09):
We always say there is no placelike this place, near this
place.
So this must be the place andwe're glad that you found the
place and we hope you feel rightat home and you felt the
presence of the Lord, and I amready to preach God's word.
Are you ready to receive ittoday?
The year was 2012, and we hadjust moved to Oak Park.

(01:31):
Our family and we were justsettling in, getting used to
life in Oak Park, you know,driving two blocks and stopping
at a stop sign or a red lightevery two blocks.
We didn't do that in Houston.
Once you get out of theneighborhood it's all 90 mile an
hour Houston.

(01:52):
And so we were getting used tothat and we are kind of a
baseball family.
So we signed Elliot up forbaseball and as we got them all
registered they said well,there's a draft coming up.
I was like, okay, great, thatthat'll be fun.
And then they said and actuallywe need a coach, maybe you want

(02:12):
to coach?
I was like, okay, sure, why not?
I would get to know families,get to know parents.
And so I decided to coach thatyear Elliot's I think it's like
10 year old baseball year.
And so we go to this, I go tothis little local place, meet
all the other coaches and westart the draft and they have

(02:32):
this board of names up and I'mcoaching for the first time in
this area.
So I have no clue.
Any kids I don't know one kid Idon't know.
I rarely know any of Elliot'sfriends Like he was in fourth
grade.
He was like just Dad, dowhatever, just get whatever you
want.
And I was like okay.
So looked at the draft board andI saw Elliot's name on there.

(02:54):
I thought, well, that's whoI'll pick first.
Obviously is my son, I willpick my son.
And so we start the draft.
And I was like the third orfourth pick and the first pick
went and the second pick, andthen the coach before me in the
third pick was like I'm going totake that kid, elliot Colgrove.
I was like time out, time out.

(03:16):
That's my son.
I feel like I should alreadyhave him on my team and start
the draft from there.
Just saying it just seems likea good idea for me to coach my
son.
Otherwise I'm not coachingBecause I don't love kids, I
love my wife.
So I'm going to draft my son.

(03:37):
And so we worked it out and Igot to draft my son and we had a
lot of fun playing baseballhere in Oak Park.
But it's really it was one ofthose things for Elliot where it
was like it was kind of cool tosee a bunch of people want
Elliot to play on their team,because the coach behind me was
like, well, I was supposed topick him.
My son told me to pick Elliotand so it just went all the way

(03:57):
through.
But it's really the year Ilearned that you have to
understand and know that you arevalued and chosen and you are a
part of a draft like no other.
Why don't you turn to yourneighbor and say, hey, I'm going
to be a number one pick andturn to the other one and just

(04:19):
say I need this more than youneed this, I need this more than
you need this.
Today we kick off an all-newseries entitled Game On.
We spent the last couple ofweeks with this all-in idea
going all-in, and I just wasthinking I almost preached

(04:40):
another week of all-in and justsaid all-in for everyone.
But I felt like the way theschedule is working and the way
the timeline is, we're going torun from now through October.
October 12th will be VisionSunday, as we cast a vision for
2026 here for Free Church and Iwant to cast it early so we have
a chance to catch up with itand run with it, and so that's

(05:01):
coming October 12th.
But today I'm going to startthis series called Game On and
it's as you might expect.
It's got a bit of a footballtheme to it, because is there
any better season than the fallseason?
Amen, we got a football coachon the front row and football is
.
This is a great season becausebaseball is wrapping up into

(05:25):
playoffs, football has startedand is in full swing, college
and pro Basketball's rightaround the corner, hockey's
right around the corner.
Is there any better time forSportsCenter than right now?
That's just my own opinion.
It doesn't make you saved, butit makes you close.
So, game on.
We are going to dive into thisseries and I want to bring up

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the key verses for this, becauseyou're going to see something
very incredible.
Let's read this passage ofscripture in Ephesians, chapter
4.
Now, these are the gifts Christgave to the church comma.
You could put team there.
This is Christ gave these giftsto the team, or he gave a team
to the church, however you wantto describe that, but it's this.

