Identity in Christ

How many were at Refuge Church when I came a few months ago? How many of y' all were there? Just raise your hand real quick. Okay, cool. It's good to see you guys again.

Yeah, I love that. I love that. Hey, listen, if you remember anything about me, you know, when I came six months ago, one thing about me is I just get straight to the point. I'm really intense. I'm gonna try to smile from time to time tonight.

I promise. It's good to smile. But the reason why I feel so much intensity and the reason why I'm so passionate is because I was in a room just like this 12, 13 years ago, and my life was transformed forever. You know, for me. You know, I grew up.

I'd never been to church. I was raised in a lesbian household with two moms. I was born by artificial insemination. You know, I never read the Bible. I knew nothing about this guy named Jesus.

They were lifting up their hands and singing songs, but I was like, I don't even know what that means. But I remember when I was 15 years old, I was sitting all the way in the back row after a friend invited me to church. And when I was sitting back there, for the first time in my life, I felt the presence of God. For the first time in my life, I felt like I had a hope, a purpose, and a plan. You see, for me, everything was good.

I was good at sports. I had good grades. I had a good college degree ahead of me. I had a good life ahead of me. But something was wrong in my soul.

And sure enough, in that church service, as I'm sitting back there and I'm experiencing the presence of God, I knew my life would never be the same. And I just believe tonight. I know we've been at conference. This is day two. I believe tonight God is gonna actually send his presence in a way that maybe we've never experienced before.

And, you know, guys, I'm gonna be so honest now. You guys, okay? You're like, dang, that guy's serious. I know. I'm real serious.

I know. My prayer in my belief tonight is that what would take place in this room would disrupt your life. Uh, oh. I pray that what happens tonight, you wouldn't actually be able to sleep tonight. Like, dang, I don't like that guy anymore.

I want you to go back to your room tonight. So moved at what God did. Not to the person next to you, but to you, that you just can't figure out what's going on. You see, guys, I don't know if you know this. As a matter of fact, I don't have to tell you guys this because you guys go to school and you see this every day.

You see your friends in depression and anxiety and suicide and fear. You see them drinking. You see them hooking up. You see them going to parties. You see all this stuff.

Let me tell you a secret. If nobody's ever told you this before. Nothing will satisfy the deepest longings of your heart other than the presence of God. You can taste and see what the world has to offer. But when you lay your head on the pillow at night, you're empty.

The reason for that is because every single person, myself and you included, we were born and created with what I call a God void. Let me say it like this. Until you know the Father as your Father, the world is your Father. Did you hear that? Until God, who we call the Father, becomes your Father, the world will be your Father.

It'll tell you how to live. It'll tell you what to do. It'll tell you what's going to satisfy you the most. But the number one thing it's going to tell you is do what's best for you. It's going to tell you what's your truth, what's your experience, what's your way, what's your path.

You ever heard these questions before? They're not bad questions. But I'm going to make a point tonight. What do you want to do when you grow older? Not a bad question.

What do you want to live when you grow up? How much money do you want to make? What school do you want to go to? Notice the word My a lot in that. You see, we have been indoctrinated, guys.

From the moment you and I were born. In our generation, we've been told it's all about us. If it doesn't make sense to me, guess what? I don't want anything to do with it. If it doesn't fit with my emotions, it doesn't make me feel good.

I don't get the goosebumps. It doesn't please me. I don't want anything to do with it. I want to let you know something. God is destroying the idol of feelings in our generation.

Oh, we're about to go somewhere. You guys okay? You okay? You sure? It's going to get even more intense.

Buckle up again. You see, in our generation, we have people saying things like this. Ross, I feel like I'm a woman. Ross, I feel like I'm a man. Ross, I feel like God doesn't love me, Ross.

I feel like I don't have a plan or purpose for my life. Ross. I don't know why I'm alive. Your truth might not be the truth. Did you hear that?

The reason why I'm coming off so strong today is because I believe I'm in a room with people who God wants to use to save our generation. And if only one person in this room catches this today, it's worth my entire life. If only one of you, which I believe there's more than one. But if only one of you was to walk out of this building and say, you know what? I'm not quite sure what happened, but.

But I want God above everything else. That's worth it for me. If you can't sleep at night, that's worth it for me. If Jesus shows up to you in a dream or vision and transforms your life forever, that's worth it for me. If when you leave this building, your greatest desire is the presence of God instead of the things of the world, it's worth it for me.

You see, I just believe. We don't have time to play games, guys. We don't. If you don't know this, we. We are living in a hinge of history moment.

What does that mean? The next generation in the world to come relies on us. It relies on you and I. And many times when we come to church and we come to summer camps, we just want good vibes and good energy and good times. Amen.

I'm all for it. Go get in the pool. Don't get sunburned, please. Amen.

But check it out. If we have good times, but we're not moved by the presence of God, there's an issue.

If you can quote me more stats about your favorite sports athlete than you can the word of God, there's an issue. If you can quote me more Taylor Swift lyrics than one of those worship songs we sung. There's an issue. Because whatever your life pursues the most shows me where your heart's at. Whatever comes out of your lips, Jesus said it like this.

Out of the abundance of your heart, your mouth will speak. So whatever comes out of here, I know it's actually in your heart. And I believe. I know I'm saying things that are challenging and tough. Good.

You know, for so long in the church, we've been taught cute Christian sermons that pat us on the back, make us feel good, and we think we're living a good life. Many people, they say they love Jesus, but their life looks like the devil Let me slow down because I'm getting really fired up.

Let me pray real quick. Jesus. Jesus, I thank you for your presence in the building. Lord, I ask for every person right now who can hear me. Who's here, God, if they don't know who you are, would you show yourself in the next 30 minutes, Father, just like you met me in the back row of a church building?

