In this third sermon of the 'The Lord's Favor' series, Marcel delivers a message of insight and hope. Based on principles from the Jubilee and the fulfillment found in Jesus, the sermon emphasizes a 'holy reset.' Marcel differentiates between the pursuit of happiness and the pursuit of holiness, urging listeners to prioritize and actively pursue holiness as God is holy and has made them holy through Jesus and the Holy Spirit. Practical steps for the week include daily prayers for holiness and choosing one area in life to intentionally pursue holiness. The sermon concludes with communion, reflecting on the holiness bestowed through Jesus' sacrifice.

00:00 Introduction to the Season of the Lord's Favor

00:26 Upcoming Events and Activities

00:54 Theme Scripture: Luke 4:18-19

01:52 Prayer and Worship

02:42 Constitution Day and the Pursuit of Happiness

05:45 Jesus' Call to Pursue Holiness

06:27 Understanding Holiness

09:41 The Sermon on the Mount: A Reset Sermon

12:16 God's Holiness and Our Transformation

16:47 Understanding Our Holiness

17:38 The Choice Between Happiness and Holiness

18:19 Self-Centered Happiness vs. God-Centered Holiness

21:28 Marriage and Family as Pathways to Holiness

23:27 Pursuing Holiness in Everyday Life

29:51 Practical Steps for a Holy Reset

30:55 Communion and Final Prayer

Click here to donate to the program

Click here for more sermons

OC Church of Christ

We're in a season right now, which we're calling the season of

2

the Lord's Favor, in which we're trying

to, we're on a journey and we're trying

3

to grow and experience collectively.

4

As a North OC Church

family, the Lord's favor.

5

And so we studied out, uh, the Jubilee

principles that God established

6

for his kingdom back under the

Old Covenant, and see how Jesus is

7

the fulfillment of the jubilee and

how he proclaims the Lord's favor.

8

And so we even have some things

that we're doing in September.

9

Still in the middle of our prayer

and fasting chain and those who have,

10

uh, participated or will participate.

11

Thank you so much.

12

Uh, I saw a couple of people signed

up twice, uh, this month to go ahead

13

and pray and fast, and if you haven't

already signed up, you still can.

14

And that's the QR code to sign up there.

15

Next month we'll have a time to

release to reconciliation night, and

16

then a gratitude wall and service

project, which we're excited about.

17

And so we have a theme scripture.

18

For our sermon series, and this is

it right here, Luke four, verse 18.

19

It says, the spirit of the Lord is

on me because he has anointed me

20

to proclaim good news to the poor.

21

He sent me, he has sent me

to proclaim freedom for the

22

prisoners and recovery of sight.

23

For the blind to set the oppressed free

to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.

24

That's found in Luke chapter

four, verses 18 through 19.

25

And so, uh, we know that the Lord's

favor encompasses a lot of things and

26

some of it, it encompasses what we see

here in, uh, um, uh, what we call rest.

27

Uh, and reset and also having

release and restoration.

28

And so last couple of weeks

we've talked about having a reset

29

in our relationship with God.

30

And in two weeks ago we talked about

having a reset in our relationships,

31

how we view and how we treat people.

32

And today we'll be talking

about having a holy reset.

33

Let's go ahead and let's

go to God in prayer.

34

Father, thank you so much already for

the time that we've had of worship.

35

Uh, so inspired, so encouraged,

uh, hearing Jane's story,

36

how you changed her life.

37

And Father, it makes me think about

the ways you have transformed my

38

life, the opportunity we've already

had to encourage one another.

39

So cool to see Jack here

and connect with him.

40

And memories start to come to my mind.

41

And, uh, father also

being able to worship you.

42

In song and in prayer.

43

God, we are blessed and we are so grateful

for these opportunities that we have.

44

We pray right now that as we want to

experience more and more collectively

45

and individually, your favor guide

our time in the scriptures here today.

46

Help us to have the reset that you

want us to experience in Jesus name.

47

Amen.

48

All right.

49

Did you guys know that on Wednesday,

uh, it was Constitution Day.

50

Yes.

51

One person knew.

52

I didn't know either, but yeah,

it was, we, it was Constitution

53

Day on Wednesday, September 17th.

