Friendship In Napa Worship Service! August 9, 2026 | 10:00am
In this segment of the Friendship Valeo worship service, Pastor Justin R. Lester delivers a passionate sermon that moves from a critique of social‑media comparison to a call for internal spiritual transformation. He urges the congregation to mute accounts that steal their peace, break the habit of scrolling, and replace it with new reflexes such as walks, naps, and prayer. Lester introduces the concept of “receipts” – concrete testimonies of God’s faithfulness that believers should recall and share. He outlines two core principles: stop the comparison scroll and name what God has produced in you. The message is interwoven with repeated affirmations of progress, stronger boundaries, and deeper peace. The service also includes practical announcements (small‑group sign‑ups, workout‑during‑worship, kids‑run service, upcoming Bible study series, and a baptism invitation for a new member, Sister Elizabeth). The pastor highlights local Black‑owned businesses, introduces a new media team member (Duke), and encourages the congregation to support the Napa community. Throughout, the tone is energetic, exhortative, and celebratory, with the congregation responding with chants, “Amen,” “Hallelujah,” and personal testimonies of growth.
Chapters
Yeah, yeah, so easy to sing it if you know it. Say, the Jesus in me loves the Jesus in you, and when the Jesus in me Love the Jesus in you.
It's so easy, so easy.
Whoa, so easy. Yeah, so easy to love. Another simple chorus is: When I love the Lord. And you love the Lord. Do I love the Lord? And you love the Lord. It's so easy. Oh, so easy. Hey, so easy. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Praise team, come at this time. All right, sing it with me, congregation. Bring it down, man. The Jesus in me loves the Jesus in you. The Jesus in me loves the Jesus in you.
It's so easy.
It's so easy.
Oh, so easy.
So easy to love.
Back to the top.
Come on, tenors, hold down the melody. Tenors, melody. The Jesus in me, Jesus in me, love the Jesus in you.
Jesus in me, love the Jesus in you. So easy.
Sing it with me.
Say, hey, yeah, yeah, yeah. So easy.
Say, so easy.
So easy.
Do it again, do it again. So easy, so easy, so easy.
Take it up, y'all. Everybody up, say it. Say so, so easy.
Say so easy, so easy.
It's easy to love when you have the love of Christ on the inside.
So easy, so easy to love.
Whoa, so easy to love.
And if your love for this world God bless you, Sister Bridget.
Take it higher.
Praise the Lord, everybody! Praise the Lord, everybody! This is the day that the Lord has made, and we shall rejoice and be glad in it. Come on, put those blessed hands together and let's give him a rodeo praise! Hallelujah! Come on, come on! Hey, everybody clap those hands! Here we go. There is a sound, a sound from heaven that changes everything.
I am free and no fear is holding me back.
Nothing can stop my praise. Oh, we were made for freedom. Jesus has redeemed us from dread. Oh, sing it out together. Freedom reigns forever and ever. Let freedom fill the room.
Whoo!
It's all right if you then dance a little bit. He's been too good. Come on, say, let freedom fill the room. Let freedom fill the room.
Oh, oh!
Come on, we gonna take it back to the top. Come on, say, "Hey, there is a sound. There is a sound. A sound from heaven. A sound from heaven. That what?
That changes everything.
Oh, I am free. I am free. Fear is holding me. Fear is holding me. Nothing can stop my praise. Nothing can stop my praise." Come on, say, "Oh, we were made for freedom. We were made for freedom. Yeah, Jesus has redeemed us." Oh!
Oh! Oh!
Freedom fill the room.
Oh! Oh! Oh!
Come on, one more time to the top. Say, "There is a sound. There is a sound. A sound from heaven. A sound from heaven that changes everything." Yes, I am free. I am free. Miracle in me. Miracle in me. Nothing can stop. Nothing can stop my praise. Hey, come on! Oh, we were made for freedom. Freedom has redeemed us, my friend. Come on. Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh. Sing it out together. We are friends forever. We are friends forever. Let freedom fill the room.
Freedom fill the room.
You've been too good. Yes, you have. Say, let freedom fill the room.
Let freedom fill the room. Oh, oh, oh, oh.
I'm free. I am free. Oh yes, I am. Praise the Lord. I'm free. Say, I am free. I am free. Praise the Lord.
I'm free. Praise the Lord.
Come on, say right now.
I am free.
Say, I am free. I am free.
Praise the Lord.
I'm free.
Praise the Lord.
Let freedom fill the room. Let freedom fill the room. I am free. Shout it out. Say praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. I'm free. I'm no longer bound.
No longer bound.
No more chains holding me.
No more chains holding me.
My soul is blessed. My soul is blessed. Hallelujah. It's a blessing. It's a blessing. Come on, say praise the Lord.
Praise the Lord.
Say praise the Lord.
Praise the Lord.
Say praise the Lord.
Praise the Lord.
He's been too good, I can't tell it all.
Praise the Lord.
He set me free, yes he did.
Praise the Lord.
You've been too good, you've been too good to me.
Praise the Lord.
You've been too good, you've been too good to me.
Praise the Lord.
Say praise the Lord.
Praise the Lord. Take it up.
Say praise the Lord.
Praise the Lord.
I can't sit down on Praise the Lord.
Praise the Lord. You woke me up this morning. I gotta praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. You've been too kind. You've been too good to me. Praise the Lord.
You've been too kind.
You've been too good to me. Praise the Lord.
I got a reason to give you glory.
Praise the Lord.
I got a reason to give you praise.
Praise the Lord.
Say praise the Lord.
Praise the Lord.
Say praise the Lord.
Come on, clap. Lift those hands!
Hallelujah! We celebrate you, Lord! We lift our hands in the sanctuary! We stomp our feet in the sanctuary!
Come on! Hallelujah!
Put those hands together! Say praise the Lord.
Praise the Lord. You've been too good.
You've been too good to me.
Praise the Lord.
Say praise the Lord.
Praise the Lord. I got a reason to shout for joy. Praise the Lord.
Say praise the Lord.
Praise the Lord. Hallelujah.
Hallelujah. I'm free. Hallelujah. If you're free all tonight, say hallelujah. Hallelujah!
Hallelujah!
We bless your name, oh God. Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Somebody say, bless the Lord. I'm free. And because we're free, let's go ahead and praise God the way we know how. Whether it's your dancing, whether it's your waving to God, or whether it's your cry out. Go ahead and praise him. Come on and fill this place with praise. We bless your name. We honor you. Come on and bless him. Come on and bless him with the fruit of your lips. God, you're everything to me. Bless the Lord, all my soul.
Bless the Lord, O my soul.
Bless the Lord, O my soul.
Bless the Lord, O my soul.
Bless the Lord, O my soul. Come on and bless Him. God, You're worthy. Bless the Lord, O my soul.
Bless the Lord, O my soul. Sing.
Everything within me. Everything within me. And all that is within me.
All that is within me.
I will bless the Lord. Come on, and your soul says yes.
I will bless the Lord.
I will bless the Lord.
I will bless the Lord.
He's worthy. He's worthy.
Yes, he is. He's worthy. He's worthy.
He's worthy. Hallelujah, God! He's worthy. He's worthy. Bless the Lord, O my soul. Come on, at the root of your lips, bless Him. Bless the Lord, O my soul. Bless the Lord, O my soul. Everything within me, I give it back to You, God. And all that is within me, yeah.
All that is within me.
Bless his holy name. Come on and bless the Savior. Bless his holy name. Bless his holy name. I will bless the Lord. I will bless the Lord. He's worthy. Yeah, he's worthy. He's worthy. He's worthy. He's worthy. Any worthy? He's worthy.
He's worthy.
He's worthy of the name of praise. He's worthy. Go on and tell him, God, you are worthy. He's worthy. He's worthy.
He's worthy.
He's worthy. He's worthy. He's worthy. He's worthy. He's worthy. Hallelujah!
Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
He's worthy. He's worthy. He's worthy. Yes, he is. He's worthy. He's worthy. Hallelujah!
Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
Hallelujah! He's worthy. He's worthy.
He's worthy.
He's worthy. He's worthy. He's worthy. Hallelujah!
Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
He's worthy.
He's worthy. He's worthy. He's worthy.
He's worthy. He's worthy. Hallelujah, hallelujah. Come on and bless His name. Jesus, You're worthy of the praise. You've already done so much. You've done so much for me, God. I can't count the ways because You've been so good. You've been so great. You've been excellent. You've been a worthy Father. Hey! He's worthy. He's worthy. He's worthy.
He's worthy. He's worthy.
Hallelujah, hallelujah! He's righteous, he's righteous, he's righteous, he's righteous, he's righteous! Hallelujah, hallelujah! Hallelujah, hallelujah! Hallelujah, hallelujah!
