Made New | Pastor Luke Pettrey | Sunday Service | The Brooklyn Tabernacle

Welcome everyone. Let's all  stand. So good to see all of you. Amen. Open your heart this afternoon.  Let's give God all the worship that   he deserves. He is an awesome and  a mighty God. Amen. Come on. with   everything that you have in you.  Let's sing it together. Everywhere I worship every single Heat. Heat. Heat.

Heat. Heat. Yeah. Heat. Heat. Heat. Yeah. Heat.

Oh, heat, heat. Yeah. Heat. Heat up here.

Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat up here. Yeah.

Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Yeah.

Heat. Hallelujah. We bless you, Jesus. We give you  praise, Lord. We worship and adore you today,   Lord. You are worthy of our praise,  God. We don't hold back today. We   give you all the glory and all the  honor, Jesus. We worship you, Lord.   We worship you Jesus. Hallelujah God. Blessed  be your name Jesus. Be glorified in this place   today Lord. Help us God. Free us to worship you  God. That's why we were created God to know you,   to worship you, to glorify you, Lord. And we  do that right now, God. We give you all the   praise. We give you the highest praise, Jesus.  You are so worthy, Lord. Hallelujah, Jesus.

Hallelujah. Come on, keep your hearts  open to the Lord right now. Lift your   eyes. Fix your eyes on Jesus. Hallelujah. Come on,   let's sing it together. I lift my  voice to sing of your goodness. I sing of your lial Jesus our worthy of your Let's  sing that verse again. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat.

Heat. Heat. Heat up here. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat.

Jesus. Come on. We need to sing. I  lift my hands. My you Jesus. Heat. Heat. Heat. Yeah. Heat.

Heat. Heat. Oh, my eyes to look to are coming in my eyes.   I know you reserve. That's our  hope today. Amen. Heat. Heat.

Heat. Heat up here. Yeah.

Heat. We praise you in this place. Oh  God, we give you glory to you,   Lord. We give you honor, God.  We thank you, God. All that you Heat.

Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Yeah. Heat. We lift up. We lift you up.

Hallelujah. Blessed be the name of the Lord. Hallelujah. Hallelujah Jesus. Hallelujah Jesus. Hallelujah Jesus. We glorify your name Jesus.  We worship and adore you Lord. Hallelu Jesus. Thank you God. I was sharing this morning that it's so amazing  as I was even just thinking of what songs we would   sing today that we could sing every praise. God  our savior, God our healer, God our deliverer. We   give you the highest praise singing words like and  you will reign in glory forever. Like we our minds   can't wrap around who God is. So often we just  make him a little bigger than us. And meanwhile,   you know, throughout the Bible, people couldn't  look on God. They would die. Their physical bodies   wouldn't be able to handle his glory, his majesty,  who he is. And so we can sing these songs and you  

and you sense the presence of God in this place  and you're so overwhelmed. you get these glimpses,   these moments where it it it hits you. But then in  at the same time, I can look at the songs and God,   what do you want us to sing? And I I looked at  that song, Lord, I'm amazed by you that says,   I'm amazed by you that you love me. So you can  sing these songs and get this picture and it's   still not anything like what he really  is. One day we'll see him face to face.   One day we won't be looking through a  glass darkly anymore. We'll see him. But before then, we can sing today.  How amazing is this that this God in   all his power and glory and majesty sustains  everything by just a a word. At the same time,   I can sing, "Lord, I'm amazed that you love  me, that you reign, that you are who you are,   and you see me. You know me, you love me."  And I've always had people question, you know,   how can I trust God? How can I know that he's  really good, that he loves me? And I all always   I remember raising my kids. I just point them  back. If you ever have any doubt about who God is,   question who he is, whether he can be  trusted, just picture him, the Savior,   hanging on a cross while you were his enemy, when  you wanted nothing to do with him, when you were  

lost in your sin. That's the kind of love that  God has. A pursuing love. Not just he loves you,   he pursues you. He chases after you. He seeks  you out. And then when you become his child,   he lavishes his love on you. He works things  together for your good. He cares about you. He   orders your step your steps and everything that  he allows into your life is so that he can work   things in you and out of you. So that you can know  him more. So that you can be more whole. So that   you can know his blessings. So you can understand  his faithfulness and walk by faith. He's such a   good father. He's such a good God and he loves you  today. And there's so many people here who think,   "Yeah, he loves them and them, but I get passed  over. I'm the forgotten one." And that is such a   filthy lie. And it's a lie we all tend to believe  at different times in our lives. But the truth is   that God is love. That's who he is. It's the very  nature of who he is. He loves. He loves. He loves.   and he hung on a cross and shed his blood so that  the barrier of sin could be removed so that you   could know him and be fulfilled by that love. What  an amazing God. So it doesn't matter who you are   today. It doesn't matter what you're caught up  in. It doesn't matter what you struggle with,   where you find yourself. No matter who you are,  God loves you today. He is invested in your life.  

He cares about you. He died for you. He shed his  blood for you. He loves you. So search no longer.   Search no longer. What you look in this world  for can only be found in him. Amen. So let's sing   that song today. Remind your heart of that today.  The love that God has for you and let it put you   at rest. Rest in his love. His perfect love, the  Bible says, casts out all fear. Cast out all fear.   Gives perfect peace and rest to those who receive  it. So receive that love today. Amen. Come on,   let's encourage our faith today to believe  that Jesus loves us. Say amen. Sing it with me. Heat. Heat.

Heat. Come on. How Heat up here.

Yeah. Heat. Heat. Yeah. Heat.

Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat up here. Heat. Heat.

A Heat up here. Heat. Heat.

Heat. Yeah. Heat. Yeah. Heat. Just as the instruments play, just open  your heart to the Lord this afternoon.

