Summer Shorts VI // Pastor Chuck Colegrove // July 27, 2025

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Thank y'all so much.
Listen, I'm just so blessed andI ended the day by just putting
a little message out there toso many people who had wished me
happy birthday through the daythat I'm so blessed me and I've
got the best kids for me, thebest kids for me.
Your kids are great, but theseare my kids and so they're the

(00:34):
best for me.
Last night we went to I shouldhave had the picture ready to be
posted, but we went to dinnerlast night and Ursh and I got
there first and I'm looking atmy phone waiting for these guys
to be posted.
But we went to dinner lastnight and, uh, ursh and I got
there first and I'm I'm lookingat my phone waiting for these
guys to show up, cause I want tobe seated.
They finally see this.
They're like your whole party'shere, hon.
I'm like I mean, yeah, I showthem in the parking lot.

(00:57):
I don't know why they're not inhere yet.
So we get into our seats and,uh, they all all four of the
boys and our sweet daughter inlove, anise, dressed like me.
It's like baseball coach me,boat driver me, golfer me,

(01:19):
sunday me Ellie and Anise hadtheir glasses on the back of
their collar If you've ever seenme hide my glasses there and
and then Ethan was the last oneto enter and he walked in as
cowboy me, texas.
Me with my cowboy boots andcowboy hat on.
And so, listen, I'm so blessed,I'm surrounded by the best, and

(01:40):
then all of you like to beclose to you guys, to be in
community with you, family withyou, to celebrate the great
things happening in your life,to be with you and the difficult
things that happen in your life.
Like I don't know who's got itbetter than me?
Nobody.
And who's got it better than us?
Nobody.

(02:01):
So thank you so much and it'san honor to just take that
moment.
Thanks, I don't.
I don't really like to takethose kind of moments.
So thank you for doing that.
And, um, I was just about to say, like, what about this band
during coffee break?
Like that is music for my soul,josh ripping that guitar.

(02:23):
And I'm going to tell you what.
Like, I turned 55.
Some of you think I turned 35,but I turned 55 yesterday, and
all of you that are 50, 55-ishand up, I want you to just trust
me on this, that we cannotcomplain that it's too loud,

(02:47):
even if it's loud, because, eventhough God has entrusted us to
be a part of this house and tolead this house and really pave
the way for the vision of thishouse to see these young people

(03:09):
up here, let it get louder.
If it's what keeps a youngperson in church, let it be
louder If what keeps a youngadult in this house.
Let them jump higher.
I don't ever want to lose myplace of praising Jesus with my

(03:35):
whole heart, my whole mind, mysoul and my strength.
So if you think I've scoldedyou, I'm not.
I'm just saying trust me onthis, like we need to.
Let's not grow old, let's keepgrowing up.
And for you, young people andyoung adults even though, listen
, we're going to do everythingwe can to match your energy,

(04:01):
like y'all will do this in thefront row and then do this again
tonight at the witness andyoung adult as they have
testimony service from pr, which, by the way, welcome back our
young adults and students frompuerto rico.
Uh, we know you had a greattime.
So did we while you were gone.
We actually, we had greatchurch while you were gone and.

(04:21):
But you're back and we'rehaving greater church and
tonight they're going to sharetestimonies and you're welcome
to be a part of that.
I think doors open at 5 30.
Service starts at 5 30-ish, so5 30,.
So come on, be a part of that,if you want to hear, if you and
this is what I would say church,thank you for supporting this

(04:41):
group of students and youngadults that went to Puerto Rico.
But with your generosity, manyof you gave um here in the
service, many of you gave justdirectly to their online
profiles and you made itpossible for them to go.
I know they were incredibleblessing.
I've heard like rumors notrumors, but like little bits
back and forth about howeverybody was like oh, you're

(05:02):
the group from Chicago, oh,you're the group from free
church, oh we're, oh you must bethe group from free church.
And every single one of ourstudents and young adults made
an incredible impact.
Not only were they changed forthe better, but they made change
for the better.
So they'll be here tonight.
But I was saying all that tosay this young people like we,
like you guys, can jump and runand go crazy and for like hours

(05:25):
and then do it again tonight andthen wake up tomorrow and do it
again like we got to recover,like sunday night.
I always know if I was runningin place and jumping on the
front road because I'm a littlesore than usual.
So, but man, listen, I want tobe in the church.
That's alive.
And we always say this is theplace.

