Skip to content Guest Speakers: The Fuel for Building to Last Apr 14 · 48 min ...more
Guest Speakers: The Fuel for Building to Last
April 14, 2024 · 48 min
Speaker: Cal Rychener
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Pastor Jeff Schwarzentraub serves as president of Pastor Jeff Ministries, a national and global ministry designed to equip believers and challenge them to take
139K followers
0:00 Alright. Well, good morning, brave church. How you all doing? Man, you have no idea. It's always an honor to be here. And when Jeff would a guy that can preach0:12 like nobody else would entrust his stage and his pulpit, listen, pastors take that as a high honor. I was, working this weekend with a large church down in Saint Louis and it was about a week and0:24 a half ago that Jeff called and said, hey, I got an opportunity to just be away. Kimberly and I need to get on out of town for a little bit. And, and, he said, are you open that week? And I said, well, Jeff, I'm gonna be0:35 doing freedom ministry down in in, Saint Louis with a church for about a week. But for this particular weekend, I wasn't preaching their weekend services. Well, can you come to0:46 Denver? I said, you find me a flight that can get me out of there on Saturday night and back in on Sunday evening, and I can be there. And they made it work, so here we are.1:00 But I always love it, man. And I'm so thrilled at what God is doing in this church. I watch your Easter services, and Jeff is 1 of those that I keep up with and listen to his messages. I know1:12 you're in this built to last, series out of Nehemiah. So I'm not gonna mess that up for him. We'll let him continue on in that that series. I wanna touch base a little bit1:24 with this series with the idea of, the fuel for building to last. We we just came off of Easter 2 weeks ago and of course we meet on Sundays. The1:36 early church started doing that. Why? Because every Sunday is a celebration of the resurrection. Amen? I mean, we don't wanna leave what happened 2 weeks ago for another year. So we1:48 come together every week and celebrate. But we just came off of Easter 2 weeks ago. And of course on that first Friday night and Saturday, it didn't look good.2:01 The disciples who had watched Jesus die on the cross on Friday spent all day Saturday and Sunday morning quarantined behind locked doors,2:12 fearing that the Roman authorities who had put Jesus to death might come for them as well. These early disciples were awash. Now I want you to just put yourself in their place because they're in their Friday and2:22 Saturday, which is a lot of where some of you may be today because you don't know Sunday hasn't come yet. You know? Sunday hadn't come yet for them. And they're awash in despair. We thought he2:34 was the 1 and delusion, you know, they were just disillusioned. And and then they're awash in disappointment with themselves. We failed him. Man, we all denied him.2:47 So the despair in that room is thick because all they had hoped for was gone. Their dreams were smashed. Life for them would never be the same. But then something2:59 happened on Sunday morning that changed everything for them, and it can change everything for us as well. Jesus Christ rose from the dead,3:11 walked out of the grave, and when he did, he KO'd death, he KO'd sin, He KO'd despair. He KO'd all the work of the evil3:22 1, and he made possible for you and me to walk in that KO power today. That's what I wanna talk to you about. 1 of the most famous3:34 pictures from boxing history, famous picture of all time is a young 23 year old Cassius Clay, aka Muhammad Ali. He's standing over the vanquished foe,3:46 Sonny Liston. I love that picture. And you can see him just talking to him. And and I want you to see that picture again today and and overlay onto that a3:57 picture of Jesus Christ and what he did for you on resurrection Sunday as he's saying to the enemy, I have knocked you out. You are defeated.4:09 And that's what he did on resurrection Sunday. Knocking out fear, knocking out despair, knocking out guilt, knocking out shame, knocking out defeat in your life.4:21 And then he bids you rise up through faith in him and walk in this power. That power is the Greek word dunamis4:35 from which we get our word dynamite. My dad, before he became a farmer, was he worked in heavy equipment, bulldozing, and this type of thing, and we always had dynamite around.4:47 Now he didn't let us little ones mess with it, but I knew a little bit about dynamite and what it could do. A guy who used to work on, our staff had me just roll in 14:59 day when he told me the story of how as a 12 year old, he was at his uncle's house on the fourth of July and he remembers he had a bag of m eighties. Those of you who are my age might remember what those are.5:11 You might have to explain to your kids what's an m 80. Well, them know it's about a quarter