April 27, 2025 • 42 mins
Surrender—a word that often conjures images of defeat and failure. But what if the exact opposite were true? What if surrender actually unlocks our greatest victories?
In this powerful message, we explore the counterintuitive spiritual principle that gaining comes through giving up. While our culture celebrates control and self-determination, the Kingdom of God operates on different rules. Victory isn't found in domination or position but in releasing everything to Jesus.
The paradox that challenges our very nature: we must relinquish control to experience true freedom. As one profound moment in the message illustrates, carrying a backpack full of heavy rocks—our burdens, our sins, our need for control—only weighs us down. When those straps are cut and the weight falls away, we experience the lightness of genuine spiritual freedom.
Jesus Himself modeled this ultimate surrender. "It is finished," He declared from the cross—giving up His divine privileges, His comfort, and ultimately His life so we might have salvation. His surrender became our victory. Our weaknesses, when fully surrendered, become the very conduits through which God's power flows most effectively.
Perhaps most challenging is the revelation that surrender isn't a one-time event but a daily choice. Each morning presents fresh opportunities to say, "Not my will, but Yours." Those things we've supposedly laid at the cross often get picked back up before we even leave the building.
The invitation stands: position yourself for God's perfect will through complete surrender. When we admit "I cannot, but God can," we open ourselves to His transformative work. The same power that raised Jesus from the grave lives in believers who fully surrender.
What burdens are you carrying today? What areas of control are you desperately clinging to? True victory awaits when you finally release them at the foot of the cross.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
I just want to say that, as I watched everybody
continue to come up front andbring money for that second
offering, I don't think that yourealize the blessing not just
for the family that will beblessing, but for me in seeing
how much we care about oneanother, and sometimes it's easy
(00:23):
to see that through finances.
You know when we're willing tobless somebody financially.
But I want you to just rememberthat it's not always about
money and that we shouldcontinue to lift each and every
one of us up in prayer Amen,because there are some of us who
have needs that we don't evenspeak them out loud.
There are people who have needsthat we don't even understand,
and we just want to continue tohonor what God will do in their
lives through prayer, amen.
(00:44):
Okay, so we're going to do anage-old message that I've
probably preached a hundredtimes.
Not the exact same message, butlet's be honest, I'm doing a
book report on the same bookover and over again, right?
No, I'm just kidding, becausethe word is alive, because every
time you open it, you findsomething new.
I have to tell you that everytime I hear the word surrender,
I find something new in the word, and I want to just tell you
(01:05):
that today we are going to havean opportunity to surrender our
hearts to Christ so that we mayhave victory.
Amen.
I'm going to tell you, lastSunday we did victory in Jesus
during worship and some of youyoung folks were like, what is
this garbage?
But some of you older folkswere like I'm here for this,
right?
Yeah, because those old songsstill have meaning in our lives
(01:27):
and, honestly, the old songs arebased in scripture.
Right?
Some of the new songs are likewe're getting there, but it's a
little bit loosey-goosey.
Right, we were talking on thepodcast a couple of weeks ago.
A lot of us know the song Jireh, but we don't know what that
word means.
Right, we don't like to admitthat, but we'll sing the songs
(01:47):
and we'll learn the song.
We don't really know what itmeans.
But here's the thing there isvictory in Jesus.
That's easy to understand,right?
You don't need me to draw you amap to figure out what that
means.
That means when you surrenderto Jesus.
That means when you surrenderto Jesus, you have victory,
hallelujah.
Thank you, jesus.
Listen, I'm not good at a lotof things in life and sometimes
(02:13):
I need Jesus to bring me tovictory.
Right?
Have you ever had somebody talkabout you and you want to defend
yourself?
Like Vicky's yellow sweater?
Like somebody going to saysomething bad about Vicky's
yellow sweater.
Like somebody's going to saysomething bad about Vicky's
yellow sweater.
Listen, I heard through thegrapevine that Vicky went out
sweater shopping just to findsweaters for me.
(02:34):
That's what I heard.
I don't know if it's true or not, but here's the point.
Somebody says something and youwant to defend yourself.
Right, where do we ever findvictory in that?
Seldom do we ever.
Because we're fighting againstflesh and blood.
Right, we're fighting somebodythat can't see what God sees in
(02:54):
us.
But see, there is victory inJesus, because when I decide
that I'm not going to allow theworld to mold who I am and I'm
going to allow the image thatGod has of me to mold who I am,
then I will always have victory,amen.
So here's the challenge.
There's this like paradox.
There's this confusion or thislike this weird circle that we
(03:18):
have to get around, that we gainby giving right.
Now, I don't mean we gain bygiving financially.
You guys were all wonderfulthis morning and gave lots of
money here, but the trick is wecan't desire to get a financial
blessing from that.
Our desire has to be that ourreward is in heaven.
Right, that's hard because, well, I'm going to start next week's
(03:41):
message.
I don't want to do that justyet.
Okay, these are writtentogether, so I have to stay on
the straight and narrow, whichis going to be hard this morning
.
But giving everything to Jesusallows us to gain eternal life.
Amen.
Giving everything, not somethings, right, because some
things are easy to give to Jesus.
(04:02):
Some things we can lay at thefoot of the cross today and walk
away from and not think twiceabout it.
Some things we lay at the footof the cross and we pick them up
before we walk away.
Amen.
How many of us been there?
Thank you, jesus, I was therethis morning already, right,
listen, we all have thesestruggles.
It's how we handle thosestruggles that make a difference
(04:24):
.
All right, in the world that welive in, just like we said last
week, victory is oftenassociated with domination,
strength or control, and so whenwe think about being victorious
, we think about being on topright.
(04:45):
But those of us who lead haveto first serve right.
But those of us who lead haveto first serve right.
So we have to learn to be onthe bottom.
We have to learn to servejoyfully before we can ever be
on the top.
Right Now I'm going to tell youthat serving is hard sometimes
to be joyful about.
(05:05):
Sometimes, when we serve, weget ourselves into projects that
we ought not be in.
You guys remember the time Idropped the ceiling down onto
the soundboard?
Yeah, that was a project Iprobably should not have been in
.
Service was not joyful that day, but there was victory in the
mighty name of Jesus.
(05:26):
Right, because we were blessedabundantly because of the
project.
Now, it's not always like that.
Here's the thing In the kingdomof God, victory is found in
surrender.
Victory is found in surrender.
It is not found in control, itis not found in power, it is not
(05:50):
found in positions of authority.
It is found in surrender, Amen.
So when we come to serve, wesurrender our hearts and the
flesh, like Pastor Roger has tosurrender it every time he walks
in the building with me.
I told him the project thismorning and he's like we're
going to have to find a storageshed.
You keep this up, because thereain't enough room for all the
things that you're coming upwith.
(06:11):
He has to surrender his fleshand know that there will be
victory, because Jesus saysthere will be victory, amen.
He walks by faith and not bysight.
Let me tell you that he has to,because it's always moving up
here.
But here's the thing hesurrenders his desire to what
(06:32):
the will of God is right and hetrusts me to bring that vision.
He doesn't question the vision.
He says if that's what you'reseeing, then we're gonna make it
happen.
How many of us can do that inour lives?
Not me.
I don't like it when he tellsme what I'm going to do, because
I usually don't like his plan.
Right, his plan is usually alot harder than the plan that I
(06:55):
have.
I talk about doing things with aspirit of excellence.
I believe that we should alwaysoperate in a spirit of
excellence in everything that wedo.
Here's the hard part aboutdoing that.
When you're a perfectionist andyou operate in a spirit of
excellence, you want perfectionand not excellence.
Right, right, you wantperfection and not excellence.
Excellence is not alwaysperfection.
(07:15):
It is giving.
Whatever it is that you feellike should happen, up and
saying God, have your way withme and with this service.
Whatever it is that I am doing,lord, I want you to do it.
I want you to go before me, Iwant you to give me the vision.
I want you to do whatever.
A lot of times we can't handlethat because God will say well,
(07:38):
I don't want that, I want thisinstead.
Amen, amen.
The problem is, it's not reallya problem.
The challenge is that Jesusinvites us into a different kind
of triumph, amen, one thatcomes when we lay everything
down at his feet.
That means that if you'recarrying around a burden today
(08:05):
or an addiction today, youshould be able to lay it at the
feet of Jesus and walk away.
But it is easier said than done.
Let's go to Matthew 16, 24 and25.
Matthew 16, 24 and 25.
Matthew 16, 24 and 25.
(08:25):
It says then Jesus said to hisdisciples if any of you want to
be, if any of you wants to be myfollower, you must give up your
own way, take up your cross andfollow me.
If you try to hang on to yourlife, you will lose it, but if
you give up your life for mysake, you will save it.
(08:48):
Amen.
Now I want to just leave itright there for me for just a
second, because it says if youtry to hang on to your life, you
will lose it.
