 Good morning. Come on. Come on, hungry generation. Let's rise to our feet. Come on. Who's excited to be here today? Okay. I heard one person give a shout to the Lord, but I know we got some more joyful people. Come on, somebody. We want to welcome every single person that is in the second sanctuary. Come on. Let's give them a shout. Come on. Let's shout out our people in the second sanctuary. Let's give God some praise today. Come on. You're the king of majesty, come on. Sing all together. Here we go. Majesty. This is how we all come. Let's sing. This is how we... Hallelujah. Let those heads of this worship, Jesus, let's surrender everything to him this morning. Because he's all we want, all we need. Lord, we surrender everything to you, oh God. Down on my knees again, surrender me. Surrender everything to you, Jesus. And I would hold nothing from you, Lord. We want to know you, Jesus. Let's sing it to the Lord. Sing it out. Sing it out with everything in you. We surrender. And decreeing that the victory has already been won on that cross, God. We thank you, Jesus, that we don't have to fight for the victory in our lives any longer, because you already did it. Let us remember on this day as we partake in communion that we don't fight for victory anymore, but we fight from a place of victory for what he did. The man who knew no sin became sin for each and every single one of you. And as we continue, as we start to prepare to take communion, this is when what the remembrance of communion is about. For the body of Christ was trampled, was torn up by the Romans, but it wasn't the Romans who put him on that cross. It was his own people. It was the Pharisees who gave that, gave that call. It was the Pharisees who convinced the Romans to do that. So as we partake in the wafer and in the juice representing the bread, the body of Jesus and the blood of Jesus, there's that second part about the blood of Jesus and the power that the blood of Jesus is all about. And this evening, can we go ahead and pass these out? The blood of Jesus is the representation about the power of forgiveness. Amen. When it comes to the power of forgiveness, that if you have any kids or growing up, you have probably at some point gotten blood stained on your, on your clothing or different areas, right? But there's one difference between the blood of Jesus and the blood of each and every single one of us is that the blood of Jesus is the thing that washes all of our sins, that makes us white as snow. Communion isn't for those who don't know Jesus as their Lord and Savior. It's for those who do. It's the remembrance. So if you're here today and you don't quite know who Jesus is, but you're curious, I can tell you one thing, that Jesus Christ is the only way, the truth in life. And then if you want to be able to live a life worth living, you need to give your life to him. So you can make that decision right here right now and partake in communion as brothers and sisters in Christ. It's not about the prayer, it's about the heart posture behind it, receiving Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. But as we prepare to take this communion, the representation of the body of the blood of Jesus Christ, it's in remembrance to not ever forget the sacrifice that Jesus Christ did on that cross, to not ever forget that if it wasn't for God sending Jesus to die in our place, we would all be going down instead of up. That's the true reality of it. But we have this. We have this in remembrance to never forget what Jesus did. Amen. So as we pray, as we partake in this communion together, let us pray a prayer of continued repentance and a continued prayer that we don't ever put the sacrifice that Jesus Christ did on the back burner, but it's always at the forefront of our mind so that we can walk each and every single day knowing the significance of who we have chosen to live for. Amen. Let's go ahead and pray. A clean bride in the name of Jesus. You watch us clean. You make this white as snow, and I thank you. I thank you because of what you did at the cross. I thank you for the power of the cross that we each who are being saved are set free from in Jesus' name. Lord God, I just thank you, Lord God. I thank you and I bless you, Fred. I bless you, my Father, and that we partake in it, Father. May be your glory and your precious radiant love that flourishes through us. You watch us clean as we repent and we partake of this in Jesus' name. Let's go ahead and all partake of the wafer and the juice together, and let's take about 15 to 20 seconds to just remember the sacrifice that Jesus did on that cross. Lord, we come before you, thanking you, thanking you for that sacrifice, for that remembrance of your glory, of your grace, but of your power as well. God, we know that not only in your blood there is the power to wipe away all sin, and that the greatest gift you could ever give any of us is that gift of salvation. But God, we ask that there is a demonstration of your power of the blood of Jesus when it comes to healing. If you are here either in Sanctuary 1 or Sanctuary 2 and you need physical healing in your body, if you're watching online, type what you are dealing with in the chat because right now there's going to be a demonstration of the power of the blood of Jesus when it comes to physical healing. As I stand right here, there was a couple years ago when Pastor Bryson and I, we were doing the same exact thing, we were praying for healing, praying with faith that people would be healed. There's a man, a lot of you may know him, John the Mart. He got radically healed of not only all back injuries, spinal injuries, and shoulder injuries, but he got healed from a traumatic brain injury. He was healed right here instantly to the point where he was able to testify of God's goodness within that next service. Amen. Jesus Christ can do it right here right now for each and every single one of you. So if you are here today with a physical ailment in your body with any type of infirmity, I'd like you to raise your hand and as you raise your hand, the believers around you go ahead and stretch your hands and lay hands on them. In Mark chapter 16, verse 18, it doesn't say pray and hope that those who have been healed will be healed, but it says, lay your hands on the sick and they will be healed. So right now, as those as hands are going up all over, saints ready to please do the same exact thing, raise your hands. You will be touched by the power and by the glory of God. Right now I command in the mighty name of Jesus Christ, every single sickness will go in Jesus' mighty name. For those watching online, I command every sickness, every chronic headache, every digestivist, you go in the mighty name of Jesus Christ by the power and by the blood of Jesus Christ. We decree and declare freedom over it, healing over it in the name of Jesus. We decree and declare that distance is not a barrier, distance is not a barrier for the Holy Spirit, for he is alive and well today and he will heal you in the mighty name of Jesus Christ. We speak complete healing over every single mental illness, over every single traumatic brain injury, every single root of schizophrenia. By polar, we pray right now in Jesus' mighty name that it will go and just as the man who was set free from the spirit of Legion was restored in his right mind, we decree and declare that every single person who's dealing with a mental illness will be sent back to the right mind in Jesus' mighty name. By the blood of the Lamb, I command all sickness to leave in the name of Jesus. I command migrants right now, leave in Jesus' name. I command any hurt in the stomach, anything going on in the intestines, be healed in Jesus' mighty name. I command any sickness in the eyes, be healed in the mighty name of Jesus Christ. Receive your healing in Jesus' mighty name. I command all sickness, maybe loss, loss of brain cells that I'm seeing right now, be healed in Jesus' name. Be restored in the mighty name of Jesus Christ. I command that back pain, to be healed back pain. Leave