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The apostles, the prophets, theevangelists, the pastors and
the teachers how many know thatevery good team needs to be
covered in every single area?
Have a great quarterback butdon't have any wide receivers
you get a problem.
Have a great quarterback butdon't have any wide receivers
you got a problem.
Have a great quarterback, agreat wide receiver room but not
have an offensive line.
You got the Bears.

(06:31):
No, just kidding, just kidding.
You knew you knew it was coming.
So a great team requires all ofthe positions be filled.
Watch this.
Their responsibility is to equipGod's people to do his work and
to build up the church.

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So that's why at Free Church wesay every member is a minister,
everyone is a tenant in somearea and every task is important
because we all have a part toplay on the team Game on.
We don't just show up and we'renot just spectators.
Now, when I go see footballteams, I'm a spectator.

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I don't have any part to playin that game.
But in this house you're notjust a spectator.
We are part of the team andeveryone is important.
Every task is important, Evenyou.
And everyone is important.
Every task is important, Evenyou.
Preaching with me is important,makes me a better preacher, or
at least it makes it more fun.

(07:35):
So their job is to build upGod's people to do the work of
the church.
So it's not just myresponsibility to do all the
work.
I'm to help equip you to do thework that is helping declare
God's promises and fulfill hispurpose here on this earth.
Let's keep reading.
This will continue until we allcome to such unity.
Man, that's a great word forour, for our culture right now

(07:58):
unity.
And we're gonna have to keepworking church till we come,
church till we come to unity.
And when we come to unityBrother Carlos spoke about it at
our team rally when we come tounity, there is a blessing.
That's on that, there's peaceand prosperity.
That's on unity we will change.
The Bible says when therighteous people prosper, the

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city prospers.
And part of the prospering thatwe are a part of is when we're
walking in unity.
Anything more than a vision isdivision.
And if we could get singularpurpose in what God wants to do
on this earth through thischurch, nothing is impossible.
But we're going to continue todo this until we all come to
such unity and then that unityrings out to our neighborhoods.

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So we're come to such unity andthen that unity rings out to
our neighborhoods.
So we're gonna do this, suchunity in our faith, knowledge of
God's son, that we will bemature in the Lord, so much to
preach in this, measuring up tothe full and complete standard
of Christ.
Then we'll no longer beimmature like children, we won't

(09:04):
be tossed and blown about byevery wind of new teaching.
Like you get in God's word, youget in God's house, and social
media doesn't have quite thesame impact on you as it does on
other people.
We don't just swipe right andswipe up and down until we find
a pastor that preaches what wewanna hear.

(09:24):
We listen to God's word so thatwe're not tossed and blown
about by every wind of newteaching.
We will not be influenced whenpeople try to trick us with new
clever, with lies so clever theysound like the truth.
I mean we look at social mediaand everything that's on there
like it is the in fact truth andthere's like it's never been

(09:45):
edited, never been clipped,never been doctored up, like I
don't know what's AI and what'sreal any longer when you're
watching social media.
I'm sorry, I'm just trying to.
There's just a part of pastor ofme that's just want to lean in
on us a little bit, as we arepart of this team, and realize
game on.
It's not time for games, it'stime to go.

(10:07):
Let's get ready to do whatGod's called us to do.
Instead, we'll speak the truthin love, growing in every way
more and more like Christ, whois the head of his body.
He makes the whole body fittogether perfectly as each part
does its own special work.
It helps the other parts growso that the whole body fit
together perfectly, as each partdoes its own special work.
It helps the other parts growso that the whole body is

(10:29):
healthy and growing and full oflove.
Let me just tell you this Ifyou're not willing to be a part
of a growing environment, you'reholding the environment back.
If you're not growing, you'reholding the environment back.
Growing, you're holding theenvironment back.
So that is that's what I'mpreaching about over the next