If you try to hang on to thelife that you're living, the
fleshly life that you're living,you will lose that life to
death.
But if you give up your lifefor my sake, I will save it.
(09:14):
Everlasting life, eternal life,because we were willing to
surrender everything that wehave to Jesus Amen.
We naturally hold tight onto ourdreams, our plans, our desires.
We naturally hold tight ontoour dreams, our plans, our
desires, but Jesus teaches usthat the only way to gain real
life is through giving upcontrol.
Oh, how many of us like to havecontrol?
(09:35):
Yeah, a couple of us, noteverybody, right?
Some of us like to just go withthe flow.
I'm gonna call all of you liars.
There is something in your lifethat you hold on to and you
want full control of, and whenyou lose control of it, you act
like an idiot, right?
Hallelujah, thank you, jesus.
I know that I can act like anidiot.
(09:56):
I know that when I lose controlof something that I'm
passionate about or somethingthat I should have control over,
that I get stupid, right?
I say things I don't mean.
I act ways I don't mean to act.
But here's the thing.
I have to understand that thatis not what God wants in my life
.
He wants me to give up controland let things go so that I can
(10:19):
be in his will, amen.
We're going to go to Proverbs 3,5 and 6.
This is a hard one.
It says trust in the Lord withall your heart.
Do not depend on your ownunderstanding.
Amen, stay there for just asecond Trust in the Lord with
all your heart.
Do not depend on your ownunderstanding.
(10:40):
See, I don't understand math.
Right, math is hard.
Right, I'm the only one.
Okay, that's fine, I don't mindadmitting that I'm a little bit
stupid, and that is hard stuff.
Right Now I will remind you thatall of you legacy members were
told you wouldn't have acalculator in your pocket when
you got older.
Right, guess what?
I got in my pocket literallyevery day A calculator.
(11:02):
But here's the thing I have totrust that that calculator is
right.
Right, when I do that math.
Now, listen, stephanie wasdoing math on her calculator
when we were divvying up Eastereggs and I don't know how her
calculator kept giving her adifferent number than my
calculator gave me.
But she was trusting hercalculator was right.
It wasn't right, was it?
It wasn't right at all.
(11:23):
I don't know if there was abutton stuck or what was going
on, but when you believe thatsomething works the way that it
ought to right, when you trustit, you don't question it.
You trust your phone foreverything.
Hey, google, right, hey Siri?
Hey Alexa, oh, somebody's phonejust went off.
Oh, okay, it wasn't like I said, hey, alexa, and your phone was
(11:47):
like yes, pastor Michael, whatwould you like?
That would be fun, wouldn't it?
We trust our phones, we trusttechnology for everything, but
we don't trust the Word of God.
Right, and see, here's thething.
I've learned this, and actuallyI test this quite regularly Any
question that you havebiblically, you can ask Google
and you can get an answer Right.
(12:09):
Here's the challenge Dependingon how you ask that question,
the answer that you will receive, Right, ask your Bible.
In whose name should we bebaptized?
Typically, google will say theFather, the Son and the Holy
Ghost, because that's what theNew Testament says.
(12:29):
Okay, here's the challenge,though.
If you say, why should we bebaptized in the name of Jesus?
It will give you all of thereasons you should be baptized
in the name of Jesus instead.
That's not good, because howconfusing is it whenever the
internet will tell you whateverit is that you want to know,
whatever you want to hear Notnecessarily the truth, but what
(12:53):
you want to hear.
See, the word of God is thetruth and cannot be perverted.
But technology can pervert it,amen.
And so what I'm telling you isthat when we go to the internet
and we search and we askquestions, we have to understand
that we are trusting a sourceoutside of God.
I have to believe that the wordis true.
(13:15):
And if you're saying I don'tknow where to find that in the
Bible, get yourself a Strong'sConcordance and look up the word
.
It'll give you every place thatit's mentioned in the Bible and
then you can go and find it andstudy it for yourself.
Place that it's mentioned inthe Bible, and then you can go
and find it and study it foryourself.
There is value in elbow grease,right?
There is value in sweat equitywhenever you're looking at the
word of God, because you canGoogle, you can ask all your
(13:36):
friends, you can do all that,but I'm telling you you will not
get revelation like you willout of the word of God.
Amen, amen, all right, okay,what was the second half of that
?
Seek his will in all you do andhe will show you which path to
take.
Listen, I don't go to God justto figure out what pair of shoes
I should wear.
(13:56):
I say Lord, if you will dressthe lilies, then you too will
dress me right.
And when I walk into the closetI just pick stuff and I just
hope for best right, like PastorHolly's probably got.
How many pairs of shoes?
You got Too many, she said.
I don't even want to say thenumber, dave's sitting too close
Her.
She shed packed front to backwith shoes.
(14:17):
She just goes out there anddigs through.
No, I'm kidding.
But when we know that God willdress the lilies of the valley,
when he will dress the lilies,when he will care for the spirit
, he will also care for us.
See, I don't have to worryabout all of those things
because he's already worryingabout them, but I'm seeking his
will in all that.
(14:37):
I do.
Allow me to be presentable sothat I can show your goodness
and your grace and your mercy.
Amen.
I don't need to be dressed upto do that everywhere I go, but
I do need to know that Irepresent him in spirit.
And if he's going to dress mespiritually, then I will already
(14:58):
be beautiful going out beforethe world.
Amen, okay, whoo.
Trusting God means releasing.
Oh, this is a big one for me.
This is hard.
Trusting God means releasingthe need to figure it all out.
Whoo, ain't nobody excitedabout that, that's okay.
(15:19):
I don't know if you guys aresleeping this morning or what,
but I don't need to figureeverything out anymore.
I have to believe that God isgoing to go before me, figure it
out and point me in the rightdirection.
Hallelujah, thank you, jesus,because if I'm trying to figure
it out, guess what's getting inthe way?
My desires, my flesh, it wantswhat feels good or what is
(15:42):
comfortable or what is easy, notwhat God would want in my life.
Amen.
Surrender is not passive.
It's not something you say,lord, I'm surrendering to you
and you never think about itagain.
Surrender is active choice.
Daily, every single morning,when you wake up, lord, I'm
(16:04):
yours today, use me for yourwill.
Amen, amen.
Because see, when you wake upin the morning and you're groggy
and you're fresh and your feethit the floor and the enemy says
, hey, guess what, I gotsomething fun for you today, if
you, just, if you only right,how many of us have had those
(16:26):
thoughts running through ourhead.
It's so easy to just, oh, I'mgonna, you know, oh, there's so
many things and it will ruin ourlives because we make an active
choice to live for the worldand not in the will of God.
Every morning, ask yourself whatarea of my life am I still
(16:47):
clinging to the flesh?
What area of my life am I stillclinging to the flesh?
You know, god's been doing awork in me for the past probably
year and I still ain't got ityet.
And he keeps doing it and he'smoving and he's shaking and he's
trying to break this up insidehim.
And every morning I get up andit's just stupid, right, and I
(17:08):
know that it's stupid, I knowthat God wants better, and yet I
choose.
Why am I doing that?
I'm not asking you why, becauseI already know why.
It's because if I don'tsurrender every single day, I
will continue to live for theworld.
(17:29):
Now I'm going to tell you asecret that I don't know if any
of you know Surrender leads tofreedom.
How many of you knew that?
Hallelujah, thank you, jesus is.
Surrender leads to freedom.
Whom the sun sets free is free,indeed, hallelujah.
(17:53):
Here's the thing I don't wantto be in bondage anymore.
I don't want to be walkingaround in chains, I don't want
to be in the fire, I don't wantto be in the lion's den.
I want to be free.
But the only way that I can befree is to be willing to
surrender whatever is happeningin my life to the will of God,
(18:14):
to the will of God.
Surrender is not losing right.
Surrender is not.
You're not losing anything whenyou surrender it to God.
You are gaining freedom.
You are gaining freedom.
2 Corinthians 3.17,.
(18:35):
It says For the Lord is theSpirit, and wherever the Spirit
of the Lord is, there is freedom.
In this house today, there isfreedom.
Amen, hallelujah.
Thank you, jesus.
I want you to look around realquick and I just want you to
take stock.
(18:55):
We had 100 people in thisbuilding last Sunday.
There were 100 people here lastSunday.
Can you believe it?
Thank you, jesus.
Roger.
How many is here today?
61.
There are 40 people who decidedthat they didn't need to be
free.
I'm not being mean, I'm justtelling you the truth, because
when we choose the world overGod, then we're missing
(19:18):
something.
We don't have that awakening.
You know we talk about the drybones coming to life.
Let me tell you there are drybones in this house today.
Amen, there are dry bones andthe problem is is some of them
are going to leave here dry.
They aren't going to come tolife.
