My Life Changed When I Released ___________. Fun Month At TC (7 In 7)

1:33 Not two, not three. In the words of LeBron James, not four. Zero. No, I'm just kidding. But you're going to actually hear from seven different communicators today. And it's going to be so, so amazing. Here's what, it's seven in seven. So what that means is we have seven communicators that have seven minutes each. Oh, that shit, come on. You the guy that just smoked Simeon. Come on, give it up for her.

1:59 Poor guy. He actually did great. We're just going to roast him for the rest of his life. No, but we have seven different communicators that have seven minutes each to preach the pain off the walls. And I'm telling you, it is going to be so, so good. So here's what they're going to be. They're going to be doing this. They're going to fill in the blank. My life changed when I released blank. Our word for this year is release. And we know that when we release the things that we've been holding on to, it allows God to release everything that he has for us. And I'm telling you, it has been so powerful all day. I'm so excited. So can we get some intro music for, can y'all stand up to your feet? We're going to do this right. I need y'all's energy to help me welcome. Can I get like an effect on my voice to make it sound like a little more, hello. Oh, yeah. They should not have done that. coming in as the intern of the next gen department can you make some noise for will hackinball

3:02 coming up next she leads us every weekend in worship you know her you love her it is destiny crockers he leads our social media teams here at transformation church can you give it up for mr chris harvey She helps lead in the creative department And she is my smoking hot wife Can you give it up For Abby Metcalf He is our amazing gift pastor. Can you give it up for Warren Mackey? She is a part of our executive team here at Transformation Church. Can you make some noise for Miss Ashley Osborne?

4:01 And last but not least, he leads all of Belong Groups. Can you give it up for Kyle Sullivan? You can go ahead and grab a seat. Man, that echo thing just really makes you feel great. I'm just going to keep that on there for the rest of forever. Hey, listen, it's going to be so good. Every single one of these messages are powerful. I believe they're going to relate to you in a good way. And here's what I want to challenge you. I want you to lean in. Like, help. Some people think preaching is just on the person on the stage. It's really not true. because the power of a seed is not a matter of just what's in the seed, but what ground it goes into. So that means I'm not going to preach because they about to preach, but I'm kind of going to preach. I need you to lean in. Lean into it. Say that's good. Say amen. Maybe for the first one, say preach it, white boy. I don't know what you're going to say, but lean in.

4:56 Can you make some noise for Kyle? What's going on, TC? Man, oh, man, I can already feel this. Like y'all said, this is some good ground. This is live at five. I know y'all gonna preach back to us. But as he said, my name is Kyle, and my life changed when I released expectation. See, y'all already better than the other three. Don't tell them no. But what I love is that as we think about releasing things, it's often things in our life that are bad. Things that hold us back, things that keep us from what God wants. But what I think and what I am proposing to you today is that when we release expectation, it actually lets God loose in our life. And that is what my wife and I, we have been living that for the last seven months. You see, we're going to take a trip back to November of last year.

5:51 And my wife and I, we'd like to get a word for the year. Just kind of a direction, just like we have a word for our church. We had a word for our family. And it was expectation. and I thought, okay, man, that's good. We're in really great places with our jobs and with our careers and what we're doing and so, man, if this is where we're at, I mean, God's about to blow the roof off of this and then what I learned is that expectation cost us something because as I said, I was in a place that I loved. I was doing ministry in a place that I legitimately thought I was going to retire at. loved it so much and it cost me my security i was praying god i want you to move i expect you to move i believe that you're going to do great things he said all right give up your security i said well okay jesus um then it's like okay okay that's okay okay so he calls me to this great place and and i'm here at tc now and it's it god god i know that you're going to move you're going to be amazing. It's going to be great. I expect you to move. Will you give up some of your identity? Will you give up some of those relationships that don't serve you like they used to? You say you expect me to move, but do you really want to give up the stuff expectation cost? And the other thing that I learned is that expectation, it fuels our vision.

7:22 and so what as I'm thinking about what God wants to do in our lives and the things that what we expect to happen it 100 will happen so if you're sitting here today you're going well I expect to kind of be in that dead-end job that I know God has more for me or that dead-end guy that I know God has more for me. Or that I know that I really should. Are we really looking for that thing that we expect? Because we'll absolutely 100% always find what we expect. The good news is, is that in Ephesians chapter two, it says that we are a masterpiece. So there's where we should always see our expectation is in a masterpiece, but it's not because of who we are. It says we're created in Christ Jesus. So it's not about who we are. It's about whose we are. That's where our expectation comes. We count the cost. We have it fuel us because we're created in Christ Jesus to do good works for which he's prepared in advance for us to do. So if you're sitting here today and you're going, man, I know I really should do that thing, but I don't know if like what God says is true, and maybe I've stepped out before and I said, you know what, like I'll step out and I'll do the thing, and then it fails.

