Well, good morning. It's good to be in God's house. And hopefully you had an incredible Christmas and New Year. It's such an honor to be here with you, and especially in Cold Springs.
You know, as we were driving in, I was like, where's the rest of Cold Springs? They're like, this is it. I was like, okay, this is awesome. This is amazing.
In fact, honestly, as you drive in, it truly is a miracle. When you think about River of Life and the legacy that's here, this is an incredible place to be in. Hopefully you don't take that for granted. You know, as we're going into 2026, I do believe that God has something very special, very unique He wants to do in your heart and in your life this year, but also this week.
So I just want to encourage you just to be here this week to kind of lean into what God is saying, what He wants to do. I believe how you start the year, many times is how you end it. And I think the best way for you to start 2026 is in God's presence, being with God's people and allowing the Lord to minister to you. You know, I've learned this that many times when I get into God's presence that one word from the Lord can change everything.
And I pray that that's exactly what happens this morning, but also as you lean into the Lord this week, I want to encourage you tonight to also be here tonight. I'll be sharing a message. And tonight we'll be talking about healing. So if you've just been believing the Lord or you need the Lord to supernaturally heal you or you know someone that you need God to move supernaturally in their life, I want to encourage you to be here tonight.
We're just going to look to God's word and we're going to spend some time in God's presence and allow Him to do what He wants to do in our lives. But it's such an honor to be here with you this morning. You know, as I come to Minnesota where I came from, it was like 50 degrees, all right. And it was starting to get colder, all right, as I was leaving, but it's been just for whatever reason, it's been warm.
And then I come here and there's snow on the ground, there's ice, it's crazy, we were talking last night as we went to dinner, we're just talking about how for fun, you guys just go skating, all right. And I was like, this is insane. I remember there was a retreat that I was able to do years ago and it was at a hotel resort. And as I was sitting there, I was asking them what they used the outside for, because I could see that they were, I mean, it was kind of roped off and they're like, oh, that's where they go play hockey.
And I was like, oh, so you guys have teams that come here. They're like, no, people that come to the hotel and resort, they can just go play hockey. And I was like, for fun, that's what, like, you just go out there and the freeze and cold and you act like that's normal. And so it's like, it's insane.
You guys are amazing and insane all at the same time. So you guys are built for this and you're amazing. Do we have any Packers fans in the house? Do we have any Packers fans?
There's some. Do we have any Vikings fans in the house? Come on. So I thought, okay, so I thought.
Well, much like, please pray for me, I'm a Dallas Cowboys fan, all right? So yes, I'm a Dallas Cowboys fan, so I need a lot of prayer. But I do believe in a God who raises the dead, that's why there's always hope for the Dallas Cowboys, all right? So, but, you know, I feel like the Vikings this season, they've had a rough one.
We always have a rough one, all right? But anyway, if you have your Bible, I want you to grab it with me. I want you to open up to the book of Revelation, the book of Revelation, chapter three. You know, sometimes when you come to the book of Revelation, people get really intimidated.
Like we're going to talk about all kinds of weird stuff. That's not going to happen this morning, all right? I do believe that God has a very specific word. He wants to share with you.
And before I jump into this, I just want to say thank you so very much. How many of you know that this doesn't just happen? This happens not only because the blessing of the Lord, but also because of great leadership. And I just want to show honor to your leaders and your pastors, Pastor Kirby and Desiree.
Can you show them some love and some honor this morning? Thank you so much. You know, the legacy, honestly, the legacy that they have left when it comes to youth ministry and across the nation, especially when it comes to mobilizing and discipling students to give to missions is truly incredible. They have that legacy.
And it's not just that legacy, but also Kirby and his stories. It's a legacy in itself. So Pastor Kirby, but it's such an honor to be here. In fact, let me show you a picture of my family before we jump into this.
This is my family right here. So this is a little deceiving because they've grown since this picture, but right there in the middle, you have my son, Heisman, my son, Heisman. He's 13 years old and he's 6'4. Please pray for me, all right?
So there's never any food in my house anymore, all right? But that's my son, Heisman, this little guy down here. That's Roman, he's seven, so I have a 13, seven year old. That's a little Roman champion.
And then the guy that I'm holding his name is Kingman. And so he's two years old and those are our three boys. And then I saved the best for last. That's my wife, Jill.
We've been married almost 20 years in 2026. Let's go, all right? So such a blessing there. They're praying for us this morning.