stick of dynamite that was legal back then. And so he thought he'd have his own fourth of July celebration. He5:23 went up in the bathroom and was gonna throw an m 80 out the window down below onto the patio and down below that was were the sliding doors and everybody5:35 in his family was sitting in here off the patio. He just wanted them to get a little startled when he dropped an m 80. So he lit that thing up up there in the bathroom, and he gets ready to drop it out the5:47 window only to find as he goes to throw it out that this thing has a screen nailed onto the window. So now I'm 12 years old with a sizzling m 80 in my hand ready to go5:59 off. I can't throw it out, so what do you do? He did what you would have done. He chucked it in the toilet. How many of you know a little toilet water won't put out a sizzling m 80? And the next thing you6:11 know, that m 80 blew that toilet off its bolts in about 15 pieces, Not only wrecking that bathroom with water all over the place until they could get that shut off, he6:22 spent the rest of the afternoon picking porcelain chips out of his legs, you know. I'm just rolling as he's telling me the story, but he found out that even a little bit of dynamite can do a lot of damage,6:34 right? And God wants you to understand something of that power that he offers to you today as the fuel that will help us6:46 build to last. That power, that dunamis is intimately connected to the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The apostle Paul penned this great prayer in Ephesians6:57 1 verses 18 to 21. I tell the body of Christ, anytime I see a prayer in the Bible, that's where that's worth your taking it and praying it for yourself. That's exactly what we're supposed to do. And so the apostle7:09 Paul prays there, I pray also that the eyes of your heart did you know that your eyes have heart, that your heart has eyes and that sometimes your eyes can be closed to the things that God wants to give you,7:21 that you could be in slumber. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be opened And he wants us to know 3 things, but I'm gonna highlight the 1 today, that that your eyes would be enlightened in order that you7:33 may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and here's the 1 I want you to underline today, And his incomparably great, not just7:44 great, his incomparably great. There's nothing that compares to this. His incomparably great power dunamis7:56 for just a few of us. Not what he said. For us who believe. Do you believe? And if you believe, Paul8:08 says, want your eyes open to the power that is available for you. He said, well, what kind of power is that Paul? Guys, a little more than a half stick of dynamite8:20 or a quarter stick of dynamite. That power is like the working of his mighty strength which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead. I want you to8:31 know resurrection power, knockout power in your life. In other words, Christ's resurrection is not to be8:43 merely the celebration of an event in the past, but the realization of a power in the present that can knock out what doesn't belong in8:55 your life and release you into the fullness of God's purpose for you. That's the power I came to tell you about today. And so we're gonna look at several realities that can be yours9:07 today through his power. Why? Because he's resurrected. The power is available. I just I I wanna embrace this in my life and let let it be released so that I'm walking in that power. Here's here's reality number9:19 1. Some of you need this 1 today. Christ's power can detonate your despair. Did you drag a little despair in here today? Always every Sunday, I know that there's people that9:31 that's what I'm battling. I'm battling despair. And guys, I want you to know that when his power is at work in your life, it infuses every situation with hope, and it gives you a confidence to9:43 know that you can face and you can overcome anything life throws at you. It gives you the power of a tenacious spirit to hang in there and believe for God's best no matter what. You9:55 become like the apostle Paul who says even though it's beatings, imprisonments, riots, you know, opposition everywhere he goes, Look, he says in Colossians chapter 1 and verse 29 of his10:06 ministry endurance, he says to this end, I labor, and he piles up the power words, I I labor struggling with all of his energy10:18 which so and here's the dunamis, which so powerfully works in me. Paul says, it's not that I don't get discouraged. It's not that I don't get opposition. It's not that I don't run into things that I go, this cannot be10:29 God's will. But I wanna tell you this, I have learned not to let despair win the day because his power is at work within me. And part of how you get there, you made the choice today to come here. I'm so glad that we sang10:40 that song about the joy of the