Receive the love of God to me for you. Receive  the love of God. Let it cast out all fear today. Only his love satisfies. We receive today. We receive today,  Lord. What a high price you paid,   God, to prove your love to us, Lord. Your  perfect love, God. your steadfast love,   Jesus. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord. Let it  cast out all fear in hearts today. All distrust,   God. Reveal yourself in a new way to all of  us. God, we'll never understand the depth,   the height, the breadth, the width. We'll never  understand it. But God, give us greater revelation   today that you can be trusted, Lord. that you  are good. You are faithful and you don't turn   us away. You don't count our sins against us. You  don't love us because of what we are. You love us   because of who you are. That is who you are. You  are love. You are love. We receive today Jesus.

Sing it one more time. Lord of the heat. Heat. Amen. Let's clap to the Lord this afternoon. He is  worthy. He is worthy. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you,   Jesus. Amen. You need to know that you are loved  today. You are loved. We are loved. Amen. Amen.   Okay, they're going to sing in just a moment.  I'm not so I'm not singing a solo, so don't   But I have a very important announcement that I  want to make and I want to make it now and um I'm   asking the Lord to help me to make it in a way  that really grips your heart. Okay. But before I   make the announcement, it's it's concerning the BT  kids camp that you saw up there, August the 17th   through the 21st. Before I make the announcement,  just look at this video and I'll come right back.

You have never been to BT Kids camp before,  right? Yes. Talk about some of the things   you're most excited about in terms of camp.  I hope that it will be just really fun. shadows and I'm really excited to worship and prayer. I'm also   excited to have fun with my friends.  Worshiping God like with new people,   meeting maybe even new workers and new  friends. where the spirit of the Lord. I want the Lord to lift everybody's hearts.

I want him to teach me more about him and I know  you I want him to bring people to be Christians   and stuff. I really want to see people not  be depressed and be happy all the time. When you go back to school,  if you have an opportunity,   share with somebody what  Jesus did with your dream. You don't have to be on the stage. Jesus wants  you to tell about his goodness wherever you go.

Come on, let's give it up for the BT Kids Camp  Youth Retreat. Now, that was last that was last   year. And um the dates this year, as I said, are  August the 17th through the 21st. And notice this   is not just uh the kids going away for a weekend.  I didn't mention it this morning. Uh the ages are   9 through1 13, but it's a whole week. Isn't that  Isn't that a blessing that we'll be able to just   send these kids away for a whole week where  did you see the Did you see them up there with   their hands lifted up and just praising God? You  know, somebody has said that that's the church   of tomorrow. No, that's the church of today.  Those young people, they're not too young to   be shaped. Their little hearts shaped for Jesus  today. And so, we have an opportunity. You have   an opportunity. They're going to be going away as  I said the August the 17th through the 21st. Now,   here's the challenge because it costs money  obviously for them to be away. I was talking   to Pastor Simble on the phone last night and um  we were talking and he mentioned about how much   it's going to cost. And I said, "No, pastor,  it's going to be much it's going to be much   more than that. It's going to be close to maybe  $7, $800 per child, you know, going to feed them,   get them up there, three meals a day and all of  that. So, uh you do the math because we want we   want to see over 250 some odd kids go. So, if you  were to equate that, uh, that's a lot of money.   And how can we how could we possibly put that,  uh, financial burden on parents, especially single  

moms that may have more than even one child,  um, in posta? They they wouldn't be able to do   that. So, we're we're just we're just going to be  charging I think it's $30 for like a registration   fee for every child. But, uh, the difference  that's that's a couple hundred,000 worth of,   uh, money. But I believe God can raise that money.  Don't you? I believe God Come on. I believe God   can help us to raise that monies. And um I'm happy  to say we're we're on our way. We're about 25% of   the way to the goal of reaching that money. But we  need we need God to really help us. And if you're   watching perhaps online today and um you know,  you might have the means to write a check out for   $50,000. Don't laugh. How many know somebody could  God could put that on somebody's heart to do or   25,000 or whatever, but every little bit helps.  And um we need your help on that. And I believe   God's going to help us to raise that money. Don't  you? So come on, let's pray right now. Father,   we want to stop in the meeting right now and  we want to bring this uh we want to bring   this wonderful opportunity to see children ages 9  through 13 that are going to be able to get away   for a week. Not just to have a good time and have  fun and refreshment, but to just learn more about,   as the young lady said in the video, they want  to know more about Jesus. They want to be shaped   into the image of Christ. And so, Father, it  takes funds. It takes money. But God, you own  

the cattle on a thousand hills. So, we know that  the money's out there. And we're going to believe   that you're going to put it on the hearts of  people. And all of us here helping together   that we can raise the money so that we don't have  to put the burden on the church, Lord. So, God,   help us in this endeavor. And we will give you  all the praise for it. And we ask this in Jesus'   name. And let everybody say, "Amen." Amen. And  so remember, there's a um if you want to donate,   there's a way you can do that. You can go on  to the Brooklyn Tabernacle website/giving and   then I think you'll go to BT Kids Camp and  um if you just want to write out a check,   of course, just write it out to the Brooklyn  Tabernacle. But we're going to be able to say,   "Look what the Lord has done." Amen. Amen. And  now, let's welcome the Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir. Come and shout rejoicing now. Let us see our king.

before you now endless praise. Let's give all Oh, heat, heat. Let us rejoicing for you.

Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat.

Yeah. Heat. Heat. Hallelujah. Thank you, Jesus.

Praise the Lord. His mercy is more. It's stronger than darkness and new  everyone. Our sins they are many. His mercies we can testify. Thank you Jesus. Love could remember no wrongs  he has on this following.   He counts not this song  into the sea without sword. His mercy is praise.

Yeah. Heat. Patience will wait as we constantly fall so  tender is calling us home. He will come away.

Oh, heat, heat. Heat. What raes of kindness he lished on  us. His blood was the pain and his   life was the cost. We stood beneath  the death we could never fall. Heat up here.

Oh, heat, heat. Heat. Yeah. Heat. Oh, hallelujah. So much more. So much Jesus.