Because we don't have a desireto be free, we don't have a
(19:41):
desire to be alive or to beawake.
We have a desire to becomfortable, to be awake.
We have a desire to becomfortable, to be comfortable,
and the world will be okay withyou being comfortable.
You know you want to complainand bellyache, you want to have
all of the complaints and that'sfine.
The world will welcome you withopen arms.
But God says there is no needin the kingdom for that.
(20:02):
Why is there no need?
Because you are free, you areset free.
You are set free, you are notsick, you are not in pain, you
don't have financial issues,because God is going to bless
you through that valley.
Amen, amen.
Listen, we were in our youngadult chat and somebody said
that this illness is goingaround and I'm like I am not
proclaiming that, I ain't takingit.
(20:24):
Listen, my family has beenblessed.
We haven't been sick all year.
We didn't get sick last winterand I'm going to tell you we
ain't getting sick the rest ofthis year.
And if I say we're going to getsick, guess what?
We're going to get sick.
I don't want to be sick, Idon't want to be in pain, I
don't want those things in mylife and I don't want those
(20:47):
things in my life.
And I'm not going to claim it.
Listen, I'm not.
If I choose to claim it, if Ichoose to say it, proclaim it
and take it on as mine.
It will be mine forever.
It will be mine.
I ain't doing it.
You guys can have it, you cankeep it.
Don't come to me and tell mewell, pastor Michael, I'm real
sick right now.
No, you ain't Now.
(21:08):
Listen, your flesh might feelsick, but I'm telling you, your
spirit is alive and well andthat's where you need to be
focused.
Listen, take your Tylenol, makesure you get your Sudafed,
whatever it is, whatever it isthat you feel like you're,
that's fine, that's fine.
But I'm not claiming it in myspirit, because when I get sick,
I get tired, and when I gettired and sick, I get sick and
(21:31):
tired.
I get sick and tired of comingto church, I get sick and tired.
Listen to everybody else.
Tell me what my life should beand how I should do.
Let me tell you iron sharpensiron.
Right Now I want you to hearsomething Iron doesn't sharpen
iron in some nice and pretty way.
When you sharpen iron with iron, sparks fly right, and so when
(21:52):
those sparks are flying, youknow something's happening right
.
And so if, oh, it's just, I'mjust, I don't wanna Listen, I'm
telling you you aren't and youdon't need to be the Spirit of
God.
God does not want you to livein shame, in sickness, in
(22:12):
poverty.
Everything that he has givenyou is good and that's what you
need to claim, amen.
Do you guys remember that time Ibrought that really heavy
backpack in full of rocks and Itried to get Mel-Mel to carry it
and Mel-Mel couldn't lift it up, so I had Doug come over and
carry it.
Listen, if you were carryingthat on your back every day,
(22:36):
that big, heavy backpack full ofbig, old, heavy rocks, all of
those burdens, all of thoseworries, and somebody came and
cut those straps and it fell offyour back, you would feel free,
amen.
Let me tell you your spirit canfeel just as free today, in the
mighty name of Jesus.
Your spirit can feel just asfree.
All right, I know that this isanother stretch for you guys.
(22:58):
You're going to struggle withthis thought.
Jesus was the ultimate example.
Jesus was the ultimate example.
Jesus was the ultimate example.
What do you mean, pastorMichael?
Come on, think about it forjust a second.
He modeled surrender when hesaid it is finished.
(23:19):
He modeled surrender when hesaid it is finished, hands
stretched out on a cross, dyingfor the sins of the world, for
the world that wasn't even inexistence when he was hanging
there, but for all eternity.
He was willing to die for thesins of you and I.
(23:40):
He was willing to surrender hisown life so that we might have
salvation.
Hallelujah, thank you, jesus.
If that doesn't exemplify whatsurrender should mean in our
lives, then I don't think we getit.
Because surrender isn't justsaying, oh, I don't want to
drink soda anymore, so I'm goingto lay that at the foot of the
(24:02):
ground.
I'm saying I'm going to make achange in my life so that I can
be healthy again.
I'm going to make a change inmy life so that my spirit man
can be bigger than my flesh man.
That's what I'm talking aboutwhen I say surrender.
I'm not talking about thelittle things those matter, but
(24:30):
I'm saying when we make changein our lives, we're giving up
big things.
Amen.
I'm changing my lifestyle inorder to give my life to God.
You guys are boring thismorning.
It's fine.
It's fine.
Philippians 2, 7 and 8.
It says instead, he gave up hisdivine privileges.
He took the humble position ofa slave and was born as a human
(24:51):
being.
When he appeared in human form,he humbled himself in obedience
to God and died a criminal'sdeath on a cross.
I want to stay there for asecond because it says he
humbled himself in obedience toGod and died a criminal's death
on a cross.
I want to stay there for asecond because it says he
humbled himself in obedience toGod.
See, we humble ourselves to thepeople around us, right?
(25:12):
I've been told that I'm a bitmuch.
I know hard to believe, hard tobelieve, and so when I go to a
group of Methodist pastors orwherever you know these little
like, I have to turn it down.
My wife said to me yesterday Ihad main character energy going
on.
I was like, probably so.
(25:32):
But it's who?
I am right, but I have to learnto dial that back.
But I dial that back for thepeople around me.
I don't want to dial it backfor the people around me.
I want to dial it up for God.
Amen, I want to dial it up.
And so when I get excited aboutJesus, I want the world to get
excited about Jesus.
Right, that's what.
Listen, we are in a Pentecostalchurch and I know sometimes
(25:53):
it's hard to remember, but weare in a Pentecostal church.
You're allowed to preach back alittle bit.
You're allowed to give me someamens and some hands.
Listen, you ain't clapping forme, you're clapping for Jesus.
Amen, right, we're gettingexcited about who Jesus is and
what he's doing in this placetoday.
Thank you Lord.
Thank you Lord.
All right, where are we at?
That was Philippians 2.7,.
Right, jesus didn't cling tostatus or power, or even comfort
(26:17):
.
Amen, because he said it in thegarden.
Should it be your will?
Let this cup pass from me.
And God said oh, I'm sorry wegot to do this.
We got to do this because theworld is full of sin.
You know, I got stuck on Noahfor a while and I'm still kind
of stuck on Noah a little bit,and I just keep thinking that
(26:40):
you know Noah, or that God haddecided to eradicate the world
of the human flesh because itwas so sinful and yet Noah found
favor with God and that he andhis entire family were saved
because he had found favor withGod.
Can I tell you that your familywill be saved through your
favor with God.
Your family will be savedthrough your favor with God.
(27:00):
Your family will be savedbecause of your favor with God.
But in order to have favor withGod, you have to surrender all.
What does that look like?
How hard is that?
Listen, his surrender led toyour greatest victory, amen.
(27:26):
His surrender led to your great.
You may sit here mumbling underyour breath about how you didn't
want to be at church thismorning.
You may be thinking about oh,pastor michael, just shut up
already so we can go have lunch.
You might be thinking a lot ofthings.
You might actually actually bethinking about the football
draft Go Browns, yay, whateverFive QBs.
(27:46):
We can do something with thatright.
Lord, have mercy If we can't sitin the building that he has
blessed us with and surrenderour hearts to him.
What do you think we're goingto do when we walk out of these
doors?
Render our hearts to him.
What do you think we're goingto do when we walk out of these
(28:07):
doors?
We're going to pick up theworld and we're going to carry
it along with us.
How many of you guys have ever?
Well, pick a store, insertwhatever store you want.
How many of you have everwalked in for one thing and
you're walking out of the storelike this Should have gotten a
cart right.
Should have gotten a cart right.
My wife and I, we have anagreement we can't go to Target
anymore If we want to save money.
We can't go to Target because,well, we're going to go in and
we're going to get sissy in anEaster dress, right.
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We come out and we got $700worth of stuff and we're
dragging.
We had to buy an extra car inorder to get it all home.
Right, like that's.
We know that we can't do certainthings.
We do that when we leave thechurch too.
When we leave it at the cross,we pick up more on our way out.
You leave something there, andI leave something there, and
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Dale leaves something there,holly leaves something there,
dave leaves something there, andthen, all of a sudden, I come
back and I gather up everybody'sstuff and take it with me.
Right, because you know howeasy that is, because when it
gets laid down at the foot ofthe cross.
The enemy still thinks it'sshiny, right, it's still pretty,
it still looks good to somebodyelse.
And it is hard because thenthose people end up in your path
(29:10):
, right, the enemy says you'renot going to, or God says you're
not going to live that wayanymore.
You lay it at the foot of thecross and within 24 hours you've
run into somebody that's livingin that same sin and all of a
sudden you're like, yeah, it'snot so bad, but there are other
people doing way worse, right,and we pick it back up.
And then we pick up that plusthree more, and then we end up
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doing this, that and the other,and pretty soon we're bogged
down and we've got that backpackback on full of rocks and we
can't get past the sin and theshame.