Lord being my strength. You know where that's taken from? That's a word from Nehemiah. Nehemiah 10 and verse 8. Or I'm sorry, chapter 8 and verse 10 is where he says, the joy of the10:52 Lord is your strength. And I remember as we're singing that, how, John Eldridge, who lives down here in Colorado Springs, I've I've loved his writings and and and he's taught me much. But I remember him saying he was in11:03 a bookstore 1 day and he was fighting the spirit. He's fighting depression. He was just under this heavy cloud, didn't know how to get out from under it. And he ran into this this lady who was just a real godly woman. He11:13 knew her and they began to talk, how you doing, John? Oh, I'm just really kind of struggling, you know? And then she said, just kind of matter of fact, and he said it went off like a dynamite in him. She said, well, you11:25 know, John, the enemy's target is always our joy. And he said, all of a sudden, everything became clear. Well, of course, that's why this and that's11:37 why this and that's why this and all of this stuff coming against me because if the enemy can take my joy, he takes my strength. And how does God fill us up with joy? You made the choice to come11:49 today and begin to praise him. And all of a sudden, some joy starts beginning to be released. And because you put yourself in that place, God says, now I can release some dunamis in your heart today because that's what11:59 you need, and that's gonna detonate the despair that you brought in here. I'm gonna get you back into a tenacious spirit to believe me for what I've said will12:11 come. So stay in there. This is Nehemiah as he's building the wall. He's coming into all kinds of opposition. Look what he prayed in Nehemiah 6 and verse 9. Now strengthen my hands. Well, I12:23 gotta pray that every day. Strengthen my hands, Lord. Why? Because we get worn down. Despair begins to chip away at our soul. Lord, strengthen my hands.12:35 Guys, you can pray that and note it is God's will to strengthen and empower you because he has commanded you in Ephesians 6 10. Look at this. Be strong in the Lord and in the power, the dunamis of12:46 his might. I like to stop there and go, does God want you to be strong in the power of his might? Absolutely. It's the will of God. And when you pray anything according to his12:58 will, you know that he hears you. And if you know that he hears you, you have what he asked. You can begin to say, thank you, Lord Jesus. That is your will for me to walk in that power today so I receive it so that I can13:09 release it. And so he's gonna get you out of despair today so you can say, okay, the problem's not solved, but he's putting something in me so that I can continue to keep on walking13:21 when the enemy is saying, you might as well quit. I call that a tenacious spirit. I about died laughing when I first came across this story a few years ago. Moms, those of13:33 you who have small kids can no doubt relate. This mother wrote, my kids are like camels. They can play all day in the blazing sun and never think of water. But at bedtime, as13:45 soon as their heads hit the pillow, suddenly they discover their unquenchable thirst. You all know, don't you? She said 1 evening, my 3 year old son and I13:57 had been through the regular bedtime routine, our story, prayer, hugs. And then as my hand slid down the light switch, I hear, mommy, I want a gink.14:08 He couldn't say drink, which I thought was kinda cute, gink. But I was firm. I said, you just had a drink when you brushed your teeth. Now it's time to go to sleep. Says, at last, the kids were in bed.14:20 Peace, silence. I sat in my favorite chair and began to sort through the mail. Then again from the darkness, I want a gink. She says, gink lost some of its cuteness.14:35 No water. Go to sleep. Quietness rained for at least 60 seconds. And then, mommy, I wanna gink. Be14:46 quiet. I wanna gink. She says, now I knew how Moses felt in the wilderness with 1000000 people all crying out at once. We want a gink.14:59 Gink was no longer cute at all. I yelled down the hallway into the darkness. If I hear you ask for a drink 1 more time, if I hear 1 sound from you, I'm gonna come down there and spank you. I'm not kidding. Now be quiet15:09 and go to sleep. Quietness at last. You could have heard a pin drop. She said it was so silent I couldn't concentrate on the mail. And then the still small voice of a15:21 child who smelled victory, mommy, when you come in here to spank me, could you bring me a gink? Don't you love that? I call that a tenacious spirit.15:34 And I want you just kinda to flip it today. So when the enemy is telling you you're not getting something of what God has already promised to you, you stay tenacious. And you say, don't care what you do15:45 enemy, but I'm going after what God has told me I can have. And I need a drink of his water. I need a drink of his