(05:48):
There is no place like thisplace, near this place.
So this must be the place, andtoday it definitely feels that
way.
So if you're a guest, welcome.
I know you could have been alot of places this morning, but
thanks for being with us andwe'd love to meet you afterwards
in the next steps area.
We have a gift as our way ofsaying thanks for being our
guest and we'd love to high-fiveyour fist bumpy on the patio on
your way out.
And if you're watching online,let's welcome our online campus

(06:11):
watching in this region andaround the world.
And well, listen, I'm ready topreach God's word.
Are you ready to receive it?
The year was 1988.
I had just graduated highschool.
Man, how many 1980s people dowe have in the house, like young

(06:32):
people?
Like, come on, you were ateenager in 1980?
The best, the best era.
I'm sorry, y'all think you gotit.
We had it.
I mean, we had long hair.
It's a little ringy up here.
We had long hair.
We had Bon Jovi I called himBrother Bon Jovi so I could

(06:56):
listen to him in my house and hehad a song Living on a Prayer.
I just made sure that was thesong Whenever my parents walked
in.
I went straight to Living on aPrayer.
I just made sure that was thesong Whenever my parents walked
in I went straight to Living ona Prayer.
The year was 1988.
I got a job.
I had a job already.
My first job was as a shoesalesman.

(07:18):
That was interesting, sellingshoes in the mall, not even name
brand shoes.
It was a store that was calledKenny Shoes, if you know.
You know the company that ownedKenny Shoes also owned Foot
Lockers, so that was kind ofcool.

(07:38):
So I did have a little bit ofstreet cred but worked at Kenny
Shoes.
And then I got a job in a retailplace, a little local place
that was a large departmentstore called Rogers in Grand
Rapids, michigan, and I'll neverforget.
I went in there and I thought Iknew everything because I was
18.
I know everything and got thejob and they put me in this

(07:59):
department and my manager thefirst day he walked me around
and he showed me every brand ofclothing.
We had Gerbo jeans, z Cavaricci, and I'll just stop there.

(08:24):
Y'all wish Just Google it andbuy it, because you will be like
it'll be right.
And Kooky Sweaters come onsomebody, wow.
So he went through everyarticle of Chloe Like he went
through every brand that we had,like went through it all Suits,

(08:46):
ties, belts, sweaters, pants,jeans, like everything.
And this is the first day I waslike okay, it's great.
And I left and I was like allright, well, that's all right.
I didn't sell anything, but Ilearned a lot.
And then the next day I wentback and he's like let's do it
again.
And we went back and we wentthrough all the lines I'll never
forget.
I asked him.
I was like his name was John.

(09:07):
I was like John, mr John,because I didn't want to get
fired.
I was like Mr John, why are youtaking so much time?
Like I'm ready to sell, I'mready to be.
I've sold.
Listen, I sold shoes.
If I can sell shoes, I can sellany of this.
This is easy.
He said.
I'm not worried about youselling.
He said, but I need you tothink, like I think about the

(09:30):
fashion and the clothing and thebrands that are in this room
Because if you'll think like Ithink, you'll understand why
people need to wear what we'reselling.
I was like, oh okay, if I thinklike you think.
And then it really dawned on mehe wasn't really just showing
me the brands so I would knowthe brands.
He was showing me hisphilosophy and his thought

(09:51):
process behind why we had thosebrands in our department so that
I could have a greater voicewhen customers came in and had a
greater understanding.
It's the year I learned whenyou start to think like the
people that lead you, itactually expands the reach and
the resource of the person thatleads you.
Why don't you just turn to yourneighbor and say I want to