Good afternoon, church. How are we doing? Good  afternoon. Um, it's a blessing to be able to   be here and share my testimony with you guys.  My name is Brandon. Um, I'm just very excited   to share my testimony with you guys. Um, so my  story starts when I was 7 years old. my parents   had split up and so me and my mother packed our  bags and we just started moving from friend's   house to friend's house um until we landed at our  grandparents house here in Brooklyn. Um and just   walking into my grandparents house there was a  lot of just darkness in their past. There was   just a lot of chaos, a lot of unstability, just  different moving pieces in the family and that   just created a lot of anxiety within myself, a lot  of instability within myself at a young age. Um,   and it really affected me growing up and  the different things that I would do. Um,   and then so two years after that that I moved into  my grandparents house, I started hanging around a   neighborhood that just I was exposed to a lot of  bad things, a lot of dark things. I was exposed   to a lot of perversion, drinking, violence, um,  sex, and it was just my time spending there that   left really a bad and negative impact on me. Um,  and just one of the things that happened to me   there that really left an effect on me was that  um, I was sexually taken advantage of by somebody   that I thought was my friend. Um, and just going  through that at that age, you really don't know   how to deal with it. You really don't know how to  go about it. So, I didn't really tell nobody and I  

just put a blanket over it and I just continued  to walk, you know, um, I just suppressed it. I   didn't know how to deal with it. And so going into  my middle school years, um, I was carrying that.   And because I didn't have really a positive male  role model in my life, I didn't really have nobody   to direct me or to guide me. I just started  doing things the way I wanted to do things.   And I fell into even a greater path of darkness.  I started smoking. I started drinking. I started   hanging around the wrong type of crowd. Um, I  started skipping school, getting bad grades. I   was just disrespectful to everybody around me. and  honestly felt like I was a dog without a leash at   that point. Um and so and I also got into a bad  pornography addiction at that age as well. But   um going into my high school years, that's where  everything just reached its worst. That's where   all my addiction started to peak. That's where  um it just felt like everything around me was   just breaking down. Um my family, my family life,  my home life was just kind of crumbling. Um and   I just had no sense of direction. And so I just  started falling into a state of depression. Um,   and depression led to suicidal thoughts. And I  was just analyzing my life and I was looking at   it and it just felt like everything was literally  crumbling around me. And I'm just thinking to   myself, how can this be happening to me? Why is  this happening to me? And I just started feeling   beaten. I just started feeling alone. I started  feeling desolate and abandoned. And all these   just lies and thoughts came into my mind. And it  just I felt wrecked. And so it got so bad to the  

point where I attempted to try to take my life at  one point. Um I was admitted to a psych ward twice   and I remember coming out of that psych ward and  it was just the same thoughts repeating in my mind   like what's happening? Why is this happening? How  can I be going through this? You know and it just   was a deep deep burden of pain within my heart.  It felt like everything from my past was just   catching up to me at such a young age. And it was  just it was really hard. But I remember one night   I was in my shower and and I cried out to God. I  cried out to God. I really I really felt like I   had my back against the wall. I really felt like  I had no other option but to turn to him. I've   heard of him when I was younger. I heard about  a God. I didn't know who he was. I didn't know   he was Jesus. But I called out to him anyways out  of faith. And and I literally just prayed to him.   It was a simple prayer. I said, "God, I I hate my  life right now. I don't like where I'm at. I don't   like what I'm doing. You see what I feel. can you  just please take me out of it? Right? And just the   rest of my prayer was just was tears before him  was tears and and I know he heard it because two   weeks after that he miraculously took me out of  the home that I was living in and he placed me   somewhere else. And during that time he started to  reveal himself to me through his word, right? He   started to fill me with a hope that I didn't have  beforehand. um and just his presence would just   chase after me and and just I was starting to walk  in a in a way that was pleasing him, right? But I   I strayed away from that path many many times. Um  there was moments where I ran back to the things   that he was trying to save me from. Um I lied to  people, I cheated on people, I hurt people. Um and  

I was just sinning against him, you know, day in  and day out. And so every time I would do that, I   would always come back to him. And I would always  just feel his presence calling me to come back to   him. Every single time. And every time that I  would come back to him with what I was doing,   just the way that I was living, he would fill me  with his comfort. And he would fill me with his   peace. And I just saw his faithful attribute,  the faithful attribute of God to stay with his   children even in the midst of their sin, even in  the midst of their darkness. Right? So, because I   witnessed who who he was and who he was revealing  himself to be to me in an even deeper level after   my sin, after acknowledging my sin, um I decided  to give my life to him. And I gave my life to   him June 2nd of 2024. And I tell you guys, ever  since that moment, my life has changed in so many   different ways. Like, I've been filled with such a  a peace and fulfillment and a purpose that I could   have never found in anything in this world that I  was chasing. It all left me empty. But when I came   to Jesus and I gave my life to him, he filled  me with that light and he filled me with what   I truly needed. Um, all my scars and all my shame  from the past, from what people have done for me,   from the way that I was may have been abandoned,  he just comforted me and he's been healing me from   all those deep wounds that was inflicted by me and  to me by the world and everything around me. Um,   he set me free from suicide and depression.  Right? I stand here right now speaking to you   guys because of him. Right? I'm breathing because  of him because he saved me. He intervened in my  

life and he intervened in my life and and did only  what he could do. I' I've been free from smoking   for for 3 years. I've been free from pornography  for two. And he's just been a perfect and amazing   father to me, guiding me, leading me, making  me into the man that he wants me to be. Um,   and this is what he's done in my life. And I know  he can do it in yours as well. There's a psalm   that I've been holding on to ever since I gave  my life to him, even before that when I was just   finding out who he was. And it's Psalm 27. And it  says, "Even if my mother and my father abandon me,   the Lord will never forsake me." Right? So, I  don't know what you're going through. I don't   know what your trial is. I don't know what your  burden is. I don't know what your pain is. But he   is a father who is waiting for you to come back  home. He has his arms wide open and he wants to   heal you. He wants to redeem you and he wants  to place his spirit upon you. so he can fill   you with all the good things that he planned for  you long ago. Um, that's my story. Thank you guys.

