o o where to begin it was a Sunday morning and I woke up in a jail cell again and I I looked at myself in the mirror that day and I just knew I needed something else and I just cried out to Lord in that cell and I said I I need you now that was the moment where I truly fully surrendered oh I'm going to beat you no you're not since I found God and accepted him and my life is I mean it's a 180 pick a card any card oh look at you girl God it is on from it went from one end to the Spectrum to the complete other side 3 four five six seven eight Understanding God's love was what allowed me to look in the mirror and say I am enough and I can do this and God does love me and there is there is more for me I used to be lost and broken I am now found and I am restored well hey good morning flat irons we're so glad you're here with us this morning did you stand together hey we get the chance as one church this morning to worship an incredible a powerful God who loves us deeply and cares about our days today so hey let's sing to him with everything we have come on for all that my savior's done for me oh give him your praise worship His Name all that I am sing Hallelujah yeah forever I'm free forever I'm change forever my life to find by his grace with every step every breath all that I am sing Hallelujah oh my whole heart oh my soul let everything within me Praise You Through the Shadows through the star let everything within we praise the Lord we praise the we praise the Lord Jesus faith is my shield the word is my sword the cre fight louder I'm Ro that from the Liv in me sing Hallelujah oh my whole heart oh my soul let everything within me praise the Lord through the shadow through the let everything within we pra Lord we PR Jes I won't stop sing it all he's done for me come on I won't stop singing for he's done for me you heard my cry set me on a rock save me from the head of the enemy I won't stop singing about my savior's name is Jesus I won't stop singing all he's done for me won't stop singing all he's done for me he heard My Cry set me on a rock s me from the of the enemy I won't stop see without my savior oh my whole heart oh my soul let everything within me PR go through the shadow through the stor everything with me praise the Lord let everything within me praise the Lord let everything within me PR the we praise the Lord oh we praise the Lord forever we will worship you Jesus let everything within we praise Lord Jesus Oh My the highest King would welc me I was lost but he brought me know his love for me oh his love for me the sun sets free oh is free indeed I'm a Child of God yes I I fre last he has Ransom his grace while I was a slave to S Jesus died for me yes he died for me through the sun sets free oh he's free indeed I'm a Child of God yes I am in my father's house there's a place for me I'm a child God yes I am I am chosen not foring I am who you say I am you are for me not against me I am who you say I am I am Chen not forsen I am who you say I am you are for me not against me I am who you say I oh I am say I am who the sun says free oh it's free ending I'm a child God yes I am in my father house there's a place for me I'm a Child of God yes I am come on let's sing this together in my father's there's a place me I'm a Child of God yes I am hey we have the opportunity to speak that truth over our Liv lives today you are chosen not forsaken this is who God says you are so let's sing this together in confidence and declare these truths to your heart this morning come on let's sing together I am chosen not forsen I am who you say I am you are for me not against me I am who you say I am I I am chosen not forsen I am we say I am you are for me not against me I am thank you God I am chosen not forsen I am say I am you are for me not against me I am say you say I am chosen not foren I help you say I am and you are for me not against me I help you say I am oh I help you say I am yes I am who you say I am who the sun sets free oh it's freeing I'm a Child of God oh yes I am in my father's house there's a place for I child oh yes time we rest in your presence we rest in your presence you will never Your Love sustaining me before I even knew what love was you've brought me here to and GI me space to Brea so I'll stay still until it seem I will lean back in the loving arms of a beautiful father oh rest in bre deep and know that he's good he's in love like no other yes you are so this morning we invite you to receive the love of our beautiful father to rest in his presence this morning as we continue to worship and remind ourselves of who he is let's sing This Together you've brought me here to rest thank you God and GI me SP to Brea so I'll stay still until until it sing in I will Lean Back In Loving Arms of a beautiful father know that he is good he's a love like no other Holy Spirit I will in arm of a beautiful father we receive know that he is good he's in love like no other father oh thank you Father we rest in your we rest in your now I can see your love is better than all the others that I've seen so I'm breathing deep all of your goodness and your loving kindness to me yes now I can see that your love is better all others that I see so I'm breathing deep I love your goodness you're love kind to me now I can see your love is better than all the others that I see I'm breathing deep all love your goodness and your Ling kindness to me yes so I will leave in beloving US of the beautiful father I'm to know that he is God he's than you thank you Father so I will Le back in the love of a beautiful father yes I will yes I will breing and know that he is good he's love like I will Le back in loving hearts of a beautiful father breae deep and know that he is good he's a love like no other I will lean back in the loving arms of a beautiful father breath deep and know that he is good he's in love like no other so God this morning I thank you for the reminder that you are a beautiful father that you want good for us God that you Delight in our presence that you just want us to be with you God I ask this morning that we would take a step towards you that we would rest in your presence rest in who you are rest in who you say we are God I thank you for the reminder today I thank you that we get to respond to you in worship thank you for this space god I pray this morning God that anything we walked in here with Lord that we would just remember that you're with us that you see us God it is not lost on you the steps that we take in this life so I thank you for who you are thank you for walking with us you are closer than the air that we breathe God so I thank you for that today would you remind us continue to remind us of who you are this morning God we love you you are so worthy of our praise worthy of the honor and the glory this morning so we worship you we trust you we love you I pray all of this in your son's holy and mighty name