(10:14):
think like Jesus.
And then to the other one, justlean back and go, hmm.
And then to the other one, justlean back and go, hmm.
So here we go.
We've been in this summer seriescalled Summer Shorts and we're
going to just tag this nextseries right on top of Summer

(10:36):
Shorts.
And let me just remind you, inSummer Shorts we talked about
the character of Jesus and weused the principle behind the
prophet Ezekiel when he told usa glimpse of what Jesus would
look like not so much physically, but it was.
It was a character alignment ofwho Jesus would be when he got

(10:59):
to this earth.
And we know that John talkedabout Jesus as the lion, that
Jesus was powerfully anointed.
And if we want to be like Jesus, then we also have to pursue
the anointing that Jesus had,which, by the way, it's not
pharisaical or it's notblasphemy to say I want to have
the same anointing, because thescripture says the very same

(11:20):
spirit that raised Christ fromthe dead lives in us, so we can
have that same anointing.
In fact, jesus himself saidgreater things will you do than
I've done here because I'm goingaway, but I will send a helper
to you the Holy Spirit that willempower.
He will empower you to dogreater things.

(11:41):
So John tells us about the faceof the lion, that Jesus is
powerfully anointed and then hetells.
Then we go to Luke and Luketells us that Jesus was not only
100% God but he was also 100%man, that he was powerfully
anointed but he was alsopractically relational, that he
was good with people, and we'vetalked about.

(12:02):
We have to work in our mindsNot to be so was good with
people and we've talked about.
We have to work in our mindslike not to be so fed up with
people but to be able to feedpeople by being good with people
, encouraging people.
Thank you, somebody.
Somebody in the house like,listen, I'm going on vacation
after this service and afterfreeway, but I'm here to preach

(12:23):
right now.
I could have left early and Ialmost did.
And then Matthew, the accountant, talks to us about the face of
the eagle, that Jesus did allthings well, that he wasn't just
powerfully anointed and we needthe anointing.

(12:45):
And he wasn't just powerfullyanointed and we need the
anointing.
And he wasn't just practicallypersonal Although we need to be
good with people, relational,but he was also practically
excellent.
He did all things well and thatour pursuit of perfection is
not the right pursuit, but ourpursuit of excellence is what

(13:05):
honors God and creates comfort,that we have to pay attention to
the details.
And then Mark last week wetalked about Mark and the face
of the ox that Mark tells usthat, yes, jesus was powerfully
anointed and personally,relational and practically
excellent, but he alsopersistently served, that he did

(13:26):
not come to be served, he cameto serve.
And man, I told Urshana lastweek as we were going home and
then I told our team on Tuesday,a staff meeting.
I don't even think I preachedthe best part of my message.
It was in my notes.
And the way the Holy Spiritleads sometimes is I work our
way through and around andsometimes the notes stay and
sometimes it comes out of mymessage.
It was in my notes and the waythe Holy Spirit leads sometimes
is I work a way through andaround and sometimes the notes

(13:47):
stay and sometimes it comes outof the Spirit and in the notes.
I want to just show you thisquickly before I go on vacation
and forget it.
And it's such a powerful thingIn the New Testament the main
translation of the New Testamentis Greek and the word joy.

(14:10):
Remember we learned that joy isthe fuel of serving and that to
persistently serve means I can'tjust serve out of my own
strength and power.
I have to have a greater powerthat helps me serve.
And we talk about joy and thatGreek word joy is kara, kara

(14:30):
C-H-A-R-A.
And as I studied, that lookedfamiliar to me because if you've
read scripture and ever studiedGreek, which maybe a few of you
have, the word grace is charis.
We would say charis C-H-A-R-I-S, the same root.

(14:52):
So I've said that to tell youthat?
What is amazing to me about whenthe Bible says in Nehemiah 8 10
, that the joy of the Lord isour strength and I preached
about it joy, joy actually is agrace given to us that we don't
have to earn and we don't everhave to work for.
It's just what the Holy Spirit,what God gives us.
It's his strength he gives us.