I've been ch free Ever been I've been healed. I've been free. I've been  delivered and I found joy and right now today I've been Yeah.

Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Yeah. Heat. All my sh All of my sh Heat. Heat.

Yeah. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Yeah. Heat. Oh, heat, heat.

Heat up here. Heat. I won't go back. I can't go back. Hallelujah.  Thank you, Jesus. Hallelujah. You saved us,   Lord. We're so grateful, Lord.  Hallelujah. We're never going back.   We got our hands to the cloud and we're pressing  on Jesus. We're moving on. Hallelujah. Thank you,   Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. Oh, we praise you. Thank  you for changing us, Lord. Hallelujah. Hallelujah.

We just want to remind you, we need you to uh  prayerfully consider how God is leading you to   give and tithe and offering here in the church.  There are so many expenses, so many missionaries   and ministers that we're supporting through the  world. So many needs here within our church. Um   and so just encourage you to continue to bring  that before God. God loves a cheerful giver. Amen.   Um, so we have the QR code there. Most people give  online. You can scan or text BT give to 77977. We   have some buckets out in the front if you'd like  to give a physical offering. That is it. That is   all the announcements. So, I am excited to share  this word. I was prepping this week for my message   and last night it was about 12:00 a.m. and I  prayed and I had really what I wanted to share   and I looked at it and I just felt this thing  in my heart. God did not want me to speak on   that. And so I ended up having to stay up until  4:00 a.m. cooking in the kitchen for this thing   here. I believe God gave this to me. for a lot  of people here in this room. I believe this is   a a really important crucial thing that a lot  of people here have never heard in the way that   you're about to hear it. So, I'm excited to share  the word today. I want to start by saying nobody   here needs convincing that this world is broken.  Nobody here needs me to make a whole pitch or to  

break down why there are things that are wrong  with this world, with your world. And I probably   don't have to explain to you or convince you that  there are things that are wrong within you. We   all know that. We all are very familiar with the  feeling of spiritual emptiness and brokenness.   Throughout all cultures and throughout all  history, humankind has been trying to figure   out what is the biggest problem that we see that  we're dealing with within our hearts and what are   the solutions. All religion and ideology present  different diagnosis of the problems that we have   of what really is wrong internally. And they  all present different solutions and answers and   things to put our hope in for change. If we were  to look at some different religions, we see a lot   of people today in our generation, everybody is  spiritual. A lot of us would say we don't follow   maybe organized religion. And we don't follow a  church or any book. We just believe that there   is a God. Maybe we are God and we need to follow  our hearts. Our problem is we're not recognizing   our inner divinity. We're not following our  heart. We're being controlled by external   forces. And the solution is to become more  spiritual and to actualize our inner divinity.  

Another religion. If we look at Buddhism,  Buddhism would say that our biggest issue,   the biggest problem that causes suffering and pain  in your soul is that you are attached to the world   around you. And you shouldn't be. In order to find  true peace, you have to disconnect from all of the   things that you are attached to and desire in  this world. And if you do so, you will be free.   If we look at different ideologies throughout  the world, we live in western culture which is   filled with all kind of isms that control and  pull the strings behind the scenes without us   even realizing. You have consumerism which is  an ideology that says your biggest problem is   you don't have enough and what you need is more  and better and more experiences. You need to   accumulate more things and experiences and that  will bring you fulfillment. That's the answer.   We have individualism which would say your biggest  issue is that you're controlled by external   forces. And to find peace and be fulfilled in  life, you have to actualize yourself. You need   to follow your heart and your dreams. That's where  you're going to be happy. If you just follow your   dreams and step away from the restraints that  people are putting on you, you have things like   humanism which say all of our biggest problems  come back to the systems that we're born into.   We're not educated enough, the government isn't  doing its job well enough to make sure that  

nobody's oppressed and that all things are equal.  And so the way that we can finally be made whole   is if we fix the systems that are breaking us. A  lot of us believe that our biggest issue is all   of the traumas that we've experienced and that the  way to find peace and wholeness is to go through a   process of processing traumas and healing. And  on the other side of that, there you will find   the peace that you are looking for. All of us have  been shaped by the different things in culture and   in our family. We all have this sense in our heart  that something is wrong. we're not fully fulfilled   and we all attach it to these different things  that we hear that will bring this fulfillment for   us. I was saying earlier today, my son Teddy,  he is 2 years old and he is an absolute force   of nature. And when he is in a good mood, he has  the power to bring world peace. anywhere he goes,   everybody, he's like the mayor and everybody just  loves him and stops what they're doing. Traffic   stops as he walks by, but if he's in a bad mood,  it's uh he becomes an ancient warlord. And lately,   we've been having this thing in the house  where he'll just be in a bad mood out of   nowhere and he'll be getting worked up and I'll  say, "Bubby, Bubby, what's wrong? Use your words.   What's wrong?" And he goes, "I want to go on the  F train." I'm like, he's like, "Dude, I want to  

go on the F train." That's what he believes is the  root of the deepest issues and pain in his soul. But I want to ask you today, what is the biggest   thing standing in the way from your soul  having deep and lasting peace right now?   What's the biggest problem in your life that is  fighting against you feeling fulfilled? Think of   it specifically. I want you to really put it in  the forefront of your mind. What is your biggest   problem and what's the biggest thing that's  stopping you from being happy and having peace   and feeling fulfilled? A lot of us, our mind went  straight to a person. an issue that we're having   with a co-orker, with a spouse, with family.  A lot of us think about what we don't have,   the relationship that we don't have, or  we're in a relationship, we're in a marriage,   but it's not good, and we just think, "Oh, if only  this person would change, I would finally be okay.   I'd finally have peace." Some of us think about  financial situations that you're facing. Your   back is against the wall. You're suffocating in  your financial position. And if your finances were   able to change, you would be okay. You would find  that peace that your soul is looking for, a more   fulfilling job, feeling like you have purpose,  clarity about what your future holds. Your mind   can go to all of these different things. What is  it for you that you think would make you okay?