8:53 but the thing about it is that our expectation in God is not determined on the outcome. It's on our faith. And so when we are setting before God and we say, you know what? I expect you to do great things. I expect the marriage to be whole. I expect those things to happen. It's not determined on the outcome. It's our belief that it will actually happen. and it is just amazing when I think about how that changes everything because in my life I thought it was great and it pales in comparison when I stepped out on faith and I said you know what I'm truly going to expect God to do that immeasurably more thing and I think about Peter when he and the disciples are in the boat and they're out at night and the storm's coming. If you know the story, you know Jesus just like kind of walks on water. Like, that's a normal thing. And so he comes up and they think it's a ghost and they're freaking out.

9:58 And they're like, and Peter, you know, Peter's kind of rowdy, but he still loves God. I relate to that a lot. Anybody else? And he says, if it's you call out to me and I'll come to you. And he's like, all right, Peter, come on. And then I can only imagine Peter in the boat. he kind of looks at the disciples like I mean he did say that right gosh but then he takes the step and for a moment he's living in true expectation of the only one that can hold him up on that water And the only reason that he fell was because he took his eyes off Jesus. So what if a entire church in the building and online could count the cost of expecting God to move, take out anything that is not focused on Jesus, can truly believe that what God said is going to come to pass. And keep in mind, it's in advance. Those good works in advance. So the thing that you only see with your eyes closed, God's already there. And so our confidence is in that. Our confidence is not in our own ability. We remember it's whose we are. We count the cost. We know that we have everything we need if we just keep our focus on Christ. And I believe we got a church full of people that if we could really embody this, it's real cliche to say that we'll change the world. But when we focus on the only one to ever truly do it?

11:45 Thank you, Charles. It's like two people in here that really are excited about what God can do in your life if you release expectation. If we can have a church that does that and a people that does that, you can realize what it means as I did when I released expectation.

14:38 About two weeks before the wedding, I came out to my car after a long day of work, and he was waiting for me in the parking lot. He didn't even get out of his truck to tell me that he couldn't marry me because he didn't love me. so even now 20 years later that really hurts and it's hard to say out loud but I'm guessing in a room this size that you have felt some form of deep rejection like that too maybe for you you had this marriage that you thought was really great and stable but your spouse ended up cheating on you. Maybe you just knew you were going to get the promotion at work. I mean, you were the obvious choice and you worked so hard and yet someone else was chosen. Maybe your mother or your father abandoned you. They left. We've all felt rejected at one point or another and so did Jesus. In fact, when he was arrested in the garden, it was his friend Judas who led the soldiers to him. It was his best friend Peter who denied knowing him three times. And when they arrested him and they brought him into custody, the crowds of people they brought him before were just chanting violently against him. The book of John chapter 18 tells us that Passover had this tradition where one criminal got to be set free and it was the people's choice. And so Pilate, who was going to set this person free on the people's behalf is here with Jesus, and he's asking the crowds, what did he do?

16:16 I can't find any fault with this man, Jesus. But the crowds kept chanting loudly and violently against him, and they were asking that Barabbas be set free. Barabbas, he was a murderer. Jesus, an innocent man performing miracles in people's lives, and yet the crowd just was chanting and rejecting him over and over again. And there is no sting like the sting of rejection. Knowing that I'm not wanted, I'm not welcome, I'm not chosen. That's the sting of rejection that Jesus felt when he went to the cross. And the thing is, rejection will make you do some crazy things. In fact, it'll push us to our deepest places of insecurity. And unless we are secure in our relationships and in our identity, we cannot operate in confidence.

17:16 And somehow Jesus on his way to the cross is acting in calm confidence. In fact, the Bible tells us in Isaiah 53 7 that he's like a sheep being led to the slaughter that never even opens his mouth. He doesn't say a word. I mean, how does he do that? I know for me, like this is so opposite of what I would do. Like when I get frustrated, when I feel rejected, I throw my arms around, I start to defend myself, I try to self-validate. I'm going to let you know exactly what I think. That's not Jesus. How did he do that? Why? It's because he knew he didn't have to prove who he was to anyone. The thing is, when you, when God validates you, nobody here on this earth has to validate you. That means that you don't have to prove to anyone that you're innocent.