spirit. I need a drink of his power, and he has said, I can have it.15:58 That's how you win over that kind of despair that is nipping at your soul by the resurrection power of Jesus. I claim your power in my life16:10 to detonate this despair and keep me going. God wants you to know that kind of power. Here's reality number 2. Christ's power can route your regrets.16:23 I know every time I preach, there's people that are fighting regret. Looking through the rearview mirror at what happened yesterday and just can't get free16:34 today. A few years ago, an email was circulating called the city of regret. It read, had not only I had not really planned to take a trip this year,16:47 yet I found myself packing anyway. And off I went dreading it, I was on another guilt trip. I booked my reservation on wish I had airlines.17:00 I didn't check my bags through. Everyone carries their baggage on this airline. And I had to drag it for what seemed like miles in the regret city airport. And I could see that people from all over the17:12 world were there with me limping along under the weight of bags they had packed themselves. I caught a cab to last resort hotel. The driver taking the whole trip backward looking over his shoulder and there17:24 I found the ballroom where my event would be held. It's called the annual pity party. As I checked in, saw that all all my old colleagues were on the guest list. The Dunn17:35 family, woulda, coulda, and shoulda done. Both of the opportunities, missed opportunity and lost opportunity. All the yesterdays would be there too, too many to count, but always sad17:47 stories, shattered dreams, broken promises would be there, and also don't blame me and couldn't help it. And, of course, hours and hours of entertainment would be provided by the renowned17:59 storyteller. It's their fault. They said as I prepared to settle in for a really long night, I realized that 1 person had the power to send all of those18:11 people home and break up that party, and that was me. All I had to do was return to the present and with renewed hope welcome the18:23 new day. I read that and I brought that today to say this to you. Listen. God doesn't want you focused on the regrets of the past18:35 that only lead to depression in the present. Some of you need to get yourself a little sign, put it up in your bathroom mirror in the morning so that you can remember yesterday ended last night.18:46 You're living in today. I'm not saying there aren't some consequences of choices you made then that may be coming into today. I'm not saying there might be some things that you need to rectify or18:58 some restitution. I'm saying God's plans for you are not over your shoulder. They're out here in front of you. And you can't reach those when you're living in regret.19:10 So if you're wallowing there today, then do what Nehemiah and his countrymen did. Bring your sins, bring your mistakes, bring your bad choices to God in repentance, claiming his forgiveness. And once19:22 you surrendered them to them to him, leave them at the cross and claim a new day over your life, And you will know something19:34 of his power in the place of that regret. Some of you need to receive God's word in your spirit today from Isaiah 43 verses 18 and 19. Look at this and hear him speaking it to you today.19:47 Forget the former things. Do not dwell on the past. That's a word for someone right from God's word to you today. Do not dwell19:58 on the past. See, I am doing I'm doing a new thing. God speaking that through the spirit to some of you today. Do not dwell in the past.20:10 I am doing a new thing. Now it springs up. Do you not perceive it? And when your mind is consumed with the regrets of your past, the wouldas, the shouldas, the couldas, the losses, the20:22 mishaps, the failures, you can easily miss the new thing God is bringing your way today. And I'm here to tell you today that Jesus Christ can deliver a knockout blow to those regrets today if you'll surrender them to him20:33 and you'll start living for the new things he wants to do in your life today. In your spirit, Lord, I receive your new thing. I receive your new thing, and I renounce the lies of regret, and I20:45 renounce the lies that are coming my way through despair. His power can detonate your despair. He can route your regrets. Here's a great20:57 1. Reality number 3, every 1 of us needs this 1. Christ's power can defy your deficiencies. Because you know what I know about every 1 of us in here?21:09 We have some deficiencies, don't we? And sometimes the enemy just knows how to use those things to say, see, everybody else is gifted but you. Everybody else has it all together, but who are you to think that God could21:20 use you? Look at those weaknesses you have in your life. Look at those deficiencies you in here having in your life. And so when I talk about defying your deficiencies, I