Maturing In Faith

♪ ♪ Welcome to another inspiring message from Bethel Church in Riding California. Our mission is revival. The expansion of God's Kingdom through his manifest presence bringing hope and transformation to the world. We pray this message will inspire and equip you in your faith journey. You can find previous sermons in multiple languages at Bethel.com/podcasts and on all your favorite podcast platforms. We hope you enjoy this sermon with our special guest speaker. For more resources visit Bethel.online or shop.bethel.com. ♪ ♪ All right, thank you. Sit down. So good to be with you. So encouraged by all that God's doing and I tell you every time I come back, I just am so overwhelmed by it's been 13 years. We got sent out 13 years ago and every time I come back, I just so good to be home. So grateful for this house wouldn't be who I am without really what God did in our lives here and the leaders here. So so grateful for it. But it's good to be here with you. We're going to jump in in just a minute. I had just to give you a little bit. Been married 28 years. That's right, to the same woman. And I have a 27 year old daughter. I have a 23 year old daughter and a 20 year old son. So we're at that stage of life. By the way, can I just say this? It's really funny because I have mentors and fathers in my life. And I feel like they were all getting me ready for raising little kids and raising preteens and raising teenagers. And I'm a little bit of irritated right now because I'm looking around going not one of my whoever mentors, fathers in my life told me about parenting young adults. That's a whole other world. I thought like, hey 18, we did it. Nope. That's not how that works at all. So I am a little bit like, why didn't somebody tell me about this? So we're in that stage of life. And yeah. And we had a massive life moment happen for us because my oldest daughter, my first born, got married in October. This is a big deal for our family. And she got married on Friday, October, she got married on Friday. Sunday, I stood up in front of our church. I said, guys, my oldest daughter just got married. And I am coming to you today and asking if you would join me in a season of prayer and intercession, in prayer and fasting, contending, seeking the Lord, and that you would believe with me that 2026 will be the year of the grandbaby. That said, I want you to contend with me that we're going to get a honeymoon pregnancy. I want you to stand with me here today to recruit you as well. That would you be a prayer partner with me. I will send you newsletters. I will send you updates. But we're believing God that 2026 will be the year of the grandbaby. A lot of people are like, man, and you can't force your kids to have babies. Don't put pressure on them. I'm like, are you serious? Let me give you a stat. 0 to 18 in California. 0 to 18. Providing for basic needs cost $500,000. She lived with me till she was 26. I gave her way more than basic needs. I think I probably spent $800,000 on her. I'm saying, I love you, but I spend $800,000 and for $800,000, I want a grandbaby. I want a grandbaby out of this deal. I don't know what age you get when you're middle-aged now. I don't know what age you get when you're like, all those young people are like, we're going to get married and we're going to get to know one another. I'm like, forget all that. Have babies. I need you. I don't need you to get a grandbaby for me. $800,000, grandbaby. Not later sooner. Who's with me? Who's signing up for prayer partners with me? I'd like to see right now. Thank you. We'll send you an email. I. See you're the grandbaby. Have you seen that t-shirt that says, "Grandkids are God's reward for not killing your children?" That's the stage of life I'm out right now. I'm not listening. I didn't kill you. I need a grand kid. Did you bring it? There we go. They're like, why do you invite him? Did you bring your Bibles today? Get him out. Colossians chapter 1. I'm going to get you to two places today. It's going to be really simple. But I want to get you to God's going after maturing your life and faith. If you were to really cut me in my core, what you're going to encounter is a heart that is burning to see revival. When I was 19 years old and I came and I was actually going to church here before Billy even came. I came in '93. It was part of the youth group. But when Bill came into my world, all of a sudden what God opened up to me was revival. And the concept of an outpouring of the Holy Spirit, God moving, cities and nations being radically impacted. A harvest coming in, the church being awakened with a greater passion for Jesus and a greater commitment to the cause of Christ on the earth. Shortly after Bill came into my life, Lewingle comes into my life. Literally on these steps, 1997. I'm just laying there on the steps saying, God, I want to be an intercessive revival. And God just grabbed a hold of my heart. So if you come in my core, I'm burning to see revival. But that passion leads me to a deep commitment and passion for the local church. I believe with all of my heart that the local church is the vehicle through which revival flows into cities and into nations and transforming people's lives. And I think that I believe right now that we're about to see the greatest harvest the world has ever seen. I don't say that to cheerlead for you. I don't say that to, I'm telling