18:14 You don't have to prove to your ex-wife that you're a great father to your kids. You don't have to prove to your boss that you're a hard worker. You don't have to prove to the kids at school that you're cool enough. whatever it is you don't have to do that because when God validates you you don't have to be validated by a human being yeah I know for me when this boy broke up with me I felt like I needed to prove myself to him I was looking for my validation in a relationship and my identity and who I would be as his wife. And then God very quickly convicted me and reminded me, no, no, you are my child, fearfully and wonderfully made. Like Kyle reminded us, a masterpiece crafted and prepared for good works far in advance of this thing happening to me. I know that when I start to feel rejected, if I don't make sure that I'm spending time in the one relationship, my relationship with Jesus, the one person who can validate me.

19:20 If I'm not spending time with him, I will very quickly spiral at the hint of rejection. Here's my first point. If you don't hear anything today, hear this. Rejection is the path to a better life. It really is. And I know this because I'm married to an amazing man. Kenny empowers me. That means he speaks life into me. He helps me believe that I can do anything that God is calling me to do. I have two beautiful children. They keep me laughing. They're full of life. All things I wouldn't have had otherwise without the rejection. And it's a better life. The second thing you need to know is that the people who reject you are a part of that better plan. So for Jesus, it was Judas, Peter, and the crowds. If the crowds had chosen Jesus instead of rejecting him, we would would never have the cross. We'd never be living an abundant life full of freedom today. And so listen, if you are in the middle of rejection, you can release that because it is a catalyst to a better life.

20:35 Thank you. All right. Hello, everybody. My name's Warren, and my life changed when I released my fear. I've got three points. I know you guys are going to love these points. You'll write them down. You'll remember them for the rest of your natural life. But I want to point to you a scripture that I really, really love. It's in Psalm 34, verse 4. I'm going to throw it up on the screen. I prayed to the Lord and he answered me. He freed me from all my fears. You're looking at somebody that is totally free from fear. I hate standing up here talking to people, but I can do it in confidence knowing that I'm not up here alone. God is with me.

21:34 He's freed me from fear and insecurity and anxiety and things that have bottled me up and kept me from moving forward and all that God has for me. And I can do it in confidence, looking right at you in the face. I used to couldn't do that. Has anybody ever experienced just fear, being afraid? Lift your hand up real quick. Look around. There are a bunch of people that have dealt with that same thing. it's almost like in my case a screaming and a yelling in my ear and I'm going to tell you kind of what I hear when this fear tries to attack me you're not going to amount to anything.

22:23 Your best years are, they're back there. You've done whatever you're going to do. You've already done it. It's done. You're not going to do anything else. Your wife is so sweet, so kind, so loving. Everybody loves her.

22:45 Why is she with you? why does she even want to be around you? you're not going to live very long. There's something going to happen to you. There's some sickness or disease that's going to grab you. You're not going to make it. Your kids, they don't understand you.

23:16 They just want what you can give them. and it yells, screams, right here in my ear. When I was a kid, I had a bully. Anybody have a bully that's tormented their life? Well, mine, his name was Willie. And even when I say the name Willie, I just think, ugh, I'm ready to fight, Willie. And, man, I'm telling you, Willie, his job, he had a mission in life. Beat me up, take my stuff. Beat me up, take my stuff. It was his mantra. It was the thing he did. He lived for this. It was something that he enjoyed. He loved beating me up and taking anything I had and leaving me for dead. Willie.

24:11 And he lived right across the street from us. So I couldn't get away. Couldn't run away. It's 100 degrees outside. All the kids are outside playing, water guns, having fun. My brother and I, we're in the house. Mom will say, hey, why don't you go outside? We'd slip in the garage. Wouldn't even raise the garage door open. We'd just be in the garage. It's hot. It's sweating. Throwing a ball up against the garage door. she'd come down and, what are y'all doing? Oh, it's fine, Mom. We're having fun. We're in the garage, you know. I mean, we did not want to go outside and meet up with Willie. One day, I just you ever wake up and just say, I'm not doing this anymore. I can't take it anymore.

