 And today, if you have your Bible, I'm gonna go ahead and open it to Hebrews chapter 12, verse 1 and verse 2. Therefore, we also, since we are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses, turn to the neighbor and say, I am surrounded. Let us lay aside, somebody say, lay aside. Every weight, somebody say every weight. And the sin, which so easily ensnare us and let us run with endurance. Somebody say, run with endurance, the race that is set before us. Looking unto Jesus, the author and the finisher of our faith. Somebody say, amen. And so I want to take a moment and just break this verse down. I am not a big fan of football, but I want to take an analogy of a football because I think it serves this verse really good. Plus, we're in the football season and God bless Seahawks. We are praying for them, amen. And so the Bible says in here, we are surrounded with a great cloud of witnesses. And because of that, it says, first thing is, let us lay aside every weight and every sin. If those of you who ever played football or you played a sport football, American football, which is kind of, I still, maybe it's because of my English. I have a hard time understanding how can you call it football if most of the time you play with your hands. But it's because I'm an immigrant and I'm still learning English. So maybe in the future I'll figure that out. All the Americans just got it. But you know one thing about football. The first thing is that nobody can play football without a jersey. And you don't need the jersey just to identify with the team. You need a jersey and you need a football gear so that it protects you in the game. Because the game is intense because somebody say amen. So what does this mean to us as a Christian? And what this means to us as a Christian is this is the Bible says is that in order for our calling to be fulfilled, we have to be people who first of all lay aside two things. We lay aside every weight and we lay aside every sin. Apostle Paul, he says this in Ephesians. He says that put off concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lust. And be renewed in the spirit of your mind that you can put on a new man which was created according to God in true righteousness and holiness. Which means that in order to fulfill your calling and in order to be effective in life, the first thing that you have to do is you have to put on your jersey. Put on the armor of Christ. The first battle David won wasn't in fighting Goliath, it was in finding a right armor. The world will always push you their armor and their jersey on you. Sometimes when you show up on the field of life you will be tempted to dress like people on the bleachers instead of people who play the game. Spectators, spectators always dress differently than participators. See spectators hold a coke and drink and eat hot dog, but a participator they hold a football and they hold a trophy. Can somebody say amen? You must understand one thing, what God requires out of you as a believer is that you lay aside two things. The first one is sin. The first one is sin and what this means is that the quickest way to destroy your calling is by compromise. The quickest way to destroy your calling is by compromise. When you live a life of compromise you don't only delay your calling, you don't only postpone your calling, you actually can completely destroy your calling by a life of compromise. Can somebody say amen? Satan will offer compromise as a quick fix or sometimes a back road to things, but you have to understand compromise doesn't get you anywhere. Isaiah says this, there is a highway of holiness. It means God's quickest way to get us to the place we need to go is called a highway. Satan will always offer to you a back country road of compromise, but God's way is a highway and this highway is holiness. And this highway is holiness. When you live a life of holiness you fulfill your calling. You must understand is that putting on the gear means I first of all put off every sin that easily ensnares me. Why easily ensnares me? Because sin doesn't start with being something that ensnares you. Sin always starts with pleasure and turns the person who bites the pleasure into prisoner. Can somebody say amen? But the second thing that God tells us to forsake is not only our sin. We know that we need to forsake our sin, but God tells us to forsake every weight also. And this is a thing where we don't talk a lot about it in church, but I want to underline right now. Is that God doesn't want me to abandon only my sin which derails me from the place where God wants me to go. God also wants to abandon, for me to abandon things that are not in line with my calling. God didn't call you to do everything. God called you to do one thing. And you need to sharpen your life and reduce your focus if you want to be effective in the area of your calling. They asked CDJs they said how come you write books? How come you do TV show? How come you have a record label? You preach, you do conferences and you create movies. You do so many different things. How can you stay like afloat? He says I only do one thing. I communicate in seven different platforms. Cast away every weight. Every person that's successful in this world are good at that one thing. Successful person is an average person focused. The way you start fire, the sun doesn't just start fire, but when you take a magnifying glass and you focus on one thing, something begins to burn from that thing. You have to focus on your calling. Abandoning sin is the first stage. If you abandon sin, you can reach your calling. If you abandon extra things that are not helping your calling, you will be most successful in the place of your calling. You will be most effective in the place of your calling. When Peter came to Jesus and Peter didn't tempt Jesus with sinful things, he said to Jesus, I want you to avoid the cross. And Jesus called him devil. And Judas came and helped him to get on the cross. Jesus called him friend. Everyone who helps you fulfill your calling is not your enemy. It's your friend. Even if they don't intend to help you, they want to destroy you. But if they push you toward your calling, they are your friend. You got to send some haters a post note. They just say, thank you, Carl. Say, thank you. You pushed me forward. I want you to see this. That Jesus' calling wasn't just