Hallelujah, hallelujah!
Let your hallelujah reign! Hallelujah, hallelujah! Hallelujah, hallelujah! Hallelujah, hallelujah!
Hallelujah, hallelujah!
Hallelujah, hallelujah! Hallelujah, hallelujah! He's faithful, he's faithful, ain't he faithful?
Hallelujah, hallelujah!
You're faithful. He's faithful. He's faithful. Hallelujah!
Hallelujah!
Yeah, He's holy. He's holy. You are holy God. Hallelujah!
Hallelujah!
Hallelujah!
Hallelujah!
Thank you for being God. Thank you for being Almighty. Thank you for being my Father.
Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Come on and praise Him. Hallelujah! Hallelujah! For all that you've done, for all that you are. Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! He's holy, and he's holy, and he's holy. Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
He's holy, omnipotent, almighty.
Hallelujah!
Hallelujah!
Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah for your love!
Hallelujah for your grace! Hallelujah for your mercy! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
Now this is your opportunity to dance before the Lord.
Give you all the praise and the worship and the glory, Lord. Come on. You got the space.
Come on, come on and dance before the King. When we get to heaven, everything will be hallelujah and amen.
One more time.
He's holy, he's holy, he's holy, he's holy, he's holy, he's holy. Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah.
He's right He's righteous. Omniscient.
Omniscient. And worthy.
And worthy.
Hallelujah, hallelujah.
Hallelujah, hallelujah.
Don't let it get quiet in here. Let's fill the whole Napa with who our God is. God, you are great. God, you are merciful. God, you didn't have to do it, but you did.
We bless your name.
Yeah. We bless your name. Yeah. Come on, where are my praises at? All my praises! You can join in on this, and we gonna say this like this: We give you praise! We give you praise! We give you praise!
We give you praise!
We give you praise!
We give you praise!
We give you praise! We give you praise! Come on, we give you praise! We give you praise. We give you praise. We give you praise. We give you praise. We give you praise, praise, praise. We give you praise, praise, praise. We give you praise, praise, praise.
We give you praise, praise, praise.
We give you praise, praise, praise.
We give you praise, praise, praise.
We give you praise. We give you praise. We give you praise. We give you praise. We give you praise. We give you praise. Come on and do it with us. We give you praise, praise, praise. We give you praise, praise, praise.
We give you praise, praise, praise.
We give you praise, praise, praise. We give you praise, praise, praise.
In the midnight hour when no one's around, we give you praise.
You're deserving of the glory, God. You're deserving of the praise. You died on the cross for my sins. You shed your blood just for me, little old me. We give you praise. We give you praise.
We give you praise.
We give you praise.
We give you praise.
Come on and bless the Lord. Bless the Lord. If you're gonna sing it, you gotta believe it.
Come on.
I will bless the Lord. I will bless the Lord at all times. His praise shall continually be in my mouth every day of my life. Every day of my life, God, is dedicated to you.
Praise the name.
Praise the Lord, everybody! Praise the Lord, everybody! Hallelujah!
They just sang, we give him praise.
Bless the Lord, Oh my soul and all that is within me bless his holy name. So I'm going to encourage each and every one of you right now: stand to your feet, everybody. Stand to your feet, everybody. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus.
Yes!
This is the day that the Lord has made. We choose to rejoice. We choose to be glad. Oh, magnify the Lord with me, not for me, but with me.
Let us exalt his name together, for the Lord is good, the Lord is merciful, the Lord is kind, the Lord loves us, the Lord is a forgiving God.
And for that, just take a moment and give God your best praise. If you don't know how, put your hands together. If you don't know how, say, thank you, Jesus. If you don't know how, leap for joy. Somebody wish they had a leg to leap with.
Somebody wish they had hands to clap.
Somebody wish they had a voice to say, thank you, Jesus.
We made it, y'all.
And guess what? God is good.
Amen.
I said God is good.
Amen.
Now, if I said the Raiders won, the Warriors won, the 49ers won, y'all would be screaming and hollering. But the one who made a way for you is the one that I'm talking about. I said God God is good!
God is good!
Put your hands together for Jesus! This might be your last time. You don't know. We have roofs over our heads. We have clothing. We have options. We have jobs. We have vehicles. Not just a vehicle. We have vehicles. We have multiple streams of income. We have family. We have friends. Somebody doesn't have any of that, and so that's why I say take a moment, y'all. Just take a moment and forget about the person that's sitting next to you. Take a moment and give God a hallelujah. Give God a thank you, Jesus. Give God a praise. Thank you for waking me up this morning. Thank you for clothing me in my right mind. Thank you for making a way out of no way. Thank you for being my provider.
Thank you for being everything that I need and the more.
Thank you for giving me another chance to get it right. Welcome, welcome, welcome, welcome, welcome to Friendship Valeo in the Vines today.
Hallelujah!
We're worshiping in the vines today.
Hallelujah!
Those of you who are visiting with us, raise your hands as everybody's standing.
Amen!
Make some noise! Welcome to this place. We do not take it for granted that you chose this place to worship. We pray that something is said or done or today that will be life-changing for you. We call this Friendship Valeo the Holy Ghost headquarters, where healing, peace, deliverance, joy, everything that you need is in the room. You may have left your home one way, but we promise you when you We believe you will leave here changed.
Amen.
Make some noise for our visitors. At the end of service, we have a gift for you at the welcome table. Amen. It's a token of love. So everybody, guess what? It's greet your neighbors time. Everybody look at your neighbor and say, I'm excited.
I'm excited.
To worship with you on today, where our pastor is none other than the very Reverend Dr. Justin R. Lester. And Lady Courtney Lester and Sir Cam Lester. We are that place where everybody's welcome. Nobody is perfect, but anything is possible. Greet your loved ones and tell them we're gonna have a good time in Jesus today.
Nobody's perfect, anything is possible. This is a place where everybody's welcome. Nobody's perfect, anything is possible. This is a place where everybody's welcome. Nobody's perfect, anything is possible. This is a place where everybody's welcome.
Nobody's perfect. Anything's possible.
This is a place where everybody's welcome.
Nobody's perfect. Anything's possible. You're in the right place.
Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey. You're in the right place.
You're in the right place. Amen.
As you take your seats, as you take your seats, look at somebody around you, tell them, I'm glad you're alive.
Amen.
If you're happy in the Lord, put those blessed hands together all over the building. This is the day the Lord has made, and we make the choice to rejoice. We make the choice to be glad in it. I'm so grateful you guys are here with us. Can I use one of the handhelds? Can I use one of the handhelds, please? Please wear it.
Awesome. Awesome.
It's good to see all of you here with us today up in Napa. I'm so glad you're here. If you're happy in the Lord, put those blessed hands together.
Amen.
Of all the places you could be, we're glad. To all of our guests and visitors today, we're so glad you're here with us this morning to worship God in spirit and in truth, and we're We're grateful for you. Friendship, give it up for all of our guests here this morning with us. Watching online, we're so grateful for you too. Of all the places you could have clicked to, you tuned in with us today as well. And it's nice to have one service. Some of you have not met people from 9 o'clock, some of you from 9 o'clock have not met people from 11 o'clock. And so I pray you get a chance today to greet and engage with one another as you exit out of worship today. There's a number of amazing businesses, one of which is an awesome one called Kindled and Grounded in Napa. And so what I would love for you to do after worship is over is to go support some businesses in the area. There's Little Sister's Goodie that has amazing soul food. There's Stateline Smokehouse, which is— he's an amazing guy, black-owned barbecue joint in Napa. We have a discount for all the friendship members at Kindled and Grounded. You get 15% off when you come if you say friendship. So if you want to get coffee and see a robot make it for you, we would love to see you there as well. There's a number of businesses in Napa that before you leave and go back, please take some time and have some fun up here. And I like doing this every once in a while to come up here and have some fun too. A couple things I want to emphasize— our announcements will play, but next Sunday— everybody say next Sunday—
Next Sunday.
Is going to be our workout and health emphasis Sunday. So we're going to work out during praise and worship. Now, praise and worship is already a workout. Amen. And, uh, but we're gonna really work out and have it led workout on next Sunday. And then I'm also trying to convince— so help me convince Linda Bostic— we're going to do live cooking on stage as well as we go in.
Amen.
As we go into the fall, what I want to do in the fall is be intentional about what we eat and how we eat. And so I want us to make sure we have hearty meals, but I want to do it in a healthy way. Amen, somebody.
Amen.
And so in this, uh, Linda— so Linda and I will get up at 11 and do that. So we'll do that at both services. I want to make you aware of one thing. I'm being very protective of our space. Last week, I want to celebrate this now publicly because I haven't said it with you all. Last Monday, we were on the front page of the New York Times.
