August 2 - Pastor Mitch

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Here's to your freedom. Here's to the day I see you, Jesus. Here's to your glory. Here's to your greatness. Here's to your kingdom. Here's to the name. Here's to the name over everything. You're the way. Oh, oh, oh. Here's to the name of Jesus!

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Good morning, good morning. Welcome, welcome to the Nazarene Church. I am Pastor Aaron, and I am blessed that you are a part of our family. We love you guys so much. Our church is nothing without you. You are the body. So, guys, we thank you for being here. We thank you for just all your different voices, your backgrounds, your histories. We are one collective of many different, just beautiful pieces. So thank you. Now, today we're going to get started.

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I'm going to just, if y'all would, read this verse with me. This is just going to hopefully lead us into what God has for us today. Okay. From Philippians 2:1-4, it says this. Therefore, if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from His love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind.

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First and foremost is that next Sunday, next Sunday is our Backpack for Kids. It's going to be a great day. The young adults are prepping. They have been working hard at this. They have been collecting stuff. And there are still opportunities for you to be a part. So if you feel like you want to be a part financially, they still need finances to buy the stuff to fill the bags. If you want to be a part by helping, I know on Wednesday night they're going to be filling the bags in the gym.

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So if you want to be a part of that, they need hands for that. If you want to be a part of on the day, talk to Pastor Gina. She always needs more of our community to help. And all of this is to go and help and fill the needs of our community. So please, be a part. It's going to be amazing next Sunday. Also next Sunday, it's going to be a busy day because we'll have church. Then we'll have the Backpack for Kids. And then that evening, we're going to be having the Amarillo Zone Picnic. As our church, we are not alone.

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We are part of other Nazarene churches in a community, and we always like to remind ourselves that we're not alone. And so we're going to have a picnic in Amarillo. Our vans will leave here probably around 4 o'clock, and we're going to go up there. If you have something to bring, like some chips or anything like that, bring it. But if you don't, come and eat anyway. We're going to go and fellowship together. There'll be games and stuff. We'll be entertaining the kids because that's what I do best.

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And so we're going to have a lot of stuff. Please, we'd love for you all to come and just celebrate the love that we have for each other. We also have the teens are going to be doing a teachers' lunch on August 14th, which is basically because I've had teens be like,"But teachers are mean." And I'm like, "So are you." And I'm like, "But this is one place that we can come and we can share love no matter what has been going on." No matter what I've experienced, no matter what you've done, I've done, we're going to come and love each other in this moment.

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And so the teens are going to do that. It's going to be great. And also, the kids and the teens both have back-to-school bashes. Kids' is on Wednesday the 19th. The teens' is on Wednesday, August 26th. And we're always wanting and trying to find new ways to bring our community in, to let them know they're loved. We invite you to be a part of all these things. There are also women's classes on Thursdays and Mondays. They have Coffee and Jesus. And there's a men's trip coming up next month, I believe.

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Lots of different things. So if you feel like you want to be involved in something, if you feel like you don't want to be alone, connect, connect, connect. We love you guys, and we want to make these opportunities for you. So we're going to pray. And then we're going to greet each other, and then we're going to go back to worship, and you don't have to listen to Pastor Aaron anymore. Dear God, I thank you. I thank you for the love that you've shown me. But God, let me not be selfish and receive that love without giving it.

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Help me see the beauty of your sacrifice and your love toward me in a way that shapes me into someone that puts others above myself. That puts the needs of others before my own. Help me bring you joy. Help us be a people that bring you joy by loving the least of these. By caring for the vulnerable. By seeing kids and families who can't afford new backpacks and providing for them.

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By seeing... Teenagers who are feeling alone and surrounding them with love. By seeing worn-out teachers and letting them know they're not forgotten. By seeing our men and our women who are hurting and have had to give so much, so that they can know that they can receive that love as well. Help us be a part of bringing your love to this world. Through our actions, through our words. Help us put our pride aside and choose you and choose those around us.

