Skip to content Victory || F.A.V.O.R. || Pastor Adam Mesa Jan 14 · 38 min ...more
Victory || F.A.V.O.R. || Pastor Adam Mesa
January 14, 2024 · 38 min
If you would like to create and register for your Church Pass visit: https://alfc.church.ai/onboarding/create-profileIf you would like to support this ministry in reaching people around the globe, click here: https://www.alfc.faith/giveIf you’ve just made a decision for Christ and said YES, please respond HERE: https://www.grow.faith/If you are new, please click HERE: https://bit.ly/alfcnewguestJoin us every Sunday for service at 9am and 11am, as well as Wednesdays at 7:00pmStay ConnectedALFC Website: https://www.alfc.faith/ALFC Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alfc.church/
Series Patria Sermons
Adam Mesa is Lead Pastor of Patria Church and speaks to a congregation of 12,000 about how the gospel of Jesus Christ brings purpose to every life. Patria
January 14, 2024 · 38 min · Patria Sermons
If you would like to create and register for your Church Pass visit: https://alfc.church.ai/onboarding/create-profileIf you would like to support this ministry in reaching people around the globe, click here: https://www.alfc.faith/giveIf you’ve just made a decision for Christ and said YES, please respond HERE: https://www.grow.faith/If you are new, please click HERE: https://bit.ly/alfcnewguestJoin us every Sunday for service at 9am and 11am, as well as Wednesdays at 7:00pmStay ConnectedALFC Website: https://www.alfc.faith/ALFC Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alfc.church/ ...more Show the full description Show less If you would like to create and register for your Church Pass visit: https://alfc.church.ai/onboarding/create-profileIf you would like to support this ministry in reaching people around the globe, click here: https://www.alfc.faith/giveIf you’ve just made a decision for Christ and said YES, please respond HERE: https://www.grow.faith/If you are new, please click HERE: https://bit.ly/alfcnewguestJoin us every Sunday for service at 9am and 11am, as well as Wednesdays at 7:00pmStay ConnectedALFC Website: https://www.alfc.faith/ALFC Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alfc.church/
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In this video 0:00 The Journey of Faith and Favor
The Journey of Faith and Favor 0:01 Welcome to the ALSC podcast. Here at ALSC, we seek the lost, teach the found, and send the disciples. We truly hope you are encouraged by this week's message.0:12 Well, if you're ready for the word, let's dig in. We're in a series called Favor. We're honoring God's 30 years of faithfulness and favor in our church and ministry. And so we're launching this idea that as God has0:24 favored abundant living, so shall he favor you and I in our own lives. And so we've broken it down as best as we could. Now I'll tell you this, there's no there's no Bible passage you can there's no acronyms in the0:36 Bible. Okay? So there's no chapter and verse where the acronym of favor is broken down in the Bible, but theologically, we can say that when we study the ministry of people in the Old and New Testament who have0:47 favor, you can see these resounding themes that are in their life. And so you see a resounding theme for people in the Bible who have favor that they have an act of faith. They have this trust in God that through0:59 all circumstances, through the good and the bad, they cling tightly to God. You also see an understanding of abundance. Where they thought they lacked resources, God was abundant in resources. And so then we1:11 also see, which we'll talk about today, is that we have victory. And so God has paved the way for us. And so we can trust that if God has led the way, if God has victory, then we1:23 too have victory, and we are not defeated. And so we also see over the next 2 weeks as well that obedience, favor takes a life of obedience. Following God's word, trusting God,1:35 hearing what God speaks, and moving on those things. And then lastly, when you feel tired, when you feel weak, God's favor brings renewal in your life. God will refresh you. God will build you back up. And so that's what
1:47 we look at. So let's dig into victory today as we've been breaking it down. And we're going to be in first John today. And so if you have your Bibles, you can go to first John chapter 5. We're going to be in verses 1 to
1:59 5. And so if you have your Bibles and you're turning to there whenever you're ready, would you stand up for the honor of reading God's word today as we dig into this verse today. I'm excited about talking about victory.
2:10 I believe God is going to speak some things to us today. Here's what it says in first John chapter 5 verses 1 to 5. Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God,
2:21 and everyone who loves the father loves his child as well. This is how we know that we love the children of God, by loving God and carrying out his commands. Commands we talk about next week.