54

There's always constitution, I guess it

was established many years ago, but it's,

55

it's becoming bigger and, uh, this year

is really big because it's kicking off

56

really this, uh, uh, lead up until July

4th of next year, which will be, what

57

do you guys know what it will be 250

years that America will be a country.

58

So, 17 76 20 20 26 there.

59

Right.

60

And so, uh, so here we are coming up.

61

So there's a lot of things

that are building up.

62

And so Constitution Day was bigger this

year than maybe it was in the years past.

63

And there's a big emphasis on, on

the Declaration of Independence and,

64

uh, you know, in the Declaration

of Independence, we're all

65

familiar, uh, with it, aren't we?

66

Yes.

67

What.

68

What another, what?

69

No, we're familiar with it.

70

We might not know all of it, but

we do know a couple of things that

71

was written in Thomas Jefferson.

72

We know that there's a, a promise

for every American to have life,

73

liberty, and what the pursuit of

the pursuit, it's on the screen.

74

So there you go.

75

But we know that, right?

76

We have, right, we have the right to life,

liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

77

Now this phrase, it still shapes how

many people in America view success.

78

Yes.

79

Now, let me ask you this.

80

What comes to mind when you think

about the pursuit of happiness?

81

What comes to mind when you think

about the pursuit of happiness?

82

Let, let's get one or two people.

83

Yes.

84

Oh, and Danny Barron is

back from San Francisco.

85

Come on, this is Reunion Sunday.

86

Let's go.

87

All right.

88

There you go.

89

Well, why are you back?

90

Is everything okay?

91

That's what we need to ask.

92

You just went two weeks ago.

93

All right, so, uh, but go ahead, Danny.

94

What, what, what, what, what

comes to mind when you think

95

of the pursuit of happiness?

96

Will Smith he thinks of.

97

I appreciate that he said Will Smith.

98

There was a movie, the

Pursuit of Happiness.

99

I think they use a Y

instead of a i in happiness.

100

Right.

101

Okay.

102

Alright.

103

So he thinks of Will Smith.

104

Okay.

105

Others.

106

What do you think of what comes to mind

when you're in pursuit of happiness?

107

I can't see.

108

Who is that right there.

109

Anything's possible.

110

Anything's possible.

111

Okay.

112

If I want this, I can go after it.

113

Okay.

114

Others?

115

When I'm pursuing happiness,

what comes to mind?

116

Yes.

117

Contentment.

118

Contentment.

119

Okay.

120

Yes.

121

New things in life.

122

Okay?

123

Yes.

124

You have to go after it.

125

Okay, so I get to go after

whatever makes me happy, right?

126

When you think about, there's all

these things, but these things

127

that come to mind a lot of times

are the pursuit of happiness.

128

What makes me happy?

129

Money, success, possessions, uh, comforts.

130

Security.

131

Right?

132

And, and this is what kind of

comes to mind for most people.

133

When we think the pursuit of happiness,

I get to pursue those things.

134

I have the right to pursue those things.

135

And as Americans, we enjoy these

privileges, these freedoms, these rights.

136

Uh, and there's so much that's good

in of themselves and we appreciate it.

137

But here's the thing with Jesus

is that Jesus hits a reset on

138

our perspective and our pursuits.

139

Jesus hits a reset and says that we

are not called to pursue happiness,

140

but we are called to pursue holiness.

141

Jesus says, yes, all those things might

be good in the right context, but he

142

calls us and he redirects us to now

pursue holiness over pursuing happiness.

143

It's a holy reset.

144

And so now let's ask the question,

okay, well what is holiness?

145

Because if we are called to pursue it,

it'd be important for us to make sure that

146

we're on the same page with God intends.

147

Now the word holy appears over 900 times

in the Bible, so that's a big concept.

148

Would you agree if something

is mentioned over 900 times,

149

God is trying to communicate.

150

Something.

151

And in this we understand that it's

also an old and under the new covenant

152

in the Old Testament, new Testament

before Jesus', life on earth and

153

Jesus' life on earth and afterwards.

154

But you can define holiness as this.

155

It means to be set apart, in particular,

set apart for a particular reason, in

156

this case, set apart for God and God's

purposes to be sacred, to be righteous.

157

To be divine and of God.

158

And so being holy means I'm separate.

159

I'm set apart.

160

To be holy means it's sacred.