Amen. Wasn't that awesome?
Amen.
And what I loved was if you open the fold, the centerfold, we had the entire spread and it was baptism and it was joy. Amen, somebody.
Amen.
And I had so many friends reach out to me that said, I'm so glad the church is on the front page of the paper for a good thing. Amen.
Amen.
And so thank you all so much. So here's the thing I'm doing. So I've been reached out by a number of people, and I want to share with you all, I'm trying to protect our space as much as possible. And so what I'm doing is I'm only letting— this sounds so bougie— but I'm only letting the major news networks in one time. And so on next Sunday, on Saturday, I have some interviews, and those of you who want to talk, we'll approach some of you. But CNN, Bloomberg, and some European news network is going to stop in to interview me. There's a couple people will ask to talk about what we're doing with AI, and that'll be the last time we have a bunch of news. I want to protect our space. I also think what we're doing needs to be seen. Amen, somebody. I don't think there's a lot of churches like Friendship. And so do me a favor for next Sunday. Somebody say, next Sunday.
Next Sunday.
Invite someone to church with you and let your friends know we need them in church on Sunday, 'cause I don't wanna get on CNN and they see empty seats. Amen, somebody.
Amen.
And so please come on out. We wanna see— so Bloomberg will be here. They're gonna interview us in between services. CNN will interview at the end. And then this European news network will do it the day before, and that'll be the end of that news cycle. I wanna protect our worship environment. I also wanna show people that you can have church in some radical, awesome ways. So I can't wait to see you guys there. Bloomberg was here last week. Thank you for those of you who interviewed during Theo Tech. Thank you for every volunteer who volunteered during Theo Tech. That was awesome. That was awesome. That was awesome. And, uh, so go do something crazy. Thank you to Deacon Willie Mitchell for everything he did for our kids and these drones. Amen.
Amen.
And to Steve Smedley for teaching on sound and technology. Steve left out with like 2 invites to go someplace. I said, now Steve still goes to Friendship, but, uh, y'all can And we pay him on the road, too. Amen, somebody! And so Steve is an amazing gift, and I'm grateful that we had a chance for people to see that he's more than what's behind the soundboard. Amen, somebody! Uh, so it was awesome to see, and all of you who volunteered and engaged, thank you so very much. You came here for worship, you came here for church, and so one of the things we do, one of the ways we worship, is through our giving. And so it's giving time in the house of our God.
Amen!
It's giving time in the house of our God. You can give in a myriad of ways. You can give on our website, you can give on, um, which one? Our website. You can text to give, um, you can scan the QR code if you wish. Those of you online can do the very same thing. Your generosity allows us to be the church that does create unforgettable experiences for people who are far from God. And so your giving allows that to happen. So when you give, we're able to be the church that God called us to be. We have a tither's covenant. We say here at Friendship, our tither's covenant binds us in contract with God's, God's word, believing that when we do what God says, God's going to do what he says. Would you stand with us all over the building and let's say our Titheless Covenant together as we get ready to give liberally unto the Lord this morning? Someone say, I'm a giver. I'm a giver. I'm a cheerful giver.
I'm a cheerful giver.
My tithe is a catalyst.
My tithe is a catalyst.
It will transform communities.
It will transform communities.
I hold wild mercy.
I hold wild mercy.
In my hands. In my hands. It will show love.
It will show love.
Generously, it will heal people. Immediately, it will transform Vallejo. Prophetically, I anticipate with awe how God will blow my mind with abundant harvest. I am ready right now to give, to trust, and to receive in Jesus' name.
Amen.
Let me pray over your gifts this morning. Father, we get— thank you for the gift as well as the giver. Use these gifts, do the work you've called us to, and make it easy. We thank you for every person who's trusting you with their finances and their resources. May these be used and stewarded well to build the body of Christ. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Everyone said amen. You may be seated. Our ushers take up our giving. You can give online as well. I do want to acknowledge, as we get ready for our announcements and to sing this morning, that the founder of Ladies in Red, Sister Brenda Knight, is here on her birthday. Where's Sister Brenda? God bless you, God bless you, God bless you. Thanks for being here with us this morning. Let's give, uh, our announcements will play, we'll sing, and then we'll jump into the word of God. I'm glad you're here with us this morning. God bless you.
Welcome to Friendship, the Napa edition. We may be in a different building, but we're the same body of Christ. And to all of our guests, a special welcome to you. You are in a community of Christ-centered people. We are better today because you are here. Please connect with us. You can connect immediately by texting the phrase hello to 707-510-4150, and once you get a message back, show that message to our connection team for a free gift after worship. Small groups start this week. Register today at friendshipvaleo.org/smallgroups. /groups, or just look at the list and show up to the group that interests you. Next Sunday is Workout Sunday. We get fit and worship at the same time right here in service. Come in your favorite workout gear. Friendship water bottles and headbands will be available for purchase. Come ready to move and ready to praise. Lastly, our church picnic is in 3 weeks. weeks, August 30th, right after our 11 o'clock service. Sign up to cook or sign up to play in our games. We love to see you there. Well, that's all that's coming down your street. As you can tell, here at Friendship, we love, heal, serve, and build. If you need to contact the church, please be sure to call 707-648-2005 or email us at Hello at friendshipvalejo.org. You can find all our church information online at our website. Follow us on Facebook, TikTok, and Instagram. Like and subscribe on YouTube. Give someone a hug this week. Now let's jump back into worship.
Hallelujah!
Hallelujah! We come to celebrate his goodness. We're gonna sing testimony. We're gonna sing We're gonna dance. I recommend you get up out of your seats. We're gonna talk about God's goodness, his grace. That is literally why we are gathered this morning, in his name, to celebrate his might, his power, and his grace. You ready, praise team? Right here, say, arise, O God.
Arise, O God.
And take your place.
Take your place, let your kingdom be established.
O Ancient of Days, you are good, and your mercy endureth forever.
Oh, rise, oh rise, oh rise, oh rise. And take your place. We enthrone you with our worship.
We glorify your name.
You are good and your mercy endureth forever. Hallelujah.
Hallelujah. Arise, O God.
Sing it again. Arise, O God.
And take your place.
And take your place.
Lord, we are standing on your promise.
We are standing on your promise.
And the just shall live by faith.
The just shall live by faith.
You are good. You are good.
And your mercy endureth.
And your mercy endureth forever and ever. Hallelujah!
One more. Arise, O God!
Arise, O God!
And take your praise!
And take your praise!
We've come to give you glory! We have come to give you glory!
We've come to give you praise!
We've come to give you praise!
You've been good!
You've been good!
And your mercy endures!
And your mercy endures!
You are good, so good. Say it, say you are good. You are good, so good, so good.
Yeah, in harmony, in harmony, lift it up.
You are good, you are good, so good, so good.
Praise on that, praise on that.
Still good, you are good. So good, real good. Still good, you are good. So good, real good. Still good, you are good. All the time, all the time, you are good, you are good. All the time, all the time, you are good, you are good. All the time, all the time, you are so good. To the right, to the left.
Say, and we won't stop praising.
To your left, to your right. Oh, you've been better to me. You've been better to me than I've been to myself.
Without the music, see, they didn't know how many y'all.
You've been better to me than I've been to myself. You've been better to me than I've been to myself.
And we won't stop praising. And we won't stop praising. And we won't stop praising.
And we won't stop praising. And we won't stop praising. And we won't stop praising.
And we won't stop praising. And we won't stop praising.
And we won't stop praising.
And we won't stop praising you. And we won't stop praising you. Say, you are good. You are good all the time. All the time. Testify, y'all. You are good. Everyone that can testify. You are good all the time. All the time.
You are good.
You are good all the time. All the time. You are good. 3 of them, y'all. He's been good. He's been great.
Lord, you are good.
Lord, you are good. Lord, you are good.
Amen.
If you know God is deserving of all your praise, take a moment, give God the best praise you've got. Come on, God deserves all my praise. His honor is due unto the Lord. So glad you're here with us this morning, and let's dive into the word of God. Are you ready for the word of God this morning? Well, grab your Bibles. Malachi chapter 3. We're going to continue our series in the book of Malachi. We have 3 weeks left in Malachi. We'll be in Malachi 3, verses 13 through 15 today. Next week will be in the first part of Malachi chapter 4, and then on the 4th Sunday, we'll conclude our time in Malachi. But on the 5th Sunday, what I'm going to do is speak about the end times. The ending of the book of Malachi really begins to look forward to Jesus and also begin to project about what the end is going to be. And so on the 4th— 5th Sunday, I'm going to allow you to live chat with me if you want to as we talk about the end. So when is the end coming? Now I want to just spoiler alert you, it's not next week. Amen. And it's not next year. And the Bible says no man knows the hour or the day. And so stop trying to figure it out. But I want to teach us on what it means to understand the end is coming and how to live in such a way to be ready for it. Because if you stay Stay ready, you don't gotta get ready. Amen.
