You can be seated man, you know when when we're quiet I can tell there's something with the earlier service. It's kind of odd because we're never still in quiet and when that happens, I love those moments because we're having to consider. What we're feeling and thinking and we rarely we rarely take the time to do that and that is so much of what worship is and you're so smart to establish a rhythm of worship. I just want you to know that I know it's probably hard. If you're here today one of our campuses.

I know it was difficult. The enemy doesn't want you to come to worship, but God Made You To Worship. And if you don't worship him you're going to worship something else. Now. How many of you watch the Alabama Texas game this weekend you watch that.

Yeah any Texas fans here? None great at one. Okay. I'm sorry. Here's the here's the thing.

You know, I got to thinking about that good. Did you see the crowd? I mean the crowd was going berserk. They were rabbit. I mean they were just hollering and screaming and you know guy was taking his shirt off and they were just whipping, you know, he was unbelievable when I said, you know, that's what worship looks like.

I mean worship looks like you giving all of your heart and all of your mind and all of your soul and all of your money to something you're putting your trust in then I thought what is a long-horned steer. I mean that that is nothing but a cow that's been neutered. So here you are giving all of your life to a neutered cow and I just thought that was funny. I mean like, I don't know if you think it's funny, but I think it's funny because you will give your life to something. And if you're not careful, it won't be the God who made the heavens and the Earth.

This morning when I was coming in. It was still like dark and I don't know if you were up this morning real early. Did you see the moon this morning? I mean like there was a moon out there. Like there was this North Star like what is going on?

You know I get to worship The God Who made that? That God who made that wants a relationship with me is unbelievable. And so what I want to talk about for a few minutes and we're going to talk about for a few weeks. It's cultivating a relationship. With Jesus Christ and what I mean by that is developing a deeper friendship with Jesus.

Okay, and this is really not I mean, this is not a deep thing. I mean, it's just a reality not everybody who understands who God is is a follower of Jesus. That you begin to say in your relationship with him. Hey search me and know me and see if there is any wicked way in me and Lead Me into the way Everlasting now you say what's it look like I mean, you know, that's great. I've heard that song before someone 39.

What does it look like? Well, I was reading through our devotion. If you have not downloaded our app. I mean God help you because it is so easy to do and you get all the devotions you get to take like the seven steps of discipleship test. We've had over a thousand people take that test and I'm going to retake it because I'm working on some things in my life and man it is so so good but reading through the devotions I came across acts 10:38.

Acts 10:38 is just this offside comment from Peter about the life of Jesus. The way Jesus lived so we're going to connect the series the way Jesus lived the way in the spiritual disciplines to cultivating those disciplines so that we can follow Jesus acts 10:38 says that Jesus was anointed with power and the Holy Spirit and he went around get this building people up and setting people free from the Devil. That's what I want to do with my life. Like I want to be Anointed with the spirit of God and with power. And I want to go around building people up.

Now a lot of times I'm getting negative and cynical and critical but I want to build people up and I want to see people set free from the devil you so I don't believe in the devil. Well, listen, I'm gonna tell you Jesus did Jesus had a conversation with him. Or if you know that if you read through the Bible Jesus had a conversation with the devil. He fasted for 40 days I go through one day by that night. I'm just like so hungry and so he gets through with 40 days and the Devil comes at him and says, hey, I know you're hungry bro.

Why don't you make these stones into bread? He is tempting him with comfort and pleasure you don't you don't we love that. I mean like I just see this right now. I said well, well, we don't just live by bread alone. But by every word that comes out of the mouth of God.

And then he says Hey, I want you to throw yourself off the temple and fly around and everybody will follow you and you'll be popular and he says hey, hey, no worship The Worship the Lord God only. He's the only one you worship. Then he says hey if you will kneel down and worship me. I will give you all of these kingdoms. You'll have total power and control.