to be popular. See, the enemy wanted Jesus to plateau at being a healer. But his calling was to be a savior. The enemy wanted Jesus to plateau at being a king of Judea. But God had a calling for him to be a savior of the world. You have to understand this. The moment you start moving slowly in your calling, the enemy will plateau your calling. By loading your life with everything that's non-essential, that's not good for your calling. It's not bad. But what it does, it's like the vine. When the vine has enough sap to produce fruit, if the vine starts spreading its sap to the shoots and the suckers, it will produce less fruit. That's why every gardener prunes the vine. So that the sap will be only used for one thing, which is the vine good for the fruit. Every field can produce suckers. But no field can produce grapes. God fashioned you, created you, and wired you for your calling. And the devil's distraction number one is going to be this. It's the compromise. And number two is going to be this, to pull you in three million directions so that you do everything and accomplish nothing. That you're running on a treadmill of life sweating and you're busy but you're not active. That's why you got to learn to trim your life like Apostle Paul says this, one thing I do. And everything else begin to fall into place. I know that even with my life, God called me to lead and to feed. Those are the two things that define my life. I am not good in construction. Just not good. I'm not good at so many other things. And so even when I had extra things on the side going on in my life, like I had rental properties and everything, and many times I would go to a conference, we would have something here and I would always have this weird accident that happened at those places, especially during important meetings. And the weight started to become heavy on me and I was like, man, why am I involved in something that I'm not wired for? I know people in here, like if you hear that the toilet is sinking, something is broken, like your blood starts going through the... You're excited. When I hear that, I have panic attacks. And that's like if I will give you a microphone to preach, you know, you will have a stroke. Some people will just, they will just die on the spot. They wouldn't be able to handle it. But for me, when it comes to preaching, I am wired in that setting. And so what God started to lead my life personally, He said, listen, your goal is not to do everything. Your goal is to do one thing and do it well. In order to be successful in your calling, you got to learn to trim your life, focus your life, and that which matters the most, which is your calling. Not everyone can do it right away. Some people have to keep a second job until that picks up. But with time that you focus on that. The Bible says, let us run the race and let us set aside every weight and let us set aside every single sin that easily ensnares us. And these are the things that Hinderer is calling. It's our sin and it's being involved in everything that you're not good at. But then He says this, let us run the race set before us. Let us run the race set before us. As in the game of football, you know that when you, you don't just get a jersey and you show up on the football field. You can have a coach, you will have a quarterback, you know, you will have your team with you, you will have the owner, you will have the audience, you will have the spectators, you will have the fans, you will have all of that. But during a football game, something happens when you catch the ball. Everything changes for you at that moment because now you have this goal with the ball and the goal is not to take a selfie and the goal is not to run to the locker room and quickly call your mom and say, you caught the ball. The goal is not to just simply start looking to the audience and start seeing what do they think about that because you caught the ball. The goal is not to smother the ball with kisses and love. The goal, you understand the moment you cut the ball in football, you understand one thing. Now you have a race in front of you. Now you have a mission in front of you. Now you have an assignment in front of you. Now the eyes of the world are looking at you and now there is a sense of urgency. You don't have time now to tie up your shoes. You don't have time now to go to the locker room and use the restroom. Now there is a sense of urgency and intention about your life. And that is to score a touchdown. I'm going to tell you something for us as Christians. When you receive Christ at that very moment it's like receiving a ball during football. In the very moment you receive Christ not two days later, not when you finish a Bible school, not when you drop those bad habits and bad friends. In that very instant when you receive Christ you receive a calling. And that calling is to reach others for Christ. So Mary to a woman when she met Jesus she didn't wait and she cleaned up her life divorced the wrong husbands married the right husbands. The Bible says the moment she cut the ball she quickly ran to the city and she told other men about Jesus Christ. Your calling your calling is given to you at the moment of your salvation. How many of you will watch football if people who catch the ball will run to locker rooms? If people who catch the ball will simply pull out their selfie sticks and begin to take selfies. If they would not recognize that there is an urgency in the moment when you get the ball there is a sense of you're on a time clock. You don't have all the time to kind of begin to stretch, walk and say pat the ball. There is a sense of urgency when you get the ball. There is a sense of urgency when you get Christ. The problem with many of us is that our life is so loose there is lack of urgency. There is lack of intention about it. I'm remembering a story where four lepers they found bread and when they found bread they found food. This is what they said to themselves. They said we are not doing right. This is the day of a good news and we remain silent. Means we're not doing anything, we cut the ball. We're not going forward, we're not going backwards we're just standing there and they said this, if we wait until morning light some punishment will come upon us. Now therefore come let us go and tell the king's households. The crazy part is they were still