Amen.
And so that's what we're gonna talk about on 5th Sunday, and I'm gonna have some kids up there to help me with that on our Next Gen Sunday. So kids, uh, you guys are rehearsing the 24th and the 27th. The 24th and the 27th, you guys are rehearsing. Amen. And the kids are going to lead worship and do whatever they want during worship, and they'll be the ones that help me with the conversation on the end times as well. All right, grab your Bible, send with me Malachi chapter 3, verses 13 Amen. I pray you've been blessed by this series. It's been fun to preach it and teach it and to study it. I know it's hit some, some areas of our lives that are hard, but last week was the first time the text got practical intentionally, exactly how to do this. And now God begins to undo some things inside of us to sustain what we start building. And this week, this week we're going to see how God begins to undo some things and remind you of what you already have to sustain sustain what God is calling you to build. Malachi chapter 3, verse 13 says these words: Your words have been stout against me, says the Lord. And yet you say, what have we spoken so much against you? You've said it's vain, it's futile to serve God, and what profit is it that we keep his ordinances and that we've walked mournfully before the Lord of hosts? And now we call the proud happy. Yea, they that work wickedness are set up.
That's right.
They that tempt God are even delivered. Let's pray together. God, open our eyes that we might see you, our ears that we might hear you, and break our hearts as we learn to love you. It's in Jesus' name we pray.
Amen. Amen.
You may be seated. Every week we've been wrestling with the question that's in this text, and I want to wrestle with this question this morning. God, is serving you worth it? Is it even worth it? Maybe you've been there in your time with God where you've been seeing people prosper, you've been showing up to church, doing all the things you feel you got to do right, and you begin to ask yourself the question, God, is this Christian thing, is following you, is doing what you tell me to do even worth it? Here's the principle I want to give you today. Here's the entire sermon in one sentence: don't lose yourself for people who've already lost themselves. So good. I'm gonna say it again. Don't lose yourself for people who've already lost themselves. I want to start someplace honest in this text. I think all of us in this room have done something. We've vented, whether that's in your group chat, in the car, in the kitchen when you think everyone's asleep and you think the only thing listening to you is the ceiling. You've vented and you've said things to God. You've said things out loud that you would never say at a testimony service. You said things about God that you dress up on Sunday but then you let out on Tuesday. Some of your best prayers have been venting where you you've cussed God out and hoped that God wasn't listening. Because things in your life may not produce what you wanted them to produce. So oftentimes we come to church and we praise God publicly, but we vent to God and we vent about God privately. And what Malachi does is he names the prayers that we've been keeping quiet. The things that keep you from the future, the things that stop us, are our frustration that we are not effective. Effectively communicating. Because here's what venting does that I don't think we examine too much: venting feels like prayer and honesty. It feels like you're being real, you're processing a season, you're calling it being authentic. And some pieces of that are true, because God can handle your frustration. The Psalms prove that, Lamentations prove that, Job has 37 chapters that God can deal with your frustration. But venting also reveals pieces of your heart. It tells you and it tells God what you actually believe when you have to stop performing. The things you say in the group chat when then your season has gone beyond the time you want it to be, the beliefs you hide underneath yourself, the unedited version of yourself. It's the theology you actually hold when nobody is grading how holy you are. So what comes out in your Frustration. How do you engage when life begins to press your buttons? How do you talk about God when things are pushing you and nobody's looking at you? When you can finally take off all the masks you have to put on to go to work, to go to your to be with your children, to go to PTA meetings, to come to church. When you can finally take all the masks off and you have an honest prayer and time with God, I believe one of the questions we look at God with is saying, "God, I'm doing everything you tell me to do," and yet I look down the street and I see my friends who don't attend worship, who don't— who don't worship, who don't love other people, who don't care about other people. God, it seems that it's better to not follow you than it is to trust you. God, is following you, is serving you, is worshiping you, is trusting you even worth it? Well, Malachi, now as he rounds the corner to the end of chapter 3— last week we got the challenge of what it means, how do we actually return to God? And now as Right. Before they return to God, the people of Israel look out around the horizon and they say, God, fine, we're gonna do this tithing, do this worship thing, we're gonna do this love thing, we're gonna trust you, we're gonna try you, but God, I need to know before I do this, am I gonna be better than the people down the street who seem to be living a better life than me? Because I wanna make sure that if I'm going to do what you tell me to do, it better pay off for me. And here's what I want you to understand. is bigger than a deal you make with a person at a business. God says, I want you in covenant. This isn't a deal. And one of the issues is we treat God like a used car salesman. How much can I get off and still leave with a good product? And God says, I am bigger than CarMax. I'm in covenant with you. Come on, talk to me, somebody. And covenant says it's bigger than what what you see. That's why we have to look at our lives like roots from a tree that's growing. You are not a bunch of weeds with shallow roots. If we're going to be something great, that means there has to be internal growth to see external growth. Roots have to be strong down before the tree begins to come up. And so if you're all in on what God's calling you to do, this sermon, this text is some root work. This sermon is saying that God says, I want to a foundation of who you are. You say you want to return. The first thing you have to do is take your eyes off other people. The problem with so many of us— you can't move forward not because you're looking backwards. You can't move forward because you're looking at everybody else. This final dispute in chapter 3 is when faithful people have been faithful so long they don't feel they have a visible return. And God says, let's check your roots. So let's look at the text. Look at the text. Let's walk through the text. Keep your Bibles open. Let's walk through. There's 3 movements of chapter 3, verses 13 through 15. The first movement of the text is the accusation God's named. That's in verse number 13, the accusation. And movement number 2, verse 14, is the complaint they filed against God. And then verse number 15 is the comparison they made with other people. Let's walk through it. Let's look at the accusation. Look at verse number 13. You have spoken arrogantly against me, says the Lord. But you ask, what have we said against you? God opens this text with an accusation. The community fires back with the same word we've seen constantly throughout the book of Malachi: "Bamech" in the Hebrew. They say, "In what way?" They are feeling genuinely confident and also trying to come across confused because for them, they thought their complaints should be taken like prayers. When really, God is saying, "You are processing something and you're coming." at me the wrong way. You think you're being real when really you're in the wrong. And they had no idea that their venting had become an accusation. And God says, you are not going to accuse me of being outside of my character. So the word God uses here is the word arrogant, but it's not the way that we use the word arrogant and puffed up and boastful. The word arrogant in the Hebrew here is God says, you are being heavy-handed against me. It's the weight of accumulated frustration that's pressing against my character. God says, you are trying to check my character, and you don't have the power to call me out. Because you are sitting here thinking you're being real and you're being honest, but the gap in this text is what I want to address. Because for many of us, we are doing what we think we're doing when we vent, but actually, when you vent consistently, you are tearing yourself apart. The person who keeps saying, I'm being real with God, the person who keeps saying, I'm being honest with God, that God can handle my frustration. God says, I hear you, and what I hear is that you are calling out my character when you can't handle the truth.
Yeah.