25:04 I can't take it anymore. I am not going in this garage anymore. I've got to come outside. I've got to release this thing and I've got to face up with this guy. And I'm telling you, it was almost like he was the 1990s version of Mike Tyson and I was everyone that Mike Tyson beat up on the first round knockout. I mean, I was just getting pounded every time with this dude. Point number one, face your fear. You got to face your fear. He grabbed me on the wrong day and I balled up my fist. And I said, okay, you may beat the living daylights out of me. I might die. I'll probably cry. This is going to be over for me.

25:56 But I've swung around. Here's a quote That you guys are going to really love Fear has a large shadow But he himself is small I swung out and I missed him. I totally missed the guy. I wish I could tell you blow by blow this beat down that I gave him, but I truly do not remember what happened. I saw him running. I was surprised he was running. I started chasing after him, which also surprised me, and I'm chasing him all around the neighborhood and all up and down the street cussing and screaming and hollering and yelling. I'm like, I'm going to get you blankety blankety blank. I don't condone that. I don't condone profanity. Please don't wild out on people. That's not what I'm saying to do.

26:57 Don't do that. Point number two, starve your fear. When I'm chasing him all I can hear is, oh man, you done messed up now. If he turns around, you are done. If he turns around, this is it for you. If he turns around and swings out, can you handle this hit? Should you have just stayed in bed?

27:23 Skip this whole day. Just start all over. Yeah, it was bad. It was bad. But you've got to starve that fear. You've got to face it. You've got to say to yourself, I can do this. I'm the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. I'm the head and not the tail. I'm above only and not beneath. I can do this. My last point.

27:47 Replace your fear with God's word. You got to replace it with God's word. Open up the Bible. Find out what the word of God says about you. And replace those fears that you're constantly hearing in your mind. Replace it with God's word. I'm not telling you and I'm not judging you. Hey, I've been afraid. Obviously, you can see that I've had a very traumatic experience with Willie. And it still bothers me today. It doesn't really. But I'm telling you, I'm not questioning that you've had a fear.

28:30 What I want to ask you is this one thing. if God hasn't given you a spirit of fear who's the one that gave it to you? Who are you taking the fear from? When you come to the realization of who's giving you the fear just like I did your life and my life is changed because we've released our fear. Oh my gosh, you can't be serious. You think making the pick is the hard part? No, it's not. The pick takes like three seconds. You know what's hard? The sweat. The time between locking in and cashing out. Yeah, you have a take.

29:24 But in the end, it's not about the winners or losers. This is about us, man. whether we're brave enough to sit through it. Don't fight the sweat. Live in it. Because you are an underdog. Underdog.

31:53 It's just this overwhelming amount of love. And they are 100% true. But what they don't often tell you is that that love is a lot of times partnered with a lot of anxiety and worry. And for me, this all kind of came to a peak when Arlo was two weeks old. I was having a really good mom day. Moms, you know what I'm talking about. Dishes are done. House is clean. Baby's asleep. I feel like you need a trophy or something. So I was putting up some dishes. Arlo was taking a nap. And I get a phone call. And I answered it. They said, is this the mother of Arlo Phoenix Metcalf? I said, yes, it is, very proudly. I thought they were just going to tell me it's cute or something. I don't know. They say, this is your doctor's office. and we just got a call from the hospital, and Arlo is positive for cystic fibrosis.

32:50 I asked, okay, what is cystic fibrosis? The nurse told me that she didn't know, and somebody could call me back in 48 hours with more information. so the next 48 hours were excruciatingly awful um i couldn't even go like more than 20 minutes without crying so much worry so much anxiety um i googled what is cystic fibrosis and cystic fibrosis is a disease the life expectancy is 25 to 30 years it has to do with lung um buildup of mucus in the lungs and I was just panicking like I was watching I remember just watching over Arlo as he would sleep at night I don't think I even slept a wink just watching him sleep making sure that he was breathing okay and just panicking think about all these scenarios of what his life was going to be like and if I was going to have to live for the death of my son and we get a call 48 hours later to hear someone say the test was wrong and your son does not have cystic fibrosis which yes that was my first reaction was yay my second reaction was you should be fired like I was so pissed if I'm honest I was so upset um and I wish that I could stand here today and tell you that that was the end of my anxiety with all of that, but it is not. Literally this morning, Arlo has a runny nose and is coughing, and a voice in my head came up to me and whispered in my ear, are you sure he doesn't have it? Are you sure he doesn't have cystic fibrosis? Are you sure he's not going to pass away at 25 years old? And it's really discouraging because I thought that I was over anxiety. I thought that I conquered it when I faced the tornado stuff, and now I'm not afraid

