Skip to content Pure Heart | Pastor Mike O'Connell | Matthew 13 Oct 19 · 41 min ...more
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Love Church exists to help people experience God's best for their lives by loving God supremely and loving people supernaturally. We are surrendered, surrounded, spirit-led, self-fed, and sent.
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0:15 Wow. How are we feeling today, church? Are we good? My goodness. This is amazing. A word is that there's a,0:28 there's some people in overflow today. I'm just trying to scan. Are there any open seats in the room? There's something about getting in the room, but man, you guys just keep bringing people. Do you feel it that God is0:39 doing something in these days? It's really powerful. Yeah, I just encourage the Usher team, feel the freedom, fill every seat in the room if you can, please. But we are grateful that you're here. We're humbled at what0:50 God is doing. Yes, see the 4 or 5 seats up here towards the front. But we are so grateful. I just wanna, just 1 time, can we acknowledge all the families in the room today for baby dedication?1:06 If we haven't met, my name is Michael Connell. I serve as associate lead pastor here and honored to bring the word today. Our host today was our founding and lead pastor, Todd Dachshund and his wife,1:18 Denise. And it's so funny, but I was, I always, I pray before I come out here in their office. Office. And it was so cool today. I was just walking around the room, actually PT and I were back there1:30 worshiping to a new jam that just released. And as I'm walking around the room, I see the photo of pastor Todd Denise and the little snappers being prayed over at1:43 Calvary Chapel in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. This would have been probably 17 or 18 years ago when they were being prayed over to be sent out to come here. Now, listen, this is1:55 a moment here. This isn't about you. This is about the Lord, but I want you to just look around the room right now. I want you to look around the room right now because, and this is what I want us all to understand in2:06 here today is that it's like I just prayed. This isn't a come and see church. We're here to equip you to go, to go into your sphere, your place where God2:18 has given you authority and anointing to go and make disciples and to make an impact. And I want you to understand. I hope that this is a metaphor and a picture of what is on your yes.2:30 Who is on the other side of your yes? Because right now we're all in this room because 2 people decided to step out in faith. Can we just honor them right now? Come on. Can we honor them?2:47 And so for those of you that are new, man, we've been doing this for 18 years and our heart is to help people experience god's best and we really believe in the next generation. We want to be a church that passes the2:58 baton that gives it away. It's why we have love kids over here right now and there's there's leaders over there that are not babysitting, but they're raising up the next generation. They're equipping them, depositing the3:08 word of God in them, praying over them so that they can carry this baton and take it further than we ever could. I believe that. I speak that into the Chatfield kids, the real kids. I speak3:20 that into my own kids. They're gonna stand on our shoulders 1 day. Are you with me, church? And that's what we're committed to. And so, it's a, it's just a joy and a privilege to be a part of what God is doing, in the3:31 earth right now. And, today we're actually gonna be in Matthew chapter 13. I think this is a timely word on the heels of winning in the wilderness.3:44 I found out last week by the response in the room that we've got some people in the wilderness. Well, did you win this week? Did you win? I don't know about you, but man, Pastor Cap got me fired up to go3:56 win this week in the wilderness. Can we just honor him real quick? Come on. Let's honor him. So good. Just love what God's doing in and through your ministry. And we're blessed when you bring the word4:08 of God and just such a beautiful message last week. And so today we're gonna continue it. We're still in the book of Matthew. This is 1 of the 4 accounts of the life of Jesus. And I love what4:20 pastor Capp shared last week. This is not a fairy tale. This is a historical document, eyewitness account. And I love that today we're reading from a guy who would have been a tax collector in this day.4:32 And let me just tell you the, the religion of that day, the Jews of that day would have opposed a tax collector. And yet Jesus invited them on his team. So again, can I remind somebody4:44 in here today? You are not too far gone for what Jesus wants to do in your life. And, so today's a really, really powerful, word, I think for, for any season that we4:56 find ourselves in. And so if you're taking notes today before we pray, I want you to write down the title of today's message. I'm calling this message, Pure Heart, the key to a fruitful5:08 life. Anybody wanna live a fruitful life? And here it's funny because I gave that title to the team and then I woke up this morning and the Holy Spirit was speaking something to me and I just