(15:13):
It's a grace.
Just like you have a grace toovercome sin, you have a grace
not to receive the punishmentthat you deserve.
You have a grace to overcomesin.
You have a grace not to receivethe punishment that you deserve
.
You have a grace to have theHoly Spirit living in your life.
You are graced with joy to feelyou as you serve, serve the
Lord with gladness.
So that grace is notcircumstantial, it's not based

(15:34):
on I have joy when everything'sgood.
I have joy when I get good news.
I have joy when I have goodpeople around me.
I have joy all the time becauseit comes from the Lord.
It is a grace in my life.
Well, I thought it was betterthan that, but so we've learned

(15:54):
about this idea and this is whatI love.
Summer is a growing season.
We plant in the springtime andin the summer it's a growing
season for a great harvest.
In the fall, man just drive byUrs made so much fun of me.
A few weeks ago I was down inKankakee and I was down there

(16:18):
for a minute and drove past thecornfields and the corn was like
this.
It was so tiny, this was likeearly part of the summer so tiny
.
I was like someday that's goingto be a big corn stalk, but
today it's not.
And the next time I went, aweek later and I told her, sean,
I was like you can't believehow tall the corn is already.
It's so tall.

(16:41):
And she was like is it tall?
I'm like baby, it's like morethan doubled in a week.
That's impressive to me.
And she's like, okay, I waslike you don't feel the energy I
have about this story right now.
She's like, okay, corn grows.
I'm like, no, I'm not gettingthrough to you.
That's what she has to put upwith.
The reality is in the spring weplant and then there's growth in

(17:05):
the summer.
And I'm telling you you don'tcome into church in the summer,
thinking like the series wassummer shorts.
But we didn't come in here justto like get by and check a box.
We're growing for our harvestin the fall in our life, as we
live our best year ever, and youmight not see it now, but how
many know?
Every time all the kids go backto school and you get to campus

(17:27):
and you're like, wow, this kidgrew all summer.
That's what's happening in ourspirits this summer.
So we're in a growing season.
We just spent four Sundayslooking what does Jesus look
like?
Now we're going to spend aboutfour weeks talking and being
more like Jesus.

(17:48):
So we see what he looks like,the characteristics that we
should live with and live by.
But now how do we really applyit?
How do we put it into practice?
And when we put it intopractice, what happens?
So today I'm going to beginthis series like Jesus and we're
going to talk about how tothink like Jesus, things that

(18:10):
make you go, hmm.
So think like Jesus, and I cameacross this passage of
scripture in my daily Biblereading.
Remember, we talked about beingconsistent in January, and
consistent doesn't mean you haveto be perfect, but you just
keep going and if you drop, youjust wake up the next day and be
like all right, I'm going to beconsistent.
So in my reading we're inIsaiah now, if you're reading

(18:33):
chronologically and as we thinklike Jesus.
Oh, let me give you the fourthat we're going to do.
I think I have them on thenotes.
So we're gonna think like Jesus, we're gonna lead like Jesus.
Pastor Robbie will be here nextweek to preach.
It's gonna be a powerfulweekend.
We're gonna learn to love likeJesus and then we're gonna learn
to speak like Jesus.
It's gonna be a powerful seriesas we race our way to fall in

(18:58):
the season of harvest.
But this is the passage ofscripture, isaiah 40 and 13.
Who has known the mind of theLord and who has been able to
give the Lord advice?
This is Isaiah, the prophet,writing who's known the mind of
the Lord?
Who's known it?
Who's been able to give theLord advice?
Who?
Who on earth could know thenext couple of days?

(19:19):
The passage advice who?
Who on earth could know thenext couple of days?
The pastor of scripture is formy ways I think it was this
morning actually.
My ways are higher than yourways.
The Lord says my thoughts arehigher than your thoughts.
So who can know the mind of theLord?
But look what Paul writesbecause of the power of the Holy
Spirit and our ability to havethat Holy Spirit living in us so

(19:42):
that we can be like Jesus andeven think like Jesus.
Paul says look at this, it's 1Corinthians, 2, 16.
Paul writes who has known themind of the Lord and so
instructs him.
He's quoting Isaiah.
But watch this.
But we have the mind of Christ.
He's like who could know it,not mere man, but we have the

(20:11):
mind of Christ because the HolySpirit lives in us.
So let me get into this for asecond, because we can think
like Jesus, because we have beenpowerfully transformed to be
like him and to walk in thisseason with his authority and

(20:34):
his favor, not just with God butwith man.
That's what God wants for yourlife.
Colossians 2 says we should setour mind on things above and
Romans 12 says that we should betransformed by the renewing of
your mind Now to think likeJesus.