you right now, around the world what you're seeing, we get to work in a lot of different places, working with a lot of different churches and pastors. It's the same testimony every single, there's a stirring and a hunger that's happening in the hearts of people. There is an awakening that's going on in his church. And it is unto something. And we're going to see God move in profound ways. But I believe that the Lord is asking us to take a fresh look at how we're engaging the church and how we see the church. How you engage, how you see something is very important. If I don't see something, because how I see something determines how I engage with it, and how I engage with it determines if I'm going to receive what I'm supposed to receive from it. So if I see something improperly, or if I see something incorrectly, I'm going to engage with it wrongly. And therefore I will not get what is supposed to come through it. The illustration I would use is, anybody from England in here? Okay. I'm about to offend British people, but hang with me for a second. We love England. I've been going to England for 30 years. We have a pastors conference over there every year. We're literally planting a church in Cambridge, England. We're going to have a Jesus culture, Cambridge. I'm believing God for England, the UK, for all of Europe, right? But the thing I have a problem with about English people in England is the lack of customer service in that nation. It's atrocious. It's horrible. Like everybody watching online, you listen, it's just true. When you go to England, customer service is like, you go to a restaurant, and it's full on, like I'm so sorry for being an inconvenience for being in your restaurant, paying you money for you. Like it's just like it's bad. Because I'm an American. And as an American, I believe it's my God-given American right to have good customer service. I think it's in the bill of rights somewhere. And so when I go to a restaurant, I want good customer service. I expect it when I show up, right? So when I come to a restaurant, I don't complain or argue, but or throw a fit. But when I show up, I want good customer service. So I show up, and I notice right away. If they don't come over and check on me, if they don't bring some bread, some water, takes a while, I don't throw a fit, but I just remember. If I specifically ask for no tomatoes in my meal, because I can theologically, right? Eschatology, theologically, I can connect tomatoes to the antichrist. So I say, please no tomatoes. If they bring tomatoes, I don't throw a fit. I push them off the side, but I remember, don't come back. I'm in a restaurant. I'm a good customer service. The problem is, is if I see a restaurant, I engage with it that way. If I was to walk into my home, thinking it's a restaurant, engaging it like a restaurant, it's going to be very problematic, mainly because I'm scared of my wife. Can you imagine if I come home and I walk in, I sit down on my dining room table, a long day at work, I come in, I sit down, I sit patiently waiting, at my dining room table, for somebody to come and bring me some bread, some water, check on me. Nobody does. So I'm like, excuse me, listen, is anybody going to come help me out? Around house, no, no, shut up. Get it yourself. This is unbelievable. I cannot believe this is. I'm taking my business elsewhere. Can you imagine if my wife brought a meal out that she cooked? You had tomatoes in it? And I said, "Woman?" (audience laughs) I specifically asked for no tomatoes in my meal. I'm gonna take my business elsewhere. I'm never coming back here again. Like, it would not, I don't engage my house that way. Because it's a house. It's family. And so I engage it differently, because I see it differently. If I, and here's a problem, a lot of people in the church, I'm gonna get this thing. A lot of people in the church, even in charismatic, present circles. Because we've been so discipled by culture, that we walk into this thing, thinking it's a restaurant, not a family. We're engaging with it as a consumer, not a family member, and we don't realize it, what we're missing is, the very thing that God wants to release to you through the church. We are missing, and you know what it is? Maturity. I'm gonna tell you right now, what God's going after in your life is maturity. He wants you to grow up. I said I would love him my heart. He wants, listen, God wants to mature you. This is the whole thing. The apostle Paul, this is Paul. This is the most revelatory. I mean, this is Paul. Third heaven revelation. Unbelievable theological mind. Strategic thinker, leader, plants, churches, encourages churches. Like this guy, this guy who said, there's one thing. Everything else I count as garbage. Besides this one thing, knowing Christ. That guy in Colossians 1, 28 writes this. I want you to see this. He says, he is the one we proclaim, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, and here's why. He says, here's why I'm teaching Christ. Here's why I'm admonishing you. It's for this reason. So that we may present everyone fully mature in Christ. He says, here's what I'm going after. But then he makes a statement for me that was just so profound. He's about to double down on this in 29. And he says, to this end, what end? That you would be mature in Christ. To this end, I stringlessly contend with all the energy Christ so powerfully works in