mean, he God can take the21:32 very thing you think disqualifies you, the very thing you think he could never use, and he can transform it into something good. That's what he does. He can take your mess and make it your message.21:45 He can take your test and make it your testimony. No. He didn't remove the deficiency or the weakness. He made it an instrument of his power, his dunamis instead. Look at this great verse in21:57 second Corinthians 12 verse 9 where the apostle Paul is facing an obstacle of some kind, a thorn in his flesh that was tormenting him and slowing him down, and he knew to do exactly what we would do. God certainly can't22:07 want this to be going on in my life. So 3 times he's begged God to take it away from him, and God decides not to. And look at what he tells him instead. My grace is sufficient22:19 for you for my power. My dunamis is made perfect in your weakness. You know what God was saying there?22:31 That sometimes in and particularly in your deficiencies, my power is more clearly displayed. More clearly displayed in your22:42 weakness so that when I do through you what I do, everybody knows it was God, not you. That's the story of his people all through the22:54 scriptures. So in spite of our obvious weakness or deficiency, God's saying, I want people to marvel23:06 because they know it was my dunamis at work. And that's seen really clearly against the backdrop of deficiency and weakness.23:19 10 year old boy lost his arm in a devastating car accident the year before, and his mom and dad looking some for some ways to kind of encourage him and getting back23:30 into life, enrolled him in a study of judo. And so he began lessons at 10 years old with an old Japanese judo23:42 master called a sensei. And he was doing well, but he couldn't understand why after 3 months of training, the master had taught him only 1 move.23:55 So he asked him, sensei, shouldn't I be learning more moves? And the sensei replied, this is the only move you know, but it's the only move24:07 you will ever need to know. So still not quite understanding, but trusting his teacher's wisdom, the boy kept training. And several months later, the sensei took the24:19 boy to his first tournament. Surprising himself, the boy easily won his first 2 matches. Of course, by this time, the crowd that's there is beginning to hear about this little guy without a24:31 left arm who's winning some matches. This is amazing. Right? Third match proved to be a little more difficult, but after some time his24:42 opponent became impatient and charged. The boy used the 1 move he knew, pinned him, winning the match again. Credibly,24:54 he now finds himself in the finals. And again, by this time, the whole crowd has gathered to watch the young boy without a left arm that they25:06 have all heard about now. This time, his opponent in the finals, his opponent is bigger, stronger, more experienced, far more experienced. And so for a while, it appeared as if he was overmatched, and he25:18 himself wondered if he was overmatched. And concerned that the boy might get hurt, the referee called the time out, went to the corner, talked it over the sensei. I don't wanna see him get hurt. Sensei said, no.25:30 Let him continue. He'll be fine. And soon after the match resumed, his opponent made a critical mistake, dropped his guard. Instantly, the boy used his move to pin25:42 him, thus winning the match and the tournament. Wow. Incredibly, the boy without a left arm. It's news all over. He's he's the25:53 champion. On the way home, while the boy and the sensei were reviewing all their moves from all the different matches, the boy finally summoned the courage to ask the26:05 1 question that he and I'm sure everybody else really wanted to know. He said, sensei, how did I win the tournament with only 1 move? I don't understand. The sensei responded, well, you won for 226:17 reasons. First, you've almost mastered 1 of the most difficult throws in all of judo. And second, the only known defense for26:29 that move is for your opponent to grab your left arm. Don't you love it? Come on. His biggest weakness had26:41 become his greatest strength. That's what you call defying a deficiency and turning it into an unmitigated strength. And likewise, God's26:52 sufficiency can knock out your deficiency. So rather than getting negative about what you can't change in your life, claim the power of a resurrected Christ in your weakness so27:04 that that's the backdrop for which his dunamis can be displayed to everyone else. It's what he says he'll do.27:17 Ask him to strengthen you and his power to defy your deficiencies and give you a testimony of God's triumph through your weakness. Here's reality number 4. Christ's power27:29 can break off your bondage. Someone needs to hear this 1 today. Second Corinthians 10 verses 3 and 4. Look at this. For though we live in the world, we do not wage