Listen, when we surrender, wecan truly unlock God's power in
(29:54):
our lives.
Now, I know that sounds crazylike unlock.
It sounds like you're playing avideo game.
Right, you got to unlock thenext level.
It's true, we can sit in churchall day long.
We can pretend to be saintswhile we're sitting here, right?
(30:14):
But until we are willing togive up whatever is going on in
our lives, we're willing to layit down at the foot of the cross
, we will not unlock all ofGod's power.
The same power that rose Jesusfrom the grave lives in us.
That means that we can cast outdemons, we can move mountains,
but many of us don't believethat.
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Listen, I ain't never tried toraise anybody from the dead
before.
Honestly, that would scare thedaylights out of me.
Be praying for somebody, theypop up off the table.
Oh Jesus, right, oh Jesus.
That would be scary.
But he says we can do it, andso we should be willing to say
that we can do it.
Right, listen, there are somepeople I probably don't want to
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raise from the dead.
Let's be honest with each other.
But if he tells me that I can,then I should believe that I in
fact can.
And when I doubt what God says,I have not unlocked all of the
power of God.
I have not been willing toaccept his full mercy and his
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goodness and his grace.
I have been willing to takewhat little bit I want to
believe until he brings me tothat next level.
Amen, okay.
2 Corinthians 12, 9 and 10, itsays each time he said my grace
is all you need.
My power works best in weakness.
(31:44):
Thank you Jesus.
Thank you Jesus.
So now I am glad to boast aboutmy weakness so that the power
of Christ can work through me.
Stay there for just a second.
Men, we don't cry, do we?
We don't cry in front of othermen, that's for sure.
Why not?
We don't cry in front of othermen, that's for sure.
(32:04):
Why not?
Because we cannot be vulnerable, because we fear what people
will think.
If God can use me in myweakness better than he can use
me in my strength, then I wantto be vulnerable.
I want to be friends with menwho I can have an emotional
conversation with, and that'snot something to worry about,
right?
But the problem is, the worldhas told us that we have to be
(32:28):
strong in the flesh, that wehave to be strong in the flesh.
Chop off a finger, don't cry.
Shake it off.
Dave flips a lawnmower over onhimself.
Don't cry, right?
Listen, I went and saw this manin the hospital right after that
happened, in good spirits, likeit never happened.
I'm like I would whoo.
(32:50):
He's a tough man, right?
He does manly work, right?
He used to put trans rebuildtransmissions in cars.
I'm not even sure what thetransmission looks like, right,
ask me about ADR or rev par.
I can help you with that.
But most of you are like whatare you talking about?
(33:11):
Listen, we're different.
That's okay.
We should be able to be strongin the spirit and emotional with
one another, because in thatweakness God will work through
us.
That's why I take pleasure inmy weakness and in the insults,
hardships, persecutions andtrouble that I suffer for Christ
(33:31):
, for when I am weak, then I amstrong, then I am strong.
Surrender is genuinely admittingthat I cannot, but God can.
I cannot, but God can.
(33:55):
All right, surrender preparesus for greater purpose.
Amen, because some of us thinkthat we should be doing all the
things.
Some of us think we should haveministry of our own and we
should be able to do this, thatand the other, but we haven't
(34:16):
fully surrendered to God so thathe can speak into our lives.
Amen, amen, amen.
Because, listen, surrender isthe first step.
Listen, I'll be honest with you, because this, again, is what I
do.
When I was leading worship, fora long time I had not
surrendered to God when I wasdoing that, because I like to
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sing, right, I love to doworship.
Now there was a lot of like Iwasn't doing it just for myself,
but I definitely wasn't doingit just for Jesus.
God had to take that away fromme in order for me to recenter
my life.
That was an ugly path for acouple of years until we figured
(35:00):
it out.
And did you know that he didnot allow me to do worship until
he called me back home?
Everywhere I went, somethingcrazy would happen and that
worship would fall apart Everysingle time.
Listen, here's what I'm tellingyou.
My inability to surrenderwrecked other churches.
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It's not funny.
Your inability to surrender andthen try to step into service
will wreck whatever ministryyou're stepping into.
It will wreck it because God isgoing to say no, no, no, you
cannot stop trying and he'sgoing to remove whatever the
circumstance is.
And sometimes that's tearingapart.
Whatever the listen.
When I was doing worship, wewent to a church one time and we
(35:42):
were's tearing apart.
Whatever Listen, when I wasdoing worship, we went to a
church one time and we were.
It was bizarre.
I don't even know what kind ofchurch it was at this point.
It's one of those things likeif you don't ask, don't ask,
don't tell.
You know what I mean.
So we walk into this church andthey're like hey, do you want
to be on worship?
So we had to take this class.
(36:05):
If you wanted to lead, you hadto take this.
The class is a class that thepastor made up himself.
Now, I'm not trying to take anycredit away from that because I
didn't finish the class.
Let's be honest with each other.
You know where that's goingright.
And so I walk in, we sit throughthe first class and then my
friend you guys know her, kellyshe used to come up here and
sing for us every whip stitch.
She's one of our best friends.
She loves to do wild thingswith her hair and so she had
(36:27):
done that side shave thing thatladies were doing for a little
while and she had like a heartor a star or something shaved
inside of her head.
It was wild hair, let me tellyou.
And that pastor told herbecause of your hair, you cannot
serve.
That's what he said.
And I was like well, if shecan't serve, I ain't serving.
I'm going to show you right.
And we wrecked that worshipteam.
(36:48):
That's not fair to the rest ofthe people on that team.
It's not fair to that ministrythat I would be so unwilling to
surrender my heart to God that Iwould wreck somebody else's
ministry right?
I'm telling you today surrenderyour heart before you come and
try to serve.
Amen, because it's a questionthat I'm going to ask you Are
(37:10):
you ready to serve?
Have you surrendered your heartto God?
Have you given him everythingthat you know you need to give
up.
That is not easy to do.
He asks us to surrender toequip us for greater.
Jeremiah 29 11.
(37:31):
For I know the plans I have foryou, says the Lord.
They are plans for good and notfor disaster, to give you a
future and a hope.
Right, he knows the future hehas for you.
Listen, I don't know the futurehe has for you.
Sometimes he reveals thosethings to me, but not always.
And so some of you I look atwhenever you say Pastor Michael,
(37:51):
I want a whatever, I'm like.
No, you don't.
You might think that you do,but really you're more on the
disaster side than on the hopeside.
Is that fair?
Like some of us, we come inthinking we want, we want, we
want, I'm capable, I'm ready.
And then you get there and yourealize, whoa, you weren't ready
(38:12):
.
That's a disaster.
Amen.
He knows the plans that he hasfor you.
His plan will always be betterthan ours, and surrender is
positioning ourselves for God'sperfect will.
Amen, amen, amen.
Okay, this is not a one-timeevent, this is a daily choice.
(38:37):
Can you guys play some prayermusic for me, please?
You wake up in the morning, notmy will, but your will.
Lord, I trust you.
I know that everything that'sgoing to happen in my life is
because of you.
And Romans 12, 1 says and so,dear brothers and sisters, I
(38:59):
plead with you to give yourbodies to God because of all he
has done for you.
Let them be a living and holysacrifice, the kind he will find
acceptable.
This is truly the way toworship him.
Today, jesus is calling us tolay it all down.
(39:22):
Today, jesus is calling us tolay it all down.
Today, jesus is calling us toput it at the foot of the cross.
So what I'm going to do is I'mgoing to take this little cross
and I'm just going to move itright out here out front, and I
want to give everybody in thebuilding a chance to just come
forward, kneel at the altar,just.
I don't.
Whatever you feel like you needto do, I want this to be
personalized.
I don't want this to bedirectional, but I want you to
(39:45):
have the opportunity to lay itdown at the foot of the cross
this morning.
This is an open invitation tosay more of you, less of me.
This is an open invitation foryou to say I want your plans and
not my plans.
Amen, plans and not my plans,amen.
(40:07):
Father, today, I thank you forthe surrendered hearts that are
in this building.
Lord, last week we had threepeople come to you and surrender
their hearts.
And, lord, three doesn't evensound like a big number, but the
kingdom of God grew by three.
The kingdom of God grew bythree and today I believe it
will grow again.
(40:27):
Today, I believe that as werededicate our lives, as we
resurrender some of the thingsthat we've picked up from the
cross, that, Father, you willmake meaningful change in our
lives, that we will be able tolay it down and never touch it
again.
Breakthrough is coming in thename of Jesus.
Breakthrough is coming in thename of Jesus.
(40:52):
Father, we are prepared tolevel up, we are prepared to
move to the next.
Whatever it is, father, god,whatever you may have for us, we
are prepared for it.