(20:55):
Let me just show you thisTransform.
That word in the Greek ismetamorphosis.
It's metamorphosis.
It's where we get the wordmetamorphosis, and Arshana and I
were talking about this week Ithink it's the only animal that
goes through this but there is acaterpillar Caterpillar that
goes through that wordmetamorphosis Metamorphosis and

(21:18):
it becomes Goes, that wordmetamorphosis and it goes from a
caterpillar to a.
Thank you.
You guys paid attention toscience.
That word in scripturemetamorphosis transformed.
This is what Paul's trying totell you what can happen to your
mind through the power of theHoly Spirit and why we can think

(21:39):
like Jesus in the midst ofanything around us and we don't
have to succumb to the cultureor pressure or political things
of this world that we can get inGod's word and literally have
the mind of Christ, this wordtransformed.
Look, watch this.
The caterpillar.

(22:00):
I studied it for a little bitthis week.
The caterpillar we know man, weread the book to our kids.
The Hungry Caterpillar.
The hungry caterpillar isinternally focused and lives to
eat and to grow for itself.

(22:21):
The caterpillar does not storeup food for anybody.
The caterpillar does not sharefood for anybody.
The caterpillar is only focusedon what is in front of me and
what can I eat.
Does that not sound like ourworld Consumer mentality?
I got this, but it's not enough, so I need this.

(22:45):
And that's not enough, so Ineed this.
And that's not enough, so Ineed this.
Listen, there's no problem withhaving things as long as things
don't have you.
So have it all, but don't letit have you.
And how you know it doesn'thave you is can you give it away

(23:07):
?
Give it away, give it away.
Give it away now.
Can you do it?
I better be careful preachingthis.
So the caterpillar is internallyfocused, only consuming for

(23:31):
itself.
And then it goes through ametamorphosis and it becomes not
just a better version of thecaterpillar, a completely new
creature.
For those who are in Christ,jesus are new creatures and the

(23:56):
caterpillar goes into thatcocoon.
And finally, pastor Matthewdies to himself in order that he
can become a butterfly.
Completely new, nothing likehis old self, different mind,
different eyes.
And now watch this thecaterpillar is no longer the

(24:21):
butterfly, does not worry abouteating and consuming.
The butterfly is known formultiplication and distribution.
There will be caterpillars nextyear because the butterfly is
worried about the harvest.

(24:45):
And that is the transformationthat happens to us when we
confess our belief in Jesus, askfor the Holy Spirit to dwell
within us and we can become acompletely new creature and we
can go from being self,internally focused only about me

(25:18):
, to becoming multipliers.
Means, if you have the mind ofChrist, you can't think like you
used to think.
That's why I said earlier wecan't think, oh, this is loud.
It used to be loud, but listen,I'm a new creature in Jesus
Christ.
My ears are better anyways, andlisten, it's going to
distribute the gospel.
Let it be so we can live.

(25:47):
We actually this is what Ipreached about last week we can
live serving others because welive with a focus and a
mentality.
Everything I do is for Jesusand for others.
Love the Lord, god, with allyour heart, soul, mind and
strength.
And the second commandment isequally as important Love others
as you love yourself.

(26:08):
Man, I don't even have.
Thank you, I don't even havetime.
I got to go on vacation.
Let's go.
So when I think, like Jesusnumber one, I will know my true

(26:41):
identity.
Jesus never doubted his identity.
Jesus never doubted hisidentity.
In fact, let me show you this.
I'm going to show you some Justat least 18 times Jesus said I
am and look at this.
John 8 or John 6, 35, jesussaid I am the bread of life.
In John 18, 12, he said I amthe bread of life.
In John 1812, he said I am thelight of the world.