34:55 of those anymore, but here I am again, and one thing, one of the only things that gives me hope in this is the story of David. You guys know David. He is famous for slaying Goliath. He got the stone, put it in a slingshot, pop Goliath in the head, kills him. He later becomes king. Yay, we love David. Okay, what we often don't hear about with David is later on in 2 Samuel, the Bible goes on to say that David actually fought four more giants in his life. They were from the Philistine army, same as Goliath, and they were believed to be the brothers of Goliath. So basically he pissed off Goliath's family and they all came for him. I think the most beautiful thing in this story is that when David was going to prepare to fight Goliath, God told him to pick up five smooth stones.

35:51 He used one for Goliath, but he had four more in his tool belt that he was able to use in those later scenarios. So for you today, for me, it's anxiety. For you, it might be lust. It might be addiction. It might be anger. And when it comes back up into your life, please don't feel defeated because that's exactly what the enemy wants. He wants us to just crumble. But remember the last time you fought it. And remember that you were victorious. Even in the song that we were just singing earlier, it says that he's already won. All we need to do is pick up our stuff and fight. when I think about all of this I really think about that the freedom in all of this is not in the finish the freedom is in the fight and it's when we decide to continually fight Romans 8 37 says that we are more than conquerors because Christ Jesus is on our side so whatever it is that you're facing the next time it comes up instead of crumbling or feeling bad or beating yourself up about it, please just remember that we are more than conquerors and the same God who helped you fight it last time will help you fight it this time.

37:12 Well, what's going on, guys? My name is Chris, and today I want to share how my life changed when I release my ambition. Now, how many of us in here are just passionate about something, whether it's sports, your family? Have something you're passionate about. Okay, cool, cool, cool, cool. So the nature of who Chris Harvey is is a huge introvert. Whether you believe it or not, I'm a huge introvert. I love you, but I don't want to talk to you all the time. You know what I'm saying? I love you. But the past couple years, the extroverted tendencies have begun to grow out. I used to work for an organization called Young Life, and through that, I got opportunities to speak in schools and stuff like that. The one person in Young Life, ooh, love you.

37:58 And through that, the extroverted tendencies began to develop, began to build, and God has given me different cool opportunities, especially over the past 2018. Even I got to do 7-7 last year. But after July, a lot of requests began to stop. and I began to get a little irritable and I thought that God needed my help I thought he's busy working on your life so he needed my help so I decided to help God find another opportunity to speak so I thought he needed my help so I went to the almighty source we all know, Google and I somehow found out all the contact information for all of Oklahoma all of Texas and all of Arkansas all school principals. And I sent the most massive email. The most massive email sent thousands of principals. Said, hey, how you doing? My name is Chris Harvey. I'd love to come speak. Call me.

38:53 Beat me if you want to reach me. And I sent the most massive email. And it was crazy. Thousands of people. Thousands. And one person responded. And she didn't respond when she asked me how much I would charge. I thought $20,000 was enough. I thought this was my first time getting paid to speak? I thought that was it. No? Okay. But the problem wasn't in the opportunities. The problem wasn't in the schools. The problems was my heart for impact left when the opportunities didn't come. But I love the Bible, y'all. I love the Bible because it's full of stories of people who do dumb stuff just like me. In fact, there was two people named John and James. Two of Jesus' boys. They thought they came up with the greatest idea, keywords they thought. So they're planning, they're seeing Jesus and they're like, all right, you're going to tell them, John, because Jesus loves you a little more. Okay. So, hey Jesus, how you doing? Hey, you look good. Losing weight? Okay.

39:49 We had this idea. You're king. You know what I'm saying? Got your throne up there. We noticed there was two extra seats up there and we just thought that they're empty and there's two of us, that we just sitting next to you. You know what I'm saying? I'll let you process that, but we just thought that we want to give it to you. I love Jesus' response because he's so gangster.

40:13 Jesus said, do you know what you're asking? do you know because I didn't come to be served I came to serve so if you're asking me to sit next to me you're not you're not asking to be praised you're asking to serve but what are you really you asking I love it because Jesus is asked the question of why why do you want to sit next to me why do you post everything on social media is it really because you want to impact the influence I've given you or you really just want to be seen you're perfect, so I'm just talking about myself today why do you buy the boat? is it really because you want to create a different experience for your family that you didn't have growing up where you really want to impress your co-worker why do you buy the boat? why do you buy the shoes? why do you go to extramarital people? is it really because you have a heart for people? or do you want people to validate you?