Our hearts, our minds, ourbodies, father, god, lord, I
thank you for the people in thishouse.
I pray that you just lead themand guide them, direct them,
father, touch their hearts thisday, allow them to understand
(41:15):
the importance of what we'redoing in this moment.
I thank you, I praise you.
I give you all the honor andglory in the mighty name of
Jesus, and the church says amen.
I'm going to have the tech teamjust play some music.
If you need to leave, that'sfine.
Please do so quietly.
If you want to gather and chitchat, that's okay too.
Do it out in the hallway.
But today I want to giveeverybody in this room the
(41:35):
opportunity to just bringwhatever burdens they're
carrying to the foot of thecross.
Thank you Jesus.
Thank you Jesus, hallelujah.
Thank you.
I just want to say that, as I watched everybody
continue to come up front andbring money for that second
offering, I don't think that yourealize the blessing not just
for the family that will beblessing, but for me in seeing
how much we care about oneanother, and sometimes it's easy
(00:23):
to see that through finances.
You know when we're willing tobless somebody financially.
But I want you to just rememberthat it's not always about
money and that we shouldcontinue to lift each and every
one of us up in prayer Amen,because there are some of us who
have needs that we don't evenspeak them out loud.
There are people who have needsthat we don't even understand,
and we just want to continue tohonor what God will do in their
lives through prayer, amen.
(00:44):
Okay, so we're going to do anage-old message that I've
probably preached a hundredtimes.
Not the exact same message, butlet's be honest, I'm doing a
book report on the same bookover and over again, right?
No, I'm just kidding, becausethe word is alive, because every
time you open it, you findsomething new.
I have to tell you that everytime I hear the word surrender,
I find something new in the word, and I want to just tell you
(01:05):
that today we are going to havean opportunity to surrender our
hearts to Christ so that we mayhave victory.
Amen.
I'm going to tell you, lastSunday we did victory in Jesus
during worship and some of youyoung folks were like, what is
this garbage?
But some of you older folkswere like I'm here for this,
right?
Yeah, because those old songsstill have meaning in our lives
(01:27):
and, honestly, the old songs arebased in scripture.
Right?
Some of the new songs are likewe're getting there, but it's a
little bit loosey-goosey.
Right, we were talking on thepodcast a couple of weeks ago.
A lot of us know the song Jireh, but we don't know what that
word means.
Right, we don't like to admitthat, but we'll sing the songs
(01:47):
and we'll learn the song.
We don't really know what itmeans.
But here's the thing there isvictory in Jesus.
That's easy to understand,right?
You don't need me to draw you amap to figure out what that
means.
That means when you surrenderto Jesus.
That means when you surrenderto Jesus, you have victory,
hallelujah.
Thank you, jesus.
Listen, I'm not good at a lotof things in life and sometimes
(02:13):
I need Jesus to bring me tovictory.
Right?
Have you ever had somebody talkabout you and you want to defend
yourself?
Like Vicky's yellow sweater?
Like somebody going to saysomething bad about Vicky's
yellow sweater.
Like somebody's going to saysomething bad about Vicky's
yellow sweater.
Listen, I heard through thegrapevine that Vicky went out
sweater shopping just to findsweaters for me.
(02:34):
That's what I heard.
I don't know if it's true or not, but here's the point.
Somebody says something and youwant to defend yourself.
Right, where do we ever findvictory in that?
Seldom do we ever.
Because we're fighting againstflesh and blood.
Right, we're fighting somebodythat can't see what God sees in
(02:54):
us.
But see, there is victory inJesus, because when I decide
that I'm not going to allow theworld to mold who I am and I'm
going to allow the image thatGod has of me to mold who I am,
then I will always have victory,amen.
So here's the challenge.
There's this like paradox.
There's this confusion or thislike this weird circle that we
(03:18):
have to get around, that we gainby giving right.
Now, I don't mean we gain bygiving financially.
You guys were all wonderfulthis morning and gave lots of
money here, but the trick is wecan't desire to get a financial
blessing from that.
Our desire has to be that ourreward is in heaven.
Right, that's hard because, well, I'm going to start next week's
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message.
I don't want to do that justyet.
Okay, these are writtentogether, so I have to stay on
the straight and narrow, whichis going to be hard this morning
.
But giving everything to Jesusallows us to gain eternal life.
Amen.
Giving everything, not somethings, right, because some
things are easy to give to Jesus.
(04:02):
Some things we can lay at thefoot of the cross today and walk
away from and not think twiceabout it.
Some things we lay at the footof the cross and we pick them up
before we walk away.
Amen.
How many of us been there?
Thank you, jesus, I was therethis morning already, right,
listen, we all have thesestruggles.
It's how we handle thosestruggles that make a difference
(04:24):
.
All right, in the world that welive in, just like we said last
week, victory is oftenassociated with domination,
strength or control, and so whenwe think about being victorious
, we think about being on topright.
(04:45):
But those of us who lead haveto first serve right.
But those of us who lead haveto first serve right.
So we have to learn to be onthe bottom.
We have to learn to servejoyfully before we can ever be
on the top.
Right Now I'm going to tell youthat serving is hard sometimes
to be joyful about.
(05:05):
Sometimes, when we serve, weget ourselves into projects that
we ought not be in.
You guys remember the time Idropped the ceiling down onto
the soundboard?
Yeah, that was a project Iprobably should not have been in
.
Service was not joyful that day, but there was victory in the
mighty name of Jesus.
(05:26):
Right, because we were blessedabundantly because of the
project.
Now, it's not always like that.
Here's the thing In the kingdomof God, victory is found in
surrender.
Victory is found in surrender.
It is not found in control, itis not found in power, it is not
(05:50):
found in positions of authority.
It is found in surrender, Amen.
So when we come to serve, wesurrender our hearts and the
flesh, like Pastor Roger has tosurrender it every time he walks
in the building with me.
I told him the project thismorning and he's like we're
going to have to find a storageshed.
You keep this up, because thereain't enough room for all the
things that you're coming upwith.
(06:11):
He has to surrender his fleshand know that there will be
victory, because Jesus saysthere will be victory, amen.
He walks by faith and not bysight.
Let me tell you that he has to,because it's always moving up
here.
But here's the thing hesurrenders his desire to what
(06:32):
the will of God is right and hetrusts me to bring that vision.
He doesn't question the vision.
He says if that's what you'reseeing, then we're gonna make it
happen.
How many of us can do that inour lives?
Not me.
I don't like it when he tellsme what I'm going to do, because
I usually don't like his plan.
Right, his plan is usually alot harder than the plan that I
(06:55):
have.
I talk about doing things with aspirit of excellence.
I believe that we should alwaysoperate in a spirit of
excellence in everything that wedo.
Here's the hard part aboutdoing that.
When you're a perfectionist andyou operate in a spirit of
excellence, you want perfectionand not excellence.
Right, right, you wantperfection and not excellence.
Excellence is not alwaysperfection.
(07:15):
It is giving.
Whatever it is that you feellike should happen, up and
saying God, have your way withme and with this service.
Whatever it is that I am doing,lord, I want you to do it.
I want you to go before me, Iwant you to give me the vision.
I want you to do whatever.
A lot of times we can't handlethat because God will say well,
(07:38):
I don't want that, I want thisinstead.
Amen, amen.
The problem is, it's not reallya problem.
The challenge is that Jesusinvites us into a different kind
of triumph, amen, one thatcomes when we lay everything
down at his feet.
That means that if you'recarrying around a burden today
(08:05):
or an addiction today, youshould be able to lay it at the
feet of Jesus and walk away.
But it is easier said than done.
Let's go to Matthew 16, 24 and25.
Matthew 16, 24 and 25.
Matthew 16, 24 and 25.
(08:25):
It says then Jesus said to hisdisciples if any of you want to
be, if any of you wants to be myfollower, you must give up your
own way, take up your cross andfollow me.
If you try to hang on to yourlife, you will lose it, but if
you give up your life for mysake, you will save it.
(08:48):
Amen.
Now I want to just leave itright there for me for just a
second, because it says if youtry to hang on to your life, you
will lose it.
If you try to hang on to thelife that you're living, the
fleshly life that you're living,you will lose that life to
death.
But if you give up your lifefor my sake, I will save it.
(09:14):
Everlasting life, eternal life,because we were willing to
surrender everything that wehave to Jesus Amen.
We naturally hold tight onto ourdreams, our plans, our desires.
We naturally hold tight ontoour dreams, our plans, our
desires, but Jesus teaches usthat the only way to gain real
life is through giving upcontrol.
Oh, how many of us like to havecontrol?
(09:35):
Yeah, a couple of us, noteverybody, right?
Some of us like to just go withthe flow.
I'm gonna call all of you liars.
There is something in your lifethat you hold on to and you
want full control of, and whenyou lose control of it, you act
like an idiot, right?