Would you do that tonight? And I pray for every heart that doesn't know the Father as your father, that he would father you tonight. You would feel his love you, you would feel his embrace. That Jesus would go from more than just a word you say to a heart revelation, a heart experience. And so, Holy Spirit, spirit of God, we invite you right now and we just say, would you increase your presence in the room?

God, we're out of all other solutions. We're out of all other solutions. God, we need you. We want you. And we just pray this in Jesus name, Amen.

I want to say a few more things and I promise we're going to get into the Bible. You're like, does this guy even open his Bible? I do, I promise. You know, two nights ago, I was preaching at a youth service. There was about the same amount of students that are here in the building tonight.

And at the end of the service, 40 students at least came forward. And then 40 students got baptized. It was powerful. I mean, I'm seeing kids that are 14, 15, 16, whatever your guys age, just coming up to the altar and they're just weeping. Why they.

Not because there's some good music? Not because there's some good vibes? No, because the presence of the living God was in the building. And I believe tonight that some of you, maybe for the first time, you're gonna begin to weep tears. Not of sadness, but of joy and hope.

You see, in our generation, we've wept a lot of tears. We've had a lot of challenging moments. But God wants to flip that all around. And I love, I love so much what we just said up here from the pulpit, that if you would turn your heart to God tonight, he will meet you. You know, the Bible says that if you draw near to God, he'll draw near to you.

That's incredible. It doesn't say if you come close to God, you know, he'll think about it. Maybe. Maybe he'll take an hour or two. No, it says if you draw near to God, he'll draw near to you.

If you were to be so bold tonight and say in your heart, I might not understand everything, that's going on. But God, I want to know you. Guess what? He'll meet you. Let me finish my story, and then I want to share what the Lord laid on my heart.

Also, one more thing I want to say because this has been powerful. If at any point tonight, while I'm preaching, while I'm preaching, you feel the presence of God, come on you in a way that you've never experienced before, I want you to be bold and come to the altar and get on your knees while I'm preaching. Only, only don't play games with it. But if you seriously feel God pulling on your heart and you feel him doing something in you and you don't want to wait till the end of the service, I want you to come up to the altar. And is it going to be a little bit nerve wracking?

Absolutely. Because everybody can see you. But guess what? This is not about the person next to you tonight. This is about you and God.

And in our generation, we've told so many Christians, close your eyes and lift your hands and say a prayer. But I find an issue with it, because if we close our eyes in the building, guess what? We'll never do anything for him outside the building. And so it's time for my generation, your generation, our generation, when we make a decision for God to say, you know what? I don't care who sees me.

I don't care what my friend thinks about me. I don't care what my boyfriend thinks about me. I don't care what my girlfriend thinks about me. God, I want you. So if at any point tonight you need to stand up and get out of your seat and come up here, be bold tonight because it's worth it for your life.

You guys with me? All right, let's do this. You guys have your Bibles? If you have your Bible, put it in the air. Let me see it.

Come on, let me see you real quick. We got to bring Bibles back to America again. Come on, somebody. All right, let's do this. All right.

Shh, shh. So check this out. I get saved at 16 years old. Never been to church my whole life. And I graduate high school, I go to college.

I used to play baseball. That was my number one passion. I played sports my whole life. All I watched was Sports center, like literally 10 hours a day. That's all I did.

Sports was everything to me. And I remember, I get to college and I go through my four years there, and I'm so grateful that then nothing traumatic or really painful happened to me. But here's what did happen. I graduate college, and I grew up in Los Angeles, but I went to college in San Diego. And so when I graduated college, I didn't want to go back home because San Diego was so nice.

But I figured out, and you guys will figure this out in a few years, you got to pay this thing called rent. Anybody ever heard of it? You got to pay this thing called rent. So my first thought was, okay, I got to be a man. I got to make money.

I got to figure out how to live my life. I actually have to pay bills. I was like, I got to figure this thing out. But here's something that I did wrong that I don't want you to do. I started playing the blame game with God.

Well, God, you know what? I just graduated college. I don't have the money I want. I don't have the girlfriend I want. I don't have the car I want.

I don't have the house I want. Notice the word I a lot in there. And I started looking at what I wanted in my life, but I didn't see. And so what I did is I blamed God for it. Said, God, why don't you give me the money I want?

Why don't I have this? Why don't I have that? You see, the issue is when you play the blame game with God, the thing called bitterness comes into your heart. And when you become bitter towards God, you walk out of relationship and intimacy with him. And so for the next three and a half years, Iros made a decision to walk away from God.

Because I thought that's what was best, worst decision of my life. Three and a half years go by late 2019. And I remember I literally hated my life. I had everything the world told me to have. I. I'm going to keep it really real with you all.

Tonight, I had the money. I was doing things with women I shouldn't have been doing. I was living the life the world told me to live. And I thought I was satisfied. But once again, like I said earlier, when I laid my head on that pillow at night, I was empty and broken.

I had everything that everybody told me would satisfy me. So why didn't it satisfy me? Because I had that God void. And I remember, sure enough, 2020 comes. Y' all remember 2020.

It was a crazy year, right? I know we don't like to remember it, but I'm gonna take us there for a sec. You see, in 2020, I was looking at Instagram and TikTok and YouTube and it was crazy. It seemed like people were literally gonna fight over an Instagram story. I'm like, this is wild.

What is going on? But here's what happened in that moment, though I wasn't walking with God for those three and a half years, the Holy Spirit spoke to me and he said, ross, if you do not stand now, you never will. Now listen. I love the Father heart of God. The Bible calls him Abba.

It's an intimate term. But this was not what I call a Daddy God moment. This was a stern father looking at his son saying, you have a choice to make that will impact you not only today for the rest of your life. But you know what? You know what I was thinking as I entered tonight and I thought about that part of my story?