41:07 The question is why? Because there's a fine line between what you're motivated by, between selfish ambition and God. There's a line. When you're motivated by selfish ambition, you're always comparing yourself. But when you're motivated by God, you celebrate what God is doing to other people. When you're motivated by selfish ambition, you're always striving for exposure. but when you're motivated by God you grow deep in what he's called you to do allow him to give you the exposure. There's a difference. What are you motivated by?

41:46 What sits on the heart of your tongue? Because what I've learned is your calling can only go as far as your character carries it. And many of us are halting the promise he planned for us because of our own ambition. What we think needs to happen. There's a difference. but I found something special in the Bible I want to read to you today I think it will help us it's in Philippians chapter 2 verses 3-4 it says do all things out of selfish ambition no I think that's how we read the Bible though Oh, no, okay. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain or conceit. Rather, in humility, value others above yourself. I think we struggle on that part. But not looking to your own interests, but to each of you, to the interests of others.

42:37 This is the blueprint what God has given us. There's something on the inside of our heart. Each and every one of us have our own little selfish ambition. But God has given us three different things I want to share with you today. Identify it. God can't heal what you act like doesn't exist.

42:58 Identify it. All right, God, this is the area of my life. This is the area of my job, my family, whatever it is. Identify it. And second, God, I got to give it to you. In my prayer with you, in my devotion, when I fast, I got to identify the area of my life. And God, I need you to come stand in this situation. Third thing, serve.

43:20 Serving is the closest thing we can come to humility and becoming like Jesus. but many of us avoid it but if you're too big to serve too small to lead This is my life This is what God is doing to me And this is, as I change As I release This thing God has truly given me freedom My question for you is Will you do the same? My life is changing As I release my ambition You want to talk about pressure? Try having millions of people watching and waiting to see what you're going to do once that ball hits your hand. Hey, it's Marcus Allen, Pro Football Hall of Famer, NFL MVP, and Super Bowl champion. And this season, I teamed up with Underdog because they know how to make watching football a whole lot more interesting.

44:16 You make your read, you commit, and then you find out that's competition. And Underdog has a game that puts that decision-making to the test. It's called Keep Your Million. Underdog starts you with $1 million in funds and gives you 20 player prop questions. You decide how much to put on higher and how much to protect on lower. Whatever lands on the winning side stays alive. Your job? Make it through all 20 picks without hitting zero and see how much of your million you can keep. I like that because it's not just one decision. You've got to manage the pressure, trust your read, and then do it again. Think you can handle the sweat?

46:10 And the dad was actually me, my sister, and my mom's hairstylist. So every weekend I would babysit their three kids on Saturday for like 10 to 12 hours. And they would pay me the whopping sum of $20. $20 every week. It was amazing. I mean, that seemed like much to you. But for me, that was like some lip gloss that was really popping. That was some food. My mom wouldn't let us keep in the house. That was some really ugly clothes from Forever 21. Like it was some things I would just never see again. It was really great. I thought I was like living the good life, okay? But one day when he came to pick up his kids, he said, hey, I want to make you a deal. I want to offer you a trade. Instead of giving you this little $20 every week, I want to offer to do your hair for free every weekend. I was like, that's amazing. That's like an $80 to $100 value trade off here. So you guys know obviously which one I chose. the $20. I chose the $20. Let me tell you why I chose the $20. I chose the 20 because I had never paid to get my hair done before. I never had to shell out that $80. My parents paid for that every week. I had no idea what value it is in making that trade. I think that a lot of us treat forgiveness that way. We have no idea what it really costs. So we treat it like it's not worth it. It's not It's not worth me letting go of this thing.

47:27 For me, it was trading that $20 for $80 in services. For you, maybe it's choosing to play the victim instead of getting your peace back. For you, maybe it's holding on to what your dad did 20 years ago when God is trying to break generational curses in your family. I don't know what that thing is for you. I don't know what that thing is for you. But today I want to examine what it says in the word about forgiveness. There's a story that is so powerful that tells us how invaluable our forgiveness is. It's in Genesis 32, and it's the story of Jacob and Esau. They were brothers, and Esau was the older brother. And there was a special thing back then that the oldest child, the oldest man would actually get a birthright blessing from the father before he passed. It would be a special inheritance. And Esau, he actually ended up losing that inheritance to his brother. His brother tricked his dad into giving it to him instead. Jacob runs away to a faraway land.