I don't know you. I don't know your story, but I  know who God says you are and what God says your   biggest issue is. And I want to challenge you  today by saying what you hold in your mind as   your biggest problem, you're probably wrong. Our  tendency is to look at what is happening to us,   what has happened to us, the problems around  us that we're facing. These are the things that   are keeping us from flourishing. But that's not  what God says. God says he doesn't diminish the   challenges that you face with the trials or the  pain or the abuse or the betrayal or the neglect.   God isn't indifferent to that. That's real and  that has real implications. Pain that brings a   brokenness to your heart. I don't want to belittle  that at all. But that isn't your biggest problem.   Your biggest problem is not what is happening to  you. Your biggest problem is the direction of your   heart. And I want to explain what that means here  today. You know what the Bible tells us? This God,   who he is and what he's come to do for you and  I, he made us for himself. And he offers himself   to us to be the satisfaction for every need and  longing of our soul. Everything that you truly   and deeply and fundamentally need in life, God  is saying, "I am that for you." Not only do I  

I don't give you things that will bring that, I  am the thing that brings that. I am the one who   brings it. I am the love that brings wholeness  and deep fulfillment to your heart. I give you   an identity in me that you don't have to walk in  insecurity and look at what people think about   you in the world. I am a companion and a friend  that even if you find yourself feeling lonely,   you have everything you need in me. I am the  one who is promised a hope for your life and   your future, everything is going to work together  for good in me. God looks at every problem that   you face and says, "Currently, in this moment,  I'm the answer to it. In me you can be whole and   have fulfillment and love and hope. Everything  you need I am to you today. So why are you not   living in it right now? Why are there areas where  I'm struggling to walk in that? You know why? The   issue isn't that God isn't that to you. The  issue is where your heart is really looking.

We all know the pain that comes from when  we're looking to the world and we don't   find the love that we were hoping for. When our  expectations and desires for how life would play   out don't play out that way. When we see the  challenges that are happening in our life and   we find ourselves now overwhelmed and feeling  spiritually bankrupt and broken and we say,   "I'm in this spot because everything in my life  is going wrong." God is looking at you and saying,   "No, you're empty today because you're looking  here instead of here. I'm what you need." So, if that's true, why is it that you and I  struggle so much to look here instead of here?   Why is it that for centuries and throughout  human history like we said we see this pattern   of all of mankind is looking to created things  instead of its creator for fulfillment. Why is   that? For us to understand that today we  have to go back to the book of Genesis.   And in Genesis we see this loving God who made  mankind for himself for relationship with him.   He is giving himself to them in this garden and  it's perfection. They have everything they need   in him. Their hearts are pointed and directed  to him and in it they are living in fulfillment,  

perfect love, zero fear, shame, insecurity.  Everything they need they are living in   an experience of in him. But in that state of  perfection, we know as the story goes that Satan,   the enemy, creeps into the garden and comes and  presents and plants a thought in Adam and Eve's   mind. There was that tree and the fruit that they  couldn't eat from that represented their free will   to either look to God or look elsewhere. And Satan  comes and pretty much says this to them. Yeah,   God says he loves you and that he's everything  you need. And yeah, you're living an amazing   life right now, but he's actually withholding  from you. He's not enough for you. You don't   know the pleasure and the fulfillment that you  would really have if you looked to the created   things instead of the creator. You don't need him  to have your heart. Turn your heart to the world   and find something so much better than what  you're currently living in. That was the root   and beginning of all sin in this world. The  turning of our hearts from God, the creator,   to creation to find what our soul is longing  for. That was the first act ever of idolatry.   Idolatry is a a biblical word that means putting  something created in the place of the creator.  

And for the first time ever, the first act of  idolatry happened. But why it's so important   that we understand this is that from that moment,  Adam and Eve became idoltors at heart. They became   people that looked more to the created than  the creator. And that heart that they had,   they passed down to all further generations.  All of human history. Now we see dating back   all to ourselves in this moment. You are not  just somebody who struggles with sin. You have   inherited a heart that is bent away from God to  creation. We apart from Christ are stuck living   for the created things that will never satisfy  us and rejecting the creator who makes us whole.   No matter whether you believe there's a  God, it doesn't matter. The Bible says this,   even demons believe that Jesus is God. We believe  in God, but that doesn't mean that we believe that   he is better than what we can find here. And  that is what is in your heart and in my heart   apart from Christ. That is the root of all of our  issues. Sin was introduced in the world. And sin   is more than just doing something bad. Sin is your  heart being pointed away from God, to the world,   and to yourself. You have inherited a sinful heart  apart from Christ. And that leads us to our first  

verse today that helps us to begin to see apart  from Jesus, who really are we? What is our biggest   issue here? Let's look here in Romans 3. It says  this, as it is written, there is no one righteous,   not even one. Everybody is sinful through and  through. There is no one who understands and   there is no one who seeks God. Nobody's righteous.  Everybody's heart is bent towards the created   things instead of the creator. And that last verse  is really interesting. It says, "Nobody seeks God,   not even one." What does that mean? There are  religions everywhere throughout the world.   There are people who go to church and in a  way it looks externally like we're seeking   God. What is this talking about here? What  it's saying is this that apart from Christ,   our hearts are bent towards created things  rather than the creator. So if we come to God,   we are coming to him for what we could  get from him rather than to get him.   We come to him because we want him to make  our life in alignment with what we think is   best for ourselves. We believe what will bring  us the satisfaction like we said earlier, the   experiences, the pleasure, the relationship, the  finances, whatever. And we come to God and say,   "God, I'm going to serve you. I'm going to  do religious things for you so that you can   give me this thing. I'm seeking you for what you  could do for me. I'm not seeking you for you."  