Jesus and all God's people said amen hey if you're glad to be in the room this morning would you put your hands together with me I am so grateful to be with you my name is Lindy if we have not met before I would love to meet you today hey before you sit down would you say hi to the people around you wave at someone in the room tell someone you're glad to see them and you guys can go ahead and have a seat today yeah good all right how's everybody doing today good I I was going to try to top last week and wrestle a bear um but it' just be a five o'clock service and then I'd be dead in about five minutes so anyway uh it's no no horses here today but um hey before we get into what I want to teach about uh this week and continue this series um several years ago we as a church made a decision we really want to lean into next Generation uh not only as the as the the leaders of tomorrow but a vital part of this church right now so we did several different things all right the first thing last year we uh it's kind of a inaugural year but uh we we started our own flat irons College it's fully accredited uh one to fouryear program some some students choose to come and do one year or two years before they go off to University or something like that so they get that biblical worldview and last year we we uh uh we saw nine students uh complete the year and this year uh behind me is the class of 2425 and they there's 24 of them and I just think we ought to give it up for them they I mean the these these young men when they are they just are leaning into Jesus like I don't know what I'm going to do with my career yet but I know God has to be in the center of it and if I be a lawyer or a doctor or a missionary or a pastor whatever that is I want to sort some things out with God before I make that decision so I really really honor them and uh Mike and Angie who who who lead our lead our College um they're they're just I I'm just really proud of them they're they're so cute look at them all right up there uh right now we're going to pray for them and and just a minute also uh several years ago uh uh we uh we launched uh flat irons Academy K through 12 uh a 1A School here in in in the Denver area and uh it's exploding it's fully at full capacity they have their first football game this Thursday on their new field and baseball is all it's all coming they're just they're state champions and a lot of different things already but more than anything um the everything they're getting taught it's one of the highest academic schools in the state but there's a biblical worldview that that winds itself through everything that God is part of math God is part of science God is part of of of of history and so um these are the teachers many of the teachers go to Flat Irons uh they're all involved in churches across uh the Front Range uh the administration goes to Flat Irons I'm on the school board and we're going to pray for those teachers as well but here's what I know about flat IRS because all of our campuses are connected right now uh we have a lot of uh teachers uh principals School administrators School nurses lunch ladies I do still have lunch ladies I grew L anyway anyway so we I want to honor all of our Educators at all of our campuses so if you are it's back to school if you are a teacher or a principal or administrator or or support uh our our schools public private uh whatever will you stand at all of our campuses and remain standing wherever you are stand up come on come on up there some too right stay standing don't sit down we're going to pray for you yeah yeah it's like we want to give honor to honors do stand stand up the prayer won't count if you sit down that's telling you uh before we go on with the service let's just uh let's just pray for these men and women all right first Lord I just pray for the the students behind me but also across all of our campuses there are thousands of of K through 12 who are uh and college students who are going back back into the classroom last week or this week and I just pray that you just give them peace some it's kind of intimidating and they kind of feel like maybe they're walking into like enemy territory but let them know they're not alone that you're going to be there in the hallways in the classroom with them I I especially pray for our teachers um so much just seems stacked against them and they're trying to do the right thing and and they have such a special Ministry you've entrusted your children to them and so uh will you remind them that they are going to be light in a dark place sometimes they're going to be the only voice of encouragement some of these children here and so just encourage them give them strength protect them and give them the wisdom and knowledge to represent you well in whatever classroom or venue they find themselves in they bring you with them and so we we honor them we're so grateful for them and we bless them in Jesus wonderful name I pray amen we give it up for all of these students and everybody's coming back oh so good there you go get out of here get out of here anyway so wow last week wow all right um thanks uh you all think this is water it's so funny oh last week was what I believe one of if not the most powerful weekends I've ever experienced in my almost 19 years at flat irons not because of the record numbers 23,000 people uh seven almost 7,000 in here on Saturday night and we only hold 4,000 so we sat on laps and got very comfortable but here's what blew me away they're not the numbers all right um the presence of the Holy Spirit was palpable if you were here right if like like he filled the room not once but every service and every campus people people were moved not just emotionally but but I just looked around the room they were cut cut to the heart spiritually and I wish I had time to unpack like all the ways that God spoke and moved through Todd and a horse and a round pin but I I don't I've been asked this a lot all four of those services are online you can watch the one you weren't able to be be at U my favorite was the 11 o'clock I just connected with that that horse she was just really she had some she had some baggage and I have a little anyway so uh every horse was different every message was different except they all had one thing in common they all pointed to what we've been singing about so far God is a good good father and I'm his child and you're his daughter and your son and and God wants the two of us to move closer together not so he can make you do something God doesn't want or need anything from you what are you going to give God all right God wants something good for you so that you can move into the truth that you were made for more so two weeks ago we set out on kind of a we call it a journey to answer a question that many of us have wrestled with maybe are wrestling with right now or will in the future like this thought in