Hallelujah, thank you, jesus.
I know that I can act like anidiot.
(09:56):
I know that when I lose controlof something that I'm
passionate about or somethingthat I should have control over,
that I get stupid, right?
I say things I don't mean.
I act ways I don't mean to act.
But here's the thing.
I have to understand that thatis not what God wants in my life
.
He wants me to give up controland let things go so that I can
(10:19):
be in his will, amen.
We're going to go to Proverbs 3,5 and 6.
This is a hard one.
It says trust in the Lord withall your heart.
Do not depend on your ownunderstanding.
Amen, stay there for just asecond Trust in the Lord with
all your heart.
Do not depend on your ownunderstanding.
(10:40):
See, I don't understand math.
Right, math is hard.
Right, I'm the only one.
Okay, that's fine, I don't mindadmitting that I'm a little bit
stupid, and that is hard stuff.
Right Now I will remind you thatall of you legacy members were
told you wouldn't have acalculator in your pocket when
you got older.
Right, guess what?
I got in my pocket literallyevery day A calculator.
(11:02):
But here's the thing I have totrust that that calculator is
right.
Right, when I do that math.
Now, listen, stephanie wasdoing math on her calculator
when we were divvying up Eastereggs and I don't know how her
calculator kept giving her adifferent number than my
calculator gave me.
But she was trusting hercalculator was right.
It wasn't right, was it?
It wasn't right at all.
(11:23):
I don't know if there was abutton stuck or what was going
on, but when you believe thatsomething works the way that it
ought to right, when you trustit, you don't question it.
You trust your phone foreverything.
Hey, google, right, hey Siri?
Hey Alexa, oh, somebody's phonejust went off.
Oh, okay, it wasn't like I said, hey, alexa, and your phone was
(11:47):
like yes, pastor Michael, whatwould you like?
That would be fun, wouldn't it?
We trust our phones, we trusttechnology for everything, but
we don't trust the Word of God.
Right, and see, here's thething.
I've learned this, and actuallyI test this quite regularly Any
question that you havebiblically, you can ask Google
and you can get an answer Right.
(12:09):
Here's the challenge Dependingon how you ask that question,
the answer that you will receive, Right, ask your Bible.
In whose name should we bebaptized?
Typically, google will say theFather, the Son and the Holy
Ghost, because that's what theNew Testament says.
(12:29):
Okay, here's the challenge,though.
If you say, why should we bebaptized in the name of Jesus?
It will give you all of thereasons you should be baptized
in the name of Jesus instead.
That's not good, because howconfusing is it whenever the
internet will tell you whateverit is that you want to know,
whatever you want to hear Notnecessarily the truth, but what
(12:53):
you want to hear.
See, the word of God is thetruth and cannot be perverted.
But technology can pervert it,amen.
And so what I'm telling you isthat when we go to the internet
and we search and we askquestions, we have to understand
that we are trusting a sourceoutside of God.
I have to believe that the wordis true.
(13:15):
And if you're saying I don'tknow where to find that in the
Bible, get yourself a Strong'sConcordance and look up the word
.
It'll give you every place thatit's mentioned in the Bible and
then you can go and find it andstudy it for yourself.
Place that it's mentioned inthe Bible, and then you can go
and find it and study it foryourself.
There is value in elbow grease,right?
There is value in sweat equitywhenever you're looking at the
word of God, because you canGoogle, you can ask all your
(13:36):
friends, you can do all that,but I'm telling you you will not
get revelation like you willout of the word of God.
Amen, amen, all right, okay,what was the second half of that
?
Seek his will in all you do andhe will show you which path to
take.
Listen, I don't go to God justto figure out what pair of shoes
I should wear.
(13:56):
I say Lord, if you will dressthe lilies, then you too will
dress me right.
And when I walk into the closetI just pick stuff and I just
hope for best right, like PastorHolly's probably got.
How many pairs of shoes?
You got Too many, she said.
I don't even want to say thenumber, dave's sitting too close
Her.
She shed packed front to backwith shoes.
(14:17):
She just goes out there anddigs through.
No, I'm kidding.
But when we know that God willdress the lilies of the valley,
when he will dress the lilies,when he will care for the spirit
, he will also care for us.
See, I don't have to worryabout all of those things
because he's already worryingabout them, but I'm seeking his
will in all that.
(14:37):
I do.
Allow me to be presentable sothat I can show your goodness
and your grace and your mercy.
Amen.
I don't need to be dressed upto do that everywhere I go, but
I do need to know that Irepresent him in spirit.
And if he's going to dress mespiritually, then I will already
(14:58):
be beautiful going out beforethe world.
Amen, okay, whoo.
Trusting God means releasing.
Oh, this is a big one for me.
This is hard.
Trusting God means releasingthe need to figure it all out.
Whoo, ain't nobody excitedabout that, that's okay.
(15:19):
I don't know if you guys aresleeping this morning or what,
but I don't need to figureeverything out anymore.
I have to believe that God isgoing to go before me, figure it
out and point me in the rightdirection.
Hallelujah, thank you, jesus,because if I'm trying to figure
it out, guess what's getting inthe way?
My desires, my flesh, it wantswhat feels good or what is
(15:42):
comfortable or what is easy, notwhat God would want in my life.
Amen.
Surrender is not passive.
It's not something you say,lord, I'm surrendering to you
and you never think about itagain.
Surrender is active choice.
Daily, every single morning,when you wake up, lord, I'm
(16:04):
yours today, use me for yourwill.
Amen, amen.
Because see, when you wake upin the morning and you're groggy
and you're fresh and your feethit the floor and the enemy says
, hey, guess what, I gotsomething fun for you today, if
you, just, if you only right,how many of us have had those
(16:26):
thoughts running through ourhead.
It's so easy to just, oh, I'mgonna, you know, oh, there's so
many things and it will ruin ourlives because we make an active
choice to live for the worldand not in the will of God.
Every morning, ask yourself whatarea of my life am I still
(16:47):
clinging to the flesh?
What area of my life am I stillclinging to the flesh?
You know, god's been doing awork in me for the past probably
year and I still ain't got ityet.
And he keeps doing it and he'smoving and he's shaking and he's
trying to break this up insidehim.
And every morning I get up andit's just stupid, right, and I
(17:08):
know that it's stupid, I knowthat God wants better, and yet I
choose.
Why am I doing that?
I'm not asking you why, becauseI already know why.
It's because if I don'tsurrender every single day, I
will continue to live for theworld.
(17:29):
Now I'm going to tell you asecret that I don't know if any
of you know Surrender leads tofreedom.
How many of you knew that?
Hallelujah, thank you, jesus is.
Surrender leads to freedom.
Whom the sun sets free is free,indeed, hallelujah.
(17:53):
Here's the thing I don't wantto be in bondage anymore.
I don't want to be walkingaround in chains, I don't want
to be in the fire, I don't wantto be in the lion's den.
I want to be free.
But the only way that I can befree is to be willing to
surrender whatever is happeningin my life to the will of God,
(18:14):
to the will of God.
Surrender is not losing right.
Surrender is not.
You're not losing anything whenyou surrender it to God.
You are gaining freedom.
You are gaining freedom.
2 Corinthians 3.17,.
(18:35):
It says For the Lord is theSpirit, and wherever the Spirit
of the Lord is, there is freedom.
In this house today, there isfreedom.
Amen, hallelujah.
Thank you, jesus.
I want you to look around realquick and I just want you to
take stock.
(18:55):
We had 100 people in thisbuilding last Sunday.
There were 100 people here lastSunday.
Can you believe it?
Thank you, jesus.
Roger.
How many is here today?
61.
There are 40 people who decidedthat they didn't need to be
free.
I'm not being mean, I'm justtelling you the truth, because
when we choose the world overGod, then we're missing
(19:18):
something.
We don't have that awakening.
You know we talk about the drybones coming to life.
Let me tell you there are drybones in this house today.
Amen, there are dry bones andthe problem is is some of them
are going to leave here dry.
They aren't going to come tolife.
Because we don't have a desireto be free, we don't have a
(19:41):
desire to be alive or to beawake.
We have a desire to becomfortable, to be awake.
We have a desire to becomfortable, to be comfortable,
and the world will be okay withyou being comfortable.
You know you want to complainand bellyache, you want to have
all of the complaints and that'sfine.
The world will welcome you withopen arms.
But God says there is no needin the kingdom for that.
(20:02):
Why is there no need?
Because you are free, you areset free.
You are set free, you are notsick, you are not in pain, you
don't have financial issues,because God is going to bless
you through that valley.
Amen, amen.
Listen, we were in our youngadult chat and somebody said
that this illness is goingaround and I'm like I am not
proclaiming that, I ain't takingit.
(20:24):
Listen, my family has beenblessed.
We haven't been sick all year.