161

Like, like we saying earlier, the the holy

water, like our baptism was holy water.

162

Not because the water was put

particularly special in itself,

163

but because what God was doing in

the water made that water holy.

164

You get what I'm saying?

165

And so we have the Holy Bible.

166

Many Bibles say that, I know we

don't, we don't a lot of times buy

167

physical Bibles, but you can see that.

168

Why?

169

Because it's holy.

170

It's sacred.

171

It's divine, it's of God, it's

righteous in his message to us.

172

And the thing I always like to

do is, uh, you know, it's kind

173

of like, uh, green Skittles.

174

Alright.

175

I always like to give this analogy here.

176

So if you had a whole bunch of

Skittles together and you separated

177

all the green ones, right?

178

Green, Marcel, 'cause

green's my favorite color.

179

Alright, so if we separated all

the green Skittles and we put

180

them to the side, they are holy.

181

Now because they're set apart, they're,

they're for a different reason.

182

They're, in my opinion,

they're divine vine.

183

But God calls his people to be

holy, like these green Skittles.

184

And so holiness means to be divine, to

be sacred, and be righteous to be of God.

185

And so again, here, God

calls us to pursue holiness.

186

Well, why?

187

Why does God want us to pursue

holiness over pursuing happiness?

188

Well, let's, let's go to, uh, let's go

to Matthew chapter six here, and I will

189

say this, uh, a couple quick things.

190

Um, man, I was feeling it yesterday.

191

All right, so here you go.

192

So if you use the YouVersion Bible Lab.

193

They should have a little note that

popped up if you, if you subscribe to

194

like you're part of our church or fan.

195

I'm not sure how that works.

196

Again, what's the correct terminology?

197

But the sermon notes are in the YouVersion

app under North OC Church today.

198

You know what I'm saying, brother?

199

Trying to stuff his game up.

200

All right.

201

There you go.

202

Don't expect that every week.

203

Okay.

204

But it's in there today.

205

Okay.

206

And then also, uh, I think that

we're gonna have a part two to this.

207

I think we either we'll have a video

in the week, or we'll do something

208

because this is a, this is massive.

209

This is so cool, so encouraging,

and there's so much here.

210

We don't have enough time to

really drill it all the way home.

211

So I think we'll have some form

of a version, uh, part two.

212

Now we're gonna take it over to the, to

what is called the Sermon on the Mount.

213

This was Jesus', go-to sermon wherever

Jesus preached and wherever he went.

214

The way we see from the scripture,

this appears to be his go-to sermon,

215

he would go there and, and, and adjust

the sermon depending on the context

216

and where he was, his environment.

217

But this was his go-to sermon.

218

And in this sermon, Jesus reveals

what the kingdom of God is like.

219

What does it mean?

220

Because he's the king who's

ushering in God's kingdom.

221

And so he reveals what the kingdom

is like and what it's like to

222

be a citizen in God's kingdom.

223

And in this sermon, it's actually

a reset sermon because he resets

224

our values through the beatitudes.

225

What we value is reset, bless R,

and then he resets our lifestyle.

226

That it's more than uh, uh,

uh, being a citizen in Kingdom.

227

God is more than an outward

appearance or outward religion.

228

And then he also resets our focus.

229

He says, don't worry.

230

Don't worry about food, drink clothes,

don't even worry about tomorrow.

231

And then he sums it up

with the reset verse.

232

In Matthew chapter six, verse 33,

I'm gonna read from the NET version,

233

and here's what Jesus says, he says,

but above all, pursue his kingdom

234

and righteousness, and all these

things will be given to you as well.

235

Jesus redirects our pursuits.

236

The world tells us to chase happiness.

237

Money, comfort, security,

success, maybe even fame.

238

But Jesus calls us to pursue

God and righteousness.

239

And what is that?

240

That's a call to pursue holiness.

241

When I pursue God's kingdom,

that's his reign, his rule.

242

I'm pursuing God.

243

And not only am I pursuing that,

but I'm pursuing his righteousness,

244

which again is his holiness.

245

He redirects our pursuits, calls

us to have a reset in not only what

246

we value and what we prioritize,

but what we pursue in our lives.

247

And so why reset?

248

Why reset our pursuit from

happiness to holiness?

249

Well, number one is because God is holy.

250

God is holy.