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four weeks, that whole passageof scripture.
And today this is what we'llwalk away from in this series.
Game on Number one get on theteam.
Number two get with the plan.
Number three get in the game.
Okay, don't shout me down,it'll be better.
It'll be better if you shout medown, but it'll be good by the

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time we get to the end of it.
But today is draft day.
Everybody say draft day, draftday, today's draft day.
And I was thinking about draftday because a couple of years
ago, our beloved Bears, yourbeloved Bears, had a number one
overall pick, number one pick,and they drafted this wonderful

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quarterback, caleb Williams,number one pick overall.
The thing about draft day isthe number one pick isn't always
the greatest person to bepicked, and you know how.
I know that Because this nextone was the third pick overall,

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not a number one pick overall.
How, how, how, but all he didis win.
He is the GOAT.
I don't care what anybody elsesays, not just of my generation.
He is the standard setter.
And then, a few years aroundthat same time, another guy went

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not number one, not top 10, notfirst round, second round,
third round, fourth round.
He finally was drafted in thesixth round.
And this guy also a GOATbecause all he did was win.
Number 12, tb, tom Brady.
You don't gotta like him, buthe's a winner, not a number one

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pick.
And then two years ago in thatwell yeah, 2022.
In 2022, this guy was called MrIrrelevant because he was the
very last pick of the entiredraft, number 262 in the entire
draft.
They call him Mr Irrelevantbecause nobody thinks he's going

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to do anything.
Irrelevant because nobodythinks he's going to do anything
and all he does is, in hisrookie years, lead his team to
the NFC championship and, in hissophomore season, lead his team
to the Superbowl.
All that to say, you can be thefirst pick or you can be the
262nd pick, it doesn't matter.
You were picked, and my hopefor you today is that you

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understand how much value youhave, how you are the apple of
God's eye, and when God looks ata draft board, your name is
always on the top and you knowwhat.
It is possible for God tochoose every one of you first,
because the capacity for God tolove is different than the
capacity for us, and he picksyou and he chooses you, and you

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are a prized possession to ourGod, and I want you to just
realize how much you weredesigned to be a part of not
just a team, but a part of thiswinning team or the winning team
.
Let's look at pastor scripturefor this series and for this

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message today, draft day.
Check this out.
Paul writes in Ephesians 1,praise be to the God and Father
of our Lord, Jesus Christ, whoblessed us in heavenly realms
with every spiritual blessing inChrist.
By the way, you can say well, Idon't know if I'm ever going to
be that great of a Christian.
Well, listen, it's not reallyon you to be a great Christian,

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because it is God who blessesyou with every spiritual
blessing, every spiritualblessing.
So if you would walk aroundWith the attitude that I am
blessed, that I am spirituallyblessed, and stop Selling
yourself short, you will walkwith a different attitude and a
different confidence.
It's a God confidence that Iwalk with.

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So he says this, for he Choseus, he drafted us.
So he says this through JesusChrist, in accordance with his
pleasure and will, to the praiseof his glorious grace, which he
has freely given us in the onehe loves.
So I heard somebody say this thereason why he can put you on

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top of the draft board and everysingle one of you will be a
number one draft pick when itcomes to God designing and
choosing you, is this becausewhen he looks at you, he's
looking through the son, jesusChrist, who went to the cross to
bridge the gap for your life.
He doesn't just see youindividually, he sees his son in
you.
That's better than you justresponded, but you don't have to

(16:12):
respond, you just need to letit sit for a minute.
You've been chosen, you've beenadopted, you've been drafted,
all to the praise and the gloryto the one he loves the most.
So God's been recruiting youand you've been on his mind

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since the very beginning.
I know this because scripturetells us that he loved us so
much and he showed us that loveand that Christ died while we
were yet sinners.
I know this because, from thefoundation of the world, the
lamb was slain and you arealready planned with purpose in
that moment.
The lamb was slain and you arealready planned with purpose in

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that moment.
And if you could just know howvaluable you are, because I will
tell you this, I think theenemy knows how valuable you are
, and it might not always bepopular to talk about the enemy
we face in our life, but theenemy is real.
He is not an equal to God.