We didn't get sick last winterand I'm going to tell you we
ain't getting sick the rest ofthis year.
And if I say we're going to getsick, guess what?
We're going to get sick.
I don't want to be sick, Idon't want to be in pain, I
don't want those things in mylife and I don't want those
(20:47):
things in my life.
And I'm not going to claim it.
Listen, I'm not.
If I choose to claim it, if Ichoose to say it, proclaim it
and take it on as mine.
It will be mine forever.
It will be mine.
I ain't doing it.
You guys can have it, you cankeep it.
Don't come to me and tell mewell, pastor Michael, I'm real
sick right now.
No, you ain't Now.
(21:08):
Listen, your flesh might feelsick, but I'm telling you, your
spirit is alive and well andthat's where you need to be
focused.
Listen, take your Tylenol, makesure you get your Sudafed,
whatever it is, whatever it isthat you feel like you're,
that's fine, that's fine.
But I'm not claiming it in myspirit, because when I get sick,
I get tired, and when I gettired and sick, I get sick and
(21:31):
tired.
I get sick and tired of comingto church, I get sick and tired.
Listen to everybody else.
Tell me what my life should beand how I should do.
Let me tell you iron sharpensiron.
Right Now I want you to hearsomething Iron doesn't sharpen
iron in some nice and pretty way.
When you sharpen iron with iron, sparks fly right, and so when
(21:52):
those sparks are flying, youknow something's happening right
.
And so if, oh, it's just, I'mjust, I don't wanna Listen, I'm
telling you you aren't and youdon't need to be the Spirit of
God.
God does not want you to livein shame, in sickness, in
(22:12):
poverty.
Everything that he has givenyou is good and that's what you
need to claim, amen.
Do you guys remember that time Ibrought that really heavy
backpack in full of rocks and Itried to get Mel-Mel to carry it
and Mel-Mel couldn't lift it up, so I had Doug come over and
carry it.
Listen, if you were carryingthat on your back every day,
(22:36):
that big, heavy backpack full ofbig, old, heavy rocks, all of
those burdens, all of thoseworries, and somebody came and
cut those straps and it fell offyour back, you would feel free,
amen.
Let me tell you your spirit canfeel just as free today, in the
mighty name of Jesus.
Your spirit can feel just asfree.
All right, I know that this isanother stretch for you guys.
(22:58):
You're going to struggle withthis thought.
Jesus was the ultimate example.
Jesus was the ultimate example.
Jesus was the ultimate example.
What do you mean, pastorMichael?
Come on, think about it forjust a second.
He modeled surrender when hesaid it is finished.
(23:19):
He modeled surrender when hesaid it is finished, hands
stretched out on a cross, dyingfor the sins of the world, for
the world that wasn't even inexistence when he was hanging
there, but for all eternity.
He was willing to die for thesins of you and I.
(23:40):
He was willing to surrender hisown life so that we might have
salvation.
Hallelujah, thank you, jesus.
If that doesn't exemplify whatsurrender should mean in our
lives, then I don't think we getit.
Because surrender isn't justsaying, oh, I don't want to
drink soda anymore, so I'm goingto lay that at the foot of the
(24:02):
ground.
I'm saying I'm going to make achange in my life so that I can
be healthy again.
I'm going to make a change inmy life so that my spirit man
can be bigger than my flesh man.
That's what I'm talking aboutwhen I say surrender.
I'm not talking about thelittle things those matter, but
(24:30):
I'm saying when we make changein our lives, we're giving up
big things.
Amen.
I'm changing my lifestyle inorder to give my life to God.
You guys are boring thismorning.
It's fine.
It's fine.
Philippians 2, 7 and 8.
It says instead, he gave up hisdivine privileges.
He took the humble position ofa slave and was born as a human
(24:51):
being.
When he appeared in human form,he humbled himself in obedience
to God and died a criminal'sdeath on a cross.
I want to stay there for asecond because it says he
humbled himself in obedience toGod and died a criminal's death
on a cross.
I want to stay there for asecond because it says he
humbled himself in obedience toGod.
See, we humble ourselves to thepeople around us, right?
(25:12):
I've been told that I'm a bitmuch.
I know hard to believe, hard tobelieve, and so when I go to a
group of Methodist pastors orwherever you know these little
like, I have to turn it down.
My wife said to me yesterday Ihad main character energy going
on.
I was like, probably so.
(25:32):
But it's who?
I am right, but I have to learnto dial that back.
But I dial that back for thepeople around me.
I don't want to dial it backfor the people around me.
I want to dial it up for God.
Amen, I want to dial it up.
And so when I get excited aboutJesus, I want the world to get
excited about Jesus.
Right, that's what.
Listen, we are in a Pentecostalchurch and I know sometimes
(25:53):
it's hard to remember, but weare in a Pentecostal church.
You're allowed to preach back alittle bit.
You're allowed to give me someamens and some hands.
Listen, you ain't clapping forme, you're clapping for Jesus.
Amen, right, we're gettingexcited about who Jesus is and
what he's doing in this placetoday.
Thank you Lord.
Thank you Lord.
All right, where are we at?
That was Philippians 2.7,.
Right, jesus didn't cling tostatus or power, or even comfort
(26:17):
.
Amen, because he said it in thegarden.
Should it be your will?
Let this cup pass from me.
And God said oh, I'm sorry wegot to do this.
We got to do this because theworld is full of sin.
You know, I got stuck on Noahfor a while and I'm still kind
of stuck on Noah a little bit,and I just keep thinking that
(26:40):
you know Noah, or that God haddecided to eradicate the world
of the human flesh because itwas so sinful and yet Noah found
favor with God and that he andhis entire family were saved
because he had found favor withGod.
Can I tell you that your familywill be saved through your
favor with God.
Your family will be savedthrough your favor with God.
(27:00):
Your family will be savedbecause of your favor with God.
But in order to have favor withGod, you have to surrender all.
What does that look like?
How hard is that?
Listen, his surrender led toyour greatest victory, amen.
(27:26):
His surrender led to your great.
You may sit here mumbling underyour breath about how you didn't
want to be at church thismorning.
You may be thinking about oh,pastor michael, just shut up
already so we can go have lunch.
You might be thinking a lot ofthings.
You might actually actually bethinking about the football
draft Go Browns, yay, whateverFive QBs.
(27:46):
We can do something with thatright.
Lord, have mercy If we can't sitin the building that he has
blessed us with and surrenderour hearts to him.
What do you think we're goingto do when we walk out of these
doors?
Render our hearts to him.
What do you think we're goingto do when we walk out of these
(28:07):
doors?
We're going to pick up theworld and we're going to carry
it along with us.
How many of you guys have ever?
Well, pick a store, insertwhatever store you want.
How many of you have everwalked in for one thing and
you're walking out of the storelike this Should have gotten a
cart right.
Should have gotten a cart right.
My wife and I, we have anagreement we can't go to Target
anymore If we want to save money.
We can't go to Target because,well, we're going to go in and
we're going to get sissy in anEaster dress, right.
(28:28):
We come out and we got $700worth of stuff and we're
dragging.
We had to buy an extra car inorder to get it all home.
Right, like that's.
We know that we can't do certainthings.
We do that when we leave thechurch too.
When we leave it at the cross,we pick up more on our way out.
You leave something there, andI leave something there, and
(28:49):
Dale leaves something there,holly leaves something there,
dave leaves something there, andthen, all of a sudden, I come
back and I gather up everybody'sstuff and take it with me.
Right, because you know howeasy that is, because when it
gets laid down at the foot ofthe cross.
The enemy still thinks it'sshiny, right, it's still pretty,
it still looks good to somebodyelse.
And it is hard because thenthose people end up in your path
(29:10):
, right, the enemy says you'renot going to, or God says you're
not going to live that wayanymore.
You lay it at the foot of thecross and within 24 hours you've
run into somebody that's livingin that same sin and all of a
sudden you're like, yeah, it'snot so bad, but there are other
people doing way worse, right,and we pick it back up.
And then we pick up that plusthree more, and then we end up
(29:31):
doing this, that and the other,and pretty soon we're bogged
down and we've got that backpackback on full of rocks and we
can't get past the sin and theshame.
Listen, when we surrender, wecan truly unlock God's power in
(29:54):
our lives.
Now, I know that sounds crazylike unlock.
It sounds like you're playing avideo game.
Right, you got to unlock thenext level.
It's true, we can sit in churchall day long.
We can pretend to be saintswhile we're sitting here, right?
(30:14):
But until we are willing togive up whatever is going on in
our lives, we're willing to layit down at the foot of the cross
, we will not unlock all ofGod's power.
The same power that rose Jesusfrom the grave lives in us.
That means that we can cast outdemons, we can move mountains,
but many of us don't believethat.
(30:37):
Listen, I ain't never tried toraise anybody from the dead
before.
Honestly, that would scare thedaylights out of me.