2:33 In fact, this is love for God, to keep His commands, and His commands are not burdensome, son, for everyone born of God has overcome the world. This is the
2:45 victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world? Only the 1 who believes that Jesus is the Son of God. Amen. Let's
2:57 pray today. God, we thank you so much today, Lord, as we come to discover your word that we have the victory, God. That as we worship today and we worship the fight of faith, and we know that we can
3:09 clap our hands, we can lift our voices, we can bring all these things with a voice of triumph. It's only because Jesus has paved the way for us. So we thank you for that work today. Speak to us in
3:20 Jesus' name. Amen. You may be seated. You know, there was once a man who was crossing the street. I don't know if you ever been caught in a long crosswalk before where it went red, and you hit that
3:32 little button, and you just feel like it's taking forever to cross the street. Well, there there was a man 1 time who was, any people in here that got young infants, toddlers, you know, like babies, you're working
3:43 through that baby season, I see some hands. And so whether you're a grandparent or a parent, and you ever taken your child on a walk? And so there was a man, he had his child in the stroller, and it was 1 of those days,
3:53 like many days that you and I have, where the baby was not settling down. Okay? Crying, screaming, you know, this baby would not stop crying. So he gets up to the crosswalk, and he's just shaking
4:05 the stroller, trying to get the baby to calm down. And so as he's there, he's running the stroller back and forth, and he says, you know, just very calmly, it's okay, Albert. Don't worry, Albert. Don't cry, Albert.
4:17 Don't get overwhelmed, Albert. Everything's gonna be alright, Albert. And there's a woman next to him that said, sir, it's amazing how calm you can stay while your baby Albert is just
4:29 crying and screaming. And he looks at her and he says, ma'am, the baby isn't Albert. I'm Albert. You know,
4:41 sometimes you gotta remind yourself, it's gonna be alright, Adam. It's gonna be okay, Adam. Don't cry, Adam. Don't get overwhelmed, Adam. But guess what? When you know you have God's
4:53 victory on your side, you gotta remind yourself, it's gonna be okay. It's gonna be all right. God's called you. God's speaking to you. Don't worry. There's a calmness when you can speak God's
5:04 word and God's victory over your life, and hopefully today as we leave this place, you can recognize, you can leave here a little bit more calm, a little bit more decisive to trust God and have faith through
5:16 all avenues. It reminds me of a story as we talk about favor and faith of 1 of the patriarchs, well the oldest patriarch, which is Abraham. Many of us know the story about Abraham, and if you don't know,
5:28 Abraham is the predecessor to the children of Israel. It's by Abraham's faith that he went to a land called Canaan and established his family roots in Canaan. He left everything that he knew behind, his family and
5:40 everything. He took his children and his wife, and he came and he established a land that would eventually, through his great through his grandson, Jacob, be called Israel. So Israel would not exist
5:52 today without the faith of Abraham. Also, Jesus came from the fatherhood of Abraham. And so Abraham was a man of faith. The Bible talks about it all the time. But also, Abraham was a man
6:04 who understood what it was that when he hit challenges, what God's victory actually looked like. But But I want us to see an aspect of Abraham's life at the beginning that many of you may have not seen before. So I want
6:16 us to see in Genesis chapter 11, this is where Abraham's story kind of starts. And we also, through the bible, before he said yes to God, we call him Abram, and God changed his name to
6:27 Abraham. And so it says this, this is the account of Terah. This is Abraham's father. This is the account of Terah's family line. Terah became the father of Abraham, Nahar, and Haran.
6:40 And Haran became the father of Lot. While his father Terah was still alive, Haran died in Ur of the Chaldeans. So why did Abraham take this leadership under his nephew La?
6:51 Well, because his father died when they were still in their homeland. And in the land of his birth, it says this. Abram and Nahor both were married. The name of Abram's wife was
7:03 Sarai, and the name of Nahor's wife was Milcah. She was the daughter of Haran, the father of both Milcah and Iscah. Now Sarai was childless because she was not able to
7:15 conceive. Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot, son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, the wife of his son Abram, and together they set out from Ur of
7:27 the Chaldeans to go to what? Canaan. Wait. A lot of the times when I hear the story of Abraham, I often hear that Abraham left Ur and left his family.