me. He says, listen, all the energy Christ has put inside of me, I'm pointing at this one thing that you would be mature in Christ. The end game is maturity. Now Paul is going to define maturity. Throughout his letters, you'll see him with this. There's a common theme. That Paul is going to define maturity as looking like Jesus and doing the works of Jesus. So Paul would say, let me tell you what maturity looks like. It's that your life looks like Jesus. And that you're doing the works of Jesus. This is what he's talking about when he says, listen, I am laboring. I am laboring for this thing for Christ to be formed in you. He says, this is what maturity looks like. Christ being formed in your life. We're going to talk about Ephesians 4 with the fivefold, but Ephesians 4 uses the same language. He says, until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God, and become mature. And then he describes what maturity is, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. He says, I'm trying to get Christ, the fullness of Christ manifesting in your life. That's maturity. Guys listen, God looks at you and says, he says, listen, I want maturity out of you. I want you to look like Jesus. I want you to do the works of Jesus. So he says, here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to fill you with the Holy Spirit. Do you know the Holy Spirit fills you? The Holy Spirit is a seal for our salvation, but the Holy Spirit infills your life for two main reasons. One is, this is the concept of sanctification, is that one is, is that every day. The Bible says, he is daily renewing your life to look more like Jesus. That the Holy Spirit is every day at working you. This is the fruit of the Spirit. He's every day working in your life so that you look more like Jesus. But the Holy Spirit also fills you to empower you to do the works of Jesus. So God comes and says, listen, I'm going to fill your life. I want you to look like my son. I want maturity out of you. This is what I'm going after. So I'm going to fill you. Then he says any Ephesians 4. Then I'm going to give you gifts called the fivefold. I'm going to give you leadership gifts and they have the exact same purpose. They're going to equip you to the works of ministry. So that, Ephesians 4, you will be mature so that you will no longer be a child, so that you will grow up into the fullness of him who is the head Christ. So God says, I'm going to come and fill you with the Holy Spirit. I'm going to give you leadership. I'm going to give you the fivefold. And then he's going to give us discipleship and this is a family concept. Discipleship is not a classroom concept. Discipleship is not, it's not a college concept. It's a family concept. He says, and then I'm going to give you discipleship. I'm going to give you other people in your life and they are going to do it. So discipleship is this. Discipleship is people partnering with the work of the Holy Spirit in somebody's life to do what? To look like the teacher and to do what the teacher does. - Yeah. - That's Middle Eastern Jewish discipleship. Is that I'm going to be an apprentice. I want to look like the teacher and I want to do what he's doing. So God says, listen, maturity is this. It looks like Jesus doing what he's done. And I've given you some things to come along that. If you come into the church and see it as anything other than a family that is not there to make my life easier, it's not there to make my life more convenient. It's not there to serve me. It's there to grow me. It's there to mature me. It's there to get me. We're next year I'd be able to say, I look more like Jesus this year than I did last year. That's the goal. That's the end game. That's what he's going after. But if you approach it as anything other than family, listen to me. You're going to miss the very thing that God's wanting to release to you. This is why we don't know this, but in Western church in particular, we have been discipled by a consumer-driven culture that says, when I approach an organization, I am coming as a consumer. You are there to serve me. You are there to make my life easier. You're there to entertain me whatever it might be. And so if I don't see it as a family, then I'm approaching it. And I'm going to tell you this right now. Consumerism, I think, is maybe the number one thing that's undermining maturity in the lives of the believer. Because you're missing the vehicle to which God wants to deliver to you, the very thing that he's going to do to grow you. Family just thinks differently because family has different goals. I actually, I kid you not. I am more and more convinced that church should not be convenient. I think convenience is keeping believers immature. And we're setting up these worlds like we want prayer to be easier for you and we want community to be easier for you. And we don't ever want you to walk through any fire test. And we want giving to be easier for you. And I'm like, no, I think that just keeps you immature. I think Jesus has no-- it's amazing how many pastors I work with that we're apologetic. That he would love for you to serve and love for you to give and I don't want you being convenience. I just get up and go, listen, guys, I going to be honest with you. Jesus has no problem in convene at all. There's an organization called 3DM. And they've done some work. I'm going to show you this thing. They're a