war war27:41 as the world does. The weapons we fight with, the word of God, the blood of Jesus, name of Jesus, weapons we27:53 fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, look, they have divine dunamis. Divine power to do28:05 what? Demolish strongholds. Stronghold is any addictive pattern of thought or behavior that is inconsistent with God's will for your life, but from which28:16 you can't get free no matter how hard you try. You've read the Bible, you've fasted, you've prayed, you've done everything you know to do, and you're discouraged because it doesn't matter what I do. I know I love Jesus,28:26 but I cannot get free. And it's keeping you from being all that you know God wants you to be. Guess what? Christ's resurrection28:37 power can blow that thing up. And I've watched him do that with hundreds of people.28:49 I could pray to several hundreds of folks across this stage a day and have them tell you the story how they used to be bound by anger, bound by fear, bound by drugs, bound by sex, bound by porn, bound by destructive29:00 addictions, and share with you how the power of Christ has broken the chains and set them free. I met Doug in the psych ward several years ago after he had tried to29:12 take his life following a weekend of heavy drinking, cutting himself. His life had become a series of failed relationships, sexual29:23 infidelity, binge drinking. So after I prayed with him that day in the psych ward, I knew him from the the gym where we both worked out. I told him that day to come see me when he got out because I29:35 wanted to see what the real Doug looked like after Christ released his resurrection power in me, which up to that point, none of us have gotten to see yet. He did come to see29:47 me. And 1 of the first things he did was surrender his life to Jesus Christ, understand his need for a savior. And I can only tell you that over29:59 time, as I walked with him through just some of these biblical methods we use to help people break30:10 strongholds. The power of the resurrected Christ transformed his life. And he came into agreement with God about his sin. He renounced his sexual infidelity. He renounced his alcohol use.30:21 The power of God blew up the strongholds in his life, and he has walked free to this day. Yeah. And I'm here to tell you if you are bound30:33 by something stronger than yourself, God has the power to set you free. And if you don't hear that, you're listening to a lie of the enemy.30:45 If you will come to Jesus, renounce your sin and the power of the evil 1 behind that addiction. And then in Jesus name, tell the evil 1 to get out and leave you alone. You will walk free.30:58 Now I'm not saying that it completes your maturity. No. We all have to lift our weights and do the work and and but I'm telling you that there is a power31:10 in the resurrection that blows up strongholds that finally releases you to move on free from the junk that is holding you back.31:22 I always like to tell the church, do you understand? The gospel is better than I thought. Because all I ever heard, it's about forgiveness so I can go to heaven. And and how many of you know? Many many31:34 people in the church know they're forgiven, but they're not free. Can I tell you it's forgiveness that gets in the front door and then Jesus says, alright? Now let's walk around the rooms and I'm gonna get you free. The31:44 gospel is a gospel of forgiveness and freedom through the power of the resurrected Lord and he can break the bondage in your life. I'm telling you that today. Welcome him to do31:55 that. Reality number 5, Christ's power can silence your shame. And I have to be careful here because I know there can be a32:07 good shame, but very much very very little shame is good. But but but shame can give us the boundaries. Kinda like, Kelly, you know what you did there was wrong. You know, guilt can kinda speak to us and get us back with32:19 Jesus, and shame can say, you shouldn't have done that. What I'm talking about is toxic shame that many people in the body of Christ carry. Guilt will say what you32:30 did is wrong. What you did is bad. Shame will say, you're just a bad person. Shame will make you feel disgusted with yourself,32:43 putting yourself down. And I wanna tell you, I'm on the warpath against shame in the church today because I know many people who are forgiven but are still tormented by shame of their past.32:56 It's kinda like shame has built a monument in their mind that keeps reminding them of their past mistake and thus they live under the condemnation of the past rather than the joy of their forgiveness. God wants you to33:07 live in the power of Romans 8 1 today. Look at this. Which says, therefore, there is now no condemnation. Guys, I took 3, 4 years33:19 of Greek. And that Greek word no has a special meaning. Literally, means no. There33:32 is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. So