wanna speak it over you5:18 today. If I could subtitle this a second time, here's what I would say. How to condition your heart for the harvest. Because the harvest is here, it's coming, and we need to learn how to5:29 condition our hearts to steward the harvest. Let's pray. Father, thank you for your word today. Just pray that over the next few moments that you would, that you would really do a deep work in our5:41 hearts. That even now we would, we would till up the soil to receive the seed of your word for we know that we've got to first receive it before we can apply it.5:54 And so God, would it go deep into the soil today? And I pray that we would leave this place and water that word, that we would implement the word, that we would take action on the word. Like James says, we would be doers6:05 of the word, not just hearers. Father, would it start with us? In Jesus' name. And all God's people said, amen. Well, how's your heart6:17 today? Yes, we're going there. Maybe you came in happy or hopeful or potentially hurting. Maybe your heart is6:29 sad. I mean, saw Friday night. Too soon? Too soon? Too soon? Let's just trauma bond for a second because we lost on the road last week6:41 at Colorado. Some of these people in the room, they're like, What are you even talking about? Cornhuskers lost on the road at Minnesota and it was really not a good sight. Let me just6:52 tell you that. Maybe your heart feels tired, distracted, maybe even a little distant from God.7:04 Where's your heart at today? Here's what I really wanna communicate today is that wherever your heart is, here's the truth. God cares deeply about it. God cares deeply7:16 about the condition of your heart. And here's what I want you to write down today as we start this message. And if you don't hear anything else, I want you to catch this, that the condition of your heart determines the7:28 course of your life. The condition of you and I's heart determines the course of our life. Maybe when I asked the question today, how's your heart?7:39 Maybe you felt a little numb and you didn't even know how to answer that question honestly. Well, here's how you find out. Just look at the fruit in your life, because the fruit of your life7:51 reveals the condition of your heart. So, I wanna ask you a question today. How's the fruit? Are you satisfied with what your life is producing today? Because here's another way that I could say8:03 it. Your life is moving in the direction of the condition of your heart. Don't you think we ought to care about this church? Here's what I know is over the past few years, I've sensed that8:15 God is doing something deep in his bride. Have you, have you sensed that? There's been a purging, a refining, even an exposing. And as this has been happening, I've been8:27 asking the question why. I really believe that the Holy Spirit has been downloading to me and many others that a great harvest is coming. I actually believe that we are seeing the beginning of it. I'm here8:39 to report to you that in the last 3 months, we've seen over 50 students come to Christ in this ministry.8:52 God behind bars is a prison ministry, and they are baptizing in season, seeing prisoners come to Christ like never before. We heard about a gathering at South Florida a few months ago where thousands,9:04 7000 students gathered. 2000 students gave their lives to Jesus and hundreds were baptized that day. I mean, God is on the move. And here's why he9:15 cares about the condition of our hearts in the midst of a harvest is because he's preparing his people to steward it. I said it this way in my notes before there can be a harvest, there9:27 must be holiness. Before there can be a harvest, there must be holiness. And I believe that if Jesus were here today teaching the parable of the soils in Matthew9:39 chapter 13, he might say something like this, that the word, the seed is still powerful to do a work, but the soil of my church, the soil of my people has become crowded,9:51 shallow, and hard. We've traded brokenness for branding, death for dopamine, purity for popularity, humility for platform, obedience for opinion.10:07 But here's the beautiful news. The spirit of God is calling his church back to good soil. Back to pure hearts that are plowed by repentance, undivided in10:19 devotion, that are rooted in truth and engaged in obedience. I believe that the next move of God won't start with new methods. It will start with renewed hearts. Do you believe that10:31 today? Now, I think that as we get into this message today in Matthew chapter 13, you're gonna see here that Jesus is telling a parable. Now Jesus loved to communicate in parables. And10:43 the thing about parables is parables were always metaphors or stories that had a deeper meaning. It was a great form of communication, especially because many of the parables that Jesus would share would be10:54 related to something that was going on in that culture. I think Jesus, even as he tells parables, he's equipping his church on what it looks like to build bridges with the culture. Are you with me? I mean, listen, can11:06 I just encourage you? Christianese probably isn't gonna work with the person far from God. And I love that Jesus is using agriculture