7:39 I never knew that Abraham's dad was the 1 who pulled them out of Ur and started taking them to Canaan. It's an important part. There's a lot of times we understand we think Abraham left Ur and
7:51 he went to Canaan. Actually, we're seeing that his dad left Ur to go to Canaan. So his dad started with the word from God more than likely. But what happens in between, it says, but when they came to
8:02 Haran, so there was Haran and Haran, they settled there. Terah lived 205 years and he died in Haran. Okay. I want you to see this. I'm gonna I'm gonna share this
8:14 for a moment. So if any of you guys have, like, a little journal, you could take these notes. If you look at a topographic map of this land in the Middle East, you have this area right here, which would have been Ur.
8:26 Okay? This is where Abram's family lived. This is actually modern day Iraq. So this was Babylon eventually, and then now it we know it as Iraq. And so there was this river that ran
8:38 up, and at the top of the river was a place called Haran. Okay? And down here, there was the Persian Gulf, Sea. Okay? And then on this side, you have
8:50 the Mediterranean Sea, and then if you come all the way down here, you have Canaan. Alright? Canaan is also now, we know it as Israel. Alright.
9:02 There's the Saudi Arabian desert is right here, so you can't you can't cross here. That's why that's why he couldn't go that way. You're gonna die of dehydration. So you can't you can't go straight. You have to go up and
9:14 around. And so what happens is is from here to here, there's a nice little natural water warning spring river where where you have access to
9:25 water. It's pretty flat. And then as you come over here, and if you look at a topographic map, you'll see there's nothing but mountains and valleys to get down to
9:37 Canaan. There's nothing but mountains and valleys. And so what happens is is Abraham's dad, Terah, more than likely, most theologians believe that God actually potentially approached
9:49 Terah first to give this word, and so Terah for a moment has this faith and this obedience to follow the river, but more than likely as he began to see the
10:01 mountains, he went, oh, woah, woah, woah, woah, woah. I don't know that I signed up for this. And so the Bible says, for 15 years, he settled in a place called
10:12 Heron, which actually the word in English means this, crossroads. His dad settled in the crossroads of life
10:25 because everything else from here forward was going to be difficult. Everything else from here on was going to take a lot of work, was going to take a lot of faith, was going to take a lot of acts towards
10:37 victory. And so his dad, Tara, decides. He brings his whole family. He looks at Heron, which Heron was also this intersection of trade, and he says, this is nice. We
10:48 left her. We did 50 percent of what God told us to do. So this is nice. Let's settle down. How many of you guys know 1 year is short, 2 years is short, 15 years?
11:01 For 15 years, they settle camp, start to have children, start to have a family, and his father dies in the crossroads. Dies in the
11:13 middle. Where God spoke to him, he said, this is good enough. We have running water. You want to know from this point to this point Look at this. There's water everywhere. You want to know from this point to
11:25 this point where's there actually is a substantial amount of natural water? It's down here by the Sea of Galilee, where Jesus's ministry was. So that's the nearest watering point. He had water all the way
11:36 here. And so he said, this is the point of convenience. And so I was obedient towards God up until the point of convenience, but after that point,
11:48 I settled in that space. I settled in that moment. Because everything from here on out with faith and favor, that means I gotta do some things now. That means I actually gotta
12:00 climb mountains. I gotta actually be in valleys. That that means we actually have to supply for water and plan for food. I I didn't I didn't sign up for all of that, God. I signed up for the
12:12 the the God that where I just raised my hand at an altar call, and I say, Jesus, you can have my life. I signed up for now, it's just things get easier from here on out. That that's the like, that's the faith in the
12:23 victory that I signed up for. Not the faith in victory that now means I have to actually start trusting God to move forward. So I want you to look at this. The moment
12:35 that Tara dies, and for all intents and purposes, this is the first moment we know that God has spoke to Abraham. Abraham's now in his seventies at this point. He should have gotten to Canaan 15
12:47 years ago by his father. So now, God goes to Abraham, and he says, the Lord has said to Abram, go from your country. Because Haran is actually also
12:59 the edge point of Chaldean. So he literally got to the border. That's like if God said, I want you to settle over in Las Vegas, and you just settled in the in the Nevada California
13:10 border. You just said, that's enough. I did enough. I just did the bare minimum that God asked me to do. Haran was the bare minimum, the edge of their land. And so now God goes to Abraham. He says, Lord said
13:22 to him, go from your country. Now you gotta go from your country. Your people and your father's household to the land I will show you. I will make into you a great nation, and I will bless you,
13:34 and I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. God proposes a thought of victory to Abraham. He says, here's the thought, Abraham.