Now think about that first John 5:19 says that the whole world is under the power of the enemy and he is saying if you will worship me, I will give you everything. And it's a lie. You say well, I don't I never see the devil. I don't know what the devil is like what son you've been married to the devil and that's what you call. I mean, well, I was married to the devil.

I mean, you know, she's a devil. I mean you talk about it all the time. They got about there somewhere. Yeah, John 10:10 says that the devil came to steal kill and destroy you say. Well was it look like well, it looks like every 10 seconds.

There's a thousand selfies that are uploaded to Instagram. That means 5,000 didn't make it every 11 seconds. Someone in America takes their life. 750,000 plus will overdose on drugs. You telling me there's not an enemy out there.

21 years ago 19 men from four different countries flew planes into buildings and killed 2,977 innocent people. Listen, we're in a war. We're in a spiritual war in the enemy is out to get you and your family and your marriage and your health and everything else you so that's just been so weird. You know, we just what we need. What we really need is we just need better schools if we can educate people and we can give them we can give them better jobs and if we can give them better health care and if we can take away their guns, everything will be great.

Just like Nazi, Germany. In the 40s where they incinerated six million people Listen, the war that's going on around you is a war that's also going on inside you. And today I want to look at that in Romans chapter 7 it is Paul saying hey, even though I'm writing a bunch of the books of the Bible. There is still a part of me that the devil wants control of. And he's going to say before you deal with the devil.

That's out there. You may want to deal with the devil that's in here. And the reason is so hard when we get quiet we get still and you have time to think and you can kind of hear God or feel God move as he's pointing some things out to you search me and know me, and he's searching you knowing you and all the sudden you're going. Oh my goodness. We need to be busy.

We need to get up. We need to go. We need to talk. We need to do something. We need to pray.

We need to sing. We need to move. Because he's pointing out things in your life that the enemy is using to hurt you. That you think is using to help you. So Romans chapter 7 verse 14.

Paul says he got if you have the app, you can read this all the scriptures there for you and the points he says we know that the law is spiritual but I'm unspiritual I'm sold as a slave to sin. I don't understand what I do for what I want to do. I don't do but what I hate I do you ever said that like I don't want to just I don't want to do that. And if I do when I don't want to do I agree that the law is good. As it is it is no longer I myself who does it but it's the sin living in me.

For I know that good itself does not dwell in me that is in my sinful nature or my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I can't carry it out. But I don't know if I don't do the good I want to do but the evil how to do I keep on doing. I'm doing it but it's a sin living in me that does it so I find this law at work in me, although I want to do good. Evil is right here with me for in my inner being I Delight in God's law.

But I see another law at work in me Waging War against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. What a Wretched Man. I am who will rescue me from this this Civil War that's going on in my body that subject to death and then it says in verse 25. Thanks be to God. Who delivers me through Jesus Christ Our Lord, so then I myself in my mind.

I'm a slave to God's law but in my flesh a slave to the law of sin, you know, what does all that means? Why don't read the Bible. It just sounds soaking fusing I don't mean well, the first thing Paul is saying is before you come to know Jesus Christ, you are dead spiritually. Now let that sink in because you probably have never heard that I mean we live in an age where where you don't hear that I used to take it for granted that you knew that people know that listen just because you were created by God doesn't mean you're a child of God. He said well when I was baptized when I was a baby and I was a catechism and you know, I went through this class and then a new member class and then then I went over to Easter.

I went over here did this and then I had this that put this thing around me and and all that. No, no, no, if you've not been born again internally where your heart and mind has been changed by the Gospel. You are not a child of God. Matter of fact I'm not going to go into this. But Paul would say in Romans.

You're an enemy. Of the Cross of Christ now that's getting a little too bold. I don't think you're ready for that yet. We got to kind of wait into it. But the reality is just because you know about Jesus just because you know about the Bible just because you go to church that does not make you a Christ follower.