to reach a culture that would11:18 understand this. And as he's telling this parable about the soils of the heart, I think it causes us to just even ask the question, like, what is the heart? When Jesus is talking about11:30 the soil of your heart, what does he actually mean? Is he talking about my emotions? Is he talking about my mind? Is he talking about my soul? Here's what the Bible says. The Bible says that you are made up of 311:42 parts, spirit, soul, and body. Your body connects you to the world around you. Your soul connects you to yourself. That's your mind, your will, and your emotions, and your spirit connects11:53 you to God. The heart is where it all meets. It's the control center to your inner life where you think, feel, choose, and believe. It's the soil where the seed of God's12:05 word is planted in all of us. So when Jesus is gonna talk about here in a second, the condition of your heart, he's not talking just about how we feel. He's talking about whether every12:17 part of you is aligned and surrendered to him. Are you with me today? It's why he writes in Proverbs 4 23, Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.12:29 There's another translation that says this, Keep your heart with all diligence, for it determines the course of your life. If I could give any gardeners in the room, any gardeners in the room. Hello. We used to be, but12:41 this year, our garden ain't looking too good, babe? We didn't cultivate that thing. We didn't plant any seeds. There's some stuff growing back there that ain't good fruit. Let me just tell you. You ain't gonna12:53 catch me eating none of that. But picture your heart like a garden. Listen, any gardeners in here, you know that the fruitfulness of your garden requires you to pick the weeds, to13:05 get the stuff out that doesn't belong in there, the stuff that's gonna mess up the soil. I think that this is what this scripture is telling us. Like guard your heart from all the junk coming in because what gets in your13:15 heart is gonna show up in your life. What walks in your heart is gonna run-in your life. Are you with me today? This is why Jesus is saying guard it above all else.13:27 And that's what this parable is really about today. Not the power of the seed per se, but the posture of our soil. So, the question today that I want us to all ask in this room today is, am I13:39 hearing God's word? Am I hearing God's word and is my heart ready to receive it? We're gonna look at 2 parts here. We're gonna have a heart examination. Are you ready to go to the13:51 doctor today? Oh, come on. Are you ready to go to the doctor today? And then I'm gonna give you what we need for heart cultivation. Heart examination and heart14:02 cultivation. Let's check this out. Let's go to the word of God. I love this. Matthew chapter 13, starting in verse 1. Later the same day, Jesus left the house and sat beside the lake.14:15 A large crowd soon gathered around him, so he got into a boat. Then he sat there and taught as the people stood on the shore. He told many stories in the form of14:26 parables, such as this 1. Listen. A farmer went out to plant some seeds. As he scattered them across his field, some seeds fell on a footpath, and the birds came and ate14:38 them. Other seeds fell on the shallow soil with underlying rock. The seeds sprouted quickly because the soil was shallow, but the plants soon wilted14:49 under the hot sun, and since they didn't have deep roots, they died. Other seeds fell among thorns that grew up and choked out the tender plants. Still other seeds fell on fertile soil,15:02 and they produced a crop that was 30, 60, even 100 times as much as had been planted. Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand. Jesus is15:14 telling this parable not to just talk about agriculture. And maybe you're hearing that and you're thinking to yourself, like, I thought to myself the first time I read that is what is Jesus even talking about? What he's15:26 trying to illustrate for us is that the soil represents the heart, and each soil condition tells the story of how you and I are responding to God's word. The question is never15:38 if God is speaking, it's what kind of heart is hearing. So let's talk about the 4 hearts that we see in this passage. And I love it because Jesus is gonna define for15:49 us what they are, but you can write this down. Here's the first heart, the defensive heart that represents the path here. You saw in 13 verse 4, but I want you16:01 to jump over to 13 verse 19, where Jesus is now gonna describe to his disciples what he meant by telling this parable. Check out what verse 19 says. It says, the seed that fell on the footpath represents16:13 those who hear the message about the kingdom and don't understand it. Then the evil 1 comes and snatches away the seed that was planted in their hearts. So16:25 I want to describe this soil for all of us. It's the seed that falls on the path, but can't penetrate because the ground is hard. Oftentimes this heart has been16:37 trampled by life, hardened by pride, pain, or disappointment. The word of God lands, but it never sinks in. Oftentimes, if this is where your heart is at, you're16:48 gonna struggle with things like