There's this stat. This is a crazy stat. Listen to this. There's a stat that if somebody does not make a choice to give their life to Jesus before their early 20s, there's an 80% chance they'll never come to the Lord. That's crazy.

Now, obviously, God can save anybody at any moment, and he's done it for many people in our lives. What's the point I'm making? You have a decision tonight. Don't mess around with your life. You might not ever be in a room like this ever again.

I might be the only person that shares Jesus with you. You might not ever have another opportunity. God is gracious. God is kind. He will give you another opportunity.

But here's what I'm saying. You're not promised tomorrow. The Bible says that today is the day of salvation. Not tomorrow, not next week, not next month, not when you feel it, not when your heart is broken. No, it says, today is the day of salvation.

I want to challenge you that if you were to make a decision for Jesus tonight, that it would not only be the best decision of your life, but it will be the thing that transforms your life forever. You guys with me? So I graduate college. 2020 comes. It's wild.

Holy Spirit speaks to me. Ross, if you don't give your life back to me, if you don't stand right now, you never will. I'm weeping, I'm crying. I'm on my knees on the floor, and I said, jesus, I repent. Which means I turn away from my own life and I come back to you, God.

For the last four years after I made that decision, God has literally done so many incredible things. He's blessed me. I'm so grateful for it. I've had the privilege of traveling America, traveling Different nations. I get to meet so many amazing people.

Why do I share that? Not so you look at me and say, man, Ross, you're so cool. No, no. I'm here to tell you that if you make a decision for God, he'll flip your life upside down. That if you would choose today to say, God, I want you, you would be shocked and surprised at what he could do in four years of your life.

What I'm preaching from this mic is not some good, cute Christian words. The Bible says it is the power of God to save anyone who would believe. If you would believe tonight and call on this God calling, this man named Jesus, it'll be the best decision of your life.

All right, let's get into the word here. I'm gonna share a few things I wrote down. I bought this iPad because as a preacher, when you don't say what you wanna say, it's the most. It's like the worst thing on the planet. So I brought an iPad to keep me on track.

Amen. This is what I wrote. We live. Put yourself in this. Put yourself in this sentence.

By the way, we live in a culture with so many options and preferences, right? We got Netflix, Hulu, Doordash, Ubereats, TikTok, Instagram. See, in our generation, it almost seems offensive or frustrating to be told there's only one way. Uh oh. We've been taught that it's about my truth, my experience, my way.

I want to make it. I want to make something clear real quick before I really dive in. Pain, trauma and injustice are real things. If you have gone through things in your life. I'm not saying just forget about it.

It happened. No, no, no. There's real healing that needs to take place. And God wants to heal your heart and heal your life. Jesus said this.

The enemy comes to steal, kill and destroy. But I've come to give life and life abundantly. If you have not experienced life and life abundantly, I apologize. But I'm here to tell you tonight that Jesus wants to do that for you. This is what I also wrote.

You have to understand this. My life, your life, is bigger and greater than ourselves. God has been writing the story from the beginning of time till now to the end of the age. Here's how I like to say it. If you don't understand the storyline of God, you'll never understand the storyline of your life.

Did you hear that? If you don't understand that God's been writing a story that's bigger than me and bigger than you, you'll Never understand why you're here on the earth. But if you catch a vision for God's story, you'll find your place in the story. Why do so many in our generation feel lost, lonely and broken? Because they don't know their purpose.

All I'm gonna keep it simple. You wanna know what your purpose is? It's real simple. To know God and be known by him and to make him known to the world around you. Did you hear that?

Your purpose on the earth is one. To know God, give your heart to him for God to know you, and then for you to make him known to those around you. If those three things mark your life, you will live the best life possible. But you know what I find so interesting? When we think best life, we think the most money, the most cars, the most this, the most that God definitely blesses his people.

Don't get it wrong. But the best thing about the blessing of God is not the blessing itself, it's his presence. Did you hear that? The best thing that God could give me and give you is his presence. Is God omnipresent?

Absolutely. He is everywhere at all times. But. But there's some moments where it becomes more real than we've ever experienced. And those are the moments that we cannot live without.

When his manifest presence comes into the room, comes into your room, comes to you at school, comes to you when you're in the shower, when you're in your car, when you're on the baseball field, wherever you may be, it's the best thing in your entire life. The reason why I'm saying things like this is because I know the reality of the world we live in. Listen, please hear me tonight. I live in the same world you live in. Just because I have a mic in my hand doesn't mean I don't live.

I have to put on shoes like you. I have to put on a shirt like you. I have to brush my teeth like you. I have to go to Costco. I don't even know if y' all have Costco's out here.

I have to do all the same things you do. What separates somebody's life from burning with passion for God and somebody who doesn't one word. Yes. If you would say yes to Jesus, yes to the Father and yes to the spirit, you will burn with passion for God. When you look at people up here lifting their hands or you go to church and you see your pastors, you're like, man, I want that passion.

It's because they simply have said yes. Don't make it complicated. If you would give God your 100%. Yes, God will give you 100% of Himself.

Here's what I want to do. Open up your Bible. Go to the book of Genesis, chapter two. We're starting in the beginning. Beginning.

Come on, somebody. This is the point. I want to show that this struggle that I'm talking about tonight of my way versus God's way, has literally started from the beginning of time. This is not something new. Go me to Genesis chapter two.

And I want you to go to verse eight. We're going to read verse eight. And I, we're going to bounce around a little bit. So this is right after God creates man and woman. This is incredible.

Says this. Then the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, and he placed the man he had made. The Lord God made all sorts of trees grow up from the ground that were beautiful and produced delicious fruit. Listen to this. In the middle of the garden, he placed the Tree of Life and the tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.