now, leave now in the mighty name of Jesus Christ. Knees hurt in the knees, be healed in Jesus' name. I command all arthritis to leave right now in the mighty name of Jesus Christ, in the mighty name of Jesus Christ. Depression in the mind, be healed and be gone now in Jesus' name. Be healed in Jesus' mighty name. I decree all healing. I release the power of the Holy Spirit over every single body. For this body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. Right now begin to pray whatever is hurting on your body. Your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit and nothing can stand in it because it's Jesus who lives inside of you. Be healed in Jesus' name. Be healed in Jesus' name in the mighty name of Jesus Christ. Yes, Lord, we thank you for what you're doing. God, we thank you in advance for the healing that has occurred, God. We thank you that in the mighty name of Jesus Christ, as we stand and partner with the faith that you have given us, God, that we will see miracle signs and wonders continue to pour out in Jesus' mighty name. We pray, amen. Welcome, everyone, to Hungry Generation. As you're taking your seat, we want you to go ahead and greet your neighbor on your left and right as we welcome Julian to the stage. Come on. Come on. Good morning, Hungry Generation. How many of you guys are happy to be at the House of the Lord? Come on, let me get some hands in the air. It's a good day to be in the house of the Lord, amen. I'm convinced it's the best place to be on a Sunday morning, amen. How many of you are living for healing this morning? Come on. Keep on pressing it. Keep on believing for healing. We know God is a powerful God. He's still in the business of healing. I want to quickly just share a word, rings and tides. And this is something that really touches my heart because I'm a younger adult, 22 years now. And, you know, coming up, it was a difficult situation when it came to finance. I came from a difficult household. And a lot of the times growing up, I would have to worry about where my next meal was going to come from. I don't have to worry about my next, you know, my next money for shoes or for clothes will come from. And it was a struggle growing up. And a lot of the times as I was growing up, you know, in a race within a church, I remember praying to God, I don't want to live like my parents lived. You are a God of generational blessings. And if they don't have it, I'm going to start it. And that was my prayer that I am going to start generational blessings for my family. And coming into 2021, you remember going to retreat. And at this point, I was laid off from the job I had at the moment. I couldn't go back to what I was originally doing, was construction back in time because of a back injury. So it was a very rough time in my life. And I remember going to a leadership that I couldn't afford. Somebody came to me and said, hey, I want to pay for your ticket, but I want you to be there. God has something for you. So I go ahead and I show up, not wanting to be there. And I remember as they were praying for me, I heard the voice of God speak to me. And he says, Julien, I will bless the work of your hands. Everything you touch will prosper. But I remember as he was telling me, there's emphasis, and I will bless the work of your hands, meaning I needed to go out and step out and do something. I needed to go find employment. I needed to go and put some work in, in order for him to bless the work of my hands. So as I did that, I could see that God began to open up doors, having him in mind, knowing that, hey, I may only have 100, but I'm going to give my 10%. I may only have 200, but I'm going to give my 10%. I started to see God begin to open up doors. So if there's somebody in this place that you've been struggling with finances, you've been struggling to meet every single, at the end of the month, to meet your goals, meet your budgets, I want to encourage you to, to test God. And this is one of my favorite scriptures, because it's something that I had to apply in my life. It's not something that I'm just preaching out of a book. It's something I had to apply. And I've seen the goodness of God. Amen. The Bible says in Malachi 310, it says, bring all your tides into the storehouse that there may be food in my house and try me now in this. And this is what he says. Now try me in this. He says, I will not, I will open up the heaven. I will open up the windows of heavens and pour out to you such blessing that it will be so much that you cannot contain. Amen. How many of you want that blessing? Come on. Let me say it in your hands. If you want a blessing, you can't contain. And this is what I did in my life. I tested God and said, God, with the little that I have, I'm going to trust you. And sure enough, I got my first paycheck from my first, from that new job. And although it hurt, I'm like, ah, I could use this for something else. I said, nope. You know, I rebuke you, Satan. I am going to trust the Lord. I gave my first tides and I cannot explain. I cannot tell you how blessed I've been to this day. I have never lacked. I've all had more than enough to a point where I can then bless those who are in need. And it's such an amazing feeling. So I want to encourage you this morning. Go ahead and test God. He says, try me now in this. He's given you permission. Test God and see that he has faith. Boy, man. So that being said, can you help me by your head? Let's pray. Father, we thank you for every person God is going to give today. I thank you for every person who is given generously. God, that you continue to bless them, continue to bless their table, continue God to bless the work of their hands. Father, I pray God for those who can't give this morning, those who are struggling, Father, that you will continue God to move in their lives. God, that you will bless the work of their hands. God, may anything that touch prosper God. May you open doors, God, opportunities of employment. God, that you will begin to just get connected to the correct people. Father, I thank you for every person here, God, and everybody who is giving. And we pray all this in Jesus' name. And the church said, and that being said, church, please help me put your eyes on the screen. You are an Esther generation. God places you in high places because high places is where you shine the most. High places is where you have the most impact. High places is where God puts you as the head and not the tail. Where God puts you on the top and not the bottom. Where God makes you the light and the soul to your generation. You become the city on the top of the hill because the Philippines shall be saved. And God's weapon, God's method is his people. God's method is young people. You will raise for such a time as this. Come on, come on, God is so good. He has done so much in the Philippines over the past week that Pastor Vlad and Pastor Lana, Pastor Ilya and Mariana have been there. There have been so many miracles, deliverances and healings. And it's so encouraging to see how radically God is moving and He's moving into the nations. The vision of this house is thousands locally, millions globally. And we are seeing that at this conference so much is happening. And it is so glorious, but there's so much also happening right here. And so we are just so excited for what's going on. Continue to pray for Pastor Vlad and Pastor Lana. Today is their last and final day, but they do still have two more speaking events today as well. So keep them in prayer and continue to just pray for the Philippines for revival there because it's breaking out. It is actually happening. So pray for that. And welcome, church, welcome for everybody in the 1st and 2nd Sanctuary and everybody watching online. We are so glad to have you with us. And this morning, we have such a powerful testimony to share with you of God's just incredible, radical healing and resurrecting power, because He is so good. So if you guys will please help me welcome our wonderful testimony to the stage. Could you state your name and