You have to be born again. We're religion won't do it. We all know there's a Code of Ethics and everybody even in prison, you know, if you know no snitches without Stitches you've all been to prison. Yeah see, I mean you you get that there's a Code, you know, like even they have a code like you don't wear white after Labor Day, right? You don't wear white after Labor Day.

I just like to kick thank you. She's got you're gonna watch she's yeah why you don't wear white. So you're there they're codes that you have you think if I just keep that code. I'm okay. No.

No, you can't keep the rules and have a relationship with Jesus Christ. You've got to confess. My best days are like filthy racks. And what I need is to be saved. I am separated from God.

I can't make it to God by any kind of works by any kind of like keeping the balance says by trying to do some good things outweigh in the bad things. No, you were dead in your trespasses and sins. If that's not enough, he's in the Ten Commandments. We forget about the tenthood, you know, what the tenth commandment was us looking at that this week. You know what the 10th commandment is Thou shalt not covet.

If you ever desire to have more of what you already have. Of course you have I have two. Ecclesiastes says in Ecclesiastes, 1 chapter 8 the I never gets enough seeing the ear never gets enough hearing. It's like you're always looking for more and you're always looking for more and you're always looking for more. It's like a zombie going through life.

Just consuming things. Oh if I get this job if I get that car if I get this house, so if I if I lose 20 pounds if I get that if I get that then I'll be happy. You're like a zombie. Listen before you come to know Jesus Christ. You have no spiritual power.

It's like Dr. Jacklyn Mr. Hyde and you go back and forth and you go you go back and forth. You you'll be good on Sunday or you'll be good, you know for Easter you'll be good, you know in front of your parents and then all of a sudden you're Mr. Hidden or Mrs.

Hidden where you kind of go to another level and go to another level then you pull yourself back and then one day Mr. Hyde takes over. Now listen, even when you come to know Jesus. That challenge doesn't go away. Now that's the bad news.

But the good news you have power. Through Jesus Christ And that when you have those struggles because you're a new person in Christ. You have power to overcome those things. You may not always choose that but when Christ comes into your life he changed you into new person. Now, you still have challenges.

Okay. The flesh is still very it's he's killed it but it's still like a snake It's kind of still there. It can still buy you and I know that because my wife had an action this week. And right when she's fine and But I was I was going into Highway 11 there's this road in if you're from somewhere else, you know grow that was made for like 10 cars. By the people that laid it out and and they dumped thousands of cars onto this one road and people running to each other all the time.

I think we need to do a class action lawsuit one call that's all but the reality is like every every day there's wrecks in there. So so I just kind of get in the turn lane, you know, because hey, you know only got three lanes for three thousand cars. And so if you came up with it and you got our church, I think you're doing a good job, but the realities I kind of going Pat and I look back. I thought that looks like my wife. It was her and so I got pulled my car went under the side, you know, and I can see she was calling she'd called the police and she she was dialing my number and it was like the Holy Spirit man.

I just showed up. Like wow the man is you and so she's like I can't believe here. I said no bass what I do for you. And and so we're talking she goes just so checking up. It's just checking the look on the back.

So I'll go back there checking her. She's crying, you know, she's upset, you know, she's talking mama's car up and and you know white, you know, 20 30 minutes cars. You're able home guy brother. Yeah. What's up?

I'm like, no man. I just stop. Okay, like I got you know. Things are going on. You're like my flat.

Like I was I could feel me getting out of the spirit into the Flesh and it's right after 30 minutes and nobody showed up. I'm like really so I called the popo and I said, hey, where are y'all I said it's worth their bank robberies and Hattiesburg. This ain't New York City and I was in a kind of called me like, whoa. What are you doing, you know all the policemen? You know all the fire.

So then oh, everybody says your flesh. I mean you never get away from it, man. Like this is what scares me when you go off to college, you know, you kind of you're rolling, you know, like oh you're rolling, you know Jesus, but you haven't spent any time with him. Okay, and all of a sudden, you know that the flesh is growing in you and your spirit is kind of going down in you and all of a sudden you realize. Oh he's resident.