if you've got condemnation going on, who are33:44 you listening to? Through his power, Jesus wants to silence the condemning voice33:56 of shame from your past so you can enjoy the peace of his forgiveness. He wants to tear down the monuments in your mind that keep reminding you of your failures. And when I talk about those monuments, was interesting.34:05 You know, on a master's weekend, some of you probably watched the finals on the masters today. Right? And those of you who know golf, you're you maybe remember the name Arnold Palmer. He's 1 of the greatest34:17 golfers that PGA has ever known. As over his career, he won 95 tour events, including 7 major championships. From 19 60 to 63, he was the greatest34:29 golfer in the world winning 29 PGA events. That success got him named Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year in 19 60, Athlete of the Decade by the Associated Press.34:40 However, right at the peak of his success, Palmer had a meltdown 1 day at the 19 61 Los Angeles Open. On the par 5 ninth hole, he started he started34:52 his day. You know how they do that sometime? They started on the tenth. And so he played his 18 holes and he's finishing on the ninth. And it's a par 5. He's just a few strokes behind. He hit a good drive. He wanted to35:02 try to put the ball in the green with his second shot so he'd be in position to attempt a birdie or maybe even an eagle, picking up a stroke or 2 on the leaders. And so with his 3 wood, Palmer hit what he believed was a35:12 good shot, but as the ball sailed, it faded to the right. It hit a pole. It bounced out of bounds onto the driving range, which meant he had to drop a ball, take a penalty stroke, and so he tried again. This time, ball35:24 hooked to the left, flew off the course onto a road. So again, dropped the ball, took a penalty stroke. He repeated this process, hitting the ball out of bounds several times before finally putting the ball35:36 on the green. And by then, he'd accumulated 10 strokes. 2 putt putts later, he was finally in the hole to finish with a 12 on that hole. And because of that35:48 disastrous hole, he went from being a few strokes off the lead to not even making the cut. But here's what's amazing. Today, over 60 years later, and36:00 I brought the picture to prove it, if you go to what is now the eighteenth hole at the Rancho Park Golf Course in Los Angeles, you will find a bronze plaque actually refurbished in36:11 2017 that states on Friday, January 6 19 61, the first day of the 30 fifth Los Angeles Open, Arnold Arnold Palmer voted golfer of the year36:23 and pro athlete of the year, took a 12 on this hole. And and that whole part is like capitalized. Took a 12 on this hole. I think they put the plaque up36:34 there. You see that? Took a 12 on this hole. And I share that to say, wouldn't you love to have a monument36:46 built to 1 of your most embarrassing moments of the past? Truth is,36:58 many of you have done just that right here, and it holds you fast.37:12 You build a monument to your past, serves to keep you in your place and you try to move forward. You messed up somehow, perhaps got pregnant out of wedlock, had an abortion, committed37:24 adultery, wrecked your marriage, etcetera, etcetera. And you walk around with a monument that says, I so and so no longer have a right to respect myself or to expect God to use me because my past37:36 demonstrates that I am an unworthy candidate for such honor. And I declare to you today on the authority of God's word that it does not37:48 matter what the skeletons in the closet of your past look like when you bring a sincere heart of faith to God, repent of your sin, put your trust in the forgiveness of his grace that he provided you through the37:59 cross of Jesus Christ, renounce the shame that holds you fast, his resurrection power will tear down those monuments and silence your shame. Some of you38:11 just need to declare it right now. In Jesus' name, I renounce the voice of shame. I renounce it flies in my life, and I command any spirits38:23 behind it to leave. I have been forgiven. I have been released. I have been made new in Jesus, and I intend to walk in the freedom of his power.38:35 Amen? Dunamis, the resurrection power of Jesus. I pray your eyes may be enlightened38:48 to know that that's for you. A power that can dent detonate your despair, can route your regrets, can defy your deficiencies, can break your bondage, can silence your shame.39:03 And it all starts by coming again to the cross. Some of you need to come for the first time. Cause here's reality number 6. Christ's power can39:13 fantastasize your future. Now that's not a word, but I made it up and it should be a word. Just like when you go to McDonald's, you want that supersized? I'll tell you what, God says, I want to fantastizeShow more
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