where you're from? My name is Teresa and I'm from Yakima, Washington. Welcome, Teresa. We're so glad to have you. Your testimony is so powerful. So could you share with us a little bit about how you came to Hungry Jen? Well, it was back in 2021. I had an encounter in my home with Jesus. And so after that encounter, I was already attending a church in Yakima. And so my brother, he was my spiritual brother and real brother. And when I told him my testimony, he said, I went to Hungry Jen in Pasco. I think he came to see Isaiah, Sandoval back then. And so he said, you need to go to this church. This church is alive and you need to be in a place after your encounter. And so that's how I came to Hungry Jen. Wow, God is so good. And God really does encounter people so radically, so radically. If you are in the area, if you're close, come here. We are in Pasco, Washington. So please make the drive. Even though it could be a long one, she came all the way from Yakima, it's worth it. It's worth it to be in a place where God is moving. And so you had a radical healing happen. Can you share with us, you know, what happened leading up to that healing and then how God healed you? Yes. So when I came in here to Hungry Jen back in 2021, I would come in and then just, you know, get received and then leave. You know, I have, I had three kids at that time. And so we would wake up early in the morning, come at six in the morning from Yakima here. And it's like an hour and 15 minutes. So we would come and then, you know, in one time I was, I mean, at this time I got pregnant again. And so the doctors told me because I had a miscarriage like a month before and they said it was the same baby. And I kept on telling them no. So they kept on saying, no, we can, you know, take you into surgery, clean you up, and then you can go home. And it's going to be fast recovery. And I kept on saying, no, I had a miscarriage, you know, I went through the miscarriage and now I got pregnant again. And so I had appointments like every day at this time I was going to the specialist, you know, and they were telling me your hormones are the same and we need to clean you up because now you're in danger of having this dead baby inside of you. And so, you know, you're, I mean, at this time I was scared because I knew it was not that. So at like a healing time service like this, they asked us to come to the front. So at this time I needed to be in agreement with somebody to bring life to my son. At this time I didn't know what baby was, if I was a boy or a girl. So I came to the altar and so, you know, it's embarrassing to say, but I came to the altar and so the parking lot guy was the one who prayed over me. And I did not know at this time that he was a pastor because I would see him in the parking lot all the time. So then when I came to the altar, you know, I didn't expect pastor to pray for me because there were so many people and I just needed somebody to have a faith and agreement with me. And so this brother believed for me. And he, I don't remember, this looks like two years ago, I've been telling everybody about this testimony. I mean, for two years and I, and you know, he came up to me, I remember, and he grabbed my hand and he put it on my stomach and he said, you shall not die, but you shall live. You know, in Jesus' name. So I knew when he said that I kind of stopped crying and I said, oh God, it's you speaking to me. You're speaking life to my child, to my child, you know. And so he had no idea what it was or anything. So I went home and I told my sister back in Yakima and she's like, you have to testify, you have to testify. So then the months came, you know, when I kept on praying, I kept on believing on God the promise that he gave me that day that you shall not live, but you shall live. I mean, you shall not die, but you shall live. And so I always plead the blood of Jesus over me, over my body, over my womb, you know. So believing that God will, you know, bring this pregnancy through. And so that's exactly what happened. But you know what, at that time, I would always tell everybody, it was the parking lot guy. And then one service, I came and I was sitting in the back and they said, oh, come on pastor Casey. And I said, oh my God, how embarrassing it was a pastor. So, you know, I'm so sorry. I always tell him, I'm sorry. I didn't, I didn't know you were a pastor at this time, you know, but his believing, his faith agreed with me. And the word of God says, well, there's two and three in my name. I am in the mess. And that's exactly what happened with that. Right. Wow, God is so good. God is so good. Come on. So how is, how is your baby now? What happened after that prayer? Okay, so then, you know, we believed and then, and then I gave birth to Elijah and so Elijah somewhere. So I really wanted to put him into the word of God, you know, to the prophets. And so I said, you know, I bring him to church and now we start coming. You know, I serve on one because I am like that person that, you know, God gave me so much. He saved me. He brought me out of hell. And now he gave me my miracle baby. You know, I call him my miracle baby and Elijah's running around doing so many things, keeping me very busy. Wow. God is so good. Can we, yeah, just give Jesus a round of applause. So there are so many people who are walking through a struggle right now, physically, going through sickness or battling miscarriages. What would you say to them to encourage them? Well, I will say come up forward and, you know, don't be embarrassed. Don't be ashamed. I, I, I think I didn't tell him what it was because it was such a long story. Like I'm pregnant and then I'm not pregnant. So I, you know, I just wanted prayers. So just come forward and get prayed over people and don't expect, you know, sometimes pastors are, I mean, like Pastor Black, who everybody knows is busy. But, you know, all the other people are going into their, into their place where they're seeking God. So they're giving the same power that, you know, to heal the sickness. And so like he said today, that we have the power to, to touch them and they will be healed. And that's what happened to me. So I encourage you, if you're hurting from anything, I have so many testimonies, you know, that healing that happened to me and my body here, my back and everything. And sometimes, you know, you don't want to come to the forward and you're embarrassed. Oh, I'm going to go again. But, you know what? Your healing is here. Just let them pray over you, declare the word over you because that's the healing power of Jesus. Amen. Amen. Thank you, Teresa, so much for sharing your testimony. God is so good and it's so true. If God can do it for her, he can do it for you. Don't leave service if you need prayer. Get prayer. We have a ministry team that will be here at the end of the service. Don't miss your moment because today is the day for your miracle. God is here and he is ready to heal you, deliver you and set you free. But without further ado, please focus your eyes on the screen. Good morning, church. How are we doing today? Come on. Let's put our hands together for Jesus. I was glad when they said to me to come into the house of the Lord. Amen. Amen. We're happy to be here. We're happy you're here. I just want to welcome everybody's watching on live stream and those of you in the second service, thank you for being with us. We love you and church, I'm excited because today we're going to be talking about parenting. The next couple weeks, we're going to take a little bit of time to talk about parenting and the title of our sermon series. This, the next few weeks is going to be parenting on purpose. And we're going to be talking about this because it's so important for the body of Christ to raise families. The enemy is after the family. Would you agree with me? The enemy wants marriages to be broken and he wants children to not know the love of God. So we're going to do some spiritual warfare in a different way than we normally do here on our Sunday mornings. And we're going