discipleship organization. They've done some work around where does discipleship or what I would say maturity really happen. And they're doing this work. And it's very interesting because I'll show you this. They've come up with something called the high invitation, high challenge, quadrant, chart, or whatever, matrix. Because-- and let me show you this. I'm going to show you this. This is what they've worked. So what they're saying is they're saying church is that high invitation. That'd be welcoming, loving, all the stuff that we love, all the stuff that we deeply believe in. They're saying high invitation. When it's high invitation but low challenge, it creates a consumer culture. Really high invitation, not a lot of challenge. Then you have the low challenge, low invitation. It's a super boring culture, apathetic. I was raised in a pretty legalistic culture before I came to Bethel that would have been in this right bottom quadrant that was like high challenge, low invitation. Man, you could never measure up, required a lot, not friendly at all. And that leads to that stressful burnout. But the work they've done is they've said, listen, discipleship or maturity or growth happens in this top right hand corner, which is high challenge, high invitation. Now the reason I share this is because if you don't see the churches of family, that's going to be confusing to you. Because in order to really grow, you have to be in an environment that believes in you, but you have to be in an environment that challenges you. And businesses don't do that. Never once if I come into a restaurant sat down and the waiter comes up and goes, hey, listen, how's your guys' marriage doing? You were a little short with your wife there, I saw what's happening there. Is that what you should be doing, brother? Like, you know, this just doesn't happen. It's in the context of family, healthy family. Can I say, healthy family? Some of you didn't grow up in healthy family. But healthy family, this is operating all the time, high invitation, high challenge. There's nobody to believe that my kid's more than I do. And there's nobody that challenges it more than I do. Now, here's the dangers on the church right now. Is that culture, this is the war going on in culture right now. Is that culture is trying to tell us that the minute challenge comes in, invitation is canceled. That you can't actually challenge me and still love me. I'm going to tell you this. Jesus has something to say about that. Jesus was this unbelievable example of, you know, the woman called an adultery, she shows up. And again, guys, in this culture, the second class citizen, somehow the man has no responsibility in this moment. They want to stone and kill her. And Jesus shows up so unbelievably kind, so gracious, so forgiving. And then he says, now don't send anymore. They can coexist. He's on Peter, guys, he's on Peter like. Get behind me, Satan, what's going on. But then when Peter fails so spectacularly, the nice Jesus, when he sees Jesus on the beach, he was so kind. Like just the gentleness of Jesus, Peter in that moment, is so overwhelming. So Jesus says, oh no, no, no, this is family. Really high invitation, really high challenge. This is Mordecai. If you look at this life of Mordecai, Mordecai and Esther is a fascinating story, because Mordecai is her adopted father, he's family. And he so believes in this girl. He helps her, she gets put into the palace. And while she's in the palace, he's just outside pacing back and forth. Oh, he just cares about her. He's praying for her, he's covering her. I mean, can you imagine if you're in there and he's coming and going, Mordecai's out there, right? He's checking it on you. He just hasn't left. Oh, that's my dad. He's covering me, believes in me. That's Mordecai. And then when Esther is called to go stand before the king, the very reason why she's there, the very reason why God put her in that spot. He said, go stand before the king. You know what her first response is? Not yes, her first response is, nah, it's not going to happen. I'm not going to do it. Mordecai sends word back to her. This is the guy that loves her dearly. This is the guy that's been pacing out front. This is the guy that's inv-- nobody believes in Esther more than Mordecai. He sends her word. Esther, if you don't go stand before the king, God will wipe you out, he'll wipe your family out, and he'll raise somebody else up to do it. And then he throws in our bookmark. But who knows if you're barred in the kingdom for such a time as this? I think we should include the verses before every time we call it that, but that's a different issue, right? [laughter] Guys, many of you in this room hear me on this, are stunted in your growth, and are remaining immature in looking more like Jesus, because you don't have challenge happening. You need people in your life that are like, "I believe in you deeply, but if you don't do that, God's going to kill you." [laughter] I'm just kidding, that's-- just kidding, that's Old Testament. We're new Testament. I'm going to come in the New Testament. That's Old Testament. I don't believe that. We're New Testament. [laughter] And so, real maturity happens in discipleship, which is a family concept, which has this high invitation, high challenge thing happening. The goal of family-- listen, the goal of family-- my entire goal is to raise sons and daughters, who