Your venting tells God exactly what you believe about him when the lights are off. So what comes out in your prayer time when you're frustrated? How do you respond when life pushes you and people get under your skin? Why do people have access to get under your skin in the first place? But what this does is reveal the theology underneath your theology. Because your stated theology is what you're doing in here. Your verified theology comes out when life pushes your buttons. And when life pushed their buttons, they said, God, when I'm in public, I say you're great, but in private, I'm checking your character. Because let me give you this principle: your frustration is the most accurate map of your heart. That's the accusation they had against God. God, you— we have not— you— we have something against you. We're coming every day against you. So look at verse number 14. This is the complaint they filed against God. So they go to court, they file a complaint against God. Verse 14, they say, God, it is futile to serve you. It's vain to serve you. What do we gain by carrying out your requirements and coming like mourners before the Lord Almighty? I want to break this text down slowly. There's 2 words that carry this entire text. The first one is vain— that it's pointless, it's worthless to serve God. This is the same word we see in the New Testament where it's don't take the Lord your God's name in vain. Israel is now applying that same power, not against the name of God, but against the character and the service of God. They have crossed a line with God that they didn't even know they were standing at because they called it being real. But God says, you've crossed the line now. You are saying it is worthless. There's nothing that comes from following after God. I want you to think about the parent who's been cooking the same meal for kids the Month after month. You've been planning, you've been shopping, you've done all the work. You've gone to the— you've gone to the grocery store with money that you got, your kid did not get. You bought the food, you got home after work, cooked food for your family, and your kid or your husband or your friend or your wife has the nerve to sit down at the table and say it's not enough. This is where you get exhausted because you don't understand all the work that went into you eating this meal, and you got the nerve to complain about what you didn't make or pay for. God says, I made you, and you got the nerve to look at your Creator and say I'm worthless? He says, what you're saying, what does it profit me? God says, you have reduced me to a business decision. Where is my return? As if following God is a transaction. And for many of us, that's what your faith is. It's a transaction. God, if I shout, you better give me a job. God, if I show up, you better give me a relationship. And God says, I am not, like I said earlier, a used car salesman. You are in covenant with me. Stop bartering to get a cheaper deal and be grateful that you got something to purchase in the first place. So this is what he says here. He says, you've been going around watching, so why should we walk around like mourners? Where mourners, whenever somebody died in this community, there were people who were professional mourners. They'd walk around in black. So now what the people of Israel are doing is they're looking out over the horizon, seeing everybody else do things in the world, and so they've decided to wear black clothes because they wanted the attention of other people. Because for so many of us, you don't want God's attention, you want other people's attention. That if somebody were to call you, you stop coming to church because you're not here to seek God. You're here to get the attention of a person, and God says you got the wrong clothes on. See, here's what the text is teaching us here. I want you to see there's 2 questions here. The first question they gain is, God, what do we gain by doing what you say? This question assumes covenant faithfulness should produce a visible return on your timeline, that if you're faithful, God better do it by Tuesday, and you get mad at God when he doesn't do it when you got to pay your bills. So they say, God, you're worthless because you're not showing up on my calendar. Because the problem is they're measuring God as if he's a server at a restaurant. If I place an order, you better give it to me. But God says, I am not a server at a restaurant. Watch this. God says, my timeline is that of a garden. There are seasons, there are seeds, There's a completely different schedule. You don't stand over a seed you plant on Sunday and expect to have a tree on Tuesday. Because progress is progress. The root goes down for the branch grows up. You can't see root work, but you can screw up root work.
What—
and the second question they raise here is, what do we gain by going around like mourners? They've been carrying the emotional weight of faithfulness without visible fruit. They said, we are heavy, we look heavy, we're walking around with our shoulders bent over, we're walking around with— we're walking around with our skin all messed up, we're walking around frustrated, we're walking around complaining, we're walking around cussing, we're walking around with the weight of the world on our shoulders that you don't need to carry. But watch this, you are choosing to carry unnecessary weight because you want attention from other people. So your faithfulness is not for God, God says your faithfulness is for other people. And this is where most of us quit. But this is also what I want to encourage you— the place where a lot of us quit is when you're walking around heavy, you feel like it's pointless to serve God. I've been showing up and doing the work, and God says, but this is the place I do the most work. You never see a building— all these buildings that are being built, you never see a building go up overnight, but you see them spend a year to lay a firm foundation. Because if I'm going to build something big, I've got to do hard groundwork. So what does he do? Look at verse 15. Here's the comparison they made. Here is where their gaze was. Here was the problem. Look at verse 15. But now the arrogant ones are blessed, evildoers are prospering, and even when they test you, God, they get away with it. See, this is where sustained keeping it real, keeping it 100, keeping it sustained venting takes you. You look at other people long enough and you begin to use God's language on unholy people. The language God gave them as the outcome of the covenant to be blessed and favored got transferred to people who have never talked to God. And this is what comparison does. You take the blessing God put on you and you begin to put it on other people who can't even handle or been through what you've been through to handle what God has given you. Because from where Israel is standing, the evidence looks conclusive. Arrogant people are blessed and evildoers are prospering because testing God for them had no visible public consequence. The faithful are wearing mourning clothes and the unfaithful are getting drunk at a party. But here's the conclusion I want you to see in this text. You, you're drawing a conclusion conclusion from incomplete data. They cannot see everything that is written in this text. They don't see everything that God has grown in them, how God called out their love and their worship and their defiled clothing, how they switched the offering, how God is telling them what tithing is, how to return. Because you're looking at arrogant people calling them blessed because you borrowed God's vocabulary for you and gave it to the wrong people. Because that's what comparison does. You take what God called you and give it to somebody else because you don't want your life, you want someone else's. That's the deeper problem. The reason they call the arrogant blessed— because they want what the arrogant have without the work that, that God is calling them to do. You want visible success on a visible timeline, and you've taken the wrong definition and given it to the wrong people. But let me tell you, because you become what you Study. They studied the arrogant long enough; they started to use the arrogance definition for things that God gave them. Venting does something hard to us. Venting reveals the deep parts of our hearts, and that's the gift of this passage. He rebukes what their honesty exposed. This is the measure of faithfulness: as quietly shifting from God's promises to an arrogant person's visible outcomes. Because when you don't see progress in your life, you complain like God doesn't love you. That's human. But the question is, who are you measuring and what are you measuring your progress against? Most people in a long, hard season begin to measure your life against other people's visible success. So you can't celebrate your cousin's business that took off because yours didn't. It's the family at church who looks together from the outside and you got to find every reason to tear them down instead of celebrating what God is doing in their life because you are mad at your season. The profile on your phone whose highlight reel looks like everything you've been praying for because you're consumed with highlights and don't know the story. But here's the thing I want to give you: you don't need to know their story because God is still writing yours. You've been faithful, they appear to be flourishing, and this gap here is whether or Not your faithfulness is producing anything. Because let me give you this principle: comparison is a focus problem dressed up as a God problem. Here's what sustained frustration reveals when you sit with it long enough. It reveals what you actually believe about God's timeline— that if God should have produced your result by now, that God should have changed your frustration by now, that God, because he loves you so much, should be appearing on your schedule. Maybe the reason God is not showing up the way you want God to show up is because you're focused on the wrong lowercase g gods when God is working all around you. You're measuring the glory of God by a business deal instead of measuring the glory of God by his covenants with you. You say you're measuring faithfulness. You say you're measuring the greatness of God when all you're doing is saying, God, if you give me that life, if you give me that opportunity, then you're good to me. And God says, do you want what they have, or do you want what I have for you?
Yeah.
Do you want what they have, or do you want to get comfortable in your own skin? Do you want what they have? Do you want their voice? Do you want their songs? Do you want their marriage? Or do you want to know what love looks like through you, for you? Because I made you and know exactly what you want. What do you value more? Do you want the relationship I have with you, or do you want the highlight reel you see of other people's lives? Venting reveals your heart. So my questions to you is, what are you venting to God about? Where are you keeping it real with God?
What—
who are you comparing your life to? How are you insulting what God made? How are you mismanaging your gift because you want somebody else's? The biggest insult you can give yourself is allowing other people's outcomes to dictate your becoming. You are not great because of who they are or who they aren't. You are great because God is. Come here, come here. Your life is not tied to somebody else's success or somebody else's failure. Your life is tied to a hill called Calvary. Come on, talk to me, somebody. You are great because Jesus stayed on a cross for 6 and a half hours. You are great because he hung his head and stretched him wide. They hung him high and he died on that. You are great because he forgave you on that cross.
Come on, you are great because he took care of every issue you had. You are great because after the resurrection, he gave you the That you have the gift of the Holy Ghost. You are great because you have constant access to the Father.
That you are great because of who God is, not because of what somebody is or isn't in your life. This is the gap I want you to see. So before you compare yourself, before you lose your life for the sake of people who don't even know what your name is, before you lose your mind for people who don't pay your bills, before you lose your mind for a season for people— don't lose yourself for people. Who've already lost themselves. Don't become the arrogant person that you're talking about. That was so good. Don't become the arrogant person you're talking about in the name of Christianity. God names it. So what do we do? How do we break this? How do we stop this? Let me give you 2 principles. Number one, if you're going to stop this, if you're gonna say, God, you are worth it, that God, I don't need to compare myself to other people, here's the first principle I want to give you: stop the comparison scroll. Stop the comparison scroll. You ever get on Instagram like in the morning, or TikTok, and you're in a good mood? Like you get on Instagram, oh, I'm just gonna get on Instagram and look. And by 15 minutes in, you feel like you got to change careers, lose 15 pounds, buy a new house, fix your marriage, start a new podcast, start a new job, take a trip to Greece, take a picture of it, but you got to make sure you get the right angles. You need 3 more outfits, and that's just 17 minutes in and you still in the bed. You talk about, I'm gonna read my Bible. That's the power of comparison. It makes you feel late to a race you never were supposed to be in. I'm talking so good this morning. Comparison has gotten slick because now it doesn't always feel like jealousy. Sometimes comparison feels like research. I'm just looking up a vacation. I'm just checking in on them. I'm just seeing what they're doing. No, here's what you're doing. You are studying other people who are making you suspicious of your calling. That's a lie. Okay, you know the accounts I'm talking about.