to talk about doing something preventative. We're going to talk about something that is building culture, building dynamics because you understand church that what we have been called to do here on earth as believers is to change culture. Amen. We're not here just to do our own will, but we are to bring God's will here on earth. Amen. And God wants to accomplish that not only on Sunday mornings, but every day of the week through our families, every day of the week through our parenting, through the child raising that we do. And so we're going to talk about that today. And just a quick disclaimer. I'm not going to pretend like I know everything about parenting. I've only been a parent for four years, but I have been blessed to have really great parents who have taught me many things. In fact, my father who had passed away a couple of weeks ago, he actually has been one of the most foundational men in my life teaching me the ways of the Lord, what it means to be a parent who parents on purpose. And I want to hopefully share with you a couple of things today that will help us to be intentional, will help us to be proactive and help us to be a light in our homes that will bring effective change, that will bring continual change. Amen. Amen. So parenting on purpose, oh, and a quick little announcement. Starting on August 24th, we are going to be doing a refresh with our kid zone. We want to really make our kid zone bolstered up to the level of where the church is at. We want to be in excellence. You know, I know some of us, we have here hearts desire to help our children grow, and I just want to encourage you that on August 24th, we have an interest night, and you can reach out to Pastor Brittany. We're organizing an interest night because we want to bring a refresh, a revamp to what we're doing with our children. And don't get me wrong, what we've been doing, it's been great, but we know the Lord has more. Amen. So if you're interested in that, you want to serve, you've been feeling that call, because everything that we're talking about here on parenting on purpose, I know many of us here, this has already been ringing in our heart. I want to encourage you to be there that night. We're looking for people who are willing to invest in the next generation. Amen. Amen. So parenting on purpose, I want to read to you Deuteronomy 6 verse six through nine. It says this, these commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts and press them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up, tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them to your, bind them on your foreheads, write them on the door frames of your houses and on your gates. This passage, this is right when the Lord had given Israel the commandments and I'm just really encouraged by what this passage is saying here. It's funny because we read this and there's a lot of symbolic talk here. It says, tie them as symbols on your hands, bind them on your foreheads. Well, what does that mean? I'm reading this and when I look at this first and foremost, I see intentionality. It's so crazy because when God gives a command, it's not just for you. It's for your family. God is a God who is about family. He is a family oriented God. And so right off the bat, when he gives a command to his people, he's already giving the command to train your children in the Lord. God expects us to be intentional. And it says this here, bind them, tie them as symbols on your hands, bind them on your foreheads. And to me, that speaks of my hands should be symbolic of the will of God. When I am doing things with my hands, when I am working, my life, my hands should be symbolic of God's will. And on my forehead, it should be bind on my forehead that everywhere I go, when people look at me, they see God's will. When my children look at me, they see God's desire. On top of that, it says this, write them on your door frames of your houses and on your gates. To me, this means that our homes should reflect God's command, God's will, God's purpose and desire. You know, we can't control what the world is doing today, but I know for myself that I want my house to be a place that when you walk through the gates of my house, when you go past the door frame of my home, you're entering into new territory. You're entering into a place of safety, of refuge, a place of holiness, of righteousness. And I don't know about you, but I want that to be evident in my home. Amen? Intentionality. And I think there's a reason why God emphasizes intentionality in raising our children. And it's here in Judges 210 through 12, and I'm reading in the NET version, it says this, that entire generation passed away. A new generation grew up that had not personally experienced the Lord's presence, or had seen what he had done for Israel. The Israelites did evil before the Lord by worshiping the Baals. They abandoned the Lord, the Lord God of their ancestors who brought them out of the land of Egypt. They followed other gods, the gods of nations who lived around them, and they worshiped them and they made the Lord angry. There's something powerful in this statement. It says this, a new generation grew up and they had not personally experienced the Lord. We're always one generation away of a spiritual legacy being lost. Do you understand that church? It's important that we talk about parenting today because we are always one generation away of the spiritual legacy in our home being abandoned. In the book of Judges, this was a common experience that happened. It happens many times in the book of Judges, where they have a judge rise up, the people of Israel, they follow the Lord, and then it repeats the same phrase, but they did not teach their children and their children fell away. In other words, I'm paraphrasing there, but this happened time and time again, and it was always one generation away within the family for the spiritual legacy to be lost. So that gives an urgency in my spirit that should give us an urgency in our homes that there should be intentionality in what we do, amen. So with that said, what does intentionality look like? I know all of us have a lot of different things, and I hope today as I share with you that there might be something that's insightful, something that resonates with your spirit of maybe what God is speaking to you. I'm not here to necessarily give you all the tips and tricks that I've learned because I'm still learning them, but there are things that I know the Lord has put on my heart that I believe will stand the test of time regardless of what age you are, regardless of what age your children are, amen. So the first thing is this, and you can write this down if you're taking notes, be parented by the Lord. Be parented by the Lord. You know, our prayer, when we're talking about being parents, we should be asking this prayer, God, parent me so I can parent them. Parent me so I can parent them. We're so quick sometimes to want to try and figure out, okay, what are the tips and tricks? What are the things I need to do? How am I going to implement discipline in my home? What are the practical things I'm going to do today? But let me tell you this, there's nothing more important than you first asking the Lord, parent me. Parent me so I can parent them. Our best parenting comes. I truly believe this. Our best parenting comes when we think less about being great parents of children and we think about being great children of God. Did you hear me this morning? When you focus less on trying to be a great parent to your child and you actually just focus on being a great child of God, something happens as a byproduct, it affects your home. This is why I think it's so important that he says, bind it on your hands, wear it on your forehead, everywhere you go, because at the core of what it means to be a parent is discipleship. We talk about discipleship in the church, but people don't often realize that parenting is discipleship. These children that God has entrusted me with, even though they're my flesh and blood, they belong to Jesus