mature, who grow physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually. That's it. Until they become mature enough to be mothers of others themselves, who do the same. That's it. That's the purpose of family. That's the goal of family. I think a lot of people are thrown off by this sometimes. You know, the reason why we have to think like family is because there are some things that only make sense in family. Give you an example, big church is in particular. One of the things that will happen is they have a huge parking lot. And so, in our heart to serve people, we notice that people have to walk a long distance to get into church. So, we're like, you know what? Let's buy some golf carts. Let's send golf carts out to get them. Now, I understand the heart behind this, elderly, and moms with kids, and yet people, Chris, is age, different things. You know what I'm saying? [laughter] People like Chris, we can't expect them to walk that far. We've got to send them a golf cart. But, but, but, but here's the, here's the issue that I have. Is we're building a structure that's communicating. We want church to be as easy as possible. We want to be as convenient as possible. But I would never do that with my kids. I could tell you, if my son was 14 and he parked 100 yards away, and he called me, "Dad," and to park out here, send a golf cart. I'm like, "What? I don't want to walk. Send a golf cart. Excuse me? Send a golf cart, Dad." Yeah, no. You know what I do? I tell him a story about an 85-year-old woman in Zambia, Africa, who walks nine hours every Sunday, because she understands that meeting with the people of the Lord is so valuable that she would walk nine hours one way to get to church, and that he should understand that the people of God and the family of God are worth some sacrifice, that they're worth actually being inconvenienced, that they're worth walking across the parking lot, because you're coming into the house of the God or the family of God. Like, that's what I do, right? Because I know, if I'm costly, sending a golf cart to him, he's going to remain immature, which is what his mom does for him. But listen, my wife's not here, but I would say this issue is here. Listen to this. I'm like, "CJ, you're going to raise a boy who needs a woman to take care of him the rest of my life. Let this kid do something." But it's her baby boy, right? She's like, "I can love him so much." I just, this is a true story, guys, true story. He's 20 years old, but when he was 17, I come home from work, and I come upstairs. And my wife, he's my son's playing video games, and my wife is cleaning his room. And I come and I'm like, "Where's the husbands that have a wife like this with their son? Raise your hand. This is, this is, get his true story, right? So, with me on this?" So, yeah, absolutely. So I walk in, and I'm like, "This our only boy. He's the youngest." And I walk down and I'm like, "What's going on right now?" She goes, "Lake, his name's like." She said, "We made a deal." I'm like, "Oh, a deal. A deal is this. I give you something, and you give me something in return of equal or greater value. And if I'm a good negotiator, I'm going to get something of greater value out of you, right?" So I said, "Oh, what's the deal?" She said, "I'm not making this up." She goes, "He told me if I clean his room, he'll clean his car." "Wait, what?" "Remind me to never have you negotiate anything for us ever." So my wife is not helping my case. But what I'm trying to do is grow a mature man. And I understand that inconvenience and understanding the importance of sacrifice for something that actually matters to be challenged to grow up, to take those, right? This is just what it is. Here's what I. Here's what I. Why, why? She's not watching right now. I'm fine. Trust me on this. Trust me on this. She's not watching. I'll be fine. Guys, I'm going to tell you, I think if you think Jesus is easy to follow, you're not reading the gospels. Jesus is so unbelievably kind. He's so gracious. Guys, honestly, I'm like, God, I don't even know where I be without your patience. I am so overwhelmed by your patience in my life. But if you really study Jesus, he was so hard-core to follow. Go look at this sometime in the gospels. And look at when he gathers a crowd, what he does. He got a 15,000, 20,000 thing, and then he just get up and fall on a rebuke them. Or he'd say offensive things. You're going to be my disciple. You have to hate your father and mother. Doesn't explain it. Now, we have all Scripture. We understand, oh, Scripture, interpret Scripture. And there's other things. So we know that it's not, he didn't really, right? He just, you got to hate your father and mother. He would get up. He'd have 20,000 on the hillside. And then he, and listen, if I had 20,000 on the hillside, can I tell you this? I'd be like, fellas, this is it. Fastest growing church in America. Put this on Instagram, man. This is amazing. I'm actually convinced that Jesus wouldn't be invited to modern day growth conferences for church. I actually, I legitimately think, I'm not even joking. I don't think he'd be invited to church growth conferences. Because Jesus would go 20,000, and then he'd get up and say the most offensive thing you could say to a Jewish culture. Hey, guys, if you want to have any part of me, you have to drink my blood and eat my flesh. And he wouldn't explain