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It's in your heavenly name. And everyone said, amen. Now, as part of that love, I'm going to ask you to stand up and greet at least three people and say, "You are loved." So go ahead, do that, and let's get into worship. Thank you. Thank you.

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Hey guys, would you turn to your neighbor and say, "We are a church"? We are the church, amen. I want you guys to, just for a second, help me congratulate Linda Hill. Linda Hill, raise your hand. Linda Hill is one of our members, and she turned 91 last week. Thank you. You know, if you ask her anything, she wants to preach and she wants to tell you all about the goodness of God.

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Come on, that's a testament right there. Father, we thank you for Linda and for her 91st year. Father, the blessings that you have given her and her family. Father, we love you. We just thank you for everything that you've done in her life. We bless you, Lord, and we want to give you thanks. Does anybody want to just sing to Jesus and give Jesus thanks today? Come on. Somebody. We're so thankful that the Lord is able to give us and make a way for His people. Amen.

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Always, always, always, always making a way. There was no way until you made one. Grace upon grace, hallelujah. And even though I don't deserve it, You did it, and even though I couldn't earn it, You give it. Who am I that You keep me on Your mind? God, I'm just grateful for You. God, I'm just grateful for You. All my life You've been right here by my side. God, I'm just grateful for You.

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Glory for all that You have done. Even though I don't deserve it, You did it. Even though I couldn't earn it, You give it. Who am I that You keep me on Your mind? God, I'm just grateful for You. God, I'm just grateful for You.

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All my life You've been right here by my side. God, I'm just grateful for You. I'm just grateful for You. Who am I that You keep me on Your mind? I'm just grateful for You. I'm just grateful for You. All my life, You've been right here by my side. God, I'm just grateful for You.

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God, I'm just grateful for You. Come on, hasn't He been good in your life? I'm lifting both of my hands, because You gave me chance after chance after chance. And I, I'm giving all that I am, because You gave me chance after chance after chance. And I, I'm lifting both of my hands.

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Because You gave me chance after chance after chance. And I, I'm giving all that I am, because You gave me chance after chance after chance. Who am I that You keep me on Your mind? God, I'm just grateful for You. God, I'm just grateful. God, You keep me on Your mind.

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God, I'm just grateful for You. God, I'm just grateful for You. And all my life, You've been right here by my side. God, I'm just grateful for You. I'm just grateful for You. Who am I? God, You keep me on Your mind. I'm just grateful for You. God, I'm just grateful for You. I love You, Lord.

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Oh, Your mercy never fails me. In all my life. I've been held in Your hands, from the moment that I wake until I lay my head. Oh, I will sing of the goodness of God. All my life You have been faithful. Yes, He has.

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All my life You have been so, so good. With every breath that I am able, oh, I will sing of the goodness of God. I love Your voice. You have led me through the fire. In darkest night, You are close like no other.

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I've known You as a Father, and I've known You as a Friend. And I have lived in the goodness of God. And all my life You have been faithful. Your goodness is running after me. Your goodness is running after me. Your goodness is running after me.

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Your goodness is running after me. Your goodness is running after, it's running after me. Your goodness is running after, it's running after me.

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Your goodness is running after, it's running after me. Your goodness is running after, it's running after me. All my life You have been faithful, and all my life You have been so, so good.

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Every breath that I am able, yes, Lord. All my life You have been faithful. All my life You have been faithful. Oh, I will sing of the goodness of God.

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You may be seated. Open the eyes of my heart. Open the eyes of my heart. I want to see You. Go ahead, Dino, pray for her.

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I want to see You. Open the eyes of my heart, Lord. Father, we ask that you would bless these offerings today in the name of Jesus. Open the eyes of my heart. I want to see You. Yeah. I want to see You. See You high and lifted up, shining in the light of Your glory.