pride, offense, cynicism, unbelief. We hear the truth, but we think that's not for me. Maybe we've been hurt. Maybe we've built walls, but the same17:00 walls that keep people out also keep God out. Can I just speak a word if you find yourself in this place today? Maybe someone rejected you. Maybe someone betrayed17:12 you. Or maybe the last time you trusted God, it didn't work out the way that you thought. So now your heart's become the path, compacted by traffic and toughened by pain. But hear this,17:24 hardened ground isn't hopeless ground. The good news is that God can plow what's hard through repentance and surrender today. I believe it for you. I believe this17:36 actually, as I was praying, just asking God to get this word into my heart this morning, I was asking God to give me a prophetic picture of who needed this word today. There's some very specific things that I'm gonna17:47 call out today that I really believe are divine and from the Holy Spirit. But I really believe this, that there's a man, there's a husband, there's a father that's in this room today. And you've been17:59 coming here with your wife. And you're here because you love her, not because you love God. Can I encourage you if I'm speaking to you today? If18:11 you're in this room today and you're here because you love your wife, but you're not quite sure if you love God, God loves you. And you're not here by accident, you're here by design. Now here's what the Bible says, that18:22 if you draw near to him, he will draw near to you. I just dare you today to take a half a step towards him, and you watch what he does in your life. As you draw near to God, he's going to draw near to18:33 you. Listen, I come against every lie that has been spoken over you or that you believe in your heart. Can I tell you today? Jesus is not a crutch. 1 day you and I are going to stand before God and we're going to give an18:45 account on behalf of our life. Can I tell you today that you are 1 step away from everything changing in your world? You might have came in here with a hard heart, with a defensive heart. Today you're going to take18:56 a step and you're gonna be never the same. I believe it. I believe it in this place today. Listen, this is the first heart. The second heart is the drifting heart. We read this in verses 13, 5 and19:08 6, but let's jump over to 20 and 21 that says this. The seed on the rocky soil represents those who hear the message. They immediately receive it with joy. I mean, they're stoked.19:21 Listen, in 13 years of ministry, I've seen many of these people, and there's no judgment. But I'm just saying there's a difference between starting faith and staying faith. There's a difference19:33 between starting the race and finishing the race. Hello, somebody. Are you with me today? So these people, excited. They're filled with joy. But since they don't have deep roots, they don't last long.19:45 They fall away as soon as they have problems and are persecuted for believing God's word. This soil is describing the seed that lands on shallow ground. It springs up19:57 quickly, but when the sun beats down, it withers because it has no depth. The heart starts strong, but fades fast. There's emotion, excitement, passion, but no roots.20:09 It loves the feeling of faith, but not the formation of it. Usually people that struggle with this have shallowness, inconsistency, lack of endurance. When20:21 the heat of life shows up, trials, pressure, disappointment, the roots can't hold. I want you to write this down. This is for you today. Write this in your notes. This is a sticky statement for you. I can't drift my way20:32 into depth. You're never gonna drift your way into depth. It's gonna require intentionality, which is why we talk about the game plan every single week. I mean, do you ever just come in here and you're like,20:44 Okay, I get it. The game plan is simple. Well, if it's so simple, why aren't you walking it out?21:01 We're just pushing that seed deeper into your heart, just praying that 1 of these days, man, you'll take action on Hey, I was there 1 day. I'm not casting any shade or judgment.21:13 There was a season in my life, can I just be honest in here? I wasn't even remotely on the game plan. I was on negative step 10. Anybody21:25 else with me in here today? But can I just tell you today, man, there's something that happens in formation that causes us to build depth, that causes us to allow our21:37 roots to grow deep down, deep, deep, deep in so that we don't just have mountaintop moments with God at youth camps or conferences or Sundays where we felt the fire and the worship team was at a21:48 9.5 and OC just happened to be on a 9.75 that day? And I'm feeling the goosebumps and I'm good to go. But faith that only survives when it feels good won't last.22:02 It won't last when it gets hard. The same sun that scorches shallow roots. Can I tell you this 1? It also strengthens deep ones. It really does. Today, the picture22:14 that I'm getting, have you ever, who in here is a big fan of like Google Maps or Apple Maps? Anybody? I laugh at this because22:26 I'm not directionally challenged. It was just by the grace of God, I just received this gift that if I go somewhere 1 place, I remember