it. He wouldn't be like, guys, I don't mean my physical blood and flesh. I mean, like a little wafer and a juice, and it's going to come in a little like cup. It's going to be really hard to open, but that's what I'm referring to. They'd all leave, except for like 12. It's like, are you guys leaving too? I'm telling you, I almost guarantee you they're like, seriously, we'd like to. to because this is, it's disgusting, it's creeping us out. If I was Peter, I'd be PR guy. I'd be like, listen Jesus, seriously, if you could tone down some of the, eat my flesh, drink my blood stuff, I really think we could keep a crowd around next time, you know? But like, it's hard, like Jesus challenges us. He wants us to grow, he wants us to mature. I think, this is, I wanna tell you what I think God's challenging us on right now in the church. I think when it comes to high challenge, high invitation, is that I think, let me tell you, let me show you Luke real quick. Luke chapter nine, Jesus comes and empowers the disciples. And I mean, they've got power now. And they're casting out demons, they're healing the sick, they're around food, multiply, they come back in chapter 10 and they are just rejoicing. This is amazing, Jesus, like this stuff's all happening. And then that's all happening. And then in Luke 14, in the midst of all of that, Jesus tells a story. 'Cause he's gonna say, listen, this really important right now. All of this stuff that's happening, all this power, all this signs and wonders, all this stuff you're doing, let me just slip this in. He tells a story about being humble. He says, listen, when you get invited, I know, I know you think you're big, 'cause all this stuff's going on. And Jesus taught on greatness, they loved, like they had no problem arguing about who was great. This is Luke. But he goes and he says, listen, when you get to a table, sit at the end, not the top. Be the last, not the first. He says, just stay low, just stay humble. He's giving him a key to how to stay in this place of power, right? Don't let this thing, don't get arrogant, don't get prideful. And then he goes on and then in Luke 17, so if you look at Luke, the disciples asked Jesus kind of two main questions in Luke. One was in Luke 11 when the disciples asked Jesus to teach us to pray. So the disciples are with Jesus, and they are recognizing that the source of his life was a connection with the Father in prayer. Luke out of all the gospels actually tracks and shows the prayer life of Jesus, the individual prayer life of Jesus. They be like, he prayed all night long, the disciples got up in the morning, he was gone praying. And then he would invite the disciples. So the disciples are with Jesus, they're watching him pray. And they're connecting the dots and they said, Jesus, will you teach us how to pray? Teach us how to pray like you pray. That's Luke 11. Luke 14, they are connecting the fact that Jesus is living in faith. 'Cause I'm not gonna get into this in a sermon, but faith guys, faith is, you can't please God apart from it. It's how we live, it's how we see, it's how we walk. Faith is integral. And so they're watching this, and so they ask him this second question. They say, Jesus, would you increase our faith? When they ask him this, he tells them what seems like a pretty random story. If you look at Luke 17, he says, let me tell you a story about a servant. He said there was a servant that went out in the field, was working all day, labored. When he came home, he didn't first eat or drink, but instead he made sure the master ate and drank. And this is where it gets offensive to me, is the words of affirmation guy, and it says, and the master didn't even thank him. And the servant said, listen, I'm just an unprofitable servant doing my duty. When they asked about faith, when they said, increase our faith, Jesus said, you've got to go at the spirit of entitlement. He said, you cannot let the spirit of entitlement get in. He said, that spirit of entitlement, humility is gonna air against, is gonna take you out of that place of power, but entitlement is gonna undermine faith. So he said, you've got, you can't listen. It's very interesting if you look at, if you study the life of David in the Psalms, and then the children of Israel and the wilderness, because God has no problem with your, he has no problem with your gut level honesty. David came raw gut level honesty. God I'm confused, I'm hurt, I'm in pain, why are my enemies succeeding, where have you gone? And God was okay with it, met him. The children of Israel and the wilderness, complained, grumbled, studied out. He was not okay with it. And I think the difference is, is that this grumbling and complaining that I believe is rooted in ungratefulness, was connected to a spirit of entitlement. See entitlement gets in and it creeps in on us guys. I believe the Lord, you wanna talk about high challenge right now? Here'd be the high challenge I would give you. Entitlement has crept in, and we begin to approach God as if he owes me something. And my frustration, my frustration with God is that I believe I'm owed something that you're not giving me. I believe I'm owed a life of comfort. I believe I'm owed my dreams and destiny. I believe I'm owed that raise. I'm gonna believe I'm owed another house. I believe I'm owed not a 1985 civic I'm driving around. I could give you a whole message on being sons and