and it's my responsibility as a steward of what God has given me, not only because of the great commission, but because of the family bond that we have, the bloodline that I'm carrying, the legacy that God has given me, I am discipling him and the Lord, and I can't do that if I'm not first following himself. Does that make sense? So be parented by the Lord. Actions, they speak louder than words. Psalms 103 verse 8 through 10, and I'm going to read the passion translation just because I really love the way that it says this. Lord, you're so kind and tenderhearted and so patient with people who fail you. Your love is like a flooding river overflowing its banks with kindness. You don't look at us only to find our faults just so that you can hold a grudge against us. You may discipline us for our many sins, but never as much as we really deserve, nor do you even get even with us for what we've done. The same way, and this is verse 13, the same way a loving father feels toward his children, that is but a sample of your tender feelings towards us, your beloved children who live in all of you. Man, there's a lot to unpack in that, but I just want you to hear that passage. That alone can teach you so much about what it is to be not only a son, but also a father, to not only be a daughter, but also a mother. When you begin to see the way that the Lord treats you, it's so easy to then turn around and do the same. None of us will have an excuse. I don't know what. I don't know what to do. If I follow in the way that the Lord is leading me and teaching me and guiding me, then I have the perfect example of what it means to raise and disciple my own children. Actions, they speak louder than words. Ephesians 6-4 says this, fathers don't exasperate your children, but raise them up with loving discipline and counsel that brings revelation from the Lord. In other words, that word exasperate, it means don't reprimand, don't just dig into your kids all the time. Chances are they're probably not listening to you anyways, but raise them up in discipline, train them, instead show them, coach them, show them what it means to live for the Lord. You know, some of us are really good at telling our kids what not to do, and we should be focusing on trying to port our kids in the direction of what they should do. You know, a really great example of this within our own church, and some of you may not even realize it. One of the fathers, the father of this house, Pastor Vasily, what he's done for us, even though we are not his physical children, what he's done for us, is that he didn't just tell us what not to do, he showed us what we should do. And in fact, oh come on, let's put our hands together, there's a legacy that he's carried in this house. And in fact, many of the parents, and I only know this by, not because I speak Russian, but because of what has been told to me, is that many of the parents in the time that our church was beginning, and we were speaking in English, and Pastor Vasily was sending out his sons and his nephews to go out and do ministry, is that they were saying they're too young, and focusing on not trying to get them plugged in, and he's sending them into the school to be a light, and then on the other side, there was parents saying, this is ridiculous, you know, this is too much, you know, you're exposing them too much already, and you know what's funny, is not funny, it's actually sad. A lot of the parents who were so afraid of trying to protect their kids from the world, and just try and treat them as one thing and telling them what not to do, and they failed to do the very thing they should have done, which is showing them what to do. And there's a difference in the young men, the now grown men who were standing on this stage, because they weren't only told, don't do this, don't do that, although that did happen because discipline and correction is necessary, but what was more than that was the pushing forward, was the constant saying here, move this direction, do this, watch me, imitate me as I imitate Christ. Parents, we're disciple makers. In your home, you're a disciple maker. So focus on being a good disciple. Everything else would come as a byproduct, and you know what, there's something beautiful about that because that means that you don't have to be the one that comes up with all the right things, you don't have to invent the wheel. God already did that. You don't have to carry the final burden of parenting. You carry a burden, but not the final burden, and that allows you and frees you up to just follow someone rather than trying to figure out how you're doing, because let's be real, none of us really know what we're doing as parents. We're kind of just making it up as we go. But the beautiful part about being a child of God is that we have the ultimate example, and all we have to do is follow. If we follow so will they, you know, and they will see by our example, because it's bound on our heads, it's symbolic in our hands, it's in our home, the environment is a safe place, and all of these things play into it and impresses upon the hearts of our children. And within that thing, before I move on to the next point, I want to point out this thing. Be parented by the Lord, because if not your childhood that you had will play into your parenthood. Did you hear me? We have to first address our childhood before we can address our parenthood. Until I understand my own upbringing, I don't know how I don't know what I need to do as a parent in its fullness. We're building legacies here. And for some of us, we're tearing down strongholds and generational curses. We're tearing down the wrong kind of legacy, and we're building up new ones. So we have to pay attention and address our own childhood. Let me give you an example. There was a woman that came to one of our player lines one time, and I got the privilege of counseling her and talking to her, and she basically had come and said, please help. My son is severely demon-possessed. I don't know what to do. It's beyond, nobody can help, counselors can't help, so on and so forth. It was really interesting as I began to talk to her, and no doubt, the son needed some serious inner healing. He needed some serious spiritual work. But as we began to talk, it became very evident that this didn't just come out of nowhere. You see, this mother, she had some issues with her own mother, and her own mother used to, in a very, very bad way, bribe her with everything that she did, everything in the house was a bribe. What discipline looked like in the house was a bribe. If you do this, if I buy you this toy, then you have to do all these good things. If I go and get you this snack, then you have the promise to be good at school today, and all these things, and everything in the house, and that's not even the gist of it. I want to just be careful for her own sake to not share too much, but everything in discipline became a bribe, and what that translated for the mother was that, well, when she did the right thing, it seemed like, man, I got something good, instead of realizing I need to do the right thing because it's the right thing. But moreover, it became actually a tactic that the mother used for manipulation and control, and everything that the child had, you see, when you're a small child that you may not recognize it, but as you grow up, every little thing in your life has been bribed to you, nothing is given to you just because they're your parent, everything you owe, and now there's this bribe, and she would be constantly be held to that. It'd be one thing of saying, hey, good job, you did a good job, and there's nothing wrong with rewarding, but then turning around and now holding them like that your child can never just have anything. It kind of messed with her brain, and it was kind of an extreme situation, but what had happened is out of this relationship with her mom that turned into manipulation and control, she then went into her own parenthood on the exact opposite. She was so afraid to withhold things from her son that