(27:03):
In John 1011, I am the goodshepherd.
John 1128, I am theresurrection and the life.
John 146, I am the way, thetruth and the life.
John 151,.
I am the true vine.
John 10, 61, 62,.
I am the son of God.
Jesus didn't doubt who he was.

(27:23):
He didn't mishandle hisidentity and he never doubted
his identity because he knew whohe was.
And he knew who he was becausehe spent time with his heavenly
father, father, in prayer.
The Bible says Jesus often gotaway to pray, often got alone to

(27:45):
pray.
When you allow others to speak,influence and direct your
identity and you fall for theirmold, you will settle for a fake
or phony life.
You will live in stress becauseyou're always having to pretend
that you're somebody else otherthan who God made you to be.

(28:06):
It's comical, but the butterflywould not be the same if he
just tried to crawl on theground the rest of his life.
You were born an original, sodo not die a copy.

(28:40):
You need to get in yourlanguage the I am's.
If you would change this onething and think like Jesus, it
would change your life.
What you say about you matters,and if you get the wrong thing,

(29:06):
I need an English teacher totell me what the word is After I
am.
Is it a verb?
Is it an adverb?
Is it an adjective?
I am.
If I am depressed, what is theword?
Depressed?
Okay, thank you, that's all Ineeded.
I just want to get it right.
I should know I was better inmath.

(29:30):
So if you get the wrong adverb,you're going to lead yourself
down the wrong path.
So instead of saying I am, startwith this I am a child of God.
Wake up every day.
I am a child of God.
I up every day.
I am a child of God.

(29:50):
I am the head and not the tail.
This is just the word of God.
I'm just telling you what theword of God says about you.
I am an overcomer.
I am confident that he is able.
I am what his word says I am.
I can do what his word says Ican do and I'll never be the

(30:13):
same.
Never, ever, ever, ever will Ibe the same?
And if you start your day likethat, you won't doubt your
identity.
When everybody in the worldwants to tell you something
different, you just go back tothe word of God and you think
like Jesus and make thedeclaration of I am and listen,

(30:35):
it's okay, because it's God'sword about you.
And I read this week God's wordnever comes back void, never.
So if God's word says it, youbelieve it and that settles it.
All.

(31:00):
Right, we got time for one more.
Let's do one more.
You'll have to get your notesoff of the YouVersion and get
all the notes.
But here we go when I think,like Jesus, I know God's purpose
for my life, so I know my trueidentity and then I know God's
purpose for my life.

(31:21):
By the way, if you do not knowGod's purpose for your life,
today we have freeway and it'sfull already.
It's got 15 to 18, maybe 20people registered already to be
a part of freeway, which is thepath to membership, discipleship
and ministry, serving on team.
And if you have not taken gonethrough the freeway yet, today's

(31:44):
pretty full, we could probablyaccommodate you.
You might only get a half abagel, but pretty full, we could
probably accommodate you.
You might only get a half abagel, but we have another one
coming August 17.
So that in freeway we tell youthe heart and vision of the
church, we give you the fivehabits of a follower of Jesus

(32:04):
for discipleship, and then weshare with you, through the
process of a personality profileand a spiritual gift assessment
, just exactly how God createdyou and it will help you
identify what that purpose thatGod has created you for.
So freeway is very important.
It's not just the path tomembership, but it's really how
we help you discover God'spurpose for your life and then

(32:28):
get you to living the mostfulfilled life as you serve on
team and help carry the vision,because the vision's big but
it's not heavy if we all carryit.
So join us for Freeway.
You can just send Renee a DMforward slash Freeway register
for today or we'll get the otherone logged in, for I think it's
in there.
August 17th it should be inthere.

(32:49):
I think I loaded it in.
So check it out.
Jesus knew why on earth he washere, and you should too, if you
think like Jesus.
Jesus answered this.
Even I testify on my own behalf.
My testimony is valid, for Iknow where I came from and I
know where I'm going.
Listen, we know where I camefrom and I know where I'm going.