We all know this is true. I can't tell you how  many times I have people come into my office who   don't seem to be in a great place spiritually  and out of nowhere, they're just sitting in   front of me. They're like, you know, I'm just  fasting and seeking God right now. I'm like,   that's amazing. Like, who are you trying to  date right now? The moment it's time to get   in a relationship and there's an opportunity in  front of you, you get really spiritual, right?   The moment that we want a job promotion or we  want some crazy opportunity to work out for us,   we really start praying and we start avoiding  certain things that we think if I watch that,   if I do that, then God might withhold  that thing that I really want. So,   we start getting more religious. The moment that  somebody gets a sick diagnosis in your family,   maybe even you or you lose your job, we begin to  cry out for God. But the issue is we are coming to   God for what he could give us in the world rather  than for him. The Bible says that that's not just   me. That's you. Apart from Christ, you are stuck.  The Bible says that you and I, apart from Christ,   are slaves to sin, dead in our sin. We can't make  ourselves want him more than we want the world.   Have you ever found yourself feeling that way?  Maybe you're even a Christian. You've experienced   God's goodness, his peace, his love in your life.  Yet here you are right now continuing to look to  

the world and you just are struggling to get your  heart to bend to him away from the world. That is   the condition of all of us apart from Jesus. And  it's bleak. What it means is not only have we   sinned and separated ourselves from a relationship  with this holy God and if we were to die today we   will be apart from him for eternity but even  in this life we can't get ourselves to truly   even come to him. We are stuck chasing things  that do not fulfill or bring the wholeness that   we are hoping. We are stuck chasing empty false  promises. This relationship, this is going to be   the thing that I've been waiting for this my whole  life. this job. Oh, I'm close. I'm finally getting   to the place in my career where I'm going to be  happy. You're stuck chasing a lie because your   heart is bent away from God towards the world.  Do we understand what we're saying here today? So, what does Jesus offer you and I today with  this condition that we find ourselves with? It's   far greater than just forgiveness of sins.  Because if your heart is bent away from God,   then if your sins are forgiven, that's not  going to stop you from running right back to   your garbage tomorrow. You need more than  forgiveness. You need transformation. You   need God to take your heart that's bent away  from him and for him to do something with it,  

to set you free. And this is exactly what  Jesus has come to do for you and I today.   I want to point us to a passage in Ezekiel  which is a prophecy about what would happen   when Jesus would come. Hundreds and  hundreds of years before Jesus came,   thousands of years before this current moment, but  it gives us a promise today that still stands and   offers hope for your life. Some people say that  this is one of the greatest descriptions of what   the gospel really brings us in the Bible and  it's in the Old Testament. It's beautiful. So,   we're just going to walk through this quickly  today before we wrap up here. Let's put up the   first verse. So, the prophecy begins where it  says, "Then I will sprinkle clean water on you   and you will be clean. Your filth will be washed  away and you will no longer worship idols." Next, and I will give you a new heart, and I will put  a new spirit in you. I'll take out your stony   stubborn heart and give you a tender responsive  heart. And last verse, and I will put my spirit   in you so that you will follow my decrees and  be careful to obey my regulations. Let's go back   to the first verse in 25. The first thing that  we have to see before we can get to the second   two verses chronologically, we have to deal  with this. So God through Ezekiel says this,  

the first thing that needs to happen here is  this sin that separates you from me. It's like,   yeah, I am the thing that your heart is searching  for, but your sin, the ways that you have sinned   against a holy God, that has separated you from  access to me. People can't just get close to God.   If you're here and you say, "I'm just trying  to get more spiritual and more religious and   get closer to God." What this verse first helps  us to see is that you can't get closer to God on   your own. You can't try to be a better person  and think that somehow that's going to allow   you to have a close relationship with God. That  verse that we said, it says your heart is bent   away from God. It's sinful. You know what that  means? Even your good deeds have sin in the mix.   The Bible says that our righteousness is like  filthy rags next to God. What that means is this.   When you're being a really good person and you're  doing a good deed and you're helping people that   you think don't deserve to be helped, you know  what subliminally you're doing while you're doing   that? I'm a really good person. I'm doing this  for me. Wow. I'm not like those people who hurt   me. Look at me. Look how special I am. I should  get some glory from this. Even our good deeds are   corrupted by sin apart from Christ. And so what  that means is you can't cleanse yourself from the   sin that separates you from God. You can't work  your way to him. There is only one way to come  

into relationship with the God of the universe and  it is through the cleansing blood of Jesus Christ. Jesus came hung on a cross not because of any  fault of his own. He hung on the cross bearing   the penalty for every sin that you have ever  done. Everything that you have ever done that   would justify God separating from you and having  nothing to do with you. Jesus pays for all of it   on the cross. And the Bible says this, if you have  put your faith in Christ, you know what happens   first? He cleanses you and you are clean now. Your  filth is washed away. Thank God that we didn't   clean ourselves, that we didn't make ourselves  good enough. He says, "I will clean you. Bring me   your sin in your heart. I've cleansed you and all  of your sin now is gone. You are pure and clean.   There's no shame. There's no fear of that you  should separate your that you can't come into my   presence. Come boldly into my presence because you  are in Christ and you have been made new. Amen.

And that begins to transition in this verse  at the end here. So we know from the beginning   with Adam and Eve in the garden that first act  of idolatry of them putting created things in   the place of the creator in their heart. That is  the pattern that has continued throughout history   throughout the history of Israel as this prophecy  was given. It was when I'm in a really bad spot   and I want God to fix it, then I come to him and  seek him. But the moment I'm comfortable again,   I start looking back to the world. It was that  pattern over and over again. And God said to them,   "Get rid of your idols. turn to me. Stop looking  to the created things rather than the creator.   Bring me your heart. And guess what? They  wouldn't. And so, why is this promise so   important and so beautiful? God points us to a  hope that would transform everything. Before this,   he says, "Get rid of your idols. You need to do  it." But now, he says, "I will cleanse you and I   will make sure that you will no longer live  for these idols any longer. I'm going to do   it." That leads us to our next verse here. And  I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit   in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn  heart and give you a tender, responsive heart.