You better preach. Uh-huh.
You see their post and immediately your eyes start switching. Okay, you see their posts online and you start doing the math. How are they? How long they been together? How many followers they got? Why do they have more followers than me? I'm cuter than them, right?
Yes!
No, no, no, no, I mean like I lost more weight than them. Like we went to high school together. Why she look better than me? Why he lift more weight than me? How much he got on that weight set? He got 2 plates? I can do that today. I gotta go to the gym. Why? Not because I wanna make my body better, but I wanna put a better picture up. So now you in the comments— oh, I ain't scared of none of y'all— you in the comments scrolling through to see how long before somebody tore them down because they said something you really wanted to say, because you're gathering evidence in some place God never told you to build. So this week, here's what I want you to— here's my, my next step for many of you in the room. I want you to go to the accounts that bother you internally. They're not bad people, but you need to mute them because they're stealing your peace.
Yeah.
Some people are perfectly good people with terrible content for your current season. Okay, this is so good. Some of you mad at me. Some people are perfectly good people, but it's terrible content for your current season. You have to know yourself well enough to admit, every time I see this person, I begin to question what God is doing in my life. Because you cannot— I'm talking good— you cannot keep giving unlimited access to something that disturbs your perspective. And when you feel that reflex, when you feel that hand reaching for the phone, when you feel your thumb's about to go to the app— because some of you don't even think about where your apps are, you already know how many swipes and exactly where it is with your eyes closed, where it is— and before your thumb finds that, go someplace else. Because here's how you break a habit. You break a habit by giving yourself a different reflex. So some of you, hear me very clearly, you don't need a vacation, you need to go for a walk. I'm talking good today. Some of you, you don't need to go to Bali, you don't need to spend $15,000 you don't have on a credit card you won't be able to pay off, you need to take a nap and get off Instagram. Come on, talk to me, somebody. Some of you in the room are so consumed with the people in your life, you can't study the arrogant and call yourself building the kingdom while tearing down other people at the same time. You need a different eye and a new perspective. And for some of you, you don't need a vacation, you need a nap and your Bible open and trusting that the same God that blessed them is the same God that knows your name and will bless Bless you exactly where you are.
Stop reading somebody else's book and asking God to change your plot.
I dare you to say, God, any way you want to bless me, I'm satisfied. Any way you want to heal me, I'm satisfied.
And I don't need somebody— I'm not behind.
I'm where I need to be.
I didn't miss God.
I know exactly where he is.
I didn't lose God. Am I talking to anybody in the building? I don't need to get through somebody else's life to look at what God is doing in my life. That I don't need strangers to have authority over my peace. So you don't need another conference, you don't need another revival, you don't need another prophetic word, you don't need another psychic, you don't need more tarot cards, you don't need more sage. You need to put your phone down and begin to get back in your Bible and be reminded no weapon formed against me is able to prosper. That God— I'm the lender, I'm not the borrower. I'm above and not beneath. That God that loves me died for me. I will steward my temple well, not in comparison, but I'll steward my temple because God is deserving of my energy.
You got to let some voices go quiet long enough for you to find yourself again. Because here's the second principle: if you're gonna break this scroll, if you're gonna say, God, you're worth it, God, serving you is worth it, I got to stop comparing myself to other people. Let me tell you something. In my career, one thing I don't do anymore on Sunday Sundays, and this even killed me this morning because we had a later service. So I, I used to watch other people's services on the way to church so I compare myself. I got to preach better, I got to teach better, I gotta do this. And I started unfollowing other churches and my friends because I wasn't preaching well to my own church because I was trying to beat other people who weren't even watching. And you do the same thing at work, you do the same thing in your home. But maybe the reason we're flourishing, the reason we've got conferences, the reason The New York Times is here. You know why? Justin Lester don't care what you think about my preaching style, because I have people that God has called me to. So I want you to get so comfortable, the hardest battle you're going to fight is the battle to be yourself. All right, second principle. I'm done. If you're gonna do this, I want you to stop the comparison scroll. Serving God is worth it, but you got to stop comparing yourself to other people. And serving God is worth it. Here's what it is. You have to name what God has produced in you.
Wow.
Okay, um, I used to, I used to work for a basketball team at Marquette. I'll never forget, we had this defense called 5. It was a 5 defense. It was 2 up, 2 down, and it was a runner in the middle. And it was the most athletic person who would run from sideline to sideline and stop the ball whenever there was penetration. It was a wonderful defense. We called it 5. It's not a new concept. It's a concept that a whole lot of teams use. Well, we had transfer portal. Transfer portal opened. Somebody transferred in, and they came into practice. They got into practice, and coach called 5. And she looked at coach and said, oh, we ran that at so-and-so school. Coach was like, pause. But you didn't run it here. It's like, hold on, but no, no, no, but it's the same thing. It's a gunner moving about, 2 up, 2 back. It's a gunner moving side, side, sideline. She said, no, no, no, no. You ran it there, but I'm coaching you here.
Here.
So the defense is not what you ran there. Here we call it 5 because we know what we produce because we got a different name on it. All 5 of us are going to win. The issue with so many of us is you're running similar play calls, but you didn't name what God put in you. You're raising children, but you a different type of mama. Come on, you raising children, but you a different type of dad. And stop calling your life something different, but I want you to name what God is doing in your life. The people of— here's how I know you can do it. The people of Israel looked at the arrogant and named them.
Wow.
They looked at them and said, God, they're blessed. They took all their energy not to name themselves, but to look down the street and say, God, they're blessed. I I want you to look at yourself with the same energy you give to your enemies. Oh my God. That you got the nerve to call that nappy-headed person from high school, how cute they are. Now I want you to look at yourself and say how cute you are. You got the nerve to look down somebody else's marriage and talk about how together they— I need you to make sure that you are bonding with your spouse because we spend so much energy calling other people the names that God is calling you to call yourself? What has God produced in you? Do you know what I think we do? What I've noticed is we, we've become historians of our disappointments. You can remember everything this year that God didn't do. No, no, no. The job you didn't get, you mad at God for us. Are you holding that against the opportunity that you didn't get? You holding that against God? And matter of fact, you got dates. God, I prayed for this in January. You were supposed to do it by March and you didn't do it, and that's why I didn't come to church. That's why I don't trust God. You know exactly what God didn't do, exactly when your money got funny, the day it happened, exactly how long it took you to recover, the day it happens. So when someone comes to you and says, what What has God done in your life? You blinking, looking silly. Hold on, let me, let me think about it. I don't, I don't know. He woke me up. Ugh, whatever. But if I ask you, what are you disappointed in? Well, God didn't bless me in January. He didn't heal me in February. He didn't do this in March. He didn't do this. No, no, no, no, no. If God's been good to you, I need you to name how. 'Cause let me tell you something, you so frustrated about what God didn't do, but you refuse to look at where you are right now.
Amen.
You had extra income to buy Western clothes, to drive up in a car because you drove up in a car to come here with gas in your car, with expendable income to spend an extra fifty dollars on dinner. But you got the nerve to tell me what God ain't doing in your life? What? You getting bigger every other day, buying brand new clothes, going up two different sizes, and you got more clothes in your closet than you ever want to name. But God ain't good to you?
You've got kids running. Around smiling at you, can't wait to see you, everyone, but God ain't good to you?
No, forget your church answer because I want to help your memory this morning. God's been so good to you. How has he been good? He woke you up. Where has he been good?
In the house you live in.
When has he been good?
This morning. How has God been good? The job you complain about. Where has God been good? The bills, that every one of them is still paid. When has God been good? Every single month when your mortgage gets paid. When your rent gets paid, when your mother calls your name, when your husband calls your name, that you've got a history of disappointment. But I need you to name what God has done and pull the receipts on what God— am I talking to anybody in the building? I'mma put that on record. God is good. God has been good. God don't know how not to be good. And I'm not gonna let my anxiety, my disappointment, my negative thoughts tell me a lie that God don't know my He woke me up and he called me. He started me on my way and he called me. He put food on my table and— am I talking to anybody in the building who can testify that I serve a God who is consistently good to me? 'Cause God is good and he don't know how to be bad. And so since God is good all the time, I've got a praise to thank him that he don't know how to be something that he says he can't be.
Amen.
So the same way you put your frustration on the record, the same way you tell God what he hasn't done, I need you to put something else on record too. God, I'm making progress to where you calling me to be. Now I need you to— somebody toss your head back and say, I'm making progress. Come on, I'm, I'm making—
I feel glory about to hit this.
Somebody toss your head back and say, I'm making progress.