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Pour out Your power and love as we sing holy, holy, holy. Holy, holy, holy. We cry holy, holy, holy. Holy, holy, holy. I want to see You. To see You, see You high and lifted up, shining in the light of Your glory. Pour out Your power and love as we sing holy, holy, holy. See You high and lifted up, shining in the light of Your glory.

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Pour out Your power and love as we sing holy, holy, holy. Come on, won't you sing holy? Holy, holy, holy. Holy, holy, holy. Holy, holy, holy. I want to see You. Holy, holy, holy.

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Holy, holy, holy. We cry holy, holy, holy. We want to see You. See You high and lifted up. Shining in the light of Your glory. Pour out Your power and love as we sing holy, holy. I see You high and lifted up.

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Shining in the light of Your glory. Pour out Your power and love as we sing holy, holy, holy. Holy are You, Lord. In Jesus' mighty name. Amen. Amen. Not like y'all couldn't tell, we made most of that worship up on the spot. We love to have fun. Isn't that what it's supposed to be about, guys, that we get together sometimes without a plan, but our available heart is ready to just worship God, and whatever that entails, whatever it encompasses.

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We're so thankful for what God is doing in our church. Here, this last week, somebody that hasn't been part of the church for a while, has been disconnected for different reasons, asked me where our Pastor Ted was at. And I was so proud to say, "He's on the other side of the world where Christians have died this year." And isn't that just like Pastor Ted? Like, Pastor Ted, what are you doing? Like, "I'm going to go preach to 2,000 people, 2,000-plus people."

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He sent a couple of photos in the last couple of days of him preaching to a crowd of about 2,500 people. And then 1,200—he was beside himself when he sent this picture. He said, "Mitch, there were 1,200 kids Sunday school morning." We're not talking about a building, guys. We're talking about 1,200 kids that show up on a hot, scorching day, like hot. There's hardly any trees, and they show up because of the Word of God. Amen. Because mom and dad have seen something different, and they want to be a part of it.

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And they want to be connected. Isn't God good? Come on. Let's just give God a big hand this morning for what He's doing. For what He's doing through Pastor Ted and what He's done through his life for these last 30-something years. Wow. What a challenge, and what a job. It is no easy feat. To say, "Father, I want to follow you, and I want to serve you no matter what that looks like." Gosh, guys, that's brave right there. That's really brave. How many of us would kind of hesitate a little bit and be like, "You know, Father, I want to attend a church Sunday morning, and I want to take communion, and I want to fellowship with people, but I don't want to be where they're murdering Christians"?

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It's a scary thing, but we thank God for what He's doing. Gina, give me the white mic. All right, you know what? I'm going to turn this down, just in case. Guys, how many of you love Jesus? Just a show of hands if somebody loves Jesus. How many of you want to be like Jesus, but you struggle with it sometimes? Oh, thank God, because I thought I was the only one. Guys, we are human beings. We struggle. Even though we preach this as pastors and as people, as followers of Christ.

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Have you ever told somebody, "Hey man, you just need to be more spiritual," or, "You need to walk in the supernatural"? Yes, we teach and we preach and we encourage these things. But the reality is that sometimes we are not operating in the supernatural. We're walking in the flesh. Hello? Hello? I mean, just last week, this lady flipped me the one-bird hello after she cut me off. Okay? And I just, oh, I wanted to give her a piece of my mind. I'm glad she didn't hear the words that I was using.

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Pastor Mitch uses bad words. Hey, guys, I'm a human being, okay? Y'all want to be real this morning, or y'all want to be fake? No, let's be real, okay? We're human beings, and we say and do things, and we hold things inside that are not healthy or, oftentimes, to our detriment. Anyways, I'm so glad that she didn't hear the words that I called her. They weren't bad words, but they were not good words. I can just tell you that. And I wanted to wring her neck, and I'm like, "You cut me off, lady." And then she's just like... I'm like... Jesus, help me.