she let him have everything, and that is also not healthy. You know, sometimes in our own efforts, we try to not do what our parents did, so we go way to the other extreme, but oftentimes that's not going to be the right solution for us. She went to this other extreme to the point where even the things that were harmful for her son, she was allowing to him to have exposure, even at the age of three, four, five, having exposure to things, having access to things, because she was so afraid that he might feel rejected if he didn't get what he wanted. You see how your childhood affects your parenthood until you address it, because the real answer actually is in the middle. It's having the balance between being able to reward your children and withhold, like God who gives and takes away, and there's nothing wrong with that. And when you have a healthy dynamic, you can understand the intricacies of that, rather than it just being you gave and then you took, but when there's a healthy dynamic in the home, they understand the intricacies of what that meant and what that actually looks like, and so she failed to have that in her home and it affected her parenthood. So I just want to encourage us, be parented by the Lord, address your childhood, make sure that you're tearing down generational curses, make sure you're tearing down generational strongholds. Some of us, we didn't have parents, some of us, the parents we had, they were doing the best with what they had. They were doing the best that they could with what they had, but for you, you have God the Father who loves you, who treats you tender kindly, he treats you better than you deserve and allow him to guide you, first allow him to heal you, but then allow him to guide you in training your children. Amen. Amen. Number two, I want us to take notice of the norm. Take notice of the norm. Many of us, we have a lot of great ideas when it comes to parenting. We have, well, you know what? Every night I need to have my prayer time with my kids. I know growing up with me and my parents, what they established as a tradition in our home, every, every Saturday, especially as kids, we grow, as we grew up and kind of faded out, but as kids on Saturday before Sunday happened, we would actually come together and they'd read the Bible to us. And that was a great tradition. I still remember that. I still remember the children's Bible that my dad would read, and those are all really great. I'm sure that God is going to be creative in showing you what traditions you're going to build in your home. I'm sure God is going to give you insights that's going to be best and most beneficial to your family dynamic. But what I want to ask of us is to not necessarily look around for some fancy thing that we can do to bring into our home, but yet take a look at what's normal in our home, realize the significance of normal. Now, what do I mean by that? Do you guys know what a liturgy is? For those of you who don't know, I have here on the notes, a liturgy is a form or set of forms according to which public religious worship, especially Christian worship, is conducted. Now, our Sunday mornings, to give you an example for those of you who are still trying to get caught up, this would be considered our liturgical process, our liturgical tasks that we're doing. Here coming on Sunday mornings, we open up with songs of worship. And then we go into a time where we give unto the Lord our finances as an act of worship. We have a testimony where we give glory to God for the things that he's done. And then we come and we partake in a word. This is our form that we have in our church that helps us understand what it means to walk with the Lord. It's a practice. It's a repeated process in our life that gives the form of our worship. Do you follow me? I want us to think of our child raising from the perspective of liturgies in the home. What practices do we have in our home, either by default or on purpose, are shaping our children's view of God? I want to give you an example. So one of the practices, and I've shared this in sermons before, one of the practices that I do with my children before bed is I pray with them and then I speak life over them. I prophesy over them and I do this every every night. It's my liturgy in the home. And so this is something that I practice. It's kind of like one of those significant points that I hope my kids remember. But one day I was doing this liturgy in my home and the Lord convicted me hardcore. Like, you know, I can share this with you guys. Wow, that's really cool. I've actually had the last time I preached a sermon with someone coming who's like, man, man, I wish I'm doing that with my kids. I wish I would have done that. I'm thinking, yeah, that was really cool. One of these days the Lord actually convicted me because here I am, bath time happens. I get my kids in the bath and Noah, my youngest son, he's running around butt naked around the house. I can't get him to come to the bath. I've already told him many times. So I'm, Hey, come here. Come here. You know, you know, I'm already losing my temper because I can't control him. He comes into the bath and then they're playing and they're having fun and then he starts splashing, making a huge mess. And I'm just, you know, and then and then we're trying to go and get them dried off. And my son, he, he runs out of the bathroom with wet feet. He slips and hits his head on the floor and now he's crying and you know, and then Mila is running around and she's complaining that she doesn't have her milk before bed. And I'm thinking you're four years old. I don't even want to give you milk because you're going to pee your pants if you do. And so I'm just like feeling all this stress and I'm just snapping. I'm snapping. I'm taskmaster. Do this, do that. And I just have no peace. Right? How many have been there before? I have no peace. And I'm just going at it. And then, you know, they finally get riled into bed and it's been about 45 minutes and they're laying in bed. And I'm like, they're already like, at this point, they're, they're like military. Yes, sir. You know, because they already know they, they already ticked me off. And then I turned around and was like, the Lord loves you. Daddy loves you. And I'm just going through my routine of things. And I'm saying all these things, speaking over them. And I go, and I close the door and I close, when I close the door, I was like, man, I'm exhausted. Like, what the heck? You know, and the Lord convicted me because the reality was is it'd be fine if that was one night. But it seemed like that night turned into every night. And every night we were having a battle. And I'm yelling at my kids. My kids are going to bed scared. Even though, in my mind, I'm like, man, I just, I just prophesied over you. I said, God loves you and dad loves you. They're going to bed scared. And I'm mad. And this is the liturgy that I was building in my home. It wasn't about what was the significant thing I was doing. It was about what was normal. My normal was that my kids were seeing me angry for 45 minutes. And for about two minutes, they're seeing me tell them that God loves them. And at dawn, I'm like, I wonder what my kids think God's love looks like. Based off of that 45 minute repetitive thing that we do every night. What do my kids think God's love looks like? And what do they think my love looks like? Because after I was just snapping at them this whole time, and I says God loves you, I realized what's the most significant is my normal. And I want to ask you, what's normal in your home? Is it normal for your kids to hear you nag all the time? Is it normal for your kids to hear more negative than they do positive from you? Is it normal for your kids to feel like you're not present? Is it normal in your home? And don't get me wrong, we all have our moments. Again, if you have a moment, it doesn't mean you're a bad parent. But when those moments turn into every day, turn into weeks, turn into months, turn into years, they become repeated liturgies, so to