our head maybe I Was Made for More created for more I was meant to live a life that's more than this than I'm currently experienced I'm not saying it's bad I just I just want more right and we not talking about more money or better job or more possessions or more accomplishments we're talking about like like like more significance more purpose more more meaning we want to and we want the people closest in our lives that that mean the most to us we want them uh to experience more I want my marriage I want more for my marriage for my family for my friendships I want all that to experience more more peace to believe that that we are living lives that make a difference don't you want to make a difference I want to have an impact on those around me and not just that for Generations that come after me we're going to hand them something I want to hand hand them more and one of the blocks that that kind of to us experiencing that kind of life is that some of us and I use me language right I have in the past settled for an identity how we see and Define ourselves uh and out of that that's how I kind of live my daily life here's the problem I face is that some of us I know it's me all right have taken on an identity and then a corresponding value that's not true but life and circumstances and some other people kind of put that on me and so right we all we sett it for I guess that's all I am right that I'm worth staying around for I'm not worth staying around for whatever but in week one uh we took a look at a son prodigal son story most famous Story Probably in the world we' look at a son who who made a lot of mistakes and and kind of did the math in his head and his heart and here's what he came up with his past mistakes and behavior would forever dictate his future especially when it comes to his relationship with his dad the wounded son decided the father wouldn't want him back as a son and who would blame him but the son was wrong because only the father and in the story father represents God God is the only one who gets to tell the son who he is before the speech even came out the father welcomed the son home and made it very very clear that even when he was away far away in a pig pin he had never stopped being his father and he' never stopped being his son I'm just celebrating that you're back home with me where you belong see we kind of have a horse theme going on if you haven't picked up on it and I I had a new experience yesterday so you're not a cowboy till you get thrown off a horse I'm now a cowboy um this really hurts right through here anyway so uh but the horse theme or or the metaphor or or Parable that we we've been talking about with horses remember this on week one is that the way a horse's brain works is his eye takes on everything over here and this eye takes on everything over here and they don't really correspond they don't talk to each other very very very well and and in the same way many of us have experienced some traumatic experience with life and made assumptions about God based on something we went through or experience but what if we were to take a different look at God from like another eye like from a different perspective and what if we were to discover that in spite of all the trauma and the tragedy and the confusing circumstance we find ourselves in right now God really is a good good father who never wanted anything different from you other than he just wants to be your father and for you to become closer and he wants you back home where you belong as his son and daughter just like the story so last week all right in all of those Services Todd again my favorite service was this 11 o'clock this horse had scars um had a little blood on on her forehead I saw her get out of the trailer it took 20 minutes to get her out she did not want to be here and then Todd pointed to a brand on her and made this comparison just like a brand communicates who this horse is and and who she belongs to many of us have been misbranded and therefore we we've done the math in our heads and concluded based on what I've done or what's been done to me this must be who I am the brand proves it the mark the scar proves it but every once in a while God orchestrates and I used this term last week what I call a Divine appointment you know what I mean like like rearranges the universe like puts you in a Sacred Space for horses it's this it's this round pin it's this classroom right uh for us it might be I went through a really hard time or I had a a decision I had to make all right here's what some of us that Divine appointment is right now in the seat where you find yourself and you you have to make a choice you will make a choice today am I going to stay where I am am I going to keep running in circles living by my instincts just doing what I need to do to survive or you willing to turn toward the father and move towards him and discover that maybe it's possible that you were made for more and if you were to trust your father enough to follow him where he wants to take you you will find out that more is actually possible for you even though where you're sitting today I don't even see how it's possible more than I could ever hope for Imagine but two things are going to be true always going to be true when it comes to Jesus right following Jesus it will always feel like a risk because you're not really sure where he's going to tell take you he doesn't tell you up front he just says follow me he's good I love you it it'll be it'll be good trust me all right and the second thing about following Jesus it will always be your choice right following Jesus will always be your your choice he won't beat you he won't punish you he won't threaten you he won't manipulate you that's that's just called Bad Religion all right he'll just stand there and say come here come to me all you are tired and weary I'll give you rest I will teach you that you were made for something more than what you've settled for but something inside of you is going to need to change and that's what I want to talk about today if you have your Bibles with you we're going to be in Romans chapter 8 in just a minute Bible or Bible app all right just give me a few minutes and we'll be there but I want to throw out a statement so that in case you have to leave early this is the idea I want to unpack with you for the next 30 minutes all right God doesn't offer to save you or forgive you because he feels sorry for you or or because you're like he looks at you goes you're a lost cause without me God offers and wants to save you and forgive you because he loves you and he wants you to be in his family and for you to call him your father and and for him to call you his son and daughter you're not his special project you're not the object of his pity you're the object of his love and he wants you to be more in his life and he wants to be more in your life and if you believe