it. But I'm connected to lots of people that are a little bit22:38 directionally challenged. Anybody in here wanna admit that in here? You're just like I laugh when we're like in the city of Omaha and I'm with people that live here and they like need Google Maps to just go literally 222:49 minutes down the road somewhere. It's like, oh man. Now, what I love about Google Maps is that if you miss an exit or you miss a turn,23:01 don't you just love it? Make a U-turn. Make a U-turn. Sometimes I'm just like, No, you're annoying. Be quiet. I don't wanna make a U-turn. But it's interesting because if you just23:13 go up 1 exit, make the U-turn, get back on your path, it's really not that difficult. It's really not that big of a disruption. Now, as somebody who has missed23:24 exits and gone an hour and a half down the road in the opposite direction, that U-turn doesn't feel as good as 1 exit. Are you with me?23:37 Because every time I pass those exits that I pass, it's like another moment of shame and like, oh my goodness, why wasn't I listening? Can I just tell you today in here, listen, you need to understand this today? We need23:48 to be sensitive to that Holy Spirit. Today, he's telling some of us, take a U-turn. Can I tell you, let's be obedient right away, all the way, and with a happy heart? Are you with me24:00 today? Here's what I need you to know, and this is for somebody in here. You've been walking in disobedience for years, and that path is a little tougher. Today, by the power of the spirit,24:12 here's what I know is you're making a turn, but can I tell you, you gave the devil 20 years of your life? Don't expect it to get turned around in 1 day. You better get ready to walk24:24 that course back. And here's what I know. The Bible says this, that he's with you, that he's for you, that he'll never leave you nor forsake you. Come on. Are you with me today? Today, going deeper.24:36 We're going deeper. Heart number 3, I better get moving. They say I got 14 minutes. There's just no way that we're getting through all of this today. The third heart is the divided heart. This is the thorny soil.24:49 Verse 22, Jesus describing that this is the seed that fell among the thorns, but it represents those who hear this, hear God's word. But all too quickly, the message is crowded out by the worries of this life and the25:01 lure of wealth, so no fruit is produced. This is the crowded heart. I love what my wife says. She says, We live in a world that is overstimulated25:13 and under disciplined. So good. As a matter of fact, just open your phone right now. How many notifications do you have? How many emails do you have on your account? Please25:25 don't ask me to pull out my phone right now. Somebody just tell me though, where are you at? 3003 thousand. 3000. Who's got time to go through 300025:36 emails? Are you with me? Text messages. Thousands of text messages. It's like you go in 1 meeting for an hour and you come out and it says 157. Is anybody else with me? And you're just like, Oh my25:48 goodness. There's just so much coming at us. This is the seed that lands among thorns. It grows, but it's choked out by the weeds, the distractions of this life, like worry,26:00 wealth chasing, desire for other things. This is the heart that wants God, but also wants the world. Caught on the fence, right? I just want to26:12 tell somebody in here today, if you're caught on the fence, the enemy owns the fence. We got to get off the fence today. Hearts are cluttered and26:23 crowded, full of good intentions, but divided affections. Distraction, double mindedness, competing priorities. We wanna bear fruit, but we're feeding weeds.26:36 I want somebody to hear this today. You can't grow kingdom fruit in a crowded field. We've gotta reprioritize some things. And I believe this, this is a word for our26:48 church in Elkhorn, Nebraska. I mean, life is pretty Gucci for a lot of people here. It really is. I mean, this is the culture that we live in, a distracted, divided, dopamine27:00 driven world. We scroll for hours, but struggle to sit still with God for minutes. Here's what I want to tell us today is that Jesus is not trying to compete for our attention. He's27:12 calling for our affection, full affection. He doesn't want part of our hearts. He wants all of it. Now, I have a very specific word in here27:24 for somebody, and if you'll just be teachable today, if you'll just be open to this, I believe something is going to be unlocked in you today. I felt like this morning God was just reminding me27:35 of how in our culture, and this is again, I think maybe another word for some men in the room today, is that we've worried for most of our life about the wealth that we could27:47 accumulate. Now, can I just say this? There's nothing wrong with being wealthy. There's nothing wrong with being wealthy. But here's what I want to tell somebody today. There are some of you that have been so consumed by27:59 this because it's where you've been getting your identity or where you've been trying to get your identity. It's been the thing that you've chased your whole life to prove that you have what it takes.28:11 I wanna ask you a question today. I'm telling you, and you will know, you will