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He's been cast down and he'salready been defeated.
But in this time he has theability, as the accuser of the
brethren and as the father oflies, to disrupt the purpose and
design of your life bydistracting you, making you busy
, make you focus on other things, make you listen to different
voices, and his design is to getyou off track.

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Because he understands howvaluable you are.
And if I could just spend aminute declaring God's promises
over your life this morning atthis nine o'clock service.
The Bible says in 2 Corinthians1 and 20 that every single
promise is yes and amen throughJesus Christ.
Our pastor in Dallas used tosing this song every promise in

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the book is mine, every chapter,every verse, every line.
I'm trusting in his love divinebecause every promise in the
book is mine.
And then he would go on to saymine, mine, mine, jesus is mine.
I wish I could sing to sing itBecause you need to understand
the promises of God are yes andamen for your life and there is

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nothing that can stop the wordof God spoken over your life,
declared over your life, frombeing fulfilled in your life.
Declaring his promises over yourlife is this the promise is
there is therefore now nocondemnation for those who are
in Christ Jesus.
The promise of this that you'vebeen made competent through the

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Holy Spirit.
You're wondering can I get thistogether?
Can I complete this?
Yes, because the Holy Spirithas already made you competent
and you can walk with thatcompetent confidence.
You need to understand you willnot be ashamed and you will not
be disgraced.
It is a promise of God that youwill not be ashamed or
disgraced in this life.
It is a promise of God that youhave not been given the spirit

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of fear, but you have been giventhe power and of a sound mind.
It is a promise to you that ourGod always causes you to
triumph.
The promises of God are yes andamen in our life.
If you would start rehearsingthose promises in your life, I
promise you it would change yourperspective on the situations

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that you're facing.
Julian said it today the name ofJesus is above any other name.
It is above the name of cancer.
It is above the name of cancer,it is above the name of divorce
, it is above the name of fear,above the name of any sickness,
above the name of any addiction.
The name of Jesus, spoken ofyour life, will do what it's

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supposed to do.
You just got to lean in on thepromises God has for you.
You are valuable, you are apart of this team.
He's drafted you, he's chosenyou, he's picked you, he has
hand picked you.
He had a purpose in mind, likewhen I drafted Elliot, I knew.
I knew Elliot was going to bemy shortstop.

(20:09):
I knew it Not just because he'smy son, because he's capable,
and we worked on ground ballsand we worked in the batting
cages and we did all that stuff.
I knew I could put him thereand trust him and I knew I could
put him in situations where hewould succeed.
And as a coach, I loved puttinghim even in difficult because

(20:31):
of the confidence I had in him.
And that's what God is sayingto you today.
He's put you in a spot.
It seems tough, but he knowsyou're going to make it through
it.
He put you in a spot Seemsoverwhelming, but he's not going
to put more on you than you canbear, because he already gifted
you with every spiritualblessing to get through it.
Spiritual blessing to getthrough it.

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You get yourself in the mirrorin the morning and you tell
yourself I am God's chosen, I amGod's elect, I am God's first
draft choice.
I am where I'm supposed to be.
I will say what I'm supposed tosay.
I will do what I'm supposed todo.
I will influence people for thepurposes of God.
In my life, every promisespoken of my life could be
fulfilled today because I walkin the confidence of God.
So Paul says this I pray thatthe eyes of your heart may be

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enlightened in order that youmay know the hope to which he
has called you, the hope towhich he has called you.
My prayer is that youunderstand the hope to which God
has called you, the hope towhich God has purposed in your
life, the hope to which he hasset in front of you as an

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indicator of his goodness overyour life, the hope which he has
set before you as an indicatorof his power and providence in
your life, the hope that he hasset before you as a way to show
you that his way is a better way.
His thought is a higher thoughtand if you can turn your
attention on him, your problemswill decrease as he increases.