that's true it would change not only your identity it would change everything because you'd live your entire life out of who you really are like like I said in week one we'll be we'll be taking a deep dive into the book of Romans in October November all right I want to go back to the Book of Romans and look at this change that takes place when God becomes Our Father Romans chapter 8 I think it's verse 14 but but let me set this up the author's name is Paul he's writing to a group of Christians they've only been Christians maybe a year or two maybe three all right so they're new in their faith they live in Rome the capital of the Empire The King uh Caesar thinks he's God and all of the religions are are are forbidden all right and they're trying to get this little Church off the ground and and running so he's really this is a a letter of encouragement some people trying to figure some stuff out does that make sense so in Romans chapter 8 I love this it says for all all who are led by the spirit of God are sons of God now some of this what I'm going to talk about it's going to sound familiar and some of it is going to be new so many I bet I've read that scripture I don't hundreds of times in my life and every once in a while you'll read it and go like well I didn't noce that before and this has to do with capital S and little s they mean something different if you see capital S like on the word spirit it's God if it's uh lowercase s it's not God does that make sense so well why does that make a difference hang with me okay so we covered this before right when a person puts their faith and trust in Jesus now we all come from different backgrounds so when I say faith here's what I'm talking about right I believe that Jesus is who he said he is he's the son of God and I believe and trust that he can and will do everything he promised to do in my life that's Faith to forgive me to love me to guide me to strengthen me all of that Faith okay so when a person says I I want that I I put my faith in Jesus not only does Jesus forgive past and future sins and mistakes all right he also puts his own Holy Spirit capital S the spirit of God the spirit of Christ in you and now Christ isn't just with you you're not just reading about him he's actually in you when you when when you put your faith in Jesus he moves in you and he guides and changes you from the inside out instead of trying to change your behaviors on the outside with rules and laws and religion and hope that makes a different on the inside which it never does know his Spirit changes us from the inside out and one of the biggest changes he says we got to talk about first is who you are I want to talk about your identity see look back there at that at that verse again says that that when the spirit is in you you you are by definition by identity you are a son of God now let me just talk especially to the ladies in the room all right when you read that it might go like I what about us right when you are led by the spirit of God why doesn't it say you are a son or or daughter and a daughter of God and the answer is this okay and I I taught this at a women's retreat several years ago and they all went oh and they were less mad at me then okay so and not anyway the answer is Paul is about to use legal language 2,000 years ago to address the reality that the people that he is writing this letter to will understand which is this 2,000 years ago in the time that Paul is writing this only Sons were allowed to inherit property from the father so when you see Sons there it's more of a place of legal standing than it is I'm just talking about boys legally boys but with God it's it's it's it's I I stand in the place where I can inherit right in this culture context all right if you're called a daughter you basically property that your dad brokered to be married off to gain land or political or financial gain Paul's not condoning that by using that as an example just like later he talks about slavery he's not condoning slavery he's just pointing at their flawed lives and systems they live in and and and using that cultural context to point to something really really good about about God you don't you don't know much about God but you know about this let me let me use this as a metaphor so this isn't this isn't about boys and girls we'll see that in a minute because children is all in there right this is about who gets to be and who isn't in a position to receive an inheritance from their father and we're really talking about God you follow me now all the ladies should go oh anyway so you didn't do it but anyway here we go for you did not receive the now look lower case right for you did not receive the spirit of Slavery to fall back into fear but you received the spirit of adoptions as Sons by whom we cry ABA father so Paul says that when a person puts their faith in Jesus receives the holy spirit of God their life it changes a person on a spiritual level and by that he by that he means this the spirit changes your identity right at the core see and there are two spiritual options going on here there's a spirit of slavery and there's a spirit of adoption as Sons lowercase Capital right so let's look at a spirit of slavery in Paul's day right if you lived in Rome you basically had two classes of people you had Roman citizens don't I sound like Mark Moore right now I don't anyway so right uh yet you had Roman citizens like members of the Empire and by extension members of the emperor's family because he was father of the Romans right then you had slaves right Slaves by identity were property to be used traded bought and sold slaves didn't have rights they couldn't own or inherit property they couldn't make a decision or choice for their life or their family you say well well why didn't they just rise up you know and and rebel or run away from the Roman Empire and here's the answer and all of us are going to identify with this right if you live your life a certain way long enough and see no hope or options available to you you just kind of surrender and give in and go this is it this must be what I was made for remember this you live what you learn the other spirit in this scenario is the spirit of adoption a person who is adopted is first of all chosen right and invited they don't have to they can say no I don't want I don't want to be a part of your family they're they're they're they're they're invited to leave what they forly were behind mind and become a part of a new family not a piece of property but a child who takes on the family name and calls the one who adopted them not master not owner but ABA which is an Aramaic word a local language for a child's what a child would call their father and it's really intimate it's more like Daddy crawl up in my lap I want to be with ABA it's intimate ABA is you're mine you're my son you're my daughter because we're family not because I