He just ain't president. Then you get in a bad spot the wrong place at the wrong time. You get in trouble? And then you start going the devil starts going, you know, God didn't care about you. God made you this way, you you need to go for it.

You need to worry about that. You don't have any limitation. You just gone wrong. You just go for it go. No, the spirit's going don't listen to that.

Don't don't listen to that pull back from that because let me tell you something until you have Christ in your life and the Holy Spirit resides in you and unless you cultivate the spirit of God through spending time with God and through prayer and through through accountability and fellowship, man. You don't have the power to overcome all the things that are coming through your flesh. Listen the enemy in the world in your flesh. They teamed up against you. And I'm here to tell you man.

You need God in your life to save you to help you but to give you the best life. Now I was afraid that you wouldn't believe me. So I want to use Tom Cruise to help me. Because I know he's real popular right now and I want him to try to get across you the point. I'm trying to make about when you have Christ in your life.

And you cultivate the Holy Spirit how it helps you and how you have to have it or you in trouble. So I want you to see this. Your life expectancy is like you with me. It's you without me here with me without me with me without with Christ. Here without Crush in your life here I don't believe I'm glad that's fine.

You you Roll Along Without Jesus in your relationships here, which is your relationship. Oh, I don't need those in my family. I don't need Jesus in my family without fear Jesus in your family right here with him. You're here. Can I make that any clear?

He said well, I don't believe you don't have to believe man. You thought you just roll on. See, this is the great news about where I am in my spiritual life. I understand that if you don't want to believe the truth, that's between you and God. But that God has a plan for your life.

He loves you. He wants to live with you. He wants to live inside you. He wants you to have a relationship with him. He wants to give you everything you've dreamed of and everything.

He's dreamed of for you, but you got to do it his way. You have to cultivate a relationship with him. Paul says it this way in Galatians 2:20. I've been crucified with Christ. I no longer live but Christ lives in me in the life.

I now live I live by faith in the Son of God who loves me and gave himself for me. He says, you know when I when I came to know Jesus all those things I did religiously. He said I kept the law. I was falling. She said I was a Pharisee.

I was circumcised on the eighth day. He said man, I was Flawless, but then I realized that is nothing without a relationship with Jesus coming into my life where I place my trust in what he did for me on the cross. The spirit of God comes into your life everybody that gets saved. It's not a new thing or a unique thing or maybe act weird. It's power.

But with that he says in Galatians 5:24, you have to keep putting to death the Deeds of the flesh. Because it's always there. It's always nipping at your heels. He said you don't understand brother Jeff like you don't understand all the Temptations I got there. There's no way I could say no first great things 10 13 says there's no temptation.

That is overtaking you but such as it's common to mankind every Temptation. God will make a way for you to escape. She got to take that escape hatch. And you can't do that. If you're not cultivating a relationship with Jesus Christ every single day.

He said why you getting so stoked up about this because you've got a predator. That's after you. He comes to still kill and destroy. I noticed around us like in our in our country not just in our world but in our country locally. How criminals have become emboldened?

You're not noticed how dangerous it is to live in the world. We're in right now. To go jogging early in the morning. So well that was in Memphis, you know by should even go outside. No.

It's everywhere. Any Christ with you? If you remember the guy's name is Tim Treadwell the bear got you. Remember that National Geographic you probably saw this like he was the bad guy. He went out with the bear.

She was going to protect the Bears remember that guy and he would go out with the Bears. He was living with the Bears said, you know, I'm willing to give my life to the Bears and and because I'm afraid somebody's going to kill a bear. I'm gonna go out and live with the Bears. He's petting the Bears. He's feeding the Bears and everybody.

Look who's going. You're crazy. You don't need to do that. And so he tells his girlfriend. Hey, why don't you come with me?