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So what do we do?
What do we do with thisinformation that we're drafted?
Well, number one, you got toanswer the call.
You got to answer the call.
You see our draft day.
Some of the draft picks will beright there in the arena and

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their name will be called.
They'll go on stage.
Others are at their homes withtheir families, and a few years
ago, when the Minnesota Vikingsdrafted JJ McCarthy, my nephew
Robbie was there in the roomsitting with him, celebrating
with him, and when the Vikingscalled him to let him know that
he had been drafted, he wasright there to see that moment.
You gotta answer the call.

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You gotta answer the call.
In 1944, the Philadelphia Eaglesall right, fly birds.
What do they say?
Go birds.
Everybody pretends to be anEagles fan.
Now listen, my brother, youknow, my brother and I.

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I always say, if I get introuble, because my brother did
it and we've been lifelongDetroit Lion fans.
I hope he's watching right nowbecause he'll appreciate this.
We've been lifelong DetroitLion fans and I'm kind of like a
fan through thick and thin.
My heart has been hurt over andover and my entire life has
been a disappointment when itcomes to the Detroit Lions.

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Like just when you thinkthey're going to be good, they
decide not to kick a couple offield goals and they lose an
important game, just stuff likethat my entire life.
Well, my brother finally hadenough of it.
He is now an Eagles fan, whichhe's a winner.
So what can I say?
Like championship and all thatjazz.

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So anyway, I love you, mybrother.
I love my brother.
And um, what did I say?
Oh, 1944, the PhiladelphiaEagles, with, like the, with a
fourth round draft pick, pickeda fullback from Syracuse
University by the name of NormMichael.
1944, julian, they picked thisfullback from Syracuse?

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Well, nobody ever.
They couldn't get in touch withhim on draft day.
And 55 years later, normMichael realized by looking at
an old report of draft day statsthat he was drafted into the
NFL and he never got the call.
He never answered the call.
He never played one down in theNFL.
You got to answer the call.

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Is what I'm saying.
Don't be Norm Michael.
You got to pick up the phone.
The Bible says behold, I standat the door and knock and if
anybody will open the door andlet me in, I'll come in and I'll
live and have fellowship andhave dinner in your life, in
your house, in your home, inyour neighborhood.

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That's what Jesus says.
You got to answer the call.
You got to answer the call.
He picked you chose you beforeany of the days of your life
were lived out.
He already knew the moment thatyou would step onto this earth,
the purpose you would live by,the way you would live it out.
And he's just saying listen,all you gotta do, it's all set,

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psalm 139,.
Read that chapter Every day,planned out and written in a
book before you lived it out,but all you gotta do is answer
the call.
First, timothy 2 says this.
This is good and pleases God,our Savior, who wants look at
this all people to be saved andcome to a knowledge of the truth

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.
All people.
God's got a plan for all people.
Let the whole world know thatGod's got a plan for their life.
But you gotta answer the call.
How do you answer the call?
Well, it's the call ofsalvation.
You gotta confess in your heartwhat you believe in your mouth.
You gotta answer the call.
You gotta be baptized.
You gotta let everybody knowit's putting on the jersey for

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this team when you get baptized,and we baptized 23 last week.
We're going to baptize againNovember 16th, and so we want
you to start planning now.
If you've never been baptized,we need you to put on the right
jersey and let's all go on thisteam, get on the team, answer
the call and then the last thing, as I close, the last thing is
not only do you have to answerthe call to be drafted, the last
thing, as I close, the lastthing is not only do you have to

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answer the call to be drafted,but then you've gotta commit to
player development Becauseyou're drafted, because God has
a plan and you're great andyou're all that and the bag of
chips.
That's why you were drafted.
But we have to grow.
We have to get stronger.
We gotta grow in maturity.

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I read that till we all come inthe unity of, and we all come
into a maturity of knowing theimmeasurable riches, the glory
that he has in store for us.
We have to grow and I'm justquickly gonna give you five
things that you need to grow in.
Number one you need to grow inprayer.
We pray first.
We pray first.
We got to grow in prayer.