own you now if a slave tried to act like a member of the family family they would be shown very clearly you're not one of us and you never will be but if a child in the family saw themselves as a slave who had to work hard to get their father's approval it's a matter of time till that kid gives up and goes like I'm out see what Paul is saying here is that when God's spirit comes and lives in you he changes your core your identity and the reason that he's reminding these people in Rome and the reason I'm teaching what Paul taught them why I'm teaching it to you is there are a lot of us right now in this room in our campuses online right we have been adopted by God and we are now able to call God ABA father but we keep believing and then acting like our relationship with God is based on slavery performance to him I better be good which is exhausting because you're living like even though I've adopted into his family if at any moment if I do something wrong or if I don't work hard enough slave hard enough religiously right he'll unadopt me and send me back to slavery which means let's be honest you never really believed he really loved you and adopted you in the first place and the reason that you or me or what at least a lot of us okay I'll say this the reason we wrestle with that is that is what life has handed us again we're living what what we've learned because let's be honest we all we all have a long list of people who said they would never leave us they would love us forever they would stick with us till death do us part whatever right and it wasn't true we made a mistake and they bailed or life got hard and they're gone so so we project that onto God and here's kind of the conversation right with God hey thanks God it's a beautiful concept but I know how it really works and I've been burned before so why get my hopes up with you I that's most Christians I know right Paul says you have been adopted you're still carrying a spirit of slavery and that spirit is lying to you and defining you as less than what God has created you to be and has saved you to be and has adopted you says that you are he sees you as his child and you have a hard time believing that so God's going to come back at you over and over and over and going this is who you are this is who you are look at this says this the spirit himself capital S this is God the spirit himself Bears witness like testifies with our spirit that we are children of God and if children then HS we get an inheritance Hees of God and this this will blow your mind fellow heirs with Christ whatever Christ gets from God you do too that's just blows my mind all right provided we suffer with him don't give up all right in order that we may also be glorified with him Paul's saying this your your emotions your your experiences your circumstances cannot be who you listen to to tell you who you are and what you are you have to listen to the spirit capital S Spirit Holy Spirit capital S spirit is the one bearing witness testifying you are a child of God and I'm going to keep telling you that until you finally believe it what do you mean if you're still living defined by your past mistakes your first marriage your addiction I fell off the wagon I did this I did that I really screwed up if that's still defining your future that's a spirit of slavery my past owns me and defines who I am and what I'm worth if you're still holding on to bitterness and rage and guilt and non- forgiveness if fear runs your life what about this and what about that and but right right that's a spirit of slavery for some of us the person who heard us years ago left us betrayed us still owns you you're their slave the Holy Spirit speaks to your spirit and says I didn't pursue you and die for you and forgive you because I feel sorry for you or I look at you like a pathetic lost cause I didn't roll my eyes and go all right guess I have to save you know the spirit says the father has the ability just like that father in the prodical son store he can look through that dirt through that filth on of the pig pin on the outside and and look through that and go there you are right there I see who I created you to be and want you to be you're my son you're my daughter you're just trapped in a lie right now he saved you and he wants to save you because he wants you back in his family at home with him where you belong living out of your identity and experiencing everything you get to inherit from him joy peace Grace strength Freedom that's what the spirit of adoption brings you're not his special project you're a son or his daughter and he puts his own Spirit spirit's doing it right now speaks to your spirit hey Spirit of slavery you have to leave go back to hell where you belong and the father spirit says to your spirit of adoption this is who you are because I made you I died for you I adopted you because I love you you're my child because that's who you are to me and I get to choose now I I was putting this talk together and was kind of wrapping it up on Thursday and I I I had an idea and every time I email the worship team an idea they're all like buckle up and uh I want to do something that and they they were great all right I want to do something we don't normally do I really am trying to listen to the spirit more he like it's not in the script but we're going to go that way okay so uh and I think we should do that more a lot of times when you read something in the Bible like I just read to us or or or hear someone like me make statements about how God sees you and defines you brings up stuff right uh emotionally and sometimes you're sitting there going that's beautiful I that I feel really good about that and then immediately like a nanc later you start a conversation in your head where you're arguing with God about if that's true for you like oh I'm his son right but what about this and what about the time I did that and then what she did that to me and and what my my dad did this to me and blah blah blah it goes on right I have a really hard time believing it's true so so years ago I I I think is our former our former teaching Pastor Scott nickel he taught me something that has always stuck with me all right after today it's mine but I'll still give Scott a little bit of credit all right so in our culture I mean you cannot watch a movie you cannot hear a song on the radio without this phrase listen to your heart follow your heart you don't know what to do just do whatever your heart is telling you to do write this down that's the worst advice ever it's worth it's a very nice country song or something everybody but it's a horrible Life Plan uh like how many of us have ever followed our hearts and it led us right over a cliff like well my heart was wrong there all right CU when you read in Scripture that a heart especially a heart that's not aligned with God's spirit is the greatest deceiver of all but I felt