48:20 he gets married, he tricks somebody else, and he has to come back home and face Esau. So he tries to gather all these things, this gold and this cattle and money and all these things, trying to make up for what he did to his brother. So we're going to pick up in Genesis 33 and verse 1. So it says, so Jacob looked up and saw Esau coming with his 400 men. He divided the children between Leah and Rachel and two maidservants. He put the maidservants out in front, Leah and her children next, Rachel and Joseph last, he led the way. And as he approached his brother, he bowed seven times, honoring his brother. But Esau ran up and embraced him. He held him tight and kissed him, and they both wept. That is such an amazing example of forgiveness, how invaluable our forgiveness is. I mean, if you look at it, it really doesn't make sense to us and our human minds. Like, How can he do that?

49:17 Literally, Jacob stole from his brother. He stole his inheritance. He stole his blessing from his brother. And he did it at the absolute worst time possible as his father was dying. When his father died, he didn't come back and check on things. He didn't make sure everything was good back at home. He left. But Esau freely gave him forgiveness. I think the reason Esau did that is because he knew that that was something that neither one of them could really afford. Neither one of them can really afford to have unforgiveness in their lives and on their hearts. I know for me, maybe I think that Esau really did that because Esau had to spend some time learning to forgive himself. Because if you don't know, earlier on in that story, way a few chapters back, Esau actually traded his birthright to Jacob. He acted all surprised and shocked when Jacob stole it from him, but he traded it a long time ago for a bowl of stew. and I think some time went by and Esau had to face that in his life and forgive himself first for what he allowed to happen to him and I can really really relate to that because I know for me I have a lot of trouble forgiving myself sometimes and for me that came to a head just a few years ago I was rushing to church one day and I lost control of my car and I had a car accident and then literally every single time I got in the car after that if anything happened whether it was my fault or not I would just literally go into shock and panic have anxiety attacks I couldn't breathe and I just I felt like, oh my gosh, I messed up again.

50:36 This is going to happen to me again. But I realized the cycle went even before that to when I was a year out of high school and I said, I'm finally going to go to college and I applied for the school I wanted and I didn't get in. I thought, man, you're not good enough again. I had to forgive myself for that, for speaking that over my life. Or even before that, when I first graduated high school and I wasted an entire year and didn't go to school and just kind of sat around and did nothing and messed up the plan God had for my life. I had to forgive myself for that. I had to learn to forgive myself when my sister passed away from cancer. And I wish I could say I had to learn to forgive myself because I really just thought I could have done more. And if only I had been there only. But it was really because I hated her until the very day she died.

51:25 I had so much unforgiveness and hate in my heart. They had to learn to bring to God to ask for forgiveness. what I learned through all of that is that my ability to forgive myself my ability to forgive others was directly tied to my ability to forgive myself I wasn't able to give forgiveness to anybody else until I first brought to God please God show me how you've forgiven me and how I can turn that back around and forgive myself and maybe for you you're thinking but I have the right to hold on to whatever I'm holding on to I have the right to hold on to the person that hurt me I have the right because they should have been there for me. They should have done these things for me. We can think that we're justified in that. But if there was anyone else, anyone else that had the right to say, I don't want to give forgiveness. It was Jesus. It was Jesus. But instead of choosing to hold offenses against us, instead of choosing to condemn us, he stood on the cross in his very final breath as he held his arms outstretched and said, father, forgive them for they know not what they do and I don't think he said that because he thought it was a nice phrase I think he said that because he knew 2,000 years later there'd be some people standing here who has some nasty mess going on in their hearts that said I couldn't forgive myself then I don't want to let go of my dad.

52:44 I can't let go of this situation. But God, you forgave me first. So I'll give forgiveness freely. I'd encourage you today. Seek God about who it is you may need to forgive. It may be a person. It may be yourself. Whoever it is, seek him and ask him to show you again the value in his forgiveness. And I promise you it will change your life because my life is changing as I release unforgiveness. Thanks. Come on, that's cool. Woo! Man, that was good. Guys, my name is Will, and I'm honored to be up here and preach alongside these guys. They are amazing. I get to talk to you today, though, about how my life changed when I released my will. And there's many definitions of will, but one of them is a determination despite any difficulties or opposition.