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If anything, if we're ever tobe anything as a church, it's
because we're a praying church.
There's no reason why we allshouldn't be.
Some of you are already workingand probably can't get to a
phone or a computer or anything,but most of us, at 6 am, should
join the Wednesday Zoom prayercall, not because it saves us,
but because it makes us a partof a team, unified in our

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approach and declaring God'spromises over our life.
But we need to grow in prayer.
We need to grow in God's word.
We need to get God's word in us.
The Bible says his word.
Have I hid in my heart that Imight not sin against thee?
And you know what?
The old days of Sunday school.

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You know, I was born on Sundayin church the next Sunday.
I didn't miss a Sunday, and wegrew up memorizing scripture.
Do I remember, by word and byverse, every single scripture
that I had memorized all throughthose years of Sunday school?
No, but there's a lot of themthat come to memory because I
did memorize it.

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Furthermore, the reason why wethink note takers are history
makers is because when you writesomething down, the weakest ink
always outlasts the strongestmind.
So if you're just listening toGod's word, you're a hearer of
the word.
But when you start to writeGod's word and grow in God's

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word, you become a doer of God'sword and then you're no longer
deceiving yourself.
That's just God's word.
So we got grow in prayer.
We gotta grow in the word.
We need to grow in fellowshipwith other believers.
Down in the lobby we got alittle screen set up and one of
our small group leaders will bedown there to just help you find

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a group.
We're a couple weeks into smallgroups.
It's one of our greatestseasons yet.
Last week, the first week,eight out of 11 groups met.
We had over 126 people in thosegroups.
That number's just going togrow as all the groups start to
meet over the next couple ofweeks.
But listen, I'm going to tellyou we got to grow in fellowship
with other believers.
Why?
Because we're a part of a teamand a team needs to be together,

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train together, learn together,grow together, love one another
, love others together.
We need to grow in spirit ledliving Like we need to allow the
Holy Spirit to lead us.
If you're led by the flesh,life's going to be difficult and
it actually.
The scripture actually pointsthe way that living after the
flesh will lead, and that's notgood.

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It's not a good finish, I cantell you.
But following after the spirit,being spirit led, how do I get
being spirit led?
How do I my spirit led?
You've got to really you.
Just, you have to releasecontrol of your life to the holy
spirit to guide you and leadyou and in fact, all that I'm
telling you right now we teachin freeway which today is

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freeway after the commit, but weare going to commit to every
Sunday and as long as we're intown, we're going to be in
service and pretty much they'vedone that and I can't tell you
how their life is flourishing.
Why?
Because we're growing together.
There is a benefit to membershipBelonging.

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We'll teach you the path todiscipleship.
It's these things.
I go in a little more detail infreeway and then we'll teach
you how to to discipleship.
It's these things.
I go into a little more detailin freeway and then we'll teach
you how to be a leader in thechurch and how to help us make a
difference.
But we need to grow in theseareas and if you've never done
freeway, I'm gonna invite you toget on the team.
Go with us on this journey, goall in with us.
And I would say you have timeto go get a snack.

(30:49):
We'll start at like 1245.
After this service, you havetime to go get brunch and still
come back, or you can stay andhear this message again.
Then you can almost out-preachme because you know you can bet
your neighbor like $10 what yearit's going to be.

(31:12):
I'm just saying the last thingis we've got to grow.
Grow in giving, giving of ourtime, our talent and our
treasure.
Player development.
You gotta commit to thosethings.
You gotta commit to thosethings.
We're gonna quit with you.
We're gonna help you.
Freeway's one of the spots.
Small group's one of the spotsmaking a difference.
I'm the dream team, one of thespots.
I'm just telling you it's timeto get game on attitude.

(31:32):
No more games, but game on.
We're on the winning team andwe're going to live like it.
Can you receive that word today?