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Listen, we know where we camefrom.
It wasn't pretty.
And when we're sitting heresinging man, when I think about
how good God is, where would Ibe without God in my life?
I get so overwhelmed Because Imean, god's been so good to me

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and he's blessed me.
And everything that I am todayincluding the husband, I am the
father, I am the leader, I amthe people surrounding me is
only a testimony to the grace ofGod in my life.
And so we have to know where wecame from, but we also have to
know where we're going, and thatspeaks to the purpose of why

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we're here.
And he says so I know where Icame from, I know where I'm
going, but you have no ideawhere I came from.
Where I'm going, he's likelisten, don't you judge me about
the purpose that I'm here for,because you don't know.
Like Jesus had a little swaggerto him and we read it real nice
and calm and Christian-like.

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But Jesus is like don't youtalk to me about my purpose when
what you think my purpose iswrong.
In fact, when Simon saidsomething about the purpose that
Jesus came for, jesus turnedaround because it didn't align
with what Jesus was here for andhe called Simon, the rock on
which he'd build the church, thedevil.
And he said get behind me,satan, because you don't know my

(34:39):
purpose.
So you need to exercise that topeople that try to influence
your purpose Get behind me,because I know where I came from
, but I know where I'm going.

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At 12 years old, jesus told hisparents after they couldn't find
him for a few days.
Told his parents after theycouldn't find them for a few
days.
We were just talking about astory a couple weeks yesterday
from a few years ago, when thetwins were running around with
their friends.
They were little, they werelike five years old, and they
kind of disappeared and Ursh gotso worried she called the
police and that was after like30 minutes of them being gone.

(35:26):
Thank God we found them.
They were okay.
Scary moment I came home.
There's like eight police carsaround our house.
By the way, thank you, oak Park, for being such great
responders.
Love our first responders.
Oh, I said I love our firstresponders.
This is the right room andthere were officers everywhere

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and they found our boys.
Thank to God, be the glory.
But this was after a few days.
They couldn't find Jesus andthey went back to the temple
where they remembered lastseeing him and they were like,
oh Jesus, we left three days ago.
How come you weren't with us?
And he says don't you know?
I must be about my father'sbusiness, like at 12, he knew

(36:15):
his purpose.
I feel like Mary.
It's not recorded in scripture.
Mary said well, that may be, Idon't know, this is just my mind
.
Mary's like well, that may betrue, but you're gonna have to
grow in some wisdom and staturefirst, because that's what the
Bible says.
Next, that he grew in wisdomand stature and spent the next,

(36:38):
he was 12,.
He didn't start his ministryuntil 30.
So, if you're good with math,he spent those next years
growing in wisdom and stature,but he never doubted his purpose
.
I'm gonna have to come back andpreach this later.
It's when you think like Jesus.

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Let me do one more Time for onemore.
When I think like Jesus, I'malways aware that God is with me
.
Somebody needs to hear this.
That's why I felt compelled todo this.
John 16, 32,.

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A time is coming, and in facthas come, when you will be
scattered, each of you to yourown house, and you will leave me
all alone.
Jesus is talking to hisdisciples and he's like I'm
getting ready to go through theworst thing known to man,
literally, and it's going to bedifficult and I'm on my way.
He says and, by the way, I'mgoing through this and all of

(37:41):
you are right here now, butyou're gonna leave me.
And then he says this but yetI'm not alone, for my Father is
with me.
That's why we say when you makea decision to follow Jesus, it
doesn't mean that your life willbe perfect, but you will never
be alone again.
Jesus says I'll be with you allthe way to the end.