know if this is you today by the things that you run to. Listen, I'm telling you right now,28:23 if you run to your bank account to check where that thing's at or where the stock market's at, before you run to God's word, I might be talking to you today. And I'm not trying to condemn you today. I'm trying to see God28:34 set you free today. Here's what I wanna encourage you with. Do you wanna be set free from this today? Is there anybody in here that wants to be set free from this? Here's what I wanna encourage you. Give an28:46 ouch offering. Oh, now you just put your hand up. No, sir. Listen, I'm preaching to myself28:58 because I fall into this category. Let me just tell you, can I have some empathy and compassion for the men in this room? You're called to provide, pastor, and protect your family. And sometimes there's a pressure29:10 associated to that, that when you and I aren't trusting, when we're not seeking first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and trusting that all things will be added to me, even provision, we can drift into this29:21 place where that becomes the thing at a subconscious level that we're chasing because we're not resting in the security of Christ. And as a result of running after this thing, listen, the way to break it is29:33 to go in the opposite spirit. It's to give an ouch offering, to give so that it hurts, to a place where you have to trust God again. Oh, wait a second, though. I want to trust myself.29:46 No, if you want to be set free today, I'm just telling you right now, when I find myself in those seasons, I just give an ouch offering, something that is sacrificial that hurts. I don't know what that's gonna look29:57 like for you, but I believe the Holy Spirit is gonna speak to some of you today. And can we just praise God because he's setting people free today? Are you with me today?30:09 The fourth heart. Are you ready for it? This is the devoted heart. The devoted heart where we're all trying to get. It's the good soil. Verse 23, look at what it says. The seed that fell on30:21 good soil represents those who truly hear and understand God's word and produce harvest of 30, 60, or even 100 times as much as had been planted. This30:33 is the seed that lands on good ground. It's soft. It's deep and healthy. It receives the word, allows it to take root, and it produces fruit 30, 60, and a hundredfold.30:46 This heart is humble. It's hungry and honest before God. It's teachable and tender. It welcomes the word. It lets it walk in it. It lets its roots grow deep down in it, and30:57 it reproduces it in others. Key thing that you'll see in people's lives that have a heart of this condition is faithfulness, obedience, consistency.31:11 This is the heart that God is after today. This is where God wants our soil, a heart that stays soft in a hard world, a heart that doesn't just want to be inspired it wants to be31:22 transformed, a heart that says, God, I want to not only know your word but live it and multiply it so that people around me can experience God's best for their lives. Is anybody with me in the room today?31:34 This is what this good soil produces in our life today. I wanna ask you a question today. Which heart describes you today? Is your31:45 heart defensive? Is it drifting? Is it divided or is it devoted? Here's what I want you to hear today is God is not in the business of wanting to shame you, but it's to make you31:57 aware so that you can make change with his help. Every 1 of us in this room can move from the soil that we have to the soil that God wants, but it starts with being honest about the32:08 condition of our hearts. Now, we're in here today not so that we can get information or knowledge or not just so we can be made aware of the issue,32:21 but I also wanna give you a game plan for how you can begin to cultivate this kind of soil. I don't want you to just be exposed today. I want you to be equipped today. I want you to walk out of here. So in32:33 this heart cultivation section, as I'm getting ready to close here, I want you to write down this acronym, PURE, P U R E. PURE, PURE heart. Remember, we're calling this a pure heart, the32:45 key to a fruitful life. It's cultivating a pure heart. A pure heart. This is somebody that has a heart that's plowed32:57 by repentance. P. That is you undivided in devotion.33:09 That is R rooted in truth. That is E engaged in obedience. Friends, can I tell you today33:21 that if your heart is being stirred today for something different and you're asking the question, what does it look like for me to begin operating in this? Can I just tell you look no further than pursuing a33:33 pure heart? We had a worship night a couple months ago. And 1 of my favorite things to do, some of you probably see me do this on Sunday mornings even, is I love33:45 looking around the room at the people of God worshiping. And as I look around the room, a lot of times God will speak things to my heart about maybe something to pray over33:56 the body. Every once in a while, he gives me something very specific like today. I'm looking at the Frost family right behind me. I'm just thinking, man, look at what God has done in your life and how he sustained34:08 you over the last