lepers. It does not matter how your condition is. Many people think their calling into their life comes in when their conditions change. When you catch the ball you have a calling. When you catch Christ when Christ catches you and he saves you at that moment he gives you a calling. And that calling is that you tell other people about Jesus Christ. Why? Because you're on a time clock. Why? Because you're only going to live 70, 80 tops 90 years on this earth. Why? Because eternity is long and hell is hot. Why? Because devil is on a loose and he wants to take as many people away from the kingdom of God. Why? Because without purpose your life is pointless. That's why. My life is pointless without purpose. It's like unsharpened pencil. It's pointless. It has no point at all. Without purpose, without the calling but the moment you get Christ you get a calling. The moment you get a Christ you get a calling and not only that but you have to start living your life with intention. You have to start living your life with urgency. You and I we have to live our life tomorrow and also live our life as though we're going to live forever in Jesus name because somebody say amen. But the part that I wanted to underline here is not only that but it's when Bible says run the race with endurance. Run the race with endurance and not only we have to abandon our sin and abandon our other extra weight and not only we have to understand is that we get a calling the moment we get Jesus Christ in our life and we have to live our life with urgency. We have to live our life with a sense of intent but there is one thing about Christian life that has to be also underlined and that is endurance. Run the race with endurance. God wouldn't mention endurance if you can run the race without it. Christian life is not Cancun. It's Afghanistan. It's not a vacation. It's a war zone. Nobody would watch football if the team that cut the ball had no opposite team to compete against. The problem with Christians and I find this more I just came few weeks ago from a camp and I had a young man who went into really really bad things. I won't mention things he went to but very occult deep things only because of one thing he heard a church when you get baptized all of your problems get taken away and you literally have a smooth sale he got baptized and things got challenging and gave up on God gave up on Christ, started watching YouTube videos of hypnotism and started getting hypnotized by YouTube videos and going into the cult it's like a person who cut the ball and the moment he saw these mean faces of the opposite team dropped the ball and ran to his mama and that's exactly how many Christians do they start a Christian life and then things get like not so good they get respected, they get tackled and they just simply say this where is God in all this why did God allow this to happen my life was fine until I got Christ well your life had no ball you only had coke you only had a hot dog in your hands and you were dressed up as a participator now you're the player and the cloud of witnesses saints of old and you are watching from the balcony of heaven are you alive you're not just God's child you're God's player you are God's agent on this earth you are God's soldier on this earth if you're gonna catch a ball you will have an attack that is part of the game I will get surprised if you wouldn't get attacked after you cut the ball whether you're on the right team if I put Jesus first in a marriage I won't have any challenges where did you read that if I tied I'll never have any flat tires and any tickets and any problems where did you get that that does not exist on the football field it exists in a bathroom in Christian life it's a field it's a battle that means if you catch the ball listen the whole hell rises against you you say well I don't want the ball well you have to change your focus from people who are against you that's why my Bible says we look not unto the team attacking us but unto the Christ leading us looking unto Jesus the author and the finisher of our faith I want to encourage every person today on your way to your calling when you grab your calling hell will break loose and you have to understand one thing about Satan the only way to beat him Jesus gave us this secret and it's in one word endurance God is now raising up whims he's raising up victors yesterday there was a fight some of you who watch maybe the fight between the money guy and the Irish guy the only reason that Mayweather received accolades and reward not because he trash talked but because he went into the ring and he laid some punches and by the way boxing is from God Bible says it's better to give than to receive victors get crowns I know we live in a culture today where you get a trophy for just showing up not in real world in real world you only get awards if you win but in order to win you have to have a challenge and many of us we're asking God for deliverance what if God has planned victory for you deliverance is when you act like a helpless victim victory is when you have a jersey on you got the ball you got the quarterback you got the captain you got the coach you got angels on your side your home group leader your pastor your parents you got a team with you and you don't act like a victim listen you step your ground you step on the promises of God and you go forward you push through the hardship you push through the challenges you push through the sickness come on somebody give God a shout of praise the problem with many of us is as in the game of football you can lose one drive or one play but you don't lose the game some of you saw the fight yesterday with Mayweather he got punched so bad in first few rounds but there is one thing that Irish men did not know is in boxing it's not how you start it's endurance it's stamina you can run around like a dog with tail between his legs first four rounds but then what happens is you wear your component out and the guy who is big and talks a lot when he gets worn out and this is where endurance kicks in and you understand one thing the Bible does say if you submit to God and resist the devil devil doesn't have a stamina that's why he talks a lot the Bible says he will flee why he will flee because you wear him out by your endurance it's a challenge with many of us when you begin your Christian life when you