Because we're gonna live with the Bears. She goes. Oh, I would love that. Let's live with the Bears and so they're living with the Bears and they're in a tent then all the sudden one day. I guess the bear got mad.

I don't know what happened. I mean I thought they were a pics Predators. I didn't know you couldn't live with the Bears. I mean you tell me you can't live with the Bears you can't live with the Bears because then they had the recording and I had to listen to it. I had to listen to it.

I'm sick like that. I had to listen to it and you hear all these bones breaking you're going. Whoa, that's crazy. That's crazy. How many people live with the Bears?

Come on, honey. This ain't no. You got a predator? Well, I was just nothing formed against you will prosper. He said that's just let's talk about what that's just no no, no, no.

No, you need a savior. You need a Shepherd to live your life In Your Own Strength without the spirit of God is to have the same result of being hurt. When you get tired, and you don't make room for God in your life tired decision-makers make bad decisions. Pauses in Galatians said if you continue now, this is look I'm struggling with you man. I get this man like I understand the discipline.

It takes to kind of cultivate a relationship with Jesus and cultivate a time in his word and get alone and and be quiet but if you keep so into the flesh you keep doing whatever you feel like doing all your urges. You keep going in that direction. He says you'll reap destruction every single time. It's like planning corn and going I bet watermelon's gonna come up. No, no, if you keep sowing to the Flesh of the flesh you're gonna reap destruction, but if you sow to the spirit, so the spirit man you will have life.

And have life abundantly. You said well that those are real basic points. For Jesus you're dead in your sins. Yeah. When yes, Jesus to come into your life.

He gives you a new heart and mind and you have life, but it's got to be cultivated. Let me give you the one big idea. Don't leave you with. And it's something I want you to take with it even a baby could do. Is come to the table?

Find you a place. Where you can sit down? And you can begin to ask God to reveal himself to you. Or you can be all alone. Where you can be quiet.

And where you could say God show me the things you want to show me you say that sounds like the voodoo. No. No, if you've got a relationship with somebody and you kind of kind of slow things down and you begin to talk about things that really matter all of a sudden you deepen your relationship. That Things become clearer I do this at my house in my kitchen table, and I've done it for I guess 27 years at the same chair the same table. I think there's marks for my elbows have been because I've done it for so long, but but it's finding a table.

Do you know why because you spend about four hours every day just distracted. Distracted by your phone. Look, I'm not being ugly. I do too. Like I get it like like you flip in, you know flipping.

Oh, look at this come. Oh, look at this. Oh don't tiktok. Go look this on flip-flop and then oh, you know you before you know how you're driving down the road. That's probably what happened to my wife.

Nobody. Oh, I didn't see you. Oh, yeah. I know you anyway so so but you're distracted. Say three four anybody spend less than three hours on some device.

Some divide like social media device or something you spend less than three hours a day. One person. Okay, and and you have a rotary dial phone or is it never flip phone? Okay. Anyway, here's the reality most of us.

Thank you for sharing that most of us spend they're for hours. And then you get into what I call the dailies where you're going to work and you got to get you got to go to work and get your kids ready. You got to get kids home. You got to get everybody Bay. You gotta get in the bed.

You gotta get ready for school. You gotta get back there doing homework. Oh, yeah, you got to practice. Oh you got you got a game this weekend got that that's another 10 or 11 hours. How much time do you have left?

For anything that's really going on deep in your heart. Time to look in the basement of your heart those closets in your heart. Define the root. Of the bad fruit in your life You won't do that until you come to the table. Few weeks ago I met with preachers from all over the country and they're about my age and we sat around a table.

I mean just to regular table. I mean you can do this with your family like say hey, we're gonna we're gonna have we're gonna sit around the table one night this week. And and I said what what is that you mean? I thought we would do McDonald's say no there's the thing that they do now where you get at this table and and like we get food and we sit it down on the table. And and we talk it's a new thing.