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I don't want to put my salvation down. I don't want to forfeit my power in You. Anyways, guys, God is so good. Guys, there's something within the church—and not just this church, but the church in general, all across the world, more so here in the Western world, here in the United States, that our church is struggling with; and we can see it a lot, and it's very evident, and it's hurting our churches, and it's bothering us. And this last week as I'm preparing, I said, "God, how would You use me, Father, Sunday? How would You open my mouth, and what words would I speak to Your people that are going to give life and free people up and give them the freedom back to what You made them?" My Bible says that where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is...

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Did somebody say freedom? I thought I heard somebody say tacos because there are tacos. Oftentimes here at church—a couple of years ago, actually, I cooked 600 tacos. So where the Spirit of the Lord is, there's tacos, and there's also freedom. That's the main thing, guys, that where the Spirit of the Lord is, there should be freedom in your heart. In everything that you're doing, you should be a free human being to do it within the kingdom of God. Why? Because that's what He does. We've enlisted in His army. He made us men and women of valor, soldiers in Christ.

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And He said, "Guys, I freed you up, and I want you to continue to stay free." How is it that we bring ourselves as believers into a state of despondency, into that state of being enslaved and in bondage? And I'm going to tell you why, how we do it, okay? The Apostle Paul wrote 13 books in the New Testament, the greatest apostle who ever lived. It was amazing: Hebrew name, Saul, and then Saul and Paul, and God does all these things in his life. Long story short, and a short story long, God gets ahold of him, okay? Now, the Apostle Paul, when he writes this letter to the church at Ephesus, he's saying, "Guys, I want to remind you...

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of who you are in Christ. I'm in chains. I'm on house arrest. I'm going to die. And sure enough, the Apostle Paul dies several years later, just a few years later after writing this letter. And he's writing this letter to the church at Ephesus. And I can imagine—it's not here; it's allegorical—but I can imagine that his heart was like, "Guys, I miss y'all so much. I wish I could see you. I'm going to die. It's inevitable. But I want to tell you something. Now that you know Christ and who you're following, I want to remind you who you are and how you should walk as believers, as children of God.

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Anybody ever had to remind your friend that thinks they know everything about church and the Bible and how to walk? Be like, "Hey, dude, that's not godly." I'm just telling you. I'm just, you know, just putting it out there. This is exactly what the Apostle Paul is saying. And our root verse here is in Ephesians 4:31-32. Now, we know in the first three chapters that the Apostle Paul is saying to these people at the church at Ephesus. He said who we are in Christ. This is who we are. Now, in the fourth chapter, we get here, and the Apostle Paul is saying, the subtitle literally reads this way: Children of Light.

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You are called a child of the light. Why is it that we operate like we're in darkness sometimes, guys? Gosh. Why is it that we operate in ways that are not conducive, that are out of character of what a believer should walk and follow? Why? It's because we have chosen to walk in the flesh. Instead of walking in the Spirit, he said, "Get rid of all bitterness, rage, and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice."

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Right? Right? Guess what all that means, guys? It means get rid of malice and unforgiveness and wrath and all the ugly stuff in there. Guys, is it possible? Okay, just for a minute, I want you to think. Think of the day that you accepted Jesus Christ into your life. Just think of that day really quick. What was that day like? It was such a happy day.

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Amen. It was such a good day. You made a complete fool of yourself. You went and told everybody in your family. You told people at Walmart. You were at Food King, and you were telling the señoras over there what God has done in your life. I mean, you told everybody you were on fire for Jesus. And then what happened? You let unforgiveness come into your heart and creep in, and it began to ruin your walk with Christ.

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It'll begin to affect your spiritual life. It begins to affect the way we talk to each other. It begins to affect how we operate within the kingdom. Oh, I don't want to work with that ministry. They're this and that. Well, I'll just continue to give my money here, and I won't touch them. The Bible says you've got to love them, but you ain't got to like them. I mean, we can come up... With a thousand excuses, guys, of how to do things. But I'm going to tell you what the Word of God says. That where He is... His Spirit is at. There should be a flow of the Spirit where we should feel free to hold each other accountable and say, "Brother," I love you so much.