I know so many of us have heard this story, but if you could see with fresh eyes tonight, Pay attention here. And I want you to go down to verse 15. The Lord God placed the man in the Garden of Eden to tend and watch over it. But the Lord God warned him and said this. You may freely eat the fruit of every tree in the garden except the tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.

If you eat its fruit, you are sure to die. That's not good.

Go me to chapter three. Genesis, chapter three. Just bounce down a little bit. We're gonna read a few verses. Then it says this.

The serpent which represents the devil was the shrewdest of all of the wild animals the Lord God had made. One day he asked a woman, listen to this. Did God really say you must not eat the fruit from any of the trees in the garden? Of course we may eat fruit from the trees in the garden. The woman replied.

It's only the fruit from the tree in the middle of the garden that we are not allowed to eat. God said, you must not eat it or even touch it. If you do, you will die. Verse 4. You won't die, said the serpent, who replied to the woman.

God knows that your eyes will be open as soon as you eat it, and you'll be like God, knowing both good and evil. This is the key line. The woman was convinced. She saw that the tree was beautiful and its fruit looked delicious, and she wanted the wisdom it would give her. So she took some of the fruit and ate it.

And then she gave some to her husband. Verse 8. When the cool evening breeze was blowing, the man and his wife heard the Lord God walking about in the garden. This is crazy, what God says right here. The Lord God called to the man, where are you?

What's the point I'm making tonight? You see, I find it so interesting that Adam and Eve were told, don't eat from one tree. You can have everything else, just don't eat from this one tree. And in that moment, God opened an opportunity called to choose their own path. They could either choose the path God told them, or they could choose a path they didn't even know existed yet.

And what I also find interesting is it says that after the serpent talked to Eve, it said her eyes were open and the fruit looked delicious. Why didn't the fruit look delicious before that? You see, in that moment, Eve, in her heart, made a choice. She actually quoted to the devil what God said. That's crazy.

You can know the scriptures like the back of your hand and you can say them, but if you never live them, it doesn't mean anything. So Eve quotes scripture, quotes God to the devil, yet the devil still deceived her. That's crazy. Then it says she decided to eat from the fruit of the tree. And after she eats from the fruit of the tree.

This is crazy. Think about this for a sec. I know we've heard this story thousands of times, but. But this just messes me up every time I talk about it. At one point on the earth, God and man dwelt together.

No separation. That's crazy. It says that God was walking in the garden and said, where are you? You see, the first major consequence of choosing our way versus God's way is separation from God. Did you hear that?

When we make a choice in our hearts and in our lives to say, God, I know what you said. I know which I'm supposed to do, but I'm going to choose my own way. Separation takes place right there in that moment. Why not? Because God hates you.

No, no, no. It's because he's holy. God cannot have a relationship with somebody that is not holy, like himself. God is so kind and so merciful that he gives us a choice. Many people go, well, if God didn't, you know, put that tree there, then sin would have never happened.

No, no, no. If God never gave him a choice, it would have been manipulation. Because if you don't have choice in your life, that means you're forced to make a decision. Our God, the God we serve, is so Good. That he'll give you what you want.

He'll give you the money if you want it. He'll let you live your own life. He'll let you go into sin. He'll let you go into drinking. He'll let you go into hooking up.

He'll let you do all of it. Why? Because God never puts his hand on your back and pushes you, but he puts his hand on in front of you and says, will you come? Big difference. The God we serve is so merciful that he gives us a choice.

Because if you don't have a choice, it's not true love.

Yeah, yeah. Let me keep going because I got some things brewing in here. Go with me to Jeremiah, chapter six. It's in the Old Testament. It's right after the book of Isaiah, right after the book of psalms.

Jeremiah, chapter 6. I want to read this. I believe this is a word to our generation. Seriously, Jeremiah, chapter 6, verse 16. Where When God is speaking here, he's speaking to the people of Judah who weren't choosing him, they were choosing their own way.

So pay attention to this. This is what the Lord says. Anytime in the Bible, it says, this is what God says. You should really pay attention. Stop at the crossroads and look around.

Ask for the old ancient godly way and walk in it. Travel its path and you will find rest for your souls. But you reply, no, that's not the road we want. God says this. I posted watchmen over you who said, listen for the sound of the alarm.

But you reply, no, we won't pay attention. Listen to verse 21. Therefore, this is what the Lord says. I will put obstacles in my people's what path? You see, there's a few things that I find so interesting about this scripture.

Number one, stop. In our generation, we got so many voices, so many screens, so many social media apps, we got so many opinions. And I hear God saying, our generation, stop. Stop listening to those things. Stop scrolling.

More than scrolling through the pages of the Bible. Stop listening to music that doesn't honor God. This isn't being religious. This is calling us higher. Stop and look at the crossroads.

You know what a crossroad is? It's when two paths come together. At one point, God is saying to the people, right here in this scripture, you have two roads right in front of you. Which one will you take? And I love how God says this.

He says, ask for the old godly way and walk in it. You know, the Bible says that you have not because you ask not if you don't Ask God to show you things. You won't be shown much. Jesus said it like this. He was teaching on how to pray.

He said, pray like this. He said, ask and you will What? Receive? Knock and the door will be open. Seek and you shall find.

In our generation, we ask for so many things, but we never asked from God. But here's what's really key. I want to point this out. It's literally four words. He says, ask for the old godly way.

Five words, six words.

Guys, everywhere that I travel, I've been traveling for the last three, three to four years. And one thing that breaks my heart the most is outside of people not knowing Jesus in our generation is this. We don't know our history. You can tell. Help me, Lord.