And I believe this. I believe that God wants 2026 to be the best year of your life. I believe that. If it, I'm not just saying that to be motivational.
I'm not just saying this, but I believe this wholeheartedly that 2026 will be the best year of your life if, if. 2026 will be the best year of your life if it's the best year of your life spiritually. I believe that God wants to move supernaturally in your heart and in your life this year in ways he never has before. And the more you experience God's love, the more you experience his kindness, the more you experience his supernatural power, the more you'll understand who you really are, the more you'll understand his purpose, the more you'll understand what he's called you to do and the more you'll experience real and true life.
And I believe that God wants to do that in your heart and in your life in 2026. How do you believe that? You're saying pastor can I believe in for God to do incredible things in 2026? I believe that wholeheartedly.
Now what I want us to do is I want us to look to God's word and we're gonna look to Revelation chapter six. And this morning I'm gonna share with you a message titled Faith on Airplane Mode. How many of you are thankful for technology? Come on, if we can be honest, all right?
And in fact, some is like I'm not thankful for it. Well, you keep getting on there and criticizing everybody. You're thankful for something. Come on, you use it for something.
But the reality is, it's like I am so thankful for technology because as much as it can be a distraction or as much as it can be utilized for evil, I also believe it can be utilized for good. And I'd say in many ways, it's actually transformed and changed the way we live. In fact, when I think about the gospel going around the world, you know what technology is actually making that possible for us to do that very thing. But one of the things with technology though, is that technology can actually become a distraction.
In fact, not only can it become a distraction, but it can become a serious problem. And one of the things I appreciate is that on my iPhone that I have here, one of the things that they have is they have something called airplane mode. Now what's fascinating with airplane mode is that airplane mode doesn't actually turn my phone off. In fact, when you think about it, if I need to focus or even when I flew here, they say, hey, will you please turn it on airplane mode?
And the thing is that even though I have it on airplane mode, it is, I'm turning off the service, but the phone is still on. The problem is is that when I turn it on airplane mode, I'm disconnected. In fact, I can use the apps. I can look at my photos.
I can kind of scroll through different apps and still utilize them. But the thing is, is that when it comes to phone calls, when it comes to text, when it comes to updates, I'm just not connected to them. In other words, the phone is on, but it's disconnected. And I think that many times and many people, when it comes to their relationship with God, is that in many ways, they have faith on airplane mode.
I believe one of the disasters that a choice that you can make in 2026 is that if you choose to have a faith on airplane mode, in fact, it would be one of these things where you would look like a Christian, you could say you attend church, you could even listen to worship music, you could occasionally crack open the crack open God's word, you could even say you're spiritual, but really you're disconnected. It'd be this thing where you have no prayer life, there's no word intake. When you think about building community, having a real relationship with God, having a spiritual sensitivity, honestly, even being transformed, that you're alive, but you're completely disconnected from God himself. You're on, but you're disconnected.
And I believe when we come to Revelation chapter three, what we will find is you will find that there's a church that was on, but completely and totally disconnected from the heart of God. And so I want us to see this in Revelation chapter three, Revelation chapter three beginning in verse 14. If you found it, let me just say amen. All right, here's what God's word says.
Write this letter to the angel of the church in Laodicea. This is the message from the one who is the amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God's new creation. I know all the things you do that you are neither hot or cold, I wish that you were one or the other, but since you are lukewarm water, neither hot or cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. You say, I am rich, I have everything I want, I don't need a thing, and you don't realize that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked.
So I advise you to buy gold for me, gold that has been purified by fire, then you'll be rich, also by white garments from me, so you will not be ashamed by your nakedness and ointment for your eyes, so you'll be able to see. I correct and discipline everyone I love, so be diligent and turn from your indifference. Look, I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in and you will share a meal together as friends, those who are victorious will sit with me on my throne, just as I was victorious and sat with my father on his throne.
Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches. This is the word of the Lord, amen? You know, I'm reminded of a man who one day he went to visit his friend, and as he's going to visit his friend, he passed his friend's farm, and on his farmland, as he's driving, he noticed something on his friend's barn, so he actually drives past it, he gets on the side of the road, backs up, and he looks at the barn, and what he found is that someone had been using the barn for target practice. Now, what he does is he counts the targets.