251

You know, several times in the

Bible there's times where we

252

get a glimpse of what it's like

at the throne of God in heaven.

253

And these heavenly beings, these

heavenly creatures, say something.

254

And we wanna look at two

verses here real quickly.

255

In Isaiah six, verse three, it says,

and they were calling to one another.

256

Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty.

257

The whole earth is full of his glory.

258

And then in the Revelation

four verse eight, it.

259

Each of the four living

creatures had six wings.

260

It was covered with eyes all around,

even under its wings, day and night.

261

They never stopped saying, holy,

holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty,

262

who was and is, and is to come.

263

It's interesting, these holy beings,

these beings that stand before or

264

worship before the throne of the living

God, what they do is they go around

265

and they say, holy, holy, holy is God.

266

Yeah.

267

Not just holy, but we

gotta say it three times.

268

God is not just holy, he's

holy, he's holy, and he's holy.

269

And he keeps saying it's, you.

270

See, holiness is who God is.

271

It's his character.

272

It's his choices, it's his

relationships, his thoughts, his desires.

273

Holiness is who God.

274

Is God doesn't have to choose to be holy.

275

God is holy.

276

And then not only is he holy, but

here's what's crazy, what's radical.

277

What's so cool for those of us who are

children of the living God, meaning we

278

made a decision to follow Jesus as his

disciples, is that God makes us holy.

279

So not only is he holy.

280

But then he goes, man, if you

follow me, you make that decision.

281

You are opinion, you get baptized.

282

I make you holy through Jesus

and through the Holy Spirits.

283

And let's look at a couple scriptures.

284

But you were washed, you were

sanctified, you were justified.

285

These are fancy names.

286

Meaning that, that, that you are holy

and that you are no longer guilty of sin.

287

In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ,

and by the spirit of our God, one

288

Corinthians 6 11, 2 Corinthians chapter

289

unveiled faces contemplate the Lord's

glory are being transformed into his

290

image with ever increasing glory, which

comes from the Lord, who is the spirits.

291

What happens through Christ

and the Spirit, we are made

292

holy in our status before God.

293

We are washed.

294

We are sanctified, we are justified.

295

Our relationship and status

before God has been transformed.

296

Why?

297

Because we are now forgiven and

we are now his beloved child.

298

We went from creation to child of God.

299

And so now we are made holiness.

300

We have a new identity,

and this is so cool.

301

When we receive the Holy Spirit on the

day of our baptism, we now share in

302

Christ's holiness so Christ is holy.

303

And then when he indwells in

us with it by through the Holy

304

Spirit, guess what happens?

305

We now are holy.

306

We share in this

spiritual DNA of Holiness.

307

You go, well, I don't feel too holy.

308

I know you don't, but because we

still have a choice in how we live.

309

You get what I'm saying?

310

But God now looks at us.

311

He doesn't see sin Center, center, center.

312

He sees my son of my

daughter who are holy.

313

You share in my DNA.

314

How incredible is that?

315

I like being a part of my family, but

boy, oh boy, nobody looks at my family

316

and says, oh, that hall family is holy.

317

But I had the living God, Jesus somehow.

318

Hey man, it's so hard

to wrap around somehow.

319

Jesus is my brother and and,

and His holiness is upon me.

320

Hallelujah.

321

And this is how God views you.

322

You don't need to view yourself

as, I'm just a safe sinner.

323

Yes you are.

324

But God never says, I just

loved all my safe sinners.

325

No, he calls us his children.

326

He says, you share what I am.

327

I'm holy.

328

So guess what?

329

You have holiness within you.

330

We are transformed into Christ's image

and this Holy Spirit now empowers us.

331

To do what?

332

Live Holy Lives.

333

You see, we still have to make a choice.

334

You see, God is holy.

335

He transforms us into being holy.

336

Now, what are we called to do?

337

Live holy lives.

338

You get what I'm saying here.

339

We still have to work in

conjunction with our Holy Father

340

and live according to who we are.

341

Not something we are, but

live according to who we are.

342

And so again, why does Jesus

redirect us from pursuing

343

happiness to pursuing holiness?

344

Because God is holy.

345

God has made us holy through the,

the, the spirit in Jesus, and now

346

he calls us to pursue holiness.

347

And so here's the question, brother

and sisters, what am I pursuing?