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But I'm sorry, that is not God's will in your life. I'm sorry, that is not characteristic of somebody that follows Jesus. And be open and love each other, guys. Is it possible to allow unforgiveness and wrath and bitterness to come into our lives as believers? Just being real. Guess I'm the only one, guys. Yes, we can allow it to creep into our lives, and it affects everything, okay? I'm going to tell you something. We are never more like Jesus.

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I asked you at the beginning of this sermon, who wants to be like Jesus? Everybody raised their hand. We are never more like Jesus than when we forgive. If somebody was to ask you, what does it mean to follow Jesus or to be like Jesus? Somebody doesn't know, that doesn't have a biblical foundation or a Christian foundation; your response should always be that. Be like, dude, I can tell you what Jesus looks like. Following Jesus, it means that you forgive. That easy. It's just the mentality that I'm going to forgive before my emotions catch up and convince me to do otherwise.

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Amen? Right? Because what will our emotions do? What will our flesh do in the moment that somebody says something rash or something aggressive and offends you? What are your emotions going to tell you? Be like, man, girl, I don't even need to talk to that girl. I don't even need... My boy, don't get close to me, man. You're going to catch these hands. I mean, I don't know. What is a flesh way of modern-day contemporary society? I don't know. But I'm just telling you, your flesh is going to attempt to convince you of everything else but forgiveness.

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And then what do you do? Well, I'm still going to go to church. She ain't going to stop me from going to church. That's my church. Well, I can stay away from them. I can stay away from her. Or when I go to Walmart, I'm going to completely ignore her. Guys, that's not what forgiveness looks like. Forgiveness looks like this: I forgive even though you have not asked me for forgiveness. Okay? Christ's forgiveness in our old life looks like this, okay?

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Christ said this. I'm going to get up here because that's little man syndrome, and I want to be seen. I'm struggling, guys. I struggle with pride. One of these days when I go to heaven—and it's a question; I know you're not supposed to question God, but I always ask God, sometimes secretly, I have in the past, like, Father, in my glorified body, will I be taller? I mean, it's just a question. The Bible says that we will be made perfect in heaven. So I don't want to be 6'9", where I stand out above everybody in heaven.

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I want to be just above average. Anyways, guys. The Bible says that yet while I was a sinner, He loved me. While I was a sinner, Christ loved me. He didn't say, I'm going to wait for Mitch to get it all together. And when he comes to the foot of the cross, good and ready to follow me, I am going to love him and show my prevenient grace. No, that's not who God is. Why is it, the master of the universe, the creator of this macrocosm out here, if He can do that and love me while I'm a sinner, why is it that, in turn, us as human beings think that our worst, most unworthy opponent deserves less?

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You are called to love, guys. Those people that have hurt you, that have caused resentment and bitterness and anger and all that hatred to creep up into your life, you are called to forgive these people and love on them way before they ever ask for forgiveness and say, hey man, I know I did this. No. We forgive right away because we love Jesus, and we want to be like Jesus. You ever wake up because you've missed the mark so bad, and you wake up and say, Father, I can never be like You.

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Everything that I do is contrary to who You are. Why do I have anger in my heart? Why is it that it's so hard for me to love people? Father, I'll never be like You. Those are lies from the enemy, guys. You can do it because you know the love that God has shown you, and then you reciprocate that love. Say, I don't have to live in condemnation. I don't have to live in darkness. I don't have to live in unforgiveness and resentment and bitterness toward my fellow brother or my sister.

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Or sometimes, guys, is it possible that we just expect so much out of an unbeliever? Sometimes we just expect that unbelievers are going to love on us and be compassionate and unconditionally kind and loving and graceful, and they don't even know Jesus, and you're expecting this out of them. When we walk in the flesh, guys, we're going to do flesh things. When I walk in the Spirit, I'm going to be powerful, authoritative, happy-go-lucky, sold out to Jesus.