We know more about our favorite YouTubers than we know about God's past and history on the earth. We know more about Mr. Beast and what video he dropped last week than we do about what God did 50 years ago. You see, what happens is if you don't know your past, then you probably won't reach your future. Did you know that in the last a hundred years alone in America, the nation you and I live in, there's been five massive moves of God.

If you don't know any of what I'm about to say, I have homework for you. You're like, dang it, I thought I was out of school. Nope, I got homework for you. Write this down. Google this.

Azusa Street Revival. Second, Amy Simple McPherson. Third. The Jesus People Movement. Fourth, Billy Graham.

Fifth. There's so many I could put there, so I'll just stop at 4. In just the last 100 years alone, God has literally done incredible things in our nation, but so many in our generation have no clue. God's been speaking to me. That we're so caught up in the new thing that we forgot the Ancient One preaching tonight.

She's. We're so caught up in the new trend. The new video, the new music, the new whatever, the new church, the new coolest preacher that we have forgotten that the God we serve has a track record of coming through for his people thousands upon thousands upon thousands of years. You know, Jesus is not a 21st century God who just started in existence 20 years ago. This God who we serve has been around before the foundations of the earth.

It actually says in the Bible that God chose you and chose me. Before the foundations of the world. He chose us. It says that he knit us and formed us in our mother's womb. Even if your parents didn't want You.

God wanted you.

You know, people say, ross, without your mom, you wouldn't be here. I say, no, that's false. My mom chose to have a child. But guess what? God formed me in my mother's womb.

And God formed you in your mother's womb.

Third thing is this. Proverbs 14:12 says it like this. There is a way or a path that seems right to man, but it leads to death. We live in a culture and in a time where we are told to do everything that's not biblical. We are told to do everything that's not here.

In the scriptures, we are told everything. We are told to do everything that satisfies our flesh, gives us the most amount of comfort, the most amount of pleasure. But there's a path that seems right to a man and leads to death. What's the second major thing that happens when you decide to follow your own path instead of God's? Oh, it's really simple.

Death. We don't like that word. We're scared of that word. But it's in the Bible. Listen, here's the reality.

The Bible says it like this in Romans, chapter six, that the wages of sin is death. What does that mean? If you live a life full of following your own pursuits and your own things and living in sin, it actually equals in death. It actually means, and I'm not just talking death, like when you die on the earth, like when you die and go to heaven or go to hell. No, no, no.

I'm talking if you follow in sin and follow the ways of the world. You're full of anxiety, you're full of depression, you have suicidal thoughts, you're lonely, you're broken, you have what I call the orphan spirit. Everything is good around you you can put a good smile on. But inside your soul, you're empty. You see, when you follow the things of the world, the Bible says it like this.

If you sow into the things of your flesh, you receive things of the flesh. But if you sow into the things of the spirit, you receive things of the spirit. Guys, not living for Jesus is not just like some bad thing you do. No, no, no. It actually has consequence.

It actually has things that affect your life. Not just for today, but for the rest of your life. I know when you're in high school and middle school, when you're young, we don't like thinking like this. But the decisions you are making now are going to impact you for the next 50 years. I have friends.

I'm only 10 years out of high school. I have friends that 10 years ago, I would have been like, man, they're going to be so successful now. They're 10 and they got three baby mamas. I got friends that 10 years ago, they looked like they were doing well. They had sports, had everything going on.

They were going to the parties, they were hooking up with the girls, they were hooking up with the guys. Life seemed good for them. And now they're addicted to drugs. I had friends 10 years ago who I thought, they're gonna be way more successful than me. They were way more gifted than me.

But I look at their life now, and their entire family is broken. The decisions you make now are gonna impact you for the next 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 years. This is not a matter of just some preacher in some youth camp. Maybe you have a good time, you go back to normal life, and I'll figure out this God thing later. No, stop.

God is giving each of us an opportunity in our generation to come back to him. You guys okay? All right, I want to finish here. I want to finish with a few more things.

What's the third major consequence of going your own way? Your soul is never at rest. Jeremiah 6:17 or 6:16 said it like this. It says, if you travel the path of the godly, you will find rest for your souls. If you wonder why your emotions are up one day and down the next, if you wonder why your mind's always racing, if you wonder why you can't sleep, if you wonder why you have so many voices going on in your head, it's because you're probably not traveling down the path of God.

If you choose the path of God, you'll find rest for your soul. You know, in our generation, I find it so interesting that we have the most pleasures, the most comforts. We have everything at our fingertips. Every game we want, any food we want, any drink we want, it's at our fingertips. But yet we're the most anxious, depressed and broken generation maybe to ever live?

Could it be. Could it be this that when we choose the path of the devil, the path of the world over, the path of God, it doesn't lead us to life, it leads us to darkness? Could it be because we've been told so much that if we choose our own path, we're going to be so satisfied, we're going to live our best life? It's such a lie. It's a lie from the pit of hell.

I want you to know that when you give your life to God, it doesn't mean that life Begins to suck. No, you know, I hear this. I hear this so many times sometimes when I travel and I talk to many people, you know, brother, I gave my life to God. And, oh, it's just so hard. I can't do that anymore.

I can't do this anymore. I'm like, wait a minute. Do you remember how horrible you felt when you used to hook up with every person on the planet? Do you remember how horrible you felt when you would take a drink of that alcohol? Do you remember how horrible you felt when you took a hit of that drug and lay your head on the pillow at night?

When you. When you get saved and become a Christian, it actually gets better. The Bible says this. It doesn't say we go from bummer to bummer. It says you go from glory to glory.

When you become a Christian, someone who's sold out for God, it's not just like, well, I made that church thing my main life, and, you know, I'll just kind of go through life and struggle and stuff. No, the blessing of God becomes your blessing. The Bible says it like this. You actually get grafted or added into the family of God. That's incredible.