13:46 I'm gonna make your family blessed. I'm gonna make you into a great nation. This nation is gonna be a blessing unto all other nations, but you're gonna actually have to understand that you will win on the other
13:58 side, but it's going to take some hardship from here on out. What happens is is many of us know Abraham's story, but from this point forward, Abraham goes to a place where now he starts to cross the mountains. You want
14:10 to know first thing that happens as they're crossing the mountains, a famine hits the land. So he actually has to go past Canaan down to Egypt. So he literally has to pass the thing that God has promised
14:23 and go a hundred and 50 miles past to Egypt to avoid a famine. So now he gets to see where he's supposed to go, and God says, there's a famine right now. You gotta go to Egypt.
14:35 There's no food over there. So you gotta spend some time here. I gotta go to Egypt? Come on. I I left Er. I left Haran. I left the crossroads. My dad settled in the crossroads. I
14:47 left the crossroads. Now I gotta go past Canaan, and now I have to go to Egypt. And then he says, okay, now you can leave Egypt. So then he leaves Egypt, he gets to Canaan, and God says, now I want to see how much
14:59 you love me. I want you to sacrifice that son. We read it. His wife couldn't conceive. So then God blesses him with the ability to conceive at old age, and so his wife names her son Isaac, which means laughter because
15:09 she laughed at the impossibility of giving birth. And so he says, okay. Now this son that you've been patiently waiting for for generations, I want you to sacrifice that son to me. And
15:21 then Abraham's like, okay. So then he takes him, and right when he's about to sacrifice, what does God do? He provides a ram in the thick, a sacrificial animal, and he says, Abraham, here's your victory. It's almost like
15:33 a trophy. It's almost like a crown to say, listen. It's the path that you have taken to victory so that you know when you win from here on out, I took you everywhere that you went. A lot of
15:45 times when you and I see the mountains, it's not that God just wants to make you tired or God is trying to discipline you. He's trying to get you and I to realize that on the other side when you win, it's not because you
15:56 fought the battle, it's because he fought it for you. When we go through those things and we trust God, we see him all the more real. So, if you're taking notes, I just want you Here's 3 things today we're going to see.
16:07 Number 1, we can see through these moments that God's victory is better. A win with God is better than any win you could do without God. God's
16:19 victory is better. Abraham's life began to ramp up in terms of how he had to trust God, but the victory of becoming a great nation, having a blessed family, Jesus coming out of
16:31 this line, oh, he blessed Abraham, for sure. And so what happens, we see first Corinthians 15 57, but thanks be to God, he gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Thank you,
16:43 God, because you give us victory, not defeat, not brokenness, not breakdown. He gives you victory. So God's victory, it's just better. You
16:54 ever won something before, a national championship, a state championship? You ever won a chess tournament? Anything. You ever won a golf game with your free friends? It just is so sweet when you win something. When
17:06 we recognize that Jesus won it all and we could really rest in that victory, we can say, God, thank you that you made a better way. Yeah. Because I don't even wanna pave my own victories. I don't even run
17:18 my own victories. I wanna trust your victory, God. Yeah. There's a better way. A couple years ago, many of you guys may like may be like me, but, my parents don't they don't understand technology too
17:30 well. Okay? So any new device, fixing their Wi Fi, setting up their email, I mean, I get a call. Okay? I'm gonna get the call, and then I gotta drive to my parents. And so
17:42 my parents finally, they they had upgraded, and they got, like, a smart TV where now you can have all the apps internally built in. And so they went from, dish TV and then they got a smart TV. So I came
17:54 over and I had to help them set it up. So, I said, hey, you guys have an Amazon account? They said, no, we don't have an Amazon account. Okay. Let me sign into my Amazon account. Okay. Do you guys have an Apple TV
18:05 account? No. We don't have an Apple. What's that? Okay. It's Apple TV. So then I signed it in for them. So now I'm signing in under all my accounts. Okay? They become part of my family at this moment, so I add them to me
18:15 at that moment. So 1 day, I'm just sitting on the couch, and I see an Amazon purchase for 3 99. Oh, okay.