right I know you got lied to by your emotions so Scott threw this out he said don't listen to your heart listen to what God's spirit is speaking to your heart and then keep listening to God's spirit until your heart agrees and aligns with what God's spirit says is true I think he said it like this don't listen to your heart speak to your heart what the spirit is declaring is true and all that stuff comes up you know no heart I'm telling you this is who God says I am this is who I am this is who I am so here's what I'm want to do all right I'm G ask Ryan and Lindsay to come out um and they're going to sing this song my kitchen table and I thought this is this is is it all right and it contains a message that I believe the Holy Spirit wants you and I to embrace and even though if immediately you hear some of those lyrics you go like I don't I don't feel like that's true for me I want you to there's a phrase in there I am a child of God I want you to keep on repeating that phrase to yourself I am a child of God I am God's son I am God's daughter right and you don't stop repeating it until you start believing it you might have to sit here till lunch I can't get up yet I don't believe it yet I'm a Child of God I'm a Child of God right so they're going to sing it normally I I know especially this this crowd like soon as the music start you're like all right so um don't it's not bad what you do but could you just let kind of it wash over you and then if you want to sing some of you ever move last night they're going I'm not supposed to be singing But I want to all right and so if you want to sing if you want to stand whatever that that is but just I'm going to ask you maybe this is a time of prayer for God God's spirit to speak to your spirit and say hey you've been lied to this is who you are here we go and you unravel me with a Melody you surround me with a song of deliverance from my enemies till all my fears are gone I'm the longer SL sa de fear oh I am a child of God I'm the longest slave defeat oh I am a child of God from my mother's womb you have chosen me your love has called my name oh I've been born again into your family your blood flows through my veins I'm the long you're slave defeat oh I am a child of God and I'm the longest Slave defe oh I am a child of God I'm the longest SL to fear oh I am a child of God I'm the longest Slave defe oh I am a child of God and I am surrounded by the arms of the father I am surrounded by songs of De soul oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh you split the SE so I could walk right through it my Fe were Dr in perfect love you rescued me so I could step and say oh I am a child of God you split the sea so I could walk right through it my fears are Dr in perfect love you res me so I could stand and say oh I am a child of God oh I am a child of God oh I am a child of God oh I am a child of God oh I am a child of God and I am a child of God yeah um hey Ryan I I'm going to change my mind I I think we need to sing this um uh if you need to stand if you need to kneel if you need to sit and let this wash over make it your declaration this this is who I am take us through it a couple more times all right and I'm the longer slave defeat oh I am a child of God I'm the longer slave defeat oh I am a child of God yes I am I'm no longer Slave defe oh I am a child of God I'm no longer Slave To Fear oh I am a child of God father God right now for some of us this is our song of Deliverance this is the moment change fall off this is where our spirit finally agrees with your spirit and says maybe it's actually true that you want me God not because you feel sorry for me not because you you have to but you chose us you chose that girl you chose that man and said you're mine and so we come to you ABA father not with shame not with guilt we just need you and then when we say that and your response is I've been waiting for you to come home with me where you belong if we would get up out of these rooms and and and and drive to our houses and to work and to school tomorrow with that in our head that God is my father and I'm going to be okay because he's going to take care of me and I'm going to follow him I don't know where he's going but I trust him so Spirit of slavery go to hell where you belong Spirit of adoption permeate this room in every heart and keep telling us the truth until we finally agree with you in Jesus wonderful name I pray amen amen amen all right good I'm not done preaching this just I had a moment you know so we should listen that Holy Spirit more anyway hey um you're not God's project God doesn't feel sorry for you you're his child he loves you and he wants the two you to be together what do you do with that what do you do with that how how do you let that sink in how would you know that you're beginning to actually like like truly believe it's true and then live out of that identity of being adopted into God's family and invited to call him ABA father well looks back so so maybe you've already heard everything you need to hear from God today I just want to take it one more step and go maybe maybe there's something you can do with this all right all right two weeks ago we've been on a journey two weeks ago we began this series by looking at the reality that we all show up in whatever round pin uh with a story right experiences of scars and Trauma um all of it has formed us into who we are and what we're holding on to going like that's true by my experience right but then there comes a time when you have to decide am I going to keep doing this am I going to keep running in circles living in survival mode letting my instincts fear fight flight run my life or do I want something more and is more possible and then last weekend all weekend long we saw those Concepts played out in real time as four horses entered the round pin scared scarred again one of them was bleeding from an earlier room they're all just running in circles they're all looking for the door I want to get back to what I know what I've exper I want to get back to my reality and I don't know I don't I I don't know how I got here but over time in a series of risky choices they allowed Todd to come closer eventually touched them and eventually gave gave him access to the most vulnerable part of their life their back the only thing that wants to get on a horse's back is a predator and fear was replaced with trust and new things became possible for for the from now on okay that's the same thing we're talking about today when you begin to stop running from God but get to know him as a good good father he changes you he's not just trying to change your behavior this is not be nicer right he he wants to change you on your identity level and you begin to live out of that identity there's something that happens inside of you that says what I have experienced with God my father I I I've got to share that I've got