speak. Forms of how, it's the how to or what. And so I just want to ask you to pay attention to what's normal. What are you teaching your children by accident? And you know, that challenged me, and I began to ask the Lord, well, how do I fix this? Because you know, my kids are wild, and this is their age, and I could easily write it off as that, you know? And you know, otherwise, you know, a little bit of like, you know, rough and tough love, you know, is not going to hurt them. But I also knew that's not what I wanted to build. So I was like, Lord, how do I, how do I change my normal? And you know what it did? It caused me to go on a journey of reflection. Because I realized my children were only reflecting what was going on inside of me. Again, address your childhood before you can address your parenthood. And I realized, man, you know what, there's a lot of turmoil that I'm carrying, frustration, stresses, you know what? It's actually, I realized my kids were just trying to have fun. And I would have been able to calm them down if I first was calm. But the reality was, and I looked at that day, that day was very stressful for me. And so I came home bearing my stress. I came home with that. And when I came to them, when they're coming, daddy, you know, because they see me, I'm tired already. I can't take it right now. I want to be available, but you know, and so it just one thing led into another. We all have those days. But make sure that those days don't turn into your normal. Amen. Realize that communication is always happening, even when you're not speaking. Your actions speak louder than your words. And how you do things oftentimes is communicating to your children the what more than you realize. Amen. Number three, don't punish for telling the truth. Don't punish for telling the truth. Now, I got to be honest, right now, my kids are still young in this stage. So the things that I would tell Mike, that I tell my kids when, when they tell the truth, the ramifications of their actions, they don't have it. I can, I can practice this really easy right now. But I'll tell you this, I have led an internship program prior to being a parent for at least six and a half years, working with teenagers day in and day out. And there's some really valuable lessons that I learned that even though I'm not a parent of teen, I dealt with all the teens who had parents who did certain ways of methods of parenting. And there was actually a very common thing that I found to be true is that we need to make our play our homes a safe place to share things. So in my home, I've decided this that I don't want to punish my children for telling the truth. Now, let me explain myself because some of us here are like, wait a minute, this is getting really soft here. You know, let me explain. Confession is an act of repentance, of a repentant heart. When if my kid comes to me and tells me something that they're afraid to tell me or that they're afraid to tell anybody, if they tell me that, then that shows me that they felt they bear the weight of the guilt in their heart already so much so that they had a change of heart. They confessed to me something and I don't want to punish them for actually doing the right thing. Even if they first did the wrong thing, I would want my home to be the place where my kids can come to and talk about things. For example, the way most of kids in America today learn about sex and drugs is from their friends, not from parents. I personally would rather be a parent where my kids come and talk to me about those things because then I can control that conversation. I can make sure that it's happening in a healthy manner. Now, it's a tough conversation to have, but I would much rather them hear about it from me than from the internet or from TikTok or from their friend who is experimenting in those things. So I want to build a home that's safe enough for my kids to share. What that looks like then is when they share, they don't get in trouble because most of the time what happens is this when a kid screws up, they go, oh man, and I know I did this growing up. I used to go like this. I'm like, man, I really messed up. I gotta run. My dad's gonna kill me, you know? But I would rather have this instead. Man, I screwed up. Oh, man, I gotta go tell my dad he'll know what to do. I would much rather have that response. Even if it makes it look like, seemingly, it makes it look like that I'm not disciplining my children. Romans 10, 9, declare with your mouth, Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead and you will be saved. If it was good enough for God, it should be good enough for me. God doesn't punish us for our sin when we confess. If that's good enough for God, that should be good enough for me. Now, that doesn't mean that there's not consequences, but punishment is a different thing and fearing that, that my relationship, my relationship with my parent will change if I don't share or if I share it, that shouldn't be the thing that we should have in our homes. So we should create an atmosphere where it's okay to tell the truth. And that leads me into point number four, which is discipline is an act of love. Proverbs 3, 11 through 12, it says this, my child, do not despise discipline from the Lord and do not loathe his rebuke for the Lord disciplines those he loves just as a father disciplines the son in whom he delights. Did you hear that? The Lord disciplines those he loves, so don't loathe his rebuke. They're still disciplined, they're still rebuke. But it's an act of love, not an act of anger or retaliation or exerting your dominance. Some of you are not yet convinced on this. Some of us we grew up only associating the word discipline with anger. When in reality, discipline has to do with correction and instruction and leading and guiding someone. And so, yes, there's going to be correction and there's consequences for our actions. But there's a difference when our consequences lead to restoration or if our consequences lead to alienation. Those are the differences between discipline and punishment. And I want to read, I just want to give you an example, a case study, if you will, of Adam and Eve. Many think that God's decision to remove Adam and Eve was an act of retaliation or possibly disgust. Like you messed up, get out of my garden, get out of my house. And some of us, we look at that man, God was really angry. He was really exerting, he was exerting his authority and punishment on his children from messing up. But I want to reach you Genesis 222. It says, and the Lord God said, now that man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil, he must not be allowed to stretch out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat it and live forever. You know, what's interesting is that actually what we don't see, and I believe, I believe that it's the enemy's narrative that he's trying to push that see, God doesn't love you. That's why if he really loved you, he would have let you stay in the garden, but it kicked you out. See, he abandoned you. And your relationship with him is based on how good you can work for him. And when you don't do good, he kicks you out. I believe that's exactly what the devil wants us to think. But the reality is this, if Adam and Eve would have eaten from the tree of life, they would have made their sin nature permanent. Did you catch that? They would have made their problems permanent. The damage would be permanent in them. But no, God says, you got to get out of the garden. I have to remove you. That's a consequence for your action. You have to be removed. But what do you see? He clothed them at the same time. In the process of him removing and setting boundaries, God was setting boundaries so they wouldn't continue to destroy themselves. But in the same action, he was clothing them. And then what did God do for the next thousand years is this. He developed covenants with man, going on this journey of trying to restore humanity back to relationship with him, ultimately to the point where it led to himself dying