18:27 So I thought, you know, if you use Amazon, because it doesn't The purchase on the card, it just says Amazon. It don't tell me what it was purchased on, so my wife is connected to my Amazon account, so, you know, Amazon
18:37 doesn't charge you until they actually ship stuff out, so I just thought maybe my wife had to buy some things. Maybe about 40 minutes later, I saw another 3 99 charge. And I I thought, okay, but I
18:49 guess my wife got a couple small things. It's just no big deal. And so now I go throughout my day. I I look at the end of the day on my phone, and I have a hundred and 50 dollars worth of charges.
19:03 What my dad was doing was was they they got into the a show that was on regular television, Yellowstone. They got into it, And then he discovered you could rewatch episodes and rewatch shows
19:15 on Amazon Prime. And so there was an element that he was missing, which was he started to buy each episode individually to watch it. So 3 99 here,
19:27 3 9 and and then him and my mom binge watched the whole season that day. And so now I grabbed my phone. I grabbed my car keys. I don't live too far. So I I
19:39 drove up to their house, called them. I said, are you home? He said, yeah. Your mom and I are just watching Yellowstone. I said, I know. I figured that out. I said and so and so I walk in the house. I said, what are you
19:51 guys doing? He said, we're just watching Yellowstone. I said, and you're buying every episode individually? He said, yeah. What what else do you do? I said, oh, I'm about to change your life. I downloaded
20:03 AMC streaming for 9 99 a month, and I said, you have every episode you could watch, rewatch. You have them all. You have all the seasons for 10 dollars a month. Have at it.
20:15 Enjoy. Stop buying shows and videos on Amazon Prime. So then I look at them. I said, Can I get my 150 dollars back for your mistake? He said, I brought
20:27 you into this world. We'll be evil from here on out. I said, Fair. Fair. 150 birth. That's pretty cheap. So I was like, I'll take that. I'll take that.
20:39 How many of you guys know there are better ways to do things? You don't have to pay all the time. You don't have to pull the payment all the time. When people say, What do I get from getting God? Well, number 1, he's
20:51 already loved you. That's what you get from. Number 2, you get a better way from choosing God. You get a better way for choosing Jesus. A better way. Someone that loves you and died for you
21:03 and heals you and delivers you and shows compassion towards you. What do you mean? The question should be flipped. What do you give to him? Because there ain't no way he's not done anything for you. Because
21:14 his victory is a better way. Look at someone and just say a better way. A better way. You know, Saint Augustine said this, the victory of Christ over the world is ours if we
21:26 but follow him. Victory is yours if you follow him. That's what Abraham did. He followed God. Where his father tapped out in the crossroads,
21:39 Abraham picked up and left off. And so we see secondly, God's victory is a blessing. It's a blessing. God's victory to give to you is God's blessing, not God's burden.
21:51 Abraham could have easily said, God, this is burdensome, son. Why can't you just give me the great family, and the great nation, and the great blessing here in Ur? Like, what's the deal? But God had to separate
22:03 him to a place, an isolation, had to separate him from what he once knew, separate him from his comfort level, separate him from anything that would have naturally come to. So why how come when I choose God, I gotta
22:14 separate myself from some things? Well, because those things are gonna lead you some some things. There's some people that come to you, and as you're moving and God's moving in your life, like, hey, guys. I I can't hang
22:26 out no more because every time I'm here, y'all are passing me beers and drinks. I just can't do that anymore because where that leads me in the person it takes me. It leads me to treat my wife a certain way. It leads me
22:35 to treat my kid. I can't do it anymore. And they're going, oh man, you're going soft. So what is it? Were they a friend because they're truly a friend? You know, we have this, oh, you're my brother. You're my sister,
22:47 but how come the moment you don't want to do the 1 thing they don't want to do, now they're not family no more? That's that's not what family is. That's not what community is. And so what happens is we
22:59 often see, we're like, God, what are you doing? Abraham, God, what are you doing? I gotta go to this mountain. I gotta go down to Egypt. I gotta take my son. And God's like, I'm doing something. Trying to bless you.
23:08 Trying to move in your life. Trying to do something great in your life. Like we're talking about next week, if your obedience would match what I'm trying to bless you with, then you can see God move in your life. Favor
23:20 doesn't come just out of nowhere. It comes because God has a desire. God is moving in your life. He's speaking in your life, but then we obey. We trust him. So if it takes going through a period of isolation, takes a
23:31 period of isolation. If it takes a period of a desert, it takes a period of a desert. Those are not bad things. I'll talk to people after church sometimes, and I just feel like I'm in a desert. I go, man, that's great.