to express that right so it's going to get a little weird here but go with me right he's on medication right just wait okay so here's what I was sitting in my kitchen table thinking about I wonder what happened when those horses got out of their trailers back in Wyoming or Loveland or or or G wherever they had come from and got back to that pasture with the other horses like what what were those horse conversations like CU they they they talked you know they talked right like where you been you're not going to believe it it was CRA it's nuts all right I went to I went to church you yeah yeah remember they they put me in that trailer I didn't want to go they drove through all that traffic they it was terrifying they pulled me out of that trailer the next thing I know I'm standing in this big building with crazy lights and sound and I was terrified and all I could think of was I just got to get out of here I have to run where's my Escape ready and then I met this man and he was different and he didn't want to hurt me you know I've been hurt before yeah yeah I remember yeah he didn't force me to do anything he didn't punish me when I did something wrong I did several things wrong he he's just like he just wanted to be near me and all I felt from him was love and peace it's like it's like he knew a secret about me that I don't even know about me and so I I I started following him I actually allowed him to climb on my back what I know right right and he's here's the thing when he started leading me and showing me where to go I felt more free than anything I've ever felt in a in this pastor he changed me I think I've been living the life of a cow I don't have it all figured out but I think maybe I was made for more but if that man had not left Idaho Fall and gotten in that pin with me and showed me what was now possible I would have died out here in this field as a cow not knowing what my future could hold and you know I'm stopped talking about horses a little while right did anybody else have a s similar conversation in their own head or with somebody else this week anybody's like I don't know I I think I I'm a cow I'm a horse I don't know uh so see when the spirit comes and lives in you he changes you but the Bible another metaphor the Bible uses is like a healthy tree bears fruit but here's the thing about it right um something comes out of you but it's not for you he changes you if something comes out of you it's not for you it's actually for somebody else to get a chance to taste and see what you've experienced and what could that look like well it's it's a golden rule do do do for others right I'm going to put a spin on it what's been done for you go do that for somebody else I'll push it a little further what God has done for you go do that for somebody else so I'm writing this story about adoption how if God hadn't left heaven and come to Earth in the form of Jesus to get involved and jumped in my mess and my life not because he felt sorry for me or I'm his project but because he loves me and wants me back in his family if God had not done that I would have lived and died believing my worth and value were based on what I done right or wrong what some people did to me right or wrong and I would have lived My Life as a slave to those definitions I'm a cow in a field now listen when I say all right so say this Iman a spirit F person will do for somebody else what God has done for them I'm not suggesting you go save somebody or fix somebody or convert somebody or right only Jesus can save anybody but the spirit of adoption changes the way that we see other people especially people still trapped and defined by the slavery of their circumstances they just got born there they just landed there that landed on them they didn't vote that's just their life all right what would it look like for us to live out our spirit of adoption so that somebody else could experience the fatherhood of God I think it looks like this so we've got the flat irons leadership pastor jimm and his wife Robin uh Karen who oversees all of their campuses Amanda the missions director who really launched this whole thing two years ago and then Micah and his wife Kelsey who are responsible for media so they're down here capturing stories we've had a fantastic two days this is our last day here in chotka everybody's behind me visiting the Lost Hope Center but yesterday Pastor J his wife Robin Karen and Amanda they all got to meet their sponsive kids which was incredible Pastor German Robin spons of five children they got to meet all five children just a great time of uh connecting with the kids became personal and then also the ability to see the impact uh on the community so so many really uh cool stories coming out of this trip a true understanding of what one child does in a place like this the ability that we have to not just invest in in the kids but also invest in the community and the families seeing the five signs in action uh has been awesome so really really good conversations and incredible things coming up in this partnership yeah I just want you to know I dominated push-ups yeah so take that little kid so um so we talk about the spirit of adoption we received from God please hear me the takeaway today is let's all adopt a kid from hurus unless you want to but uh the spirit of adoption is not saying adopt a kid right the spirit of adoption is also not saying these kids don't matter and you don't have to care about them and the spirit of adoption is also saying not saying you should feel sorry for these poor little kids in Honduras and you better do something right it's your responsibility to help them not that's not what he's saying I believe the spirit of God who put the spirit capital S the identity of adoption in you saying the same thing that motivated God to send Jesus to save you and me to bring us into God's family here it is here's why you should pay attention God loves them so we love them God wants them in his family and we want them in our family they don't need rescued from Honduras they need to experience the spirit of adoption by a father who loves them in Honduras and we his children can facilitate these children experiencing God's love through us his other children I I always hear this there's just so much poverty in the world we can't help anybody everybody listen we might not be able to make a difference in all the children in the world but God is not talking about that God put those children in front of us this morning and we can make a difference in their lives so I have an ask it's very very practical as an expression of your understanding of what God has done and continues to do in your life as your good good father would you be willing to partner with a child in Honduras through our partner one child so they can experience The Same Spirit of adoption that you have are and will continue to experience and it will change