I'm making progress.
The root's going down. I don't cuss like I used to. Thank you, Jesus. I don't slap you like I used to. Thank you, Jesus. It used to take me 3 weeks to get my mind back. Now I recover in 30 minutes. Thank you, Jesus. You can't bait me like you used to. Thank you, Jesus. Am I talking to anybody in the building? I'm naming what God is doing because I'm making progress.
That's what this text shows me. Say, God, I'm making progress. So no, it's not dramatically different, but I'm better than where I used to be. Okay, I'm gonna name it. I'm gonna sit and take my seat. You used to spiral and drink for 3 days. Now you got 30 minutes. Somebody say, I'm making progress.
I'm making progress.
You used to need everybody to like you.
Now you look in the mirror every once in a while and say, you know what, God, thank you Thank you for everything you gave me.
I'm making progress. You used to need everybody to understand you, and the world revolved around you. Now you can sit there and say, God, I'm getting— I'm making progress. You finally let other people— you finally stopped letting people bait you, 'cause you're making progress.
And here's what happened. You woke up one day and realized, I've grown up.
I've grown up.
Whoo!
Because sometimes—
here's the shout— The deep work is not external. The deep work is internal. I have more peace. Oh my God, I've got better discernment.
I wish I had— I've got better—
this is a different shout.
I need somebody to shout, watch this, I've got better boundaries. Come on. I apologize faster.
I forgive quicker.
I recover quicker. You know why? Because he that done a good work in me shall perform it after many days. Am I talking to anybody in the building? I wish I had somebody that can take 15 seconds and open up your mouth and thank God for progress. I'm better than what I used to be. I'm stronger than how I used to be. God is working in— I wish I had somebody that can thank God. I got boundaries now. I got peace now that surpasses all understanding. I've got joy in sorrow. I've got hope for tomorrow that God is doing a great work in me.
I'm better than what I used to be. I'm stronger than how I used to be. God is working in—
So I can testify that serving the Lord will pay off.
Amen.
Oh, I can testify that serving the Lord, it will pay off.
No, I said I can testify that serving the Lord, it will pay off.
I'mma name some ways it pays off.
Every bill I have is paid, 'cause serving the Lord, it will pay off. Every door that God closed, serving the Lord, it will pay— I feel glory. The conversation you had with your father, The conversation you had with your mama, the conversation you had with your boss, and you didn't lose your mind. Serving the Lord will pay off. The temptation you don't fall entrapped to any longer. Serving the Lord, it will pay off. My boundaries, my peace. I know how to say no.
Come on.
I know how to smile. I know how to put my shoulders back. I know how to forgive. I know how to serve. I keep showing up even when nobody wants to look at me. Am I talking to anybody in the building who can thank God? That serving the Lord will pay off after a while, because I look better than what I've been through.
So sometimes the miracle is not that it changed; the miracle is you changed.
Ah, you're saying God ain't done nothing.
But God is saying, no, I need you to name what I've done in your life.
You've grown up. You've made progress. You say no.
Oh, you comfortable with them walking away.
You make sound decisions. Come on, somebody.
So no, I don't have the money, but I got the process to sustain it.
No, I don't have the relationship, but I got the backbone that you won't hurt me. I wish I had somebody. No, I don't I don't have the business, but I got the acumen to keep it 'cause I graduated from college. Am I talking to anybody in the building? God, I thank you for what you've done in my life, the stuff that nobody sees, the praise that nobody sees, because serving you pays off.
Yes.
So stop disrespecting your growth 'cause you can't put it on Instagram.
Amen.
I said stop disrespecting your growth because you can't put it on Instagram. But I do want you to do this. I want you to document it. I want you to have evidence so the next time you feel like God don't like you, you pull some receipts. Because there will be another hard day. There will be another prayer that feels unanswered. There will be another season where it seems like heaven don't know your name. And when that day comes, you need some receipts. You need some evidence that can testify. And I'mma shout here. You need some evidence that can testify that God is not a man that God should lie. I've got evidence that God only knows how to come through. I've got evidence that God answers prayer. I've got evidence that God will heal you. I've got evidence that God will keep you. I've got evidence that God is faithful. I've got evidence that God is holy. I've got evidence that God is who God said he is. And I need somebody in the building to help me close this sermon and just close your eyes and pull back your receipts. And your receipts will tell you that the effectual fervent prayer of the righteous availeth much. Your receipts will tell you that they that wait upon the Lord shall renew—
I'm ready to go— shall renew their strength. They'll mount up That will run and not be weary. I wish I had somebody that can look your mind on rewind and pull all your receipts and help me close this sermon. And let's show a Black church up in Napa. I need some crazy folk that can look back over your life and see how good God's been and begin to testify. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. Green pastures, he leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I'll fear no evil because the Lord is with me. His rod and his staff protects me. He anoints my head with oil. My cup runs over. Surely, yes sir, sure. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life. Is there anybody here this morning that can help me close this sermon and start pulling your receipts? The Lord is the light of my salvation, whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life, of whom shall I be afraid? When my enemies and my foes came against me, they stumbled and Though a war came against me, my heart shall not fear. One thing have I desired of the Lord, and that one thing I'll seek after is to dwell in the house of God all the days of my life. Look at somebody and say, I got receipts. He healed my body.
I got receipts.
I got receipts. He restored my joy. I got receipts. He picked me up. I got receipts. He turned me around. I got receipts. He paid my bills, kept my mind, protected my peace. And if the Lord did it before, this next praise is 'cause I know he'll do it again. If you know God can do it again, Help me close this sermon. Toss your head back, open up your mouth, and give God a receipt praise. Thank you, Jesus, for healing my body. Thank you, Jesus, for restoring my mind. So serving the Lord will pay off. Has he been good to you? Has he made a way for you? Has he opened doors for you? Well, if you're not too mean, open up your Open your mouth, lift up your hands, and give God your best praise. Give him your best holler. Give him your best scream.
Say it! Say it! Yeah!
I got receipts! I got receipts! High five somebody! Say you can't make me doubt him. I know too much about him. What the Lord has done for me, what the Lord has done for me.
Say yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Look at somebody say, "I got receipts. I got receipts." Look at somebody say, "I got receipts. I got receipts." Look at somebody say, "I got receipts." You can't lose your mind. You can't die here. You can't lose your mind. Look at somebody say, "I got receipts." He picked me up. He turned me around. He placed my feet on solid ground. Do you know him? Have you tried him? Well, praise his name from the rising of the sun to the going down of the sun. His name is worthy to be praised.
Say yeah!
Open your Open your mouth and bless him. Open your mouth and bless him. Somebody in a hard season, open up your mouth and bless him. I break depression. Ah, I feel glory.
I break anxiety.
I break that spirit in the name of Jesus. Open up your mouth and bless him. Lift up your hands and bless him.
I feel glory.
Open up your— I break that season. I bind that season. I bind that season. I bind your I bind your nightmares. I bind your fears. Open up your mouth and bless him. It will pay off. It will pay off. Oh, glory! It will pay off. It will pay off. It will pay off. Be not weary in well-doing. If you suffer a little while, the God of grace will exalt you. Somebody open up your mouth in your heart, Caesar, in your difficult season and bless him from your belly. God, I love you.
Woo!
I'm wiser. I'm better.
Woo!
In a hard season, I'm stronger. I'm wiser. I'm better. I never would have made it, but I can testify God will walk with you.
He'll talk with you. He'll tell you he always on.
To every person in the room in a difficult space, keep serving, keep giving, keep trusting. Keep serving, keep giving. You're too strong to give up now. I dare somebody right where you are to open up your mouth and just begin to bless the Lord from your belly. Come on, open up the— open up your mouth in a hard season, in a difficult season, in a difficult place.
Come on, open up your mouth right where you are. I bless the Lord at every time.
Begin to bless them where you are. God, I will get through this. I'm making progress. Thank you for the work you're doing in me.
I'm stronger. I'm wiser. I'm better.
That hand is lifted as high as you feel God is taking you in this next season. That hand is lifted as high as you feel God is taking you in this next season.
Ah yeah.
God bless every lifted hand, that they know serving you will only bring them closer to you. Thank you for calling them by name. Thank you for not forgetting them in the difficult space. Right now we yield. We yield, we yield, we yield our will, we yield We yield our mind, we yield our fears, and we trust you to take us places eyes haven't seen.
I would have made it, never could have made it without you. I would have lost it all. But now I see how you were there for me. I say, never would have made it, never could have made it without you. I would have lost it all, but now I see how you were there for me. I can say I'm stronger, I am wiser, Lord. I'm better, yes, much better, Lord. When I look back over all you brought me through, yeah, I can see You were the one I held on to.