daughters of God who come to him and receive our inheritance, right? But the reality is this, is and I say this, love him a heart for you. God doesn't owe you a thing. He gave you everything in his son. He doesn't owe you anything. And I think there has to be something. I, this will be my challenge for you, in family, that just when I come before the Lord, I cannot come before him as if he owes me something. Listen guys, I was not the one that left heaven. Truck on flesh, walked amongst humanity, was beaten bruised, hung naked and ashamed on the cross, bore my sins, defeated death and the grave, raised again. I didn't do that. I now have an identity. I now have a security in my eternity. I now know the love of the Father because of what he did. I didn't do that for him. He did that for me. He doesn't owe me. I owe him everything. Guys, this entitlement thing, it gets in and it's sneaky. It comes through the back door. This is why family is so important. This is why you need people in your life. Because this thing comes in and you don't even realize it. I remember a few years ago I was invited to go speak, I'm not speak, but go meet with a group of pastors and this politician in New York. And I didn't really want to, but my wife told me to, so I went. And so I'm flying from, the event is on Tuesday. I leave Monday from Sacramento, have a layover in Denver. And this is the problem with three or four services, is I'm like, I have not told this story, right? This is the problem when your three or four services date. But anyways, I landed in Denver. And when I landed Denver, I have a voicemail. I listen to it. It's the lady that's organized in the event. And she said, "Banning, we're so excited to have you with us next week." Wait, what? And I go get on my computer. I look at my email, I'm like, oh my gosh, I completely got the date wrong. It's next week, not this week. So I go change my flight, I turn around and come right back home. Now the problem is, is now, when you fly a lot, you get status. And status allows you to have certain privileges that other people don't have, right? Which means this, that I either always get upgraded or I get the exact seat I want every time. I have a seat that I want or upgraded, right? Well now I have to buy a ticket last minute. I have to get this one flight. It's the only flight I can take. It's this five hour flight or whatever. And the only seat that was available was the very last row that doesn't recline against the bathroom, very limited leg room, middle seat. And I'm like, this is-- and I'm like, so all week long, I'm irritated about this. I'm like, I'm irritated about it. So I get to the airport, I'm already like, and I want to fly five hours with the common folk. With gin pop, just like, ah! And I remember like-- and the problem is I still have status. So I go on the plane first. So I get on with my group. My people. Status people. And they're all taking first class and leg room. And I just keep walking, right? Just keep walking. And I get to the end of-- I sit down in the middle seat. Just having an absolute pity party. And listen, I'm melodramatic, but this happened. I'm sitting in the middle seat. I'm just going like, I don't want to do this. It's just so long. And I just stopped and thought, what am I doing? What am I doing? Why am I so grateful for a middle seat? Why do I feel like the Lord owes me a better seat on this plane? And I really begin to think this. I begin to think like, I come from a lineage of faith where there are people that were so committed to the gospel, so willing to sacrifice that they were burned at the stake alive. I come from a lineage of faith that people were willing to sacrifice at such a level that they sold themselves into slavery to reach slaves, sold everything, sent family numbers. And I can't sit in a middle seat for five hours on the way to my five-star hotel and stake dinner, like literally seriously. And I just thought, where did-- how does that get in there? Like, I'm frustrated because I think God It goes me something. God, you know how much I've been working for you? Do you understand what I've done for you? And you can't, I can't even sit down and drink and eat before you do. And God, you didn't even say thank you to me. Sing it's in. And I'll tell you, this is why, I won't tell you this. I think the discipline in our life right now has to be thankfulness. If ungratefulness undermines faith, thankfulness gets you in it, man. Thankfulness is the antidote to that spirit of entitlement. You want to break out of entitlement. And you've got to be vigilant with it, and you've got to be disciplined with it, and you have got to be thankfulness. I don't think we talk about how to come before God often enough. We can have the worship team come up wherever they are. I don't think we talk about, do you know, let me tell you a very middle-aged thing. Has anybody seen the John Adams miniseries? Okay. Yeah, okay, maybe it's not a middle-aged face, older than that, dang. So, there's a miniseries on John Adams, which is literally the most middle-aged thing I've ever said. But, there's a, from years ago, and there's a scene in this miniseries where John Adams is going to come before the England now as an ambassador for the first time representing the sovereign and free nation of America. And it's going to come before the king. And there's a scene that right before he goes