God's family becomes your family. If you're like me and you come from a broken family or maybe a family that doesn't know Jesus. When I got saved, guess who became my family? The church. My pastors, my leaders.

They gave me more time than my own family did. And in our generation, we give so much time to people who could care less about us, but we won't give 10 minutes to Pastor Clay. We give so much time to TikTok in a YouTube and Instagram. They're not bad things. I use social media a lot, but we give so much more time to the things of the world and the things of God.

We make it clear through the life we live what path we have chosen. Many people say, oh, no, I'm on God's path. All I have to do is look at their life for one hour and I can tell they're not on God's path. If somebody was to look at your life tonight and look at the last five hours not in camp, the last five hours of your life outside of camp, would they be able to tell that you live a life on the path of God? Or would they say you live on the path of the enemy?

Or would they say you live on the path of yourself? Listen, I'm not trying to be mean tonight. I love you guys. I just care about you because your age. I didn't have a voice like this telling me the things that I'm telling you tonight.

As a matter of fact, I had the opposite. I had people who maybe had good intentions, but they didn't know Jesus. I had family members that maybe they had good intentions, but they didn't know God. And so even if they knew it or they didn't know it, they were leading me on the wrong path. I will live my life, and when I die and face God face to face, I'll be able to tell him, God, I served you to the greatest capacity.

I did. And every person that heard me preach from Mike will know that I lived the real thing. You see this mic up here, guys, is 1% of my life. 99% of my life is at the grocery store, at the gym, at restaurants, with family, with friends. This does not determine your life.

This summer camp is important and it matters, but it will not determine 10 years from now unless you let it to. Unless you allow it to. You can make a choice in your life. You're like, ross, why are you saying the same thing over and over? I want to get it from your head to your heart.

Because so many times we say amen, that was good. That was good. And we leave church, we're like, what the pastor say, it's okay. It happened to me too. So I'm saying things over and over because I want it to mark your soul.

I want the anointing of God. The Bible says this, that the anointing of God breaks every yoke. If there's any addiction, any bondage, any depression, any anxiety, any fear, any loneliness, guess what? It's going to end tonight.

Last few things. You guys okay? It's good. Give me a thumbs up, make sure you're good. Thumbs up, guys.

Have nice thumbs. They look good. Amen. I know, I know. Shh.

Here's the last few things I want to say. We live in a moment, guys. Two choices. Two. You can either choose yourself, or you could choose Jesus.

You can either follow what the world says, or you can follow the God who formed you in your mother's womb. You can either give all your time, attention, resources to living your best life. Or check this out. You can die to yourself. Oh, why did I say that word?

Die? That's an intense word, Ross. I don't like that word. I know, but it's biblical. Did you know when you become a Christian, you don't change, you die?

What do I mean? If you change, you can easily change back. But if you die, you can never go back. You see, Jesus said this in John chapter 3. Read it on your own time.

He said, you cannot see the things of God or the kingdom of God unless you become born again. The guy who he told this to said, what do you mean? Do I have to go back in my mother's womb and come out? He said, no. He said, you must be born of the water and of the spirit.

You see, when you give your life to Jesus, I Love this. Romans 5 says it like this. When you give your life to God, you surrender to Jesus. You get filled with the Holy Spirit. The.

There's this word called sozo. When you surrender to Jesus, you're not just saved for eternity. No, you're healed of everything in your body and everything in your mind. Second Corinthians says, it's like this. You become a new creation.

You have new desires, new thoughts, a new life, a new mind. You used to think, man, when I go home, all I want to do is watch tv. But now you're like, oh, my gosh, all I want to do is spend time in the word of God. What happened to me? You became a new creation.

You see, it's so vital that we get this as a generation, because I've seen so many people come up to an altar, and I love it. We're going to do an altar call tonight. We've been doing them every night. I love it. But I have this sense that they come up to an altar and maybe they see a little bit of change in their life for two weeks, but they didn't die to their self.

See, if you say, I gave my life to Jesus, but your life looks the same one month from now than it does today, that means you didn't die to yourself. We've been taught a gospel in our generation for from many people. Praise God for the churches here. I know y' all preach the real gospel. Amen.

But in our generation, if I scroll through TikTok and Instagram and see Christian influencers, man, some of them are not preaching the real gospel. They're not preaching that you got to die to yourself. You are not the point of Christianity. He is.

Jesus said something so significant, and it's marked my life. This is what he said. He said that if anybody wants to be my follower, they must take up their cross, deny themselves, and follow me. You see, if someone calls themselves a Christian, but they've never denied themselves, they're not a Christian at all. If somebody says they're a Christian, but they don't know the word of God at all, they might not be a Christian at all.

If somebody says they're a Christian, but they've never denied a thing of the world, they. They might not be a Christian at all. What I'm preaching tonight is not a religious pressure. I'm not trying to headlock you into a prayer. I'm not making.

Trying to feel bad. No, no, no. You know, the Bible says that if you know the truth, the truth will set you free. So by actually sharing the truth, I'm giving you an opportunity to come into freedom. Jesus said this also.

The Bible says this. Who the son sets free is free indeed. So if you know Jesus and his truth, you can be free not just for tonight, not just for one week or one month, but you can be free for the rest of your life. If there's anything in your life that you're dealing with, I guarantee you that Jesus can handle it tonight. You see, when Jesus went to that cross.

Don't miss this tonight. When we went to that cross, guys, he had real nails go through his hands. He had real blood come out of his body. The Bible says he was beaten so badly you couldn't recognize him. That means if Jesus was standing right here, right now, I wouldn't even know who he was.

That is how badly he was beaten. But a lot of people miss this. Was Jesus fully God? Absolutely. But he was fully man.