They're trying now in America and and you can ask questions like hey, what was the best thing about your day? That all the put all the the phones down. So I was slap you to China you put them all down put them all but you have to do there. They won't put them down put them put them all down. Get back got put sure I get over.

What's the best thing happen to you today? What was the worst thing that happened today? What are you struggling with? It's all we did. Started weeping I started weeping to hear the stories that was in these guys hearts.

Listen until you are known see God already knows everything that's in the recesses of your heart that you were running from. But but until you begin to give that up to him, you can't be healed. There is so much Brokenness in you you say you don't know that. Yeah, I know that. I see it on your face.

I know many of your stories. You live in a broken world. You have a broken heart. You've got an enemy that's trying to destroy you and people around you. They've taken advantage of you come to the table.

Say God I need you. I need you God in my life. There are times when I get I don't usually can we just keep this between us? There are times I'll climb in the bed and I'll lock the door and I'll just I'll just lay in the bed and say God. I love you.

So I need you so badly. I need you in my life. I need you greater in my life. I need you to help me God. And it's shocking what he does.

Listen when you come to the table. You'll find a relationship with the Lord that loves you in spite of all the things that have ever been done to you. Or that you've ever done. There was one guy at the table. He was so wrecked.

He was so wrecked man. Did he wrote this and I'm going to read it to you? He said it's no small thing to convene here. Each of us possessors carriers of influence Vision grit and wisdom have momentarily entrusted Our Lives work into the hands of those. We have trained and empowered.

We've gathered from different locations backgrounds and have taken very different Journeys in every respect to be here. Still all have arrived at this place and that is no small thing. This is around this table we choose to take time to be together. Here we voluntarily and collectively unburden ourselves bit by bit. We understand it takes time for a person to break free from the urgent.

The unimportant things in his life it always takes time. We laugh loud together at this table. We Feast like kings here. We take chances here. We went and lose here.

We choose trust here. Each of us is better in some way because we are here. But this is no ordinary table. It is bigger than the room. It occupies.

Its Corners are growing its table of influence that's been built for leaders built for Kings. It's like King Solomon's table Solomon would influence the known world in his day as kings and queens of the Earth would sit at his table to break bread with him to inquire of the wisdom that he got from his God. It's like the table dreamed by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. This dream was conceived in the mind of a man who was a king by virtue of both his name and his conduct rather than his position or office.

Still this king would impact the course of history. His legacy does in Washington DC when he prophesied I have a dream. That one day on the Red Hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit together at the table of Brotherhood. This is no ordinary table. It's like King David's table the ancient leader the poet Warrior the shepherd king would capture the essential character of God by his writing these words you prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.

Just as God prepared tables for King David King Solomon Dr. King and other great Kings who've gone before us. He's done the same for this still forming Band of Brothers. And sisters God prepared this table this Refuge this moment. For a Motley Crew and unlikely blended family made up of Warriors and Shepherds and Romantics and Poets and kings and sages.

It is no small thing together around this table. God has prepared it only for those whose lives. Will in some way impact the course. Of History God's prepared a table for you. Not just me.

You that's how important you are. He loves you. If you'd been the only person on this Earth. A holy God would have sent his son to die for you and the Holy Spirit to live inside you to give you victory. Doesn't matter what you've done where you've been.

He's got you. She's come back to the table. Come back to a friend show. With Jesus Christ, let him give you power to overcome things that you're failing in right now. It's what he does.

It's his job. Would you bow your heads before we have a moment to come to the table? And Just take a second to ask God to speak to her hearts. To open up some of those closets. Shine lights and some of those corners For God to say I love you.

I see you. And I love you father. I thank you. That you are such a good God. Father I thank you for salvation.

I thank you for the Holy Spirit. And I thank you that you never give up on me. And God is often as I'm willing to come to the table. And just be still. You meet me there.

Father speak to our hearts draw us to you. Keep us from the enemy. And I pray this in Jesus name. Amen