Help me say I never could have made it.
Say I never, never could have made it without you.
I would have lost my mind, Lord, but now I see you were Never would have made it.
Never would have made it. Never could have made it.
Never could have made it without you.
I would have gave up a long time ago, but Lord, you lifted me up and the way you showed Say I'm stronger, I'm stronger, I'm wiser, I'm wiser, I'm better, I'm better, much better, much better.
Lord, I'm glad that I made it, Lord, I'm glad that I made it, and I came out with this story.
Say I'm strong.
Made it through the hard times. Made it to the meeting.
Made it over the troubled waters. Over troubled waters you brought me. Made it up the rough side of the mountain.
For the Lord I made it.
I've heard it said never would have made it. Don't just let them sing it for you. Sing it for yourself.
Sing it for yourself.
And so, Lord, we give you glory. Lord, I serve you. I'll run for you. I'll say what you tell me to say, 'cause I know I never would have made it. This I know for myself.
Never could have made it without you.
You have survived every one of your worst days. You have survived 100% of every weapon, every storm, every battle. That has come your way. So is serving God worth it? Yes, because I'm stronger.
I'm wiser.
I'm better.
I'm better.
Somebody toss your head back and say, I'm making progress. Come on, I'm making progress. I'm making progress. May you own what God is doing in your life. May you trust what God is doing in your life and take your eyes off other people. Everybody standing, let's get ready to go. If you're here today, if you're here today, you don't know Jesus and the pardon of your sins. If you're here today, you've never given your life over to Christ publicly, you've never said yes to Jesus, today is the best day of your life. I'm going to pray the prayer of salvation, and I want, if that's you, to say yes to Jesus for the first time. We are baptizing on The fourth Sunday of this month, and we would love for you to be part of that story. You have been through far too much to not trust the source of why you made through it through that. And if that's you, if you're saying yes to Jesus for the first time, you want to say yes to baptism or rededication of your life, we want you to come forward not to embarrass you, but to celebrate you that you overcame it. And let me give you the one who's going to take you to the next steps. If that's you, want you to come. If you're looking for a church home this morning, you don't have a You need a place that you can call home, a place that you are growing and thriving, a place that's going to preach the gospel in season and out of season, and you need a place to grow in Jesus and the knowledge of Christ, we would love to be your church home. We want you to walk down the aisle as well, not to put you on Front Street, but to celebrate the decision you've made to be a part of this church. If that's you, we're going to sing one more time, and if baptism or membership is your next step, we invite you to be a part of this church today. Our deacons are walking the aisle, and we would love for you to be a part of our church home.
Never would have made it, lost it all, but now I see, now I see you, that I never would have made it.
Never would have made it.
Bless you, bless you, bless you, bless you. This is my song.
I can praise my Savior, and I will praise Him all day long.
I know I never would have made it, never would have made it, never made it through the hurricane.
Never could have made it without You.
You may be seated.
Everybody say that.
Say, we never would have made it.
Never would have made it. Never could have made it.
Never could have made it without you.
Good morning, friendship. We have Sister Elizabeth coming to join our church and to be baptized. Sister Elizabeth, God bless you. Where's she?
Elizabeth, right here.
I'm right behind you. Elizabeth, behind you, right here.
Hi.
God bless you. God bless you. This is the best decision you possibly can make, and we're so glad to be a part of your life. In a second, they're going to go crazy because the Bible tells us that whenever someone says yes to Christ, God begins to dance in heaven. And so we're gonna dance for a second too to celebrate the best decision you've made by saying yes to Jesus. Come on, Friendship, give it up for our homegirl! Come on, make some noise! Come on, make some noise! Make some noise for our homegirl Elizabeth!
Amen! Amen!
So you can stay right here and we'll get some information to you, get some information from you. You can stay right here. Friendship, are you happy in the Lord? Are you happy in the Lord this morning?
Are you happy in the Lord?
Yes! So we're getting ready to go. I'm grateful for all of you being present with us today. Next week we work out during worship. Our kids take over service on the 5th Sunday. Rehearsal is the Monday and Thursday before that. And I'm looking forward to the end— the rest of this month as well. Small groups, small groups are back this week. Amen. Small groups are back this week. And so if you're not a part of a group, please sign up on our website or just show up to church on Wednesday. We'll make sure we get you plugged in. We have a couple of new groups as well that are coming out in this iteration. Really excited for where groups are going to go in this season of our church. Outside of that, back to school, back to school. All of our students and teachers, would you stand? All of our kids going back to school and all the teachers, I want to pray over you. All the students, all the students stand up, and all the teachers stand up. Come on, y'all know who you are. If you are going to school and have to write papers and learn, stand please. And all the students who want to— all the teachers who want to pray over you, come on. All the students and all the teachers, come on. If you see someone near you standing, stretch your hands towards them, and I want to pray over them as they go into this next walk. I come against depression. I come against anxiety. I come against all the overwhelming natures of this work. I pray that God protects your finances. Father, we thank you for every student whose mind will grow This year. Father, we thank you for every teacher who will do the kerning work, the hard maturing work. And we pray now, God, as they go back to school, that they are not overwhelmed with the things that have nothing to do with what you've called them to be. We honor you for the gift that they are to this world. For every teacher, God, we pray over their mind, their spirit, and their heart. God, we pray now protection over all of the schools in our cities. We thank Thank you. We come against every bullet. We come against every lockdown. We come against anything that would threaten their safety. And we thank you, God, right now that you are going to hold our students together. We pray for every principal, every, every teacher, every, every janitor, every volunteer, every organization that will partner with these schools. We pray that you anoint their hands before they even get to the building to protect the future. So God, for every student in the room, we pray Amen. We pray not only success, but good success, sustainable success. We pray new ideas and new visions. Your word says that young men will dream dreams and young women will have visions. And so, God, we pray now that dreams and visions over every child in this room, over every college student in this room, over every continuing student in this room, that they would dream dreams and have visions, God, that only can come from you. So we thank you that in you is great success. And so we honor you not just for good grades, but sustainable good grades, sustainable grades that will get them to what you've called them to be. May their work on earth match what you've already said in heaven. And so God, we give you this year, we give you this season, we give you these teachers, we give you every bus driver, we give you every janitor, we give you every principal, we give you every administrator, we give you every We give you every AI tool. We give you every computer. We give you our phones. We give you our iPads, and we say baptize them in the name of Jesus for the sake of your students and your teachers. We honor you today. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Everybody said amen. Come on, give God praise for all of these individuals going back to school this year. Stand with us. We're ready to go. Stand with us. Stand with us. We're ready to go. I pray the word of God reached you where you are. I pray the word of God hit you where it needed to get to. I pray that God's word reached you where you are to take you where God is calling you to be. Please fellowship. We have some videos we want to make. Is Duke in here? Duke, raise your hand, raise your hand. So I want you guys to see Duke right over here. So Duke, you guys have seen walk around. Duke is new to our city earlier this year, and, uh, we met him through some people, and he's doing a phenomenal— all the pictures And videos, you guys are single lines because of Duke. So I want to introduce you guys to Duke. And so Duke's a part of you family now, Duke. You family now, man. And Duke is a PK. He loves the Lord, knows the Lord, and he's been taking pictures real incognito. And so I wanted to really introduce him as you guys see him. He'll be doing a lot more. So he has great ideas for our social media, our marketing, our things. So when he approaches you about our social media work, our teamwork for all of this. Please do some crazy videos for us. Amen, somebody. And so I want to share the gospel in any way possible, and I want to thank God for Duke. So help me praise God for Duke, a part of our team. And welcome, man. Glad to have you here.
Amen.
Look at somebody, say, somebody, this will be your best week. Listen, there's a number of amazing Black-owned businesses in Napa, one of which is our coffee shop, Kindled and Grounded. There's Stateline Smokehouse, Little Sister If you like wine, Vin Noir, Housley, there's all these spaces. Please take some time, have some fun today. Thank you for coming out here. I want to say this personally too. Thank you for trusting me as your pastor. I know I'm not the normal staunch in a robe sitting in the corner, you can't reach me pastor. I'm trying to be the person God's called me to be, and I want to thank you for allowing me not to compromise my gift for the sake of anything, but to build the body of Christ. So thank you for following us today. up Thank you. to Napa. And, uh, enjoy yourselves. Be safe. And I'm glad we got out a little early today. May the love of the Lord consume you. May the grace of God overwhelm you. May the peace of God drown you. And may God be God to you this week. Somebody say hallelujah.
Hallelujah.
Somebody say thank you, Jesus.
Thank you, Jesus.
Everybody say amen.
Amen.
Go have some fun. I love you.
God bless you.
God be with you.
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