Why does that matter for your life? You see, the reason why so many people don't see breakthrough in their life and they don't see healing is because they don't understand that Jesus has gone through every bit of pain, trauma, and emotion that you and I could ever go through. When Jesus came to this earth, he didn't live in a Christian bubble and sip on matches every day. No, when he came to this earth, he actually became the son of suffering. He had his best friends betray him.

He had people taunt him. He had people beat him. He went to a cross. He was arrested. He went through every bit of emotion and trauma that you and I can ever go through.

So many people, they lift their hands to Jesus and they're like, why am I not healed? Because they don't understand that Jesus can resonate with their pain. They don't understand that Jesus actually gone through what you've gone through, what you are going through, or what you have gone through, or what maybe you might go through one day. Jesus understands. So the only way to receive healing in your heart and in your soul and in your body is to know him.

If you are tired of living for the World, I have great news for you. You no longer have to live for it. If you are tired of living for yourself because it's left you broken. If you're tired of following everything your friends have told you to do, but it's never satisfied the deepest part of your heart. Guess what?

You can make a decision to not be like everybody else. You can make a decision to say Ross, but more importantly, God. I don't fully understand everything yet. That's okay. You don't have to understand it all.

I didn't either. But here's what I did do. I had faith in my heart. I said, God, I believe you are who you say you are. And you will do what you say you will do.

Now do it in my life. I remember that after I went home that first night of going to church, I went in my room. I never had a conversation with God. And as I look back on it 12 years ago, this is what I was saying to God. God, please don't let me be a good person who reads a good book, goes to a good church and lives a good life.

God, I have to know you. And sure enough, night after night in my room, the presence of Jesus would meet me. I believe that the presence of Jesus. I don't just believe. I know that.

That the presence of Jesus is the only thing that's gonna set free our generation. There is nothing else, guys. There's nothing else that we'll do. We are in a moment of history where it's revival or we die. It's revival or bust.

It's revival or who knows what's gonna happen? And I'm calling on my generation, y'. All. I'm calling on y'. All.

I can't do this alone. And I don't wanna do it alone. Who will be the people in our generation who say, God, I sign up God, I want you, God, I'm tired of everything else. Who will those people be? Just stand with me.

Stand with me. Can I get the keys real quick? That'd be awesome. Stand real quick if you can. Shh.

Please don't talk. Please don't talk. Here's where I want to finish. If you can't stand, it's okay. But here's where I want to finish.

Just listen to this real quick. Jesus said this. He said, I am the way, the truth and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.

Listen to this. When you surrender your life to Jesus, not only do you receive eternal life, come into relationship with the Father, but you enter the Family of God. You're grafted into the blessing. You're taken from darkness, despair and loneliness to joy, hope in a future. Here's my last two, nine, my last two lines.

Listen closely. The ways of man, of the culture, of the world, and of the devil lead to death. But the ways of the Father, the Son and the Spirit lead to life. I can hear the cry of the Father in our generation who will turn their back on the enemy instead of turning their back on God, who will decide in a world full of opinions and narratives telling you to live your own life, that instead of following the culture, we follow Christ?

This is where I want to finish, right here. Would we be people who follow the way, the man and the God who live the life we can never live, died the death we deserve and rose from the dead that we would be saved, that we would be healed and delivered, and that one day he would return to set up his kingdom on the earth where we would be in the fullness of his presence for all of eternity. What a God we know, what a man we love, and what a way we have been offered. Just close your eyes for a sec. I'm not gonna do anything weird, I promise.

Just close your eyes. Why do I ask you to close your eyes? So you can focus. Don't talk right now. Get off your phone right now.

Just be. Just be still right now. I know that's hard for us in our generation. I want you to take these next 20 seconds and I want you in your heart and in your mind to ask yourself a few questions. Number one.

God, am I right with you? Have I given my life to Jesus? Have I been set free from sin? Have I surrendered my life? Have I made you my Lord?

Do you live in my heart? That's the first question. Number two. Maybe you've done that. Incredible.

I know we've had a few altar calls already in this conference gathering. Summer camp. That's great. I actually felt the Lord. Tell me while I was praying tonight in my hotel room that this altar call moment tonight is going to be for those of you who you haven't come up to the altar yet.

I'm not going to force you. Nobody's going to force you. But I believe this is your night tonight. If you have not surrendered your life to Jesus before, you haven't came up to an altar ever. This is your moment tonight.

Number three. Just keep your eyes closed. Ask yourself this question. Am I on God's path or have I been living for myself? Do I have more hunger for the things of the world or for the things of God?

What path have I chosen in my life? And more importantly, what path will I choose from this day forward? Will we choose the path that everyone else in our generation chooses for the most part? Or will we choose the old, godly, ancient path that finds rest for our souls? Last thing I want to say that Jesus said, Jesus made it so clear.

He said there's two roads in life. There's a wide road that many people choose, and it leads to destruction and darkness and death. But there's another road, and it's very narrow, it's very small, and very few people find it and choose it. So road leads to life. You see, God's plan for your life is a man named Jesus.

That's his plan.

God's plan is his son.

Keep your eyes closed for another few seconds. Jesus, I pray for every person in the room tonight. Start pulling on hearts right now. Reveal yourself and a new way. God, I pray for your spirit to bring conviction where it's needed.

God, thank you. This is not shame or guilt or condemnation. This is an invitation to freedom. This is an invitation to the family of God. Lord, thank you for your healing and your presence and your love, your joy and your peace.

I'm gonna pray one final thing. I pray that if you're speaking to someone, somebody tonight, God, that right now their heart would begin to pound a little bit faster as a sign that you're pulling on their heart. God, I pray for tears to begin as a sign of your presence and love. Drawing them in tonight. Open your eyes.

Open your eyes.