53:41 So essentially, you have this plan, something you want to achieve, and you're going to go out and get it at all costs. We've all had something like that, right? I mean, if we're thinking, I don't know what it is for you. Maybe it was a job. You eyeballed this job, this promotion. It had some good benefits, and you're like, man, I'm going to do everything I can to get that job. Maybe it's you want to buy a house. You're done renting. You want more square footage. And you're like, this is the year. We're going to buy the house. and you're going to go out and get it no matter what. Maybe for some, it might be a relationship. 2020 is the year that we are going to get engaged and married in the name of Jesus. You know, I don't know what it is. And there's nothing wrong with those things. There's nothing wrong with that.

54:27 But what if it doesn't line up with God's will for your life? What if that house that you want to buy so badly is actually going to set you back financially and God's trying to protect you from it? What if that promotion, it looks good and you want it, but what if God is like, if you would just wait, I actually have something that's going to pay you even more and give you better benefits, more vacation time. And maybe that relationship, it's not bad to want that. But what if God is like, you know what? I'm actually doing something in your spouse's heart right now. they need to release something to me and they haven't yet but sometimes we can force it because we want it our way our will be done we can miss out on god's will for us can i just tell you that his his will his plan over our lives is perfect yeah jeremiah 29 11 it says it the best for these are the plans i have for you declares the lord plans to prosper you not to harm you plans to bring you hope in a future. And this is, guys, this is not the Lord being like, I got something good for you in the pipeline. Like, just wait and see. The Lord is declaring this over you, and I need you to believe it. I don't care if you've heard this scripture a hundred times or the first time today. The Lord is declaring this. I have plans for you, but we can miss it when we want to make it our way, our will be done.

56:01 Oh my gosh, you can't be serious. You think making the pick is the hard part? No, it's not. The pick takes like three seconds. You know what's hard? The sweat. The time between locking in and cashing out. Yeah, you have a take. But in the end, it's not about the winners or losers. This is about us, man. Whether we're brave enough to sit through it. Don't fight the sweat. Live in it. Because you are an underdog. Underdog. Unleash your dog. Terms may apply.

57:01 What happens when that drive, that determination, the I'm going to go get it no matter the difficulty, no matter the opposition, lines up with God's will? Luke 22, 42 paints a beautiful picture of what that looks like. Jesus is about to be crucified, and he is on his knees crying out to the Father, Father, please, if there's any other way, if you're willing, take this cup from me but then he says words that will change the course of history he says yet not my will but your will be done that statement jesus releasing his will and submitting to god's changed my life it changed many lives in here and i believe that it's going to change even more lives tonight here online i believe it's going to change your life. But it started with that decision of Jesus releasing his will and submitting to God's. And some of you, I just, I can see it. You're like, oh, pump the brakes, white boy, with the tattoos. Like, I'm not Jesus, you know, and I'm not planning on being crucified tomorrow. Okay, I get that. So I want to tell you maybe just another story to make it a little bit more real, a little bit more tangible for you, okay? It's about a guy I know, and I did ask his permission to share his story.

58:27 But he started out doing drugs back when he, I think he was like 13. And it started out normal, party scene, but then it turned into something more. And before he knew it, he was drinking and using drugs every single day of his life, trying to numb something, and I think he forgot what he was trying to numb. He struggled with pornography. He lied to people he cared about. He stole from people he cared about. He was anxious all the time. Guys, his anxiety crippled him, and he couldn't even tell you what he was anxious about. His depression was so bad that he attempted to take his life on multiple occasions.

59:10 When he was 18, he made a stupid decision, and he got a girl pregnant. And if he sat down with him, he knew that he was young and dumb. But there was this part of him that was excited to be a dad. As the months went on, he started, you know, hey, what's the sex going to be? Is it a boy? Is it a girl? What's the name going to be? What are they going to sound like? What are they going to laugh like? He started getting that excitement.

59:40 Unfortunately, that girl, she didn't share the same excitement. And without talking to him, she decided not to keep the baby. and church can I just tell you that this broke the already broken man his drug and alcohol use spiraled out of control he was using so much with just the hopes that he would not wake up he finally was arrested he was convicted of two felonies for selling drugs and he wound up in the shoe and if you don't know what that is it's the special hold unit it's basically the basement of the jail where they put people that they don't want to deal with because this guy is coming off of 10 years of drugs and alcohol abuse. But when he was in there about a couple weeks into his sentence, he felt something. He felt the presence of God in there with him.

1:00:35 And he started crying. He didn't know why he was crying, but he just knew that God was in there. and he felt God speak to him and say, hey, are you done yet? Are you done living your way?