year. The verse of scripture that he was speaking to me over you guys was that God's strength is made perfect in our weakness. And if you guys wouldn't have walked34:20 through a season of weakness, you would've never experienced God's perfect strength. There's a difference between learned revelation and lived revelation. Can I tell you that now34:32 because you've lived the revelation and learned the revelation that you are set up to help a bunch of people that have walked through seasons that you've walked through?34:46 That wasn't in my notes. God just loves you. So I'm gonna speak that to you today. But I was at a worship night and I was praying and God was like, pray, pray for pure hearts in this body,34:58 pure hearts. And then the verse of scripture came into my Blessed is the pure in heart. Here it is. For they shall see God. I35:11 don't know about you, but I want my dash on my gravestone to represent a man that saw God move in his life.35:24 Are you with me? Do you want to see God move in your life? Do you want to see God move in our church? Do you want to see God move in our city? Do you want to see God35:36 move in our nation? It's going to start when we get desperate to live with pure hearts, pure35:47 hearts plowed by repentance, undivided in devotion, rooted in truth, engaged in obedience.35:59 Church, I want you to know today that we talk about the 5 S life and we really mean it. That our desire is for you to experience God's very best for your life. And we believe that that happens when you get surrendered,36:11 when you get surrounded, when you start to understand what it looks like to live spirit led, when you get self fed daily feeding in God's word. And then now you're equipped to be sent out.36:24 I believe that today God is searching our hearts. Would the cry of our heart be the cry of David's heart when he said, Search my heart, O God, and reveal anything that is36:36 off in me. Here's what I want you to know is that over the last month or so, your boy was diagnosed with stage 0 melanoma. And what the interesting thing is,36:48 is I walked into a skin exam with no concerns, not thinking that anything was wrong with me. And upon the exam, I realized that there was a mole right here above my36:59 temple that didn't look right. Well, I had a choice. I'm good. Just leave the thing on. It's all good. You're wrong. I'm good. We got37:11 this. Or it could be like, no, let's take the thing off. Let's remove the thing that has the potential to take out your life. Send it to pathology. Find out that I have stage 0 melanoma. They37:23 say I go in for the appointment. They say, we're going to need to bring you back. We're going to need to do surgery. We're going to need to take margins and cut the skin around it that potentially has cells of more37:33 melanoma. And there's a 98 percent chance that if you do this surgery, it's not gonna come back. So I'm like, okay, let's do it. So a week and a half ago, go in, you can kind37:45 of barely see the scar now, which praise God for that. But they cut a 3 and a half inch opening and took this skin out and they sent it off to pathology and it all came back negative.38:06 It's a metaphor. It's a picture for what's happening in the room today. You just had a heart examination and you just found out there were some things that could potentially destroy your life,38:19 move you in a direction that will disrupt God's best plan for your life. Today, you've got a decision. You can extract that. You can ask the Holy Spirit to extract38:31 that, to remove that, and you can begin walking in all that God has for you. Some of us, we've gotta go really deep. What do I mean by this? We were digging38:43 a basketball hoop in our driveway for our kids. And the first couple of feet, it was pretty simple. But how many of you know that the further down we got, man, we jumped into38:54 some hard ground. Boy, that was, I mean, the deeper we went is like the harder that it got in the picture that I got this morning is that for some of you, you gotta go deeper.39:08 You might be 55 in here wondering why in the world is this being exposed right now? Can I tell you, you gotta go back to when you were 5? You gotta go to that place.39:20 But here's the beautiful thing is that as you do it, man, God is gonna meet you in it. I believe that your best days are in front of you. They're not behind you. They're in front of you.39:32 Are you with me today? That if you're in the room today, God is not done with you yet. But today we've got to ask God, where do I need to let you plow? Where do I need to let you pull weeds? Where do I need to dig39:44 deeper roots? Where do I need to start obeying again? Let's just close our eyes and believe God is preparing his church for the harvest. Multiplies through us,39:56 he's purifying within us. He's breaking up hard ground today. He's pulling up weeds. He's deepening roots. He's calling his people back to undivided devotion today. Because it's harvest harvest time,40:08 baby, and before God brings the harvest through us, he's working the soil within us. The shaking is the plow, the pruning is the preparation, and purity will be the proof.Show more
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