Your biggest issue is apart from Christ, you don't  even want him. You're stubborn. Your heart's bent   to the world, away from him. and you know how  much God loves you. He doesn't say, "If you can   bend your heart back to me, then you can have me.  If you can prove to me that you really love me,   then you can live in my love." Jesus came for  sinners just like you and me. Sinners who loved   sin more than God. And what does he offer? He  says, "I'm going to take your stubborn, hard,   disobedient heart that's bent to the world, and  I'm going to make you new. I'm going to give you a   new heart that's tender and responsive to me. I'm  going to give you a heart that's free from living   for the world and free to live for me, to what  you were made for." You know, that's why Jesus in   John 3 says this when Nicodemus comes to him and  says, "How do I get saved? How do I come into the   kingdom of God?" Jesus says, "Nobody can be saved  and come into the kingdom of God unless they are   born again." You can't work your way into it. You  can't clean yourself into it. You need to receive   something that will transform you for you to be  able to begin to do this. Everything changes in   our lives the moment we put our faith in Christ.  When you put your faith in Christ, your sins are   forgiven. And in that moment, he comes and makes  you new. He gives you a new heart. The Bible says,  

"If anybody is in Christ, they are a new creation.  The old is gone, the new has come." And so,   what that means is some people here think, I  know I'm not in a good place with God. And so,   I'm trying to make myself more religious. I'm  trying to avoid doing bad things. I'm trying   to read the Bible and pray and go to church  more. and I'm hoping I can just become more   and more and more godly here and get closer  to him. That's not Christianity. Christianity   is you in the middle of not even wanting him,  not even loving him, allowing his love to come   and transform you and make you new. God isn't  asking you to change himself. He is saying,   "I will. I will do it. Bring me your heart. Bring  me your heart that's bent towards the world,   away from me. Stop trying to fix it. Stop trying  to bend it the right way. Just bring it to me and   I will make you new. That's what God offers every  person here in this room. If you're a Christian,   that has happened in your life. If you've put  your faith in Christ, then you have been made new.   the struggles that you are currently still  facing, the tendencies of your heart to still   bend back towards the world, away from Christ,  that's your flesh. But your flesh is not your   identity anymore. When you find yourself  struggling with sin and with desire,   disordered desire, we in those moments easily  begin to come under accusation and think, "See,  

I'm just broken." God says, "You're not broken.  You're new. You're not living in the newness,   but you're new. Stop owning chains that I freed  you from. Your heart has been delivered from   living for the world, and you have been set  free to now live for me. That is who you are   now. That's what God says over your life. Some  of us need to be reminded today that that is who   you are. You're so discouraged and overwhelmed  by the sin that remains in your life. You need   to remember today, you've put your faith in  Christ and you've been made a new creation.   You have desires fighting against the truest  desires that you have. But in your heart now, you   love God. In your heart, you want to see his will  done in your life. But there is a remnant still   of our flesh that tries to bring us back to the  old. And that leads us to our last verse. And I   will put my spirit in you so that you will follow  my decrees and be careful to obey my regulations.   I want you to look at just two phrases here. He  says, "I will and then you will." Not if you will,   then I will. I will and then you will. I will put  my spirit in you and cause you, move you, empower   you to overcome your flesh and the tendencies  of your heart to bend back towards the world,   away from God. I'm giving you the power now to  live for what you were created for. You don't  

need to change yourself. I've made you new. And  I've given you the power so that you can walk in   wholeness and freedom. That you can stop buying  into the lies of what in the world will fix your   problems and have a heart that's fully mine. You  will give me your heart through the power of my   spirit. My love is going to come in your heart.  And then you're going to begin to love me through   the love that I fill you with. You don't have to  find it in yourself. That's what God offers you   and I today. If we can have the band come to  close here. This is the gospel. And a lot of   us didn't really get this growing up. A lot of us  only kind of got the forgiveness of sins part. We   sin again and then we instantly think we've lost  his forgiveness. We don't fully understand in many   cases. No, he died on the cross for my sins,  past, present, and future. Jesus paid it all.   That's the first thing that you and I need  to understand. But the second part, I think   the majority of us who have grown up around the  things of God or maybe newly have come to church   can really struggle to understand this. This is  not about you changing yourself. It's about you   receiving a new heart and living through the power  of his spirit. If you're not here today and you're   not a follower of Christ, you're not a Christian,  God is not asking you to change yourself. He's   asking you to bring your sinful heart to him so  that he can make you new and transform you. If  

you're here and you are a Christian, but you find  yourself struggling with that old temptation to   keep looking back to the this thing that's keeping  me stuck. All you think about is what's wrong with   your job, your spouse, your finances, every part  of your life. and you don't have fulfillment. When   are you going to realize that the Holy Spirit is  within you and you've been given a new heart and   you don't have to live bound to these things  anymore? Your life doesn't have to be at the   mercy of how well things are going. You can  live in wholeness and fulfillment because God   is yours. His love, his peace, his comfort and  relief is yours today if your heart would turn   to him. And it can because the Holy Spirit's  within you if you've put your trust in Jesus.   So, we're going to close with this here as the  singers come up. I want to ask for a lot of   people here in this room. I talk to people in my  office all the time and this is the first thing I   ask really people consistently. It's this. So,  this whole Christian life, it's not me working   my way to get born again. Becoming born again  is what happens the moment I put my faith in   Christ. My sins are forgiven. I know I'm a child  of God. I've been given a new heart and the Holy   Spirit lives in me. I didn't do anything to earn  it. I put my trust in the gift he's offering me.   A lot of us don't clearly understand that truth.  And so because of it, we're still trying to kind   of work our way closer to God. We're trying  to make ourselves more and more religious.   That's a dead end. It's not going to work. Jesus  wants you to know today that you are born again.