When I do altar calls, I have every eye open. Why? Not because I'm trying to shame you or make you feel bad. It's because what I said earlier, we live in a culture and generation where God is calling, saying, hey, will you make a decision for me? No matter who's to your left or who's to your right, will you be bold enough to actually get out of your seat?

Will you be bold enough to say, you know what? My friends might not want this. My friends might not agree with this, but guess what? God is between you and I. So I'm gonna count to three.

When I say the number three, if any of those boxes is you tonight, I want you to come forward. 1. I silence every voice of the enemy in your life. Any voice that tells you nothing's gonna happen up here, it's a lie from the pit of hell. Everywhere that I've gone, every person that responds to the call encounters God.

Why you see this up Here, it's not just some carpet. This is an altar to the living God. An altar is a place where God meets man. An altar is a place where I come and say, God, I. I give up my life, my ways, my path, and instead I want to follow you. 2.

If you have already given your life to Jesus in the last day or so, you don't have to come up for this. I want people seriously who have either never made a decision for Jesus, or maybe, just maybe, you're like God, I need to get back on your path. 3. Who is that? Just come up right now. Just come up here.

I want to see you. I want to pray for you. If you would come to your knees. Just as a posture of humility, just come to your knees. Praise God.

Just be bold. When you come up here, just close your eyes so you can focus. Is there anybody else? If you've given your life to Jesus, amen. If you haven't, this is your moment right now.

Please don't talk right now. Just keep your eyes closed. We're going to pray in a sec. Is there anybody else in. Anybody else?

Thank you, Jesus. Just come quick, come quick. 10 more seconds. Come quick, come quick. I know it feels a little.

Feels a little nervous. There's a little bit of tension. It's okay. I promise. It's okay.

Thank you, God. Thank you, Lord. Yeah, Just come all the way forward, come to your knees, close your eyes, and I want you to imagine Jesus standing in front of you right now. This is what he's saying. This is what he's saying.

He's saying, I love you, son. I love you, daughter. I'm so proud of you. Oh, you're the apple of my eye. I love when you wake up in the morning.

I love to hear your voice. I love to hear your smile. I love to hear your laugh. Just imagine the father looking at you because you're his child.

It's okay if you're crying. That's okay. It's just tears because God is moving on your heart. If you don't feel anything, it's okay. This isn't about a feeling.

This is about faith. So whether you have a feeling or not, it's okay. God's here. Last call. Is there anybody else?

You feel your heart pounding? You feel like you should be up there? Just come up real quick. I'm not mad at you. We're not gonna judge you.

Just be bold right now. Just be bold. Just do it. Just do it. There's room on the side.

There's room in the front. Just keep your eyes closed. Keep your eyes closed. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus.

Come on. Come on. That's so powerful. Come on. Yeah.

Jesus is already touching people. He's setting you free of addiction. He's setting you free of words that were spoken over you, that never came from God. Any brokenness in your family. He's healing your heart right now.

Any orphan spirit or mentality, it's leaving from your heart. It's leaving. It's fleeing. Come on. Thank you, Jesus.

Just another 20 seconds. Just another 20 seconds. Oh, you don't need a hand laid on you to encounter God. We'll do that in a sec. We'll do that in a sec.

Is there anybody else? Just come forward. There's room. Just get up here. You can do it.

Proud of you. Proud of you. So awesome.

I want to say one thing and then we're going to pray. I feel God pulling on me. I see some of you guys out here and God's speaking to me that you need to come up. I'm not trying to be mean. I don't want to call you out.

But if you feel something in your heart and you know, you know, you should be up here. Just come up real quick. Just come up real quick. We're not going to be mad at you. Just come up.

Just come up.

Yeah. Just let God touch you right now. Let's let him heal your heart. Presence of God increase right now.

Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Jesus. Yeah. Just let the Lord's love fill your mind, fill your heart. If you've had depression or anxiety, it's not even a battle.

It's gone right now. In Jesus name, if you felt lonely and hopeless, not anymore.

You are coming into the family of God. The best family you could ever be in. The perfect family. Oh. The word says God puts the lonely in families.

Last call tonight. Is there anybody else? I'm not saying this just to get a good Instagram picture. If there's anybody else that needs to come forward. Your life matters tonight.

Don't play around. If you need to get up here, just come up right now. Just do it. I feel. I feel God saying there's at least three men.

There's three men. And you know who you are. You need to come up.

If you came up, if you're here in the front, would you do me a favor? Just look up, man. Look up at me for a second. Just for a second. I'm not trying to be weird, I promise.

Just look at me. The reason why I want to look at you is because you're making the best decision of your life. Did you hear me? You're making the best decision of your life. And from this day forward, nothing will be the same.

When you walk out of these doors and you go back to school and you go back home, people are gonna look at you and say, what's different? What happened? And it's the presence of God coming in you and coming upon you. If you've had any of those things I mentioned tonight, they're gone. You're gonna have peace in your heart and peace in your soul.

The Bible makes it so clear. Okay, listen real closely, real quick. And then we're gonna pray. The Bible says this. It.

It says that if you would confess with your mouth, if you would say out loud, and if you believe in your heart that Jesus is Lord and raised from the dead, you will be saved and the spirit of God will come and live inside of you. So what we're going to do right now is I'm going to lead you through a prayer. Why? You're going to say out loud what God is doing in your heart. Does that make sense?

So I want you to say this with me, and I want you, as you say this, don't just. Don't just quote me and say what I'm saying. Just to say it. Say it as if Jesus was standing in front of you. Just say this.

Just say, jesus, I surrender my life to you. I believe you are the Son of God. You died on a cross and shed your blood for me. Say, I repent and I turn from my own ways, my own path and my own sin. Jesus, I receive you as my Lord, and into my heart say this last thing.

Say, holy Spirit, Spirit of God, fill me now. Fill me now.