their identity from my worth comes from see I could have shown you a bunch of pictures of kids with dirt on them and flies on their face and they're starving right and just melted your heart I'm not going to manipulate you that way right they just need to know that their their worth comes from God not their circumstances they part my parents left me I've got a bunch of stories right right God is my father and he will not leave me I I've met the leadership of of one child they're here at the Lafayette campus today I I've been to Honduras with them I've met with and I've seen the local leaders and Pastors in Honduras um they call um they call them child Champions it's just amaz it's beautiful and was amazed one child doesn't just come into community and tell them what they need that's typical missions one child partners with local Partners Pastors in the community to set up hope centers where children can in poverty can receive educational support Health Care nutrition food spiritual guidance and they do it in the community where the kids live so they can grow up and be transformed and then transform the communities they don't need to run to a border to find a better life especially when Jesus says let me run to you right and God gets all the credit and Glory when when you sponsor a child and you don't do it because you feel sorry for them when you sacrifice for their good they will look at you you're my Champion but truly all you're doing for them is what you understand God your father has done for you so if you have your phone or camera or you have a good memory look at this here's what I want all of our campuses to do out in the lobbies all right um or if you're watching online go to the website you select a child for $44 a month two things here one that's nothing that's Starbucks if you go twice right I spent $31 for breakfast at Chick-fil-A yesterday you know suck it up you can do this All right but I want to add this I didn't say this last night but I heard this this morning listen to the spirit and God will God will bring you to the right child and here's what I mean by that last night uh there was a police officer and his wife were out there they had twins they lost one of the twins they found a little boy of the same name the same age as their twin would be and on he said when I grow up I want to be a cop so they partnered with him and I hear story after story after story so there's a QR code on there and you can complete all the information so you scan that all right and then uh we'll work with you and you can do this all online or you can do it right out here in all of our lobbies you can kind of get that all confirmed let me talk about one child really quick um this past Christmas we took up a special offering we gave one child $500,000 that underwrote the budget for one child's anti-sex trafficking efforts in the Philippines and right now dozens of little girls have already been rescued are now safe and learning that they are Daughters of the king of the universe right God work through you it's awesome it's beautiful I have to keep moving I'll just start crying right we also work with children in Uganda through masana we combat sex trafficking in Cambodia we just send a team over of our our our police officers and Military and they trained their military to do better it's beautiful right but most of us won't ever get to visit those places because it's literally on the other side of the world but the one child is different through our partnership with one child in Honduras it's very possible that at some point in the future it's happened like 50 times in the last year or so you and your entire family I mean your Elementary a kids it's a 5-hour flight and you could go down there and you could visit your your sponsored child or children right you go this is my classroom I have a classroom you know yeah visit their homes maybe attend this is my plan their graduation someday maybe their wedding you in Honduras we already have in this community we partnered flatter you're so generous right you blow my mind we've already partnered with 1,200 children there are 800 children waiting Partnership if we were to partner with these 800 children what that means is every child in that Community would experience the goodness of God the father and that has a potential to change the entire District Robin and I have we have five sponsored kids down there um I I want to get one more we have we have six biological grandchildren I want to have six Hur and grandchildren so that they can we can all be be family adopted by God through Jesus um at all C to stand I'm GNA tell you one more we're going to do a memory verse together here in a second but go ahead and stand up uh so I I I show up there at the Hope Center um and and all the kids are little choir and they're dancing they're singing They tambourines and just really cool thing and I'm looking for my kids and there's Freddy he'll go to prison someday if Jesus do get a hold of him like this hell uh you there's Anna there's you know aen there's all these right I can't find him and then the car pulls up over here and a mom and this little boy gets out and I know who it is his name's David um and he comes in he's never he's never seen me before but I've seen him and so he walks over but me to this table and uh I'm like come and say I'm what's your name like David I said I know and then I pull out my phone and I go I know you and he this what he does like that right like uh it's like you saw Jesus wait wait all right I'm Not Jesus all right but my message to him was I'm Not Jesus I'm just here to tell you that Jesus hasn't forgotten about you and he loves you and he's your father and um I I got to stop uh and and when it was time to say goodbye he just buries his little face in here and uh I'm like how can I get you in my suitcase and uh which is illegal uh so don't do that but hey uh prayerfully consider adopting I think last night this this one service we adopted or partnered with 100 so there's 700 left um if there's any left I'm going to take the last one because I need one more little girl I'm done let God we're not going to sing anymore so amen go home all right so um so God good good father our our brother Jesus we stand in the middle of our family adopted loved accepted um some of us are going to walk out here for the first time actually believing that you you love us and chose us and so when we get threatened this week or get triggered this week we're going to go back to that identity and not have to prove anything like I'm good I have a father and he loves me what can you do to me God I pray for again all of our kids going back to school teachers all that I pray for the 700 kids who are about to encounter a good good father through your good good children all made possible by your wonderful son in Jesus wonderful name I pray amen amen all right get out of here n for o