before the king, there's an attendant outside the room that's giving him instructions on how to come before the king. He's saying, listen, there's a way that you do this. He's going to walk in, three steps, you take a bow, look up, walk in, three steps, take a bow, you know, don't talk. He just goes through this whole thing with it. The Bible actually instructs us how to come before God. It says, "When you come before him, I want you to come with Thanksgiving." And when you come and sing songs, I want it to be songs of gratitude. And the Bible says, "When you come before him, I'm going to come with thankfulness. I'm going to come. I've got to be so grateful." The Bible actually in Hebrews 13 says that we receive the kingdom with thankfulness. The Bible says that we can bring our supplications, our requests. If we're anxious, bring your supplications, but make sure it is wrapped in thankfulness. That word, that word, that word, "to come before him." And just say, "God, I'm so grateful." I try to, the best of my ability, every time I come before the Lord, worship, prayer, even as I turn my heart to him during the day, I just want to come and just say, "Thank you." This is, I almost never come before God with supplication before I first just say, "Thank you." I'm so grateful. Thank you for all that you've done. Listen, guys, you weren't the 99. You were the one that he left everything for. You were the one, you didn't find Jesus. Can I tell you this right now? You didn't find Jesus. Jesus wasn't lost. Jesus pursued you. He found you while you were yet a sinner, while you were in a pit, while you were in rebellion from God. He came and he found you. He pulled you up. He gave you an identity. He poured out the love of the Father on you. He gave you an eternity secure with him. That's what he did for you. And the older I get, the more I just get before him, I just say, "God, I'm so grateful for your faithfulness in my life." I'm so grateful for who you are. You have always been my shepherd, and you have always been my banner, and you have always been my provider, and you have always been my father, and you have always been my peace. And there's gotta be something, guys, here's the challenge. We have to break that spirit of entitlement that creeps in our lives. It will take you out of faith. Now, I don't think that thing gets broken except in a family context where a father and mother comes up and goes, "Hey, dude, I don't know what that thing is." But you gotta get that out. And then we just kind of say, "Thank you, Jesus." I am going to spend eternity saying, "Thank you." I can never repay what you do. If you want me to sit in a middle seat the rest of my life, I'll give you everything. I will give you everything I have. You owe me nothing. I'm so grateful you've given me everything in your Son. I'm so grateful you've given me your kindness and your patience and your faithfulness, but you don't owe me anything. And we're gonna come before God. That's why the Bible says in everything, in everything, in every situation. Yeah, any of you have that positive friend that's just annoying? They kind of find something positive. We are driving back our pastor, our lead pastor in San Diego, Zach, super positive guy. We're driving back from the Bay Area one time. When you come to Sacramento from the Bay Area, you hit traffic and Davis, you just sit there. There's a few things that make me lose my salvation, like traffic. I'm just sitting there. It's a long day. I'm so irritated. This is so annoying. There's a group of us guys. And Zach just goes, "Guys, how great is this that we get to spend some more time together?" Shut up, Zach. But I'm like, "Oh my gosh, that's how I want to live. That's how I want to live. Every test, every fire, the mess of family, God challenging me to deep level. I just want to say thank you. And I want to look more like you next year than I did this year. And I want to come before you. You've been so faithful to me, God. You've been so gracious. You don't know me anything. You don't know me my destiny. You don't know me my dreams. I owe you everything. I'll give you my life." But this high challenge, high invitation, guys, listen. If you're coming to church, if it's anything else, then a family that's here to grow you up, you're going to miss what God wants to do. You're going to miss the vehicle that God wants to use to mature you. The Spirit of God fills you. The leadership gifts equip you. And the family of God disciples you all have the same purpose. Stand up with me. We have like a chorus we can sing. Can we just come before God just for a minute before He dismiss? Can we just take just a moment? And would you sing a little bit louder than you normally would sing? Would you bring Him an offering? Would you bring Him a gift that just says thank you? And would you come and just say, "God, I make this commitment." Whatever it takes, mature my life. Whatever it takes, mature my life. Break anything in my head that's somehow approaching church from a consumer mentality and not a family mentality. And then God, I want to grow. I want to grow. I want to mature. Thanks for listening to the Bethel Church Sermon of the Week. If you'd like to partner with us and discipling nations and fueling personal revival, you have the opportunity to give at Bethel.ws/OnlineGiving. Let's bring Heaven to Earth together. Have a blessed day. [Music]