348

Ask yourself, what am I pursuing?

349

Am I pursuing the American pursuit

of life, liberty, and happiness,

350

or am I pursuing the kingdom

pursuit of God and holiness?

351

Let's, let's, let's go back and let's

compare and let's contrast the pursuit of

352

happiness versus the pursuit of holiness.

353

You see, the pursuit of, of happiness

leads to, it's really what self-centered.

354

Why?

355

Because it's all about me being happy

and I'm pursuing, I'm going after

356

whatever is going to make me happy.

357

So what It's self-centered

and what does that lead to?

358

When I'm self-centered, it could lead

to what a whole bunch of stuff can't it.

359

But we know it leads to, and it

definitely can lead to selfish ambition.

360

Ambition isn't wrong,

but selfish ambition is.

361

It leads to envy.

362

It leads to anger, it leads to bitterness.

363

It can lead to hatred.

364

I can hate people who are

disrupting my pursuit of happiness.

365

I can even point my hatred toward

God or my bitterness toward God

366

because God has somehow interrupted or

prevented me from having my happiness.

367

So now I'm mad at God or I'm mad at you.

368

I'm mad at my mom.

369

I'm mad at the man.

370

I'm mad at the, the, the commercial.

371

I'm mad at everything

because you interrupted it.

372

You stopped me from getting my happiness.

373

And ultimately it can lead to sin 'cause

I'll do whatever it takes and discard.

374

Or disregard so that I

can have my happiness.

375

But now when we contrast that with

pursuit of holiness is, first of all,

376

God-centered because I'm pursuing

God, I'm pursuing his righteousness.

377

And what does that lead to?

378

Peace, comfort, compassion.

379

Not only receiving these things, but

having these things toward other people.

380

Forgiveness perspective.

381

This is the incredible thing is that

when we pursue holiness, it gives a

382

perspective because now I have a different

perspective about those around me.

383

Yes, I see them as image bearers,

but I see, I can even see challenging

384

or difficult people or difficult

situations, not in, ah, I hate

385

this, but I can see, you know what?

386

God allows this so that I can actually

become more holy through this.

387

I have this challenging situation.

388

That, yes, it's not making me happy,

but guess what it's calling me to do.

389

It's calling me to persevere in my faith.

390

It's causing me to pray.

391

It's causing me to not react and

respond the way I would naturally,

392

but to take it to God and to

fight to have a holy response.

393

And so now I can see these negative

situations or even negative

394

people as pathways to holiness.

395

One of the things that CRE and I have

a strong belief about is that even

396

marriage, God designed not just to

make us happy, but to make us holy.

397

My marriage has refined me.

398

Amen.

399

Amen.

400

Because God keeps saying, boy, you gotta

change because there's a mirror now.

401

And I get to see, yeah, there's

some good, but boy, oh boy,

402

there's some ugly up in here.

403

And he is like, you gotta change this.

404

And then he blessed me with kids, and

then there becomes another opportunity

405

for me to become holy because I wanna

react and act in a different way.

406

And God's like, don't you dare, or,

okay, you messed up now, but you

407

messed up and I need you to see that.

408

We need to get this part out of you.

409

Marcel, I never knew how selfish and

prideful I was until I got married.

410

And then I still, I didn't

realize I was still selfish

411

and prideful until I had kids.

412

I'm like, how did you get

rid of all of this guy's?

413

Like, Nope.

414

And he's still working on me.

415

So what God is doing in these

situations, he's making me

416

holy and I have to pray a lot.

417

God, you are making me holy through this.

418

But it leads to resilience.

419

When I'm pursuing hol,

I'm gonna be resilience.

420

When leads to transformation,

it leads to righteousness and

421

it leads to becoming like Jesus.

422

So I don't know about you, but I'm

so grateful that Jesus redirects

423

my pursuit because I don't want

that column on the left side.

424

I want what God wants, and

I want what's on the right.

425

I wanna have peace.

426

I wanna have comfort.

427

I wanna have compassion,

forgiveness, perspective, resilience,

428

transformation, righteousness, and

I wanna be like the Lord Jesus.

429

Don't you too?

430

But it only happens when we have a

holy reset and we pursue holiness.

431

See, again, the pursuit of happiness

focuses on self, but the pursuit

432

of holiness focuses on God.