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And when I walk in the flesh, I want to wring the lady's neck that flipped me the one eye. Hello. Okay? We need to starve our flesh and feed the Spirit. Amen. How about we just wake up every day and say, Father, I starve this flesh. This flesh doesn't tell me what to give it, the desires of my flesh. Father, I want to be so in tune with You that when I walk into Walmart, the atmosphere has changed because the Holy Spirit just walked in. Father, I want to be so connected to You that when I walk in the midst of chaos, peace ensues because I'm there.

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Come on. Guys, we can have this kind of power. But we can render ourselves ineffective and unproductive within the church, giving our tithes and our offerings and connected to a ministry somewhere with a deep root of bitterness within us. I want you to imagine just for a quick second. I hope I don't fall. Every speaker and every singer has always fallen. I think I've seen somebody mention the other day they fell, but if I fall, don't laugh. Guys, I want you to picture a beautiful tree in your yard. I mean, this tree is just maybe 40, 50 years old, just super healthy. Let's just say that it's a maple.

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Autumn, you know those maple trees that, during the autumn, they turn yellow and orange? I mean, just beautiful colors, right? I want you to imagine this tree. Now, on the surface, this tree looks amazing; its leaves and every branch are flourishing, they're thriving. Your landscaper goes and cuts these sucker roots and trims it and prunes it, and it just looks amazing. But imagine that this tree, unbeknownst to you, has a diseased root way down in there, and then in a couple of years, unbeknownst to you, it's going to start to wither away.

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And sure enough, in about a year, the bark begins to look weird. The branches begin to discolor, and the leaves begin to turn colors, and the tree... Is dying. And then one day, sure enough, a year and a half, two years later, the tree's dead. And it falls over, and it's dead. That is the way resentment, unforgiveness, and grudges work—toward your family, toward the church that you used to visit, toward a pastor. Is it possible that a pastor would offend you guys? Is it possible that you could be offended by a pastor?

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Yes. We are not impervious. To adversarial attacks. Guys, we're not impervious to Satan's attacks in our own lives. We're human beings. We are all susceptible to giving room to the devil when he attacks us. We have that choice. Either I'm going to be free, or I'm going to be bound. Maybe it's an old church that has hurt you. Maybe it's somebody within your family. Oftentimes, I think it is our families that hurt us more than anybody.

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Come on. Sometimes it's a pastor. Sometimes it's just somebody that said a wayward word, and they're living their life like nothing ever happened. They've already forgotten about it. And guess what? You're in that prison because you're holding that unforgiveness, that resentment within you. It says, "Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ, God forgave you." So it affects our spiritual walk, guys.

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Unforgiveness toward your loved one, toward your co-worker, toward somebody that fired you, that had no right to do so, to somebody that mentioned and said lies about you, that tainted your image and destroyed your character. Come on. I'm being real. I'm not the only one that's been through this. A lot of us have. For if you forgive each other, people... For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. It's a really good illustration, guys. I want you to picture for a minute that I am cloaked, that I'm covered in this big jacket, and it's called unforgiveness, okay?

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It's all around me. On top of me, I'm wearing unforgiveness. I've got a grudge. I've got resentment, and it's grown into bitterness in my life. Now, I'm here to tell you. I'm here to speak truth to you, not lies. Everything that you're asking the Father for, He's putting it on the shelf. Why? Because your unforgiveness is stopping your showers of blessings. Your unforgiveness is not allowing God to rain and shower His love and compassion and His blessings on you and your family and everything that you ask for.