Be praying for somebody, theypop up off the table.
Oh Jesus, right, oh Jesus.
That would be scary.
But he says we can do it, andso we should be willing to say
that we can do it.
Right, listen, there are somepeople I probably don't want to
(31:01):
raise from the dead.
Let's be honest with each other.
But if he tells me that I can,then I should believe that I in
fact can.
And when I doubt what God says,I have not unlocked all of the
power of God.
I have not been willing toaccept his full mercy and his
(31:21):
goodness and his grace.
I have been willing to takewhat little bit I want to
believe until he brings me tothat next level.
Amen, okay.
2 Corinthians 12, 9 and 10, itsays each time he said my grace
is all you need.
My power works best in weakness.
(31:44):
Thank you Jesus.
Thank you Jesus.
So now I am glad to boast aboutmy weakness so that the power
of Christ can work through me.
Stay there for just a second.
Men, we don't cry, do we?
We don't cry in front of othermen, that's for sure.
Why not?
We don't cry in front of othermen, that's for sure.
(32:04):
Why not?
Because we cannot be vulnerable, because we fear what people
will think.
If God can use me in myweakness better than he can use
me in my strength, then I wantto be vulnerable.
I want to be friends with menwho I can have an emotional
conversation with, and that'snot something to worry about,
right?
But the problem is, the worldhas told us that we have to be
(32:28):
strong in the flesh, that wehave to be strong in the flesh.
Chop off a finger, don't cry.
Shake it off.
Dave flips a lawnmower over onhimself.
Don't cry, right?
Listen, I went and saw this manin the hospital right after that
happened, in good spirits, likeit never happened.
I'm like I would whoo.
(32:50):
He's a tough man, right?
He does manly work, right?
He used to put trans rebuildtransmissions in cars.
I'm not even sure what thetransmission looks like, right,
ask me about ADR or rev par.
I can help you with that.
But most of you are like whatare you talking about?
(33:11):
Listen, we're different.
That's okay.
We should be able to be strongin the spirit and emotional with
one another, because in thatweakness God will work through
us.
That's why I take pleasure inmy weakness and in the insults,
hardships, persecutions andtrouble that I suffer for Christ
(33:31):
, for when I am weak, then I amstrong, then I am strong.
Surrender is genuinely admittingthat I cannot, but God can.
I cannot, but God can.
(33:55):
All right, surrender preparesus for greater purpose.
Amen, because some of us thinkthat we should be doing all the
things.
Some of us think we should haveministry of our own and we
should be able to do this, thatand the other, but we haven't
(34:16):
fully surrendered to God so thathe can speak into our lives.
Amen, amen, amen.
Because, listen, surrender isthe first step.
Listen, I'll be honest with you, because this, again, is what I
do.
When I was leading worship, fora long time I had not
surrendered to God when I wasdoing that, because I like to
(34:38):
sing, right, I love to doworship.
Now there was a lot of like Iwasn't doing it just for myself,
but I definitely wasn't doingit just for Jesus.
God had to take that away fromme in order for me to recenter
my life.
That was an ugly path for acouple of years until we figured
(35:00):
it out.
And did you know that he didnot allow me to do worship until
he called me back home?
Everywhere I went, somethingcrazy would happen and that
worship would fall apart Everysingle time.
Listen, here's what I'm tellingyou.
My inability to surrenderwrecked other churches.
(35:21):
It's not funny.
Your inability to surrender andthen try to step into service
will wreck whatever ministryyou're stepping into.
It will wreck it because God isgoing to say no, no, no, you
cannot stop trying and he'sgoing to remove whatever the
circumstance is.
And sometimes that's tearingapart.
Whatever the listen.
When I was doing worship, wewent to a church one time and we
(35:42):
were's tearing apart.
Whatever Listen, when I wasdoing worship, we went to a
church one time and we were.
It was bizarre.
I don't even know what kind ofchurch it was at this point.
It's one of those things likeif you don't ask, don't ask,
don't tell.
You know what I mean.
So we walk into this church andthey're like hey, do you want
to be on worship?
So we had to take this class.
(36:05):
If you wanted to lead, you hadto take this.
The class is a class that thepastor made up himself.
Now, I'm not trying to take anycredit away from that because I
didn't finish the class.
Let's be honest with each other.
You know where that's goingright.
And so I walk in, we sit throughthe first class and then my
friend you guys know her, kellyshe used to come up here and
sing for us every whip stitch.
She's one of our best friends.
She loves to do wild thingswith her hair and so she had
(36:27):
done that side shave thing thatladies were doing for a little
while and she had like a heartor a star or something shaved
inside of her head.
It was wild hair, let me tellyou.
And that pastor told herbecause of your hair, you cannot
serve.
That's what he said.
And I was like well, if shecan't serve, I ain't serving.
I'm going to show you right.
And we wrecked that worshipteam.
(36:48):
That's not fair to the rest ofthe people on that team.
It's not fair to that ministrythat I would be so unwilling to
surrender my heart to God that Iwould wreck somebody else's
ministry right?
I'm telling you today surrenderyour heart before you come and
try to serve.
Amen, because it's a questionthat I'm going to ask you Are
(37:10):
you ready to serve?
Have you surrendered your heartto God?
Have you given him everythingthat you know you need to give
up.
That is not easy to do.
He asks us to surrender toequip us for greater.
Jeremiah 29 11.
(37:31):
For I know the plans I have foryou, says the Lord.
They are plans for good and notfor disaster, to give you a
future and a hope.
Right, he knows the future hehas for you.
Listen, I don't know the futurehe has for you.
Sometimes he reveals thosethings to me, but not always.
And so some of you I look atwhenever you say Pastor Michael,
(37:51):
I want a whatever, I'm like.
No, you don't.
You might think that you do,but really you're more on the
disaster side than on the hopeside.
Is that fair?
Like some of us, we come inthinking we want, we want, we
want, I'm capable, I'm ready.
And then you get there and yourealize, whoa, you weren't ready
(38:12):
.
That's a disaster.
Amen.
He knows the plans that he hasfor you.
His plan will always be betterthan ours, and surrender is
positioning ourselves for God'sperfect will.
Amen, amen, amen.
Okay, this is not a one-timeevent, this is a daily choice.
(38:37):
Can you guys play some prayermusic for me, please?
You wake up in the morning, notmy will, but your will.
Lord, I trust you.
I know that everything that'sgoing to happen in my life is
because of you.
And Romans 12, 1 says and so,dear brothers and sisters, I
(38:59):
plead with you to give yourbodies to God because of all he
has done for you.
Let them be a living and holysacrifice, the kind he will find
acceptable.
This is truly the way toworship him.
Today, jesus is calling us tolay it all down.
(39:22):
Today, jesus is calling us tolay it all down.
Today, jesus is calling us toput it at the foot of the cross.
So what I'm going to do is I'mgoing to take this little cross
and I'm just going to move itright out here out front, and I
want to give everybody in thebuilding a chance to just come
forward, kneel at the altar,just.
I don't.
Whatever you feel like you needto do, I want this to be
personalized.
I don't want this to bedirectional, but I want you to
(39:45):
have the opportunity to lay itdown at the foot of the cross
this morning.
This is an open invitation tosay more of you, less of me.
This is an open invitation foryou to say I want your plans and
not my plans.
Amen, plans and not my plans,amen.
(40:07):
Father, today, I thank you forthe surrendered hearts that are
in this building.
Lord, last week we had threepeople come to you and surrender
their hearts.
And, lord, three doesn't evensound like a big number, but the
kingdom of God grew by three.
The kingdom of God grew bythree and today I believe it
will grow again.
(40:27):
Today, I believe that as werededicate our lives, as we
resurrender some of the thingsthat we've picked up from the
cross, that, Father, you willmake meaningful change in our
lives, that we will be able tolay it down and never touch it
again.
Breakthrough is coming in thename of Jesus.
Breakthrough is coming in thename of Jesus.
(40:52):
Father, we are prepared tolevel up, we are prepared to
move to the next.
Whatever it is, father, god,whatever you may have for us, we
are prepared for it.
Our hearts, our minds, ourbodies, father, god, lord, I
thank you for the people in thishouse.
I pray that you just lead themand guide them, direct them,
father, touch their hearts thisday, allow them to understand
(41:15):
the importance of what we'redoing in this moment.
I thank you, I praise you.
I give you all the honor andglory in the mighty name of
Jesus, and the church says amen.
I'm going to have the tech teamjust play some music.
If you need to leave, that'sfine.
Please do so quietly.
If you want to gather and chitchat, that's okay too.
Do it out in the hallway.
But today I want to giveeverybody in this room the
(41:35):
opportunity to just bringwhatever burdens they're
carrying to the foot of thecross.
Thank you Jesus.
Thank you Jesus, hallelujah.
Thank you.
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