433

And so the holy reset is this,

Jesus redefines what's worth

434

chasing after Jesus redefines.

435

What's worth chasing after?

436

Is it really happiness?

437

Or what's worth is holiness.

438

And so what should our

response be to this?

439

I believe it's simple.

440

Pursue holiness over happiness.

441

To pursue holiness over happiness.

442

Let's go to Matthew chapter six.

443

Again, this has been our main text.

444

Brothers and sisters, are

you still with me here again?

445

Let's read it again, but above all.

446

All above all, that

means this is a priority.

447

If I told you, go to the store,

buy some milk, some chicken,

448

some eggs, some cheese, but

above all, get my green Skittles.

449

What are you gonna get?

450

Those green Skittles.

451

Sorry, Marcel, I forgot everything else,

but I got you those green Skittles.

452

Why?

453

Because it's important.

454

It's a priority.

455

He's helping us understand where it

should be in the pecking order above all.

456

But then he tells us this, what?

457

Pursue his kingdom and righteousness.

458

You see, holiness is a priority,

but it's also also our pursuits.

459

Many times we can think

it's just a priority.

460

I just gotta prioritize his

kingdom and his righteousness.

461

And a lot of times in our fellowship,

we, we, we focus in on the kingdom part.

462

We don't focus on the righteousness part.

463

No.

464

We pursue righteousness.

465

We go after righteousness.

466

When you pursue something, you do what?

467

Sit back and wait till it comes.

468

No.

469

That's not pursuing at all is it?

470

You pursue, think about when

you pursue a relationship.

471

Maybe it's a friendship or

a romantic relationship.

472

What do you do?

473

You go after it, right?

474

You, you try to learn.

475

You go after connecting.

476

You try to learn about the person.

477

When I was, when I was, uh, pursuing

Carina, we were, uh, I was liking Carina.

478

Uh, I, I, I was pursuing her.

479

Uh, you know, I was

stopping by at random times.

480

Oh.

481

Just happened to be an area,

482

you know, there's a text,

there's a call, whatever.

483

Actually, we didn't do text back then.

484

That's how old I am.

485

I'm 44.

486

Okay.

487

There you go.

488

And then when texting happened,

you couldn't afford text.

489

It was like, don't you dare text me.

490

Why did you text me?

491

Man, I'm gonna get charged for that.

492

You know what I'm saying?

493

Sorry.

494

All my old people, y'all

know what I'm talking about.

495

All right.

496

We were like, hallelujah.

497

Free texting.

498

Alright.

499

Sorry.

500

You're getting sidetracked.

501

So when I was pursuing

Karina, I went after it.

502

I even made her a little, a little, this

is, this is, again, I'm aging myself here.

503

I made her a little cd.

504

Oh yeah.

505

Remember that?

506

We didn't have Spotify playlists back

then, so I went over there and had some

507

songs she liked and put in a couple

of my songs and girl, here you go.

508

Oh, smooth Operator.

509

You know what I'm saying?

510

I was pursuing her.

511

There you go.

512

I was pursuing.

513

I'll give her a little thing there.

514

She was fired up,

obviously, 20 plus years.

515

It worked.

516

Hallelujah.

517

Right?

518

But I was pursuing her.

519

When I was pursuing a career in,

in sports, in sports entertainment.

520

I went to school.

521

I went to college.

522

I tried to learn.

523

I studied, I was blessed.

524

I got an internship.

525

I was practicing.

526

I was volunteering for certain

things so that I can get my craft.

527

I was speaking, I was trying to do

things to enhance my skillset so that

528

I can achieve what I was pursuing.

529

And you do the same where you're

going after a job, where you're

530

going after a certain achievement,

you intentionally do things.

531

So when we pursue holiness,

what should we do?

532

The same thing.

533

We pursue holiness, we go after it.

534

We're intentional.

535

We make decisions that will

align with what's being holy.

536

We study it out, we learn.

537

We ask God, God, help me to be holy.

538

Help me to see this.

539

And then when holy or a lack of

holiness is exposed, we don't just

540

say, well, that just is what it is.

541

No, we make a decision to get rid

of what's unholy in our lives.

542

We also make a decision to get over

hurdles that prevent us from being holy.