23:41 God does miracles in deserts. God gave God gave Israel water in deserts. God gave a man in desert. He gave him a fire by night and a cloud by day. I mean, great things happen in deserts. Don't be afraid of a desert
23:53 season. That's who God is. And so God's victory is better. You know, sometimes I'll go down, to San Diego, and over in San Diego they have, they have,
24:05 you know, little bays with little beaches, and a lot of people will take their boats, and they'll have their boats, and they'll have their little sailboats, and they're they'll pull them up onto dry land. And 1 day I was
24:16 going for a walk, and I saw like 30 boats just like this, and they just had like, they had like a little string with a little weight on the end in case high tide came. It wouldn't go anywhere, but other than that, I'm
24:27 looking, and I'm like, you know, my old Adams sometimes kick in, and I'm thinking to myself, I could just steal all these boats. Look at all these boats. I could
24:39 have a 100000 dollars sailboat tonight. I just got So I'm thinking to myself, these people are so foolish. They don't know what cities they in. Someone like me could just wash up a shore and
24:51 just take a boat. So then I'm so inquisitive. I go home and I start researching because everybody had their boat like that. And so I'm looking, and I'm trying to figure out why there is no security mechanism
25:02 attached to these boats that anyone could just take it. And upon research, I found out that all the individuals do is they take the sail down, and they take the sail, and they put the sail inside.
25:16 Or when they bring the sail down, they'll take a lock, and they'll lock the sail down. Because if the sails can't get up, you can't steal the boat. And if you do try to steal the boat by paddling it out, you're not gonna
25:27 get very far. And so and so that's that is their theft deterrent. We just take the sail down. Oh, but and then there's people, what happens if I pull it and get in the water? And they're like, by the time I wake up in
25:37 the morning and see it's gone, you're only going to be 400 feet in front of me. It ain't going to get far. And so that's their deterrent. So a lot of times, we're wondering, we're seeing where God is at, but it's because
25:48 you're lifting your sail up in the wrong areas, and in the wrong seasons, and around the wrong people, and around You know, we wonder why we're going in this direction. I just would ask, is your sail up? Man, when I get
26:00 in front of these people, I just seem to go this way, or hanging around this person, I just go this way, or when I'm watching this on TV, I seem to go this way, or at work when I'm talking to these individuals, I seem to
26:09 go this way. Well, you gotta take your sail down. You gotta pull that cell down where people can't direct you and push you and guide you. The only time I put my cell up is when I'm in God's presence.
26:21 That's the only time I'm saying, God, your breath is a blessing. Your word is a blessing. Your leading is a blessing. So my cell only goes up when I actually need it to go somewhere. So
26:33 that's why I go in that's why I would trust myself to go in a neighborhood group, go in a small group, because these are gonna be some people who are not perfect, but they're trying to go in the same direction to see God
26:41 move in their life. So I could put my cell up amongst that group. When I get around my trusted friends that are believers, my cells are all the way up. Hey, what do you think about this? Hey, me and my wife are going
26:51 through this. I trust their advice. Doesn't mean it's going to be perfect advice, doesn't mean it's not going to be wrong advice, but it's going to be advice where I know that they love me, and I know they want the best
27:01 for me in my marriage. I know they're not they're speaking into me and my wife because they want us to win, not break up. You know, sometimes people trying to give you marriage advice because they want you to break up
27:10 because they're broke up, you know. And so they just want another break up buddy. And and so we put our cell up around people that don't have any experience to speak to what it is that we're asking for. And so if we
27:20 wanna get to a place where Abraham got, going through mountains, going through valleys, you got to ask yourself, when do I put my sails up? When do I listen to God? Here, here's the last point is this when we close with
27:32 this thought. God's victory is boldness. It ought to make you bold. If you ever won something before or across the finish line, you're bold. I've never seen
27:43 a team before win a championship and just be like, oh gosh. No, man. They do parades. They pop champagne. They're bold. And if you looked at them and said, I think you're gonna lose next season, they look