He wants you to put your trust in him and to come  into an experience of his power and grace working   in your life that you know I'm not trying to get  to God. God has now come to me and transformed   me. God wants that for you today. The Bible  says today is the day of salvation. Tomorrow   is not promised. Don't wait. Some people think,  "Well, look, I believe what you're saying is true,   but I still can't let go of a lot of the sin  in my life. There are things that I want to   live for that I know I can't bring with me as I  follow God, and I I don't think I'm ready to let   go of them yet." Can I tell you tonight, you're  never going to be ready to let go because you   need to be made new in order to truly live for  him. And he's the one that will do it in you.   Don't think tomorrow's promise. Don't think I'm  going to eventually get around to this. Today,   you can come with your heart owning it as it is to  receive the forgiveness and mercy and transforming   power of the Holy Spirit in your life. You can  go to bed tonight knowing I've put my faith in   Christ. And if I die tonight, I have nothing to  fear. I will be with him forever. I've received   this gift. I'm born again. If that is where  you are and you say, "I don't I don't have   that conviction. I'm not sure that I'm born  again and I don't want let today I don't want  

to let today pass without receiving this here and  now." If that's where you are, I'm going to invite   you. Whether you're in the balcony or here on the  bottom floor, today's Good News Sunday. The point   of today is just helping you understand the gospel  and what Jesus is offering you. If that's you and   you want to receive this today, he loves you and  he's waiting to transform your life. I want to   invite you now. Stand up wherever you are here in  the room. If God is speaking to you and you say,   "I don't want to go another day without knowing  I've received this. Today is the day. I'm going   to put all of my hope, not in what I can do  for him or how I can change myself. I'm going   to put all of my hope in the gift and mercy  that he's giving me here. Today is your day.   Anywhere you are here in the room, please  stand up. Today is the day of salvation. I want to do this. We're going to  pray for you. I want to invite you.   We did this in the last service. If  you're here and you're standing up,   we're going to begin to sing here. Would  you come here to the front so we can pray   with you? Would you come and respond to  this gift that God is offering you today?

He wants to set you free and make you new. And lastly, as they're coming up, I want to just  open a final invitation. If you are here and you   are finding yourself settling, continuing  to live for the world instead of for him,   you don't have peace. You're controlled by  everything that's happening around you. What you   have, what you don't have. And you've forgotten  today that because you've put your faith in him,   he's given you a new heart. And his spirit is in  you to overcome your heart being bent away from   him by his power. He wants to help you look to  him in surrender. If you're here and that's you   and you say, "I want to trust in the power of the  Holy Spirit to turn my heart away from the world   back to Jesus." Wherever you are, come to the  front as we begin to sing here. The altar's open.   Come on, let's begin to sing here now as you  come. If you haven't come up yet from the front,   if you still feel like you stood but you didn't  come, come now. Let's begin to sing. I surrender.

Yeah. Heat. Heat. Heat. I surrender. Can we all stand today and just lift  our hands to the Lord? Let's sing. Oh, heat, heat.

Let's sing just the voices. Oh, heat, heat. Lord, we bring every person here who  is responding to the gospel. God,   we ask that by the power of your spirit, you will  help them see that they are not coming to give   you anything other than their sin. And they're  coming to receive your transformation power,   your forgiveness, your love. It's not what  we can do for you. It's what you've done for   us. That's what we put our trust in today. As we  trust in that, you make us new. You fill us with  

your spirit. You lead us in the purposes that you  have for us. Thank you for these beautiful people,   God, who are coming up to respond to you. And  now, Lord, we ask that you will protect them,   that you will lead them forward, that you'll help  them to leave here putting their trust in Jesus,   walking in the new life that you've come to bring  them, walking in the purpose that you have for   them. Lord, minister to them here, Lord. Help  them to not leave here just having heard music   or something inspirational. Help them to leave  here, Lord. Going from death to life like you've   promised. Fill us with your spirit, God. Even  now as they're here, meet them. Let the power   of your spirit come upon them and transform them.  Lord, we thank you for your mercy and for your   love. That is our hope today. And God, for the  rest of us here who have put our trust in you,   but our hearts have bent back towards the world,  our flesh has pulled us away. Help us to remember   that that's not who we are and that we have your  Holy Spirit available now to set us free from   the power of our flesh. Help us to turn from  garbage and from created things. Let us turn   to the creator and find all that our soul needs in  you. Lord, help us to repent today from looking at   everything that's wrong with our life and saying  that's why we don't have peace. Help us to say,   "God, forgive me that I haven't been looking to  the prince of peace. Come and fill my heart now."   God is going to be faithful in our circumstances.  We know you're going to be faithful, Lord. But   until we see you work our circumstances  out, we are going to walk in wholeness  

because of your spirit within us, Lord. So  strengthen us as we leave here today. God,   build us up in our faith. Help us to leave here  with our heart fully yours. And God, keep us,   protect us, bless us this week. We thank  you for Jesus. We thank you for the gospel.   Let us live our lives in you this week, God, like  never before. Bless us. Protect us until we come   back here on Tuesday. Be with us. Be with the  fellowship for the 50s. Help us as we leave here,   God, to love one another. Make connections with  one another. Be the body that you've called us to   be. We love you, Lord. We ask all of these things  today in Jesus name. Amen. Amen. God bless you.   For everybody here in the front who made a  decision to trust in Christ, we have Bibles with   uh little things that we'd love for you to fill  out so we could follow up with you. Make sure   you grab a Bible from one of our team here. But  for the rest of us, turn to somebody next to you,   give them a hug, give them a handshake.  We will see you on Tuesday. God bless you.