(38:08):
So you don't have to sit in aroom and feel the weight of
loneliness because you're reallynever alone and you can say
Holy Spirit, everybody else haswalked out of this room, but I
know you're in this room and ifyou're in this room I'm not

(38:29):
alone.
And people are going to walkinto your life and just as
quickly as they walked into yourlife they could walk out of
your life, but that won't makeyou alone, because God's always
with you.
If you think like Jesus, youknow that you'll never, ever be

(38:49):
alone.
Why did Jesus know?
It's because I said earlier, heslipped away to pray, often,
often.
It says Jesus often slippedaway to be alone so he could
pray.
And I just wanna challenge you,if you wanna increase the
presence of the Holy Spirit inyour life on a daily basis and

(39:13):
not just rely on just a Sundayexperience, I wanna challenge
you to get away multiple timesduring the day to pray.
It doesn't mean you got to gointo a closet, but like even at
your desk, you're getting readyto make an important phone call
or send an important email or gointo an important meeting.

(39:34):
Just spend one time, just getaway for a second and pray.
Parents, when you're drivingyour kids to school and you're
telling them all the thingsthey've got to do, pray over
them before you drop them offand then, when you leave them,
instead of turning the radio onor getting into that podcast,
pray over their life as youdrive away from that school.

(39:54):
Get alone to pray, pray more.
You don't have to just pray onetime.
It's not just like I pray oneprayer a day, like, really.
My thought is what if our mindswere continually in prayer, even
though we're active in theworld that we live in all day
long?
But we're just having aconversation with the Holy
Spirit all day long.
Holy Spirit, I'm not alone.
You're helping me, you'releading me, you're guiding me,

(40:16):
you're telling me what to say.
You're putting me in front ofthe right people.
You're helping me move in theright direction.
I know if I should turn rightor left.
I'm going to be sensitive tothat.
If I need to pay for thegroceries and for the person in
front of me, I know about that.
Listen, I'm going to besensitive to the Holy Spirit
because I'm multiple times a daygetting away with the Holy
Spirit and it does not requireyou to go like into a closet or

(40:40):
on your knees or under your desk.
You can literally train yourmind to be able to pray in those
moments.
I just sense the Holy Spirit inthis room right now for somebody
who's been feeling lonely inthis season, and I'm going to
tell you, your mind can betransformed this morning to know

(41:01):
that you're never alone, nomatter how difficult and how
quiet and how it may seem likeeverybody else has walked away.
There's one, the Bible says,who sticks closer than a friend,
closer than a brother.
What kind of manner of love isthis?

(41:22):
That he would lay his life downfor you and then it would be to
your advantage that he wouldleave this earth so that he
could send a comforter to helpyou and to be with you.
And if that's you in this room,maybe facing despair and
loneliness, depression and hardtimes, I just want you to just

(41:43):
even, just simply just turn yourhands like this and just
receive just the very gift andthe grace of God to empower you,
to show you you're not alone.
Holy Spirit, we know you're inthis room in a powerful way and
I thank you for themetamorphosis of our mind that

(42:07):
can take place.
Listen, if you've beenstruggling this week with your
thought life, maybe thinkingthings that are untrue, or
thinking things that have beenspoken over you, maybe you're
thinking things that lead you ona path that's away from what

(42:27):
God's plan is for your life,listen, the Bible is very clear
that we all fall short of theglory of God.
So this is not a judgment onanybody, but if you're
struggling with your thoughtlife, would you just put your
right hand on top of your headand just as a, I just feel like

(42:50):
there's about to be a release inour thoughts, to be able to
think like Jesus, be able tothink like Jesus.
In the name of Jesus, we prayover every mind.
We take captive every thought,we test every thought that it
would align to your word and ifit does not align to your word,

(43:13):
in the name of Jesus, throughthe power of the Holy Spirit, we
take that thought captive, weoccupy that thought and we
actually are gonna walk itstraight to the front door and
kick it out of our thoughtprocess, kick it out of our life
.
We have a mind that has beentransformed, renewed to be the
mind of Jesus.

(43:33):
We don't have to think like weused to think.
We can think like Jesus.
We have the mind of Christ thatwill help us to think like we
used to think.
We can think like Jesus.
We have the mind of Christ thatwill help us to think pure
thoughts, reasonable thoughts,holy thoughts, true thoughts,
kind thoughts.
Lord, we just declare this overevery mind.
In the name of Jesus, we prayand let the church say amen,

(43:55):
come on, put your hands together.