27:55 at you and be like, I'm a champion right now, okay? Like, don't bother. I just proved myself. I won. You see, when we look at Jesus, when we look at the cross, we see God's victory, and it's supposed to produce a
28:06 boldness in you, Not because of yourself, but because of him. And so we see according to second Corinthians 2 14, but thanks be to God who's always leads up into what? A triumphal procession. There's the
28:17 championship party. There's there's where they're coming down. That's where the Lakers are coming down the street, and they're on the little 2 decker buses, and there's music going. Man, here it is. The Bible says it in
28:28 a more meaningful way. Thanks be to God who always leads us what? Into a triumphal procession in Christ. That's victory. And through us spreads everywhere what the fragrance of knowledge of
28:40 him. As you begin to see God give you victory in your life and God moves in your life, that produces a fragrance to other people where other people will know Him. They
28:52 know Him because of the way that you're reacting in your faith. When the world reacts 1 way and you have a fragrance of knowledge of God because you know something other people don't know, You would love for them to know
29:03 it, and you're willing to share it with them at any time. It's not a secret, but it's whether they're gonna receive it or not that you're able to walk around with this fragrance and be bold to say, I know something y'all
29:13 don't know. Heaven already won. Jesus already won. We already have victory. You already have victory. You just don't know it yet. You could tell that to a friend that's hurting. That friend that
29:25 gets that goes to the doctors, and they get that report, or that friend that's going through it in their relationships, or that friend that just seems to be going through a mental illness, you could say, I know you have
29:35 victory. You don't know it yet, but I hope you understand that you have victory in Jesus. I hope you can see that it'll produce a boldness. When when I was in high school, this is the actual scent that I used to
29:47 wear. I used to wear Lacoste Sport in high school. When I smell it, it takes me back to high school. I wore this every day in school. How many of you guys know not too many high schoolers wear cologne? And so I'd wear
29:59 this cologne almost every single day, and I knew when I stepped foot in school, all the girls was just gonna sniff me. It's all the time. Happened all the time. So I'd wear this cologne, and I'd walk into class
30:11 and a girl would just walk by. Oh, Adam. You smell so good. And my chest would be up so high. I mean, I could have not brushed my teeth that day, but I smelled good. So so I was
30:23 told. I'd walk around. I knew it. I I I had to get to a point where I couldn't wear sweaters because by the end of the day, girls would just take them from me. They'd just ask for my sweaters, and so I'd just walk around
30:33 school, and this girl had my sweater, and that girl had my sweaters. I was running out of sweaters because I'd spray them down, and they'd want them, and so you couldn't tell me nothing if you were someone else. Like if
30:44 you were a guy and you told me, oh, you don't got no game, I'd be like, bro, there's 11 girls wearing my sweaters on this campus that smell just like me. There's nothing you can say otherwise. It's that smell.
30:56 It's to know that there's a smell with you produces a boldness that that even when someone tries to tell you you stink, you go, I know I don't. Because there's proof in my pudding that my
31:08 children are starting to understand who God is in their life. My wife understands who God is in our lives. My neighbors are starting to understand. I have a fragrance that's all over, and it's because God has given
31:19 victory. So why do we share our faith? Why do we do community with others? You're passing off a fragrance. You're sharing this fragrance, and when someone else catches it, they start to smell different, they start to
31:31 look different. It's not because anything they did. It's not because they went and took a shower and they took a bath. It's because God gave them that shower. God gave them that bath. Jesus redeems in areas that we
31:42 otherwise stinking. And so this victory ought to produce boldness. I'll close with this quote quote. Max Lucado said this, in Christ, our ultimate victory is
31:53 assured regardless of the battles that we face. Ultimate victory is assured regardless of what the battle is. Regardless of the battle that you may feel like you
32:05 in now or you may feel like you'll be in this year, your ultimate victory is assured for those who are in Christ. Takes us back to first John that we read. It said, you have overcome the world if
32:17 you believe in him. That's the contingency. God gives you victory. God gives you the ability to overcome, but we have to rest in him. It's not your battle. It's not your fight.