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Why? Because no matter where He tries to get a hold of you, there's unforgiveness between you and God. It's like, man, I really want to help that guy. I really want to do this thing for him. The Bible says it clear in the verse. He said, unless you forgive other people, He is not going to forgive you. How many of you want to see your family transformed? How many of you are just praying for God to do stuff in your life? And you're desperate. I see all your hands, guys. I'm going to tell you, last year, about a year and a half ago, I had a breakthrough in my family, okay?

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I was praying for this thing, and little did I know that I was holding some resentment about something in my life, of my past. And I hated these persons for it, okay? I hated them. I had this resentment, this anger, and I had already released it several times, and it just crept back into my life. And then I realized, I said, Father, I am going to let go of this, and I'm never going to not... Forgive them again. It's a recurring thing. It was like a recurring thing that just kept creeping into my life. But when I made up my mind that I was going to forgive and never bring that hatred and that malice and that resentment and that anger, that unforgiveness, back in, guess what?

00:45:04 - 00:45:35

And this is all God's honest truth. When I gave that to the Lord, I saw God perform miracles in my family. I'm just telling you, if you want to see a mighty move of God in your life. Search your life. Search your heart. Search your mind. And say, Father, if there's any impurity in me, if there's anything that I haven't forgiven, bring it to my remembrance because I want to be free. You want to see miracles in your life? You want to see God shower you with blessings that you can't count? Guys, He owns cattle in a thousand fields.

00:45:35 - 00:46:11

He knows He's the owner of all the gold and silver in the world. He knows where your blessings are. Might be on a shelf right now because you're carrying that grudge and that resentment toward somebody. Maybe it was an ex, a marriage, a church member, a job, something. Guys, it is not... Up to you not to forgive. He forgives us. We forgive others. It's a two-way street. I can't say I receive His forgiveness, but, Pastor, you have no idea what this person did to me.

00:46:12 - 00:46:42

It's horrible. You don't even want to hear about it. Tell it to God. Give it to Jesus. He sees your hurt. He sees your pain. He sees your pain. You know, I play guitar, and I've been playing since I was 12 or 13, and I just play kind of on the surface. I don't play like Jimi Hendrix or John Mayer. And I know this is probably a corny, tacky illustration, but I want to share it with you guys.

00:46:44 - 00:47:22

Try as I might, I cannot play the guitar like Jimi Hendrix, rated in the top five guitar players who ever lived, okay? Just amazing. The things that he did, people still do them today, okay? Just amazing, phenomenal. If somebody, no matter how much I would want to try or just attempt to play guitar like Jimi Hendrix, I could not play the guitar like Jimi Hendrix. I just couldn't. I mean, it's just, it's not who I am. I'm not capable. But if somebody told me, Mitch, Jimi Hendrix is going to come live inside of you and you're going to receive all his capabilities and you're going to be able to do everything he did, I'd be like, dude, say less.

00:47:22 - 00:47:57

Give me a guitar. You and me, out of our own will and out of our own strength, do not have what it takes to forgive that person that hurt you. But if I told you that Christ could come inside and live in you and give you His Spirit, guys, you are more than capable of saying, this hurt will not bother me one more day. I have the power to forgive and to release myself from this hurt. You can't do it out of your own strength, guys, but you can do it through the power that Jesus has given you.

00:47:57 - 00:48:30

He lives within you right now. Unforgiveness affects our relationships, it affects our emotions, and it affects our spiritual life. When we forgive, we experience the peace that passes all understanding. We break the chains of bitterness.

00:48:30 - 00:49:10

We make room for God to heal our hearts. And this is the main thing: that our witness to others becomes stronger. It just does. How are you going to tell others about God's forgiveness if you don't forgive? I mean, it's just impossible, guys. There's a song that has always been near and dear to my heart. Some of you folks might remember it. I think "When He Was on the Cross," or the lyrics to the song, say, "I'm not on an ego trip."

00:49:12 - 00:49:45

I'm nothing on my own. I've made mistakes and often failed, just common flesh and bone. Okay? And the song goes into this medley, into this chorus, and it reads this way. It says, when He was on the cross, I was on His mind. And if that don't get you, I don't know what will. When He was on the cross, you were on His mind. He knew we'd betray Him.