on the cross and then cleaning up our mess once and for all, restoring us to write relationship with him. And the very thing that was damaging to us is our victory now. It's our testimony, and it's the very thing that we don't have to struggle with to sin nature anymore because of Christ, right? He made it to where we now have that constant communion with him. So was it God's punishment by kicking him out of the garden? Or was it God's loving discipline? It's his discipline. And discipline is an act of love. Because I love you, I'm going to set boundaries. Because I love you, I'm not going to allow you to do these things. The enemy will have you think that it's the other way around, because God's mad at you and because he hates you. The enemy will try to convince you of that, but it is God's love. It's those whom he loves, he disciplines. And so it's so important for us to catch that. So important for us to catch that because then we have the right frame of mind when it comes to our own children and catch this. His discipline matched the transgression. His discipline matched the transgression. Sometimes for us as parents, when we get really angry and we're just so offended by what our son or our daughter did, we over-discipline. We come in with these crazy punishments that'll, yeah, that'll really teach them. We just feel this justice that we have to serve. Oh yeah, they're going to really pay for this one. And sometimes we overdo it. And it comes back to our liturgies. It comes back to what's normal in your home. Is it normal for your kids to see you retaliate? Or is it normal for them to see healthy, godly discipline? So it's important for us to pay attention to that. If my consequence leads to alienation, then it's punishment. If my consequence leads to restoration, then it's discipline. If I only changed their behavior, it was a punishment. If I also changed their belief, it was discipline. If I only changed their hands, it was punishment. And if I also changed their heart, it was discipline. Did you catch that? The whole point of repentance and our children coming back and listening and obeying is not just so that they obey when I'm around. I'm actually trying to raise someone up to be a decent human being in society. I'm actually trying to raise someone up who wants to do the things that I'm asking them to do. So it's important that I pay attention to how I discipline. Because how I discipline will determine whether or not it was punishment or whether it was that loving discipline that we're talking about. It's the difference between does it restore them? Does it make them right again? Or does it push them away? And that often comes down to making sure that our discipline never goes above or below their transgression. The consequence should always match the level of transgression. Nothing less, nothing more. Otherwise, it's not love. If the consequence is less, then I'm condoning destructive behavior. And if it's more, then I'm ruining my relationship. Do you follow? We have to be extremely intentional, purposeful parenting. I want us to rise up. I believe the Lord is wanting to develop godly legacies in this house. Amen. I want us to pray. If you're a parent, just raise your hand right now. Awesome, awesome. I want you to look around and find another parent. And those of you who are children, you can also just find another parent. I just want you to lay hands on each other. We're going to pray for each other right now as parents. And I just want us to ask the Lord, parent me so I can parent them. I want us to pray, Lord, help me develop godly legacy. Lord, help me to be the kind of father, the kind of mother that restores my children rather than alienates them. Let's just begin to pray. Lord Jesus, I thank you for your presence. I thank you for your anointing that you have given each one of us as parents in this house, Lord, to be the example in our homes. I thank you, Jesus, that you have given us such a high calling to raise our children for the Lord, to be disciple makers in our home. I thank you, Jesus, for your grace and your anointing God that is upon every single one of us. Lord, whatever background we came from, whatever the enemy has tried to do in our family lineage before, trying to cause destruction, trying to cause division. Lord, I thank you that you're rewriting legacies. You're rewriting history for families here today. I thank you, Jesus, that where we have had lack, you are the ultimate father. You are the God who teaches us. You're the God who counsels us, who leads us, Lord. I just pray for every parent here that we would carry a burden, an urgency in our heart to be better parents, to be parents that honor you first with our own lives, but in the way that we raise our children. Thank you, Holy Spirit. I pray, Holy Spirit, those parents who are feeling tired, who are feeling weak, who are burnout because their child went off into the world and is struggling with drugs and alcohol. For the parent who, who their child right now might be struggling with transgenderism, homosexuality. I pray, Holy Spirit, first and foremost, for your peace over that home, the reality of your grace over that home. And secondly, right now in the name of Jesus, whatever demonic spirit is attacking their household, whatever attack is coming against their children, we rebuke it right now in the name of Jesus. We command you to let God's people go. You demon of homosexuality, you demon of addiction, attacking the family, attacking the children, attacking the fathers, the mothers, loose your grip. This house shall serve the Lord. As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. Every attack on the household right now in the name of Jesus. Lord, send your, send your, your grace, your anointing that breaks the yoke. Let it be released over every household right now in the name of Jesus. Those who are watching online, Holy Spirit, I pray that you would reach their family, reach the single mother right now who is tired and weak. I pray, Holy Spirit, that single father who's trying to figure out things on their own. God, I pray for your fathering touch. Parent them, Lord. Parent us, Lord, well that we can raise children who serve you with all their heart, who will carry our legacy to win souls, make disciples, to be someone who loves you with all their heart, all their mind, and all their soul. In Jesus' name, amen, amen. Before we go on, amen. Before we go on, I want to give an opportunity for those of you who are here, maybe you're in the 2nd Sanctuary, and you don't know the Lord as your personal Lord and Savior, as your father. Maybe you have this idea that God is a hateful God, that he's abandoned you. I want to let you know that he loves you, and he wants to restore relationship with you, and you don't have to be afraid to come to him. You just have to come forward and say, God, I need you. I confess that I need you. I can't do it on my own. If that's you, and you need to give your life to the Lord here or in the 2nd Sanctuary or online, I just want us to bow our head and close our eyes. If that's you, and you need God to save you, to save your soul, just lift your hand wherever you're at. And maybe if you're in the 2nd Sanctuary, don't be afraid to do that right now as well. Just raise your hand. If you need to give your life to the Lord, maybe come back to the Lord for the first time or come back to the Lord again. Go ahead and raise your hand. Jesus wants to save your soul today. And those of you who are watching online, if the Lord is impressing upon your heart, maybe you tuned in and you're not sure why you tuned in, but you're sitting here and you're feeling this pounding in your heart and you're recognizing God is calling you home. You can respond as well. Just respond in the chat. I need to get saved and we'll have a moderator reach out to you. Church, repeat after me. Say, Lord Jesus, thank you for your sacrifice for the blood that was spilled for me. I confess that I'm a sinner and I need your touch. I need you to forgive me. I need you to restore me.