begin your calling and everything comes against you God isn't just interested to give you a trophy for participation God is interested to develop within you a character like his where you know how to fight where you walk through the valley of the shadow of death you feel fear but you're not afraid you choose not to be afraid where Jesus says in this world you have many tribulations but be of good cheer I have overcome the world and I live inside of you Bible says many are the afflictions of the righteous but the Lord delivers him out of them all God is interested to make you into a person where you don't just get a trophy but where you win and in order to win Christians occupy it's when you cry here God help me God help me I can't get out of this and many people wait for that and even when God gets you out the problem is you're so used to living there you slide right back into it the second position is when you take the stand on the word of God you take the ball and you recognize hell is against you but the greater is he who lives in you than the one who is facing you but you recognize like Elisha told the servant he said listen don't be afraid there is much much more with us than those against us you have God on your side and God did not promise because you got the ball the red sea is gonna split God promise that he will give you the power to go with the beast mode I'm all somebody amen I'm gonna read to you a verse right now and this is the verse about David it says and he was with David this particular guy he was with David when Philistines gathered there for battle there was a place where they there was a full a place that they were there was a full of barley the troops fled from Philistines so that's the first category of Christians it's people who run they see danger somebody passed away you got sickness you got unfortunate situation you got literally these mean faces looking at you and you drop everything and you run you run to nightclub you run to drugs you run to your old ways you run God told you only to run from one thing you run from one thing and it's sin God never told you to run from your problems and from the devil he gave you a promise to stop but stand up and recognize you got the ball in your hands you got Jesus you got the Holy Ghost and Jesus is your captain and recognize more there are with you than those who are against you he says the devil will run from you and you will wear him out but we see the first category is they fled from the Philistines but the other guys I want you to see the second category but they took their stand somebody say take a stand they took their stand in the middle of the field they defended it and struck the Philistines down and I want you to see this and the Lord brought about great victory how did God bring victory not when you run but when you stand how does God bring victory when you fight you can't get victory by running and saying God killed them for me the only way you get victory in your life is this is when the enemy comes like the flood you rise and you stand you may be weak you may feel weak you stand and you defend your field the spirit of God comes upon you you begin to push back the darkness you cross the touch line you create a touchdown and your team begins to win and everybody celebrates and you didn't get it cheaply freedom is free deliverance will cost you your fears your cowardness and your victim beautiful poor little me mentality and if you're not willing to sacrifice it don't ask God for victory I want you to see this little video for those of us Seahawks lovers if you can see it you can find it on YouTube this little guy named Beast and I want you to see this is what Christian life looks like that little sipping a Kool-Aid in Cancun that's not a version of the Bible Christian life you go in you push through this you push through the rejection you push through the opinions you push through your own feelings you push through stuff you push through stuff you don't cry like a baby you fight like a man you fight like a warrior you stand your ground this is where your calling becomes secure and confirmed now we've came here today to the service this morning not to just watch someone play a game after he wins this nothing really changes about emotions finances and other things but we watch this to be inspired today if millions can gather and he can dress like in these yoga pants and look weird and everything we should never apologize for what we do maybe some of you come and you say Vlad a lot of screaming did you ever watch a boxing match there is a lot of pointless screaming our screaming is on point when a guy punches another guy in the face and blood comes out that is pointless though entertaining when you come against sickness generational curses and nightmares that is on point and that's the battle that every person needs to be involved in and that's the battle that you and I need to be involved in today we're gonna be praying for people in a moment but before we pray for people we wanna pray with people we want people in our church not to come just to prayer line where somebody takes you out but where you take your position you defend your field and you strike down the felices and God will give you victory can somebody say amen today is the day where felicians have to be struck down every spirit behind that sickness has to be struck down every spirit behind that repeated cycle of financial failure has to be struck down you heard what Vera said there are demons that will tie emotions in marriage and that spirit needs to be struck down there are demons that stand in the way between you and your destiny and that spirit must be struck down that spirit has been harassing you and you come to church a lot of times you play it cute you play it nice and everything but this is not a time to be nice this is a time to put on your armor stand your ground and win the victory for your life in Jesus name I want you to rise to your feet and we're gonna begin to declare a battle cry we're gonna begin to declare a war cry in this place for your freedom and for your victory can somebody say amen Thank you for watching this content I hope this was a blessing to you if you're like me and you like to click on things click on this subscribe to our channel and the content will come to you every time we post it and remember the best is yet to come