00:49:45 - 00:50:19

He knew we wouldn't do things right. He knew we would probably often just cop out and not be soldiers, even though we enlisted in His army. He knew all of this, yet I was on His mind. Scott, you were on His mind. When He was on the cross, you were on His mind. Guys, I want to encourage you this morning. To release any unforgiveness in your life, to break the chains of bitterness that have been binding you.

00:50:19 - 00:50:52

There's no reason why you should walk out of this place the same person that you came. Forgiveness is not about denying pain. It's about trusting God with justice. Letting go of grudges brings freedom that resentment never can. The same grace that saved us enables us to forgive others. I want to ask you again before we close, guys. Who wants to be like Jesus?

00:50:54 - 00:51:35

Come on. Don't believe the lies of Satan. You are like Jesus. And this is the way you're going to prove it to Satan today. I forgive because we are never more like Christ than when we forgive. We're never more like Christ than when we forgive. Ethan, why don't you play something in the background? Guys, I'm going to make an altar call real quick. And if you feel it in your heart today that you want to be prayed over and you want to release this resentment, this unforgiveness that has been binding you, that keeps you up at night, that you seem like you just can't get over it.

00:51:37 - 00:52:11

And you believe that you can be freed from that today. In the name of Jesus, I'm going to ask you to walk up here. And we're going to have Gina and I, we're going to pray over you. And Pastor Aaron is going to come up as well. Guys, in the name of Jesus, okay? If you want to walk out of this place a free person and be connected to Christ more than you ever have, but more than that, if you want to see God show up and show up in your life and do things that you never thought were possible, release that unforgiveness right now.

00:52:11 - 00:52:44

Come up here. I'm going to say a prayer for you. Those chains are going to be broken in the name of Jesus. Come on. Guys, believe for it. If you want to see God in your life like you never have before, let it go right now.

00:52:44 - 00:53:21

Be a different person in the name of Jesus. Leave behind your regrets and mistakes. Come today, there's no reason to wait. Jesus is calling. Bring your sorrows and trade them for joy. From the ashes, a new life is born. Jesus is calling.

00:53:23 - 00:53:57

Oh, come to the altar. The Father's arms are open wide. Forgiveness was bought with the precious blood of Jesus Christ. Oh, come to the altar. The Father's arms are open wide.

00:53:57 - 00:54:31

With the precious blood of Jesus Christ. Oh, what a Savior, what a Savior, what a Savior. Isn't He wonderful? Sing hallelujah.

00:54:32 - 00:55:12

Christ is risen. Bow down before Him. For He is Lord of all. Sing alleluia, Christ is risen. Oh, what a Savior, isn't He wonderful? Sing alleluia.

00:55:13 - 00:55:45

Father, for those that have not come forward, Father, but they need to be released of this unforgiveness in their lives. Father, I just say a prayer over our church, over all those here today. Lord, if there's a bitter root of resentment within somebody's life, by the power that You have given us through Your Son, Jesus Christ, and the blood shed for us, Father, in that authority, we speak that those chains will be broken right now. Never to be brought up again, never to be bothered by it again.

00:55:47 - 00:56:20

Father, we trust that You're the only one that can do this. We speak by authority. Father, we speak by Your authority. Be released from it in the name of Jesus. Was bought with the precious blood.

00:56:55 - 00:57:46

You know, Satan wants us to be bound. Satan doesn't want us to be free. We can be imprisoned in church, guys. Just release it. And if you believe this, I want you to go out today, throughout the rest of the week, and release. As the Spirit is bringing to attention something maybe that you haven't forgiven in your past, I want you to begin to release it, every bit of it. If you remember something, I want you to release it and be free in the name of Jesus. You are loved. You are seen. You are known. You are forgiven. Now go and do likewise. Y'all have an amazing...