543

So we make decisions about

relationships, about media consumption,

544

about where I spend my time.

545

Should I really be doom

scrolling at this time or not?

546

We make decisions because we're pursuing

God, his kingdom, and his holiness.

547

So we get very practical.

548

Church, are you with me here?

549

We get advice.

550

We ask, we go to the scriptures.

551

We don't just sit back and wait.

552

We choose righteousness over convenience,

and we fight because we know it's

553

a spiritual battle and it's tough.

554

And then we get back up when we fail

because we often do fail, but we get

555

back up and we fight and we persevere

because we're pursuing holiness.

556

Again, here's the cool thing is

that when we pursue holiness,

557

we actually receive joy.

558

We can think that there are opposite ends.

559

There's happiness and there's joy.

560

Ah, I guess I just better be

disgruntled, sad and bitter

561

and, and have this holiness.

562

No.

563

When we pursue holiness, what God provides

is joy in the presence, but eternal joy.

564

That supersedes and is even greater

than fleeting temporary happiness.

565

It's a joy in the midst of a challenge.

566

It's a joy in the midst of a struggle.

567

It's a joy in the midst of a bad phone

call from a relative or discouraging,

568

uh, comment or call from the doctor,

or when something sad or bad happens,

569

or we have a struggle, there can be

a joy in the midst of all of that.

570

Because we have the holiness of

God, and God provides even more

571

than we can ever ask or imagine.

572

And so holiness is the

pursuit that resets our lives.

573

Let's get real practical.

574

Church, are you still with me here?

575

All right, some of y'all

still tripping off the cd.

576

Alright, here we go.

577

Let's get real practical here.

578

Let's have some action steps for the week.

579

This is just for the week.

580

Again, you can try to do this

afterwards, encourage you, but let's

581

do this for the next seven days here.

582

All right, number one, real simple.

583

Pray each day this week

for the next seven days.

584

You include this day here.

585

Let's make it eight here.

586

Okay, for the next eight days here,

pray something along the lines Here, God

587

reset my, my, my pursuit to holiness.

588

God, help me to pursue holiness.

589

Help me to value holiness.

590

Help me to pursue, not

just can you give it to me?

591

Help me to pursue holiness.

592

You guys get what I'm saying here

because we need divine helping this

593

because it is a spiritual challenge.

594

And then number two here, choose one area

in your life to pursue holiness this week.

595

Just one area in your life.

596

Let's crawl, walk, run.

597

Hey, there's that area.

598

I know God's been gnawing at me.

599

He's been saying, choose one area

in which you were intentionally.

600

Pursue holiness this week.

601

Right now we're gonna take

communion and we have the emblems,

602

the juice, and the bread, which

represent Jesus' body and his blood.

603

That was sacrificed for our

opportunity as salvation and communion.

604

Today is such a great opportunity

as a time for us to remember that

605

we are made holy through Jesus.

606

This eternal gift of a reset of holiness

is only available through Jesus' life.

607

Death and resurrection.

608

And we read here in Hebrews chapter 10,

verse 10, we have been made holy through

609

the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ.

610

Once for all.

611

Let's pray.

612

Father, thank you so much for Jesus.

613

Thank you so much for, uh, your spirit.

614

Thank you for your word that

refined us, that sanctify us, that,

615

uh, continually, uh, uh, wash us

thoroughly and allow us to be holy.

616

God, I'm so humbled and I'm so grateful.

617

The fact that, uh, we share your

holiness, not because we are are

618

righteous in and of ourselves and that

we're perfect by our decisions, but

619

because Jesus is holy and your Holy

Spirit dwells within us, and God, we

620

don't wanna grieve the Holy Spirit.

621

We wanna be in step with the Holy Spirit.

622

And so we pray that you enable,

you, empower you, strengthen

623

us to have a holy reset today.

624

May it not just be a sermon that was

preached, but God, may you transform us.

625

Today to have a reset in

our relationship with you.

626

Have a reset in our

relationship with others.

627

We'll view and treat others the way

you want to and then we pursue you.

628

Your kingdom, your

righteousness, which is holiness.

629

Thank you Jesus for

staying upon the cross.

630

Thank you for resurrecting and thank

you Holy Spirit for dwelling with Dennis

631

and empowering us to live holy lives.

632

We pray this in your son's name.

633

Amen.