32:29 You don't have to stand up for yourself in that way. You don't have to back up yourself in that way. God will help you. Now God may also encourage you that through that you're going to stick up for yourself, but it's not
32:39 you doing it. It's the spirit of God moving through you. So we have to trust that God's boldness will lead us and his blessing and his ability to take us from place to place is victory. And in
32:51 Abraham's life, he did see victory on the other side. He saw what God wanted to do in his life come to fruition, and even in heaven, he can glorify God because through his seed, salvation came to
33:03 the earth. That was obedience. And so let's pray this morning. God, we thank you so much for this word, Lord. I pray you speak to some of us today, Lord. I pray if there's anyone in here today that may feel like
33:14 that they're in some type of battle of faith, battle of crossroads. Maybe they feel like they're terror today, Laura. Maybe they feel like they've settled in the crossroads, settled in the place that was easiest but to
33:26 move forward, it just seems too difficult. I just I just want to ask you as we're praying right now, if you feel like you're that person, you're in the crossroads of your terror, could you just raise your hand and keep
33:34 your head down? I wanna pray over your life right now. You feel like you're in a crossroads, maybe a crossroads of decision, crossroads of battle, crossroads of life, whatever that may be. I'll just keep your hand
33:44 raised. God, I just pray for every person in the hand that's raised right now, God. I pray you begin to speak to them, Father God. I pray you give them clarity today, Lord. I pray you give them courage today, Father God.
33:55 I pray that he that is in them is greater than he that is in the world today, Father God. I pray that Satan and any principality that tries to throw at them, tries to attack them, Father God, that he's defeated in Jesus'
34:06 name, God. That Jesus already won the victory, Lord. So today, God, I pray that they cling to you, Father God. Give them the clarity of what direction to go, what decision to make, and God, even if there's a
34:18 mountain in front of them, may they know that God's blessing is with them and on the other side, God. So I pray you anoint them today, Father God. I pray you touch them today, Father God, and I pray you bless them today.
34:29 In Jesus' name, amen, amen. Well, hey. We're gonna leave here today together in just 2 more minutes, but I just want to make an invitation of faith to you. If you're here in this place,
34:41 you've never given your life to Jesus Christ, everything we talked about today start with first John. These promises that God has available to us, it begins with you and I believing and trusting in
34:53 Jesus. And so whether you're in the courtyard, whether you're in the cafe, or whether you're in this room, I want to encourage you, if you've never given your life to Jesus Christ, and you want to walk in that victory,
35:03 you want to walk in that peace, you want to know 1 day that when you stand before God, you'll stand before God as friend, not foe. God has no enemies. The only enemy he has is sin. And so when you and I stand before
35:15 God, we'll see him as a friend if we allow Christ to die for our sin. But if we bring our sin into heaven, sin can't sit in heaven. And so the only way God would be as foe is if he sees sin in our
35:27 life. We all sin. Even when we say yes to Jesus, you'll sin after. But the difference is you and I have made claim that Jesus Christ is our savior, and every single day we attempt to look more and more like Jesus in our
35:38 life. We pursue him every single day, and every day that we confess our sins, every time that we give that over to Jesus, God's forgiveness and his love is available at all times. So if you're in this place and you've
35:50 never given your life to Jesus Christ, in this moment, we're going to say a prayer of salvation. Now this prayer is not the thing that saves you. The work of the Holy Spirit's already in your heart. But when we pray, we
35:59 pray with boldness to know, God, I'm making a decision. This is the flag that I'm planting in the sand. Not the flag of the crossroads, but the flag of salvation, that I'm going to trust Jesus as my hope
36:11 and my healer and my Lord. So as we're all going to say this prayer today, there are going to be many people here in this room that are going to be saying it for the first time. Or maybe you once called yourself a
36:21 Christian, but as you reflect in your life, you say, you know what? I've not been walking that walk. And you want to rededicate your life. We're going to pray this prayer. And after that, I'm just going to count to 3,
36:30 and I just want you to raise your hand cause we wanna celebrate what God is doing in your life. So family, would you join me in saying this prayer today? Dear Lord Jesus, in this moment, in this moment, I confess you
36:42 as Lord and savior. I believe in my heart that you died on the cross. And I give you my sins. I turn away from my sins.
36:54 And I commit in this moment to follow you for the rest of my days. In Jesus name, amen.
37:05 We really hope you enjoyed the message. And if you said yes to Jesus, we just wanna say congratulations and give you a free devotional to help you walk out your faith. Faith. Click the link in the description or
37:17 head over to grow dot faith to download your devotional. Oh, and be sure to subscribe and share this podcast with your friends. Thanks for listening to ALC Podcast, and we hope you tune in again.
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