So he ends up counting 20 targets, 20 bull's-eye, bull's-eyes, and a whole in each bull's-eye. So he's like, whoever's been doing the shooting, it's perfection in shooting. So he's taken back by this, so he actually drives up his friends, drive away, and he goes to the front door, and he knocks on his friend's door, and his friend John comes to the door, and he answers it, and he's like, John, I just saw something I've never seen before. And he's like, what, he says, I was passing your barn, and I saw that someone was using it for target practice.
I saw 20 targets, 20 bull's-eyes, and a whole in each bull's-eye, perfection is shooting. Who was doing the shooting? And John says, well, it was me. And he says, well, where did you learn to shoot that way?
He says, oh, it's easy. He says, I shoot first, then I draw a target and a bull's-eye around each and every whole. He says, it's perfection is shooting every single time, every single time. You know, when we come to this passive scripture, I think we're gonna have a temptation to feel like we're always on target.
You see, this was the issue with the church at Leo de Sia. It was a church that they said they're on target, they thought they were on target, but they completely missed the mark. And so what Jesus Christ wants to do is Jesus Christ wants to open their eyes to who he is, and the love, and the care, and concern that he has for them. You know, usually when you come to the book of Revelation and you see these seven churches that Jesus actually addresses and speaks to, usually what we focus on is we focus more on the people that Jesus Christ has written a letter to.
Now, we wanna understand that is important, the people that Jesus addresses, but what's more important is who the letter is from. And so Jesus Christ says he's writing to the church through the Apostle John as he's writing to them. He's wanting them to understand who he is that their eyes may be open, that they would turn to him and experience true life. Now, in order for us to understand what Jesus Christ was saying to the church, you have to have a little bit of a context of who the Laodiceans were.
Because just as a reminder, this is a letter to the church and Laodicea. Now, Laodicea was a city that was very prosperous. In fact, you would go there if you wanted to prosper. They were known for their gold.
They were known for their banking. They were known for their business. It was a very wealthy city, but that's not all they were known for. Laodicea was also known as a city that you would go to if you needed an ISAB.
In fact, if you had issues with your eyes and you couldn't see, you'd actually go to their hospital where they practiced the medicine and they actually created an ISAB that you would put on and in time, you actually would get better. You'd become well. And so it became known for the practicing medicine especially for their ISAB. But that's not all they were known for.
They're also known for a special wool that they would create there. So if you were a designer or if you're making clothes or you needed some sort of textile wool, you would actually go there and they actually would produce a black wool that they became very popular for. So this is a city that's very well known. It's a prosperous city, a place that if you had medical needs, you could go there.
If you had just living needs, you could go there. You would prosper. And that's what it's known for. And with that background, we jump into Revelation chapter three as Jesus Christ addresses the church.
Now as a reminder, the most important thing is not so much who the letter is written to as much as who it's written from. And so Jesus Christ wastes no time in addressing the church and introducing once again, reminding them of who he is. And this is what he says beginning in verse 14. And I love it.
He says this, I am the Amen, the faithful and true witness. Now you and I have heard the word Amen before because when we pray, it means let it be. But it also actually means valid and binding. So when we pray, it's amazing.
We're saying God, let this be valid, let this be binding. But Jesus Christ shows up and he says, I am the Amen. And in other words, what he's saying is that what I have to say, it's valid and it's binding. But not just that, because he says I am the Amen, the faithful and true witness.
When he says he's faithful, what he's referring to is that he's trustworthy. In other words, what he has to say, it's valid, it's binding, it's trustworthy and notice he's the true witness. In other words, we live in a day where people would say, well, that's not my reality. Well, what Jesus is saying, I am the true witness, this is reality.
He's saying, so what I have to say, it's real, it's valid, it's binding and I've been here the whole entire time. In fact, what's fascinating is when Jesus says, I am the Amen, the faithful and true witness. And then he continues the beginning of God's creation. In other words, I have been here the whole entire time.
In other words, Jesus Christ, when he refers to himself, he's saying, I am. And that's so fascinating because I am the one who has affirmed all the promises and covenants of God. He's saying, I am the one who speaks truth and only truth. He's saying, I am the beginning of God's creation, the uncreative source of creation.
And it's with that as he once again reminds him of who he is, he drops this bomb in verse 15 when he says this, and I know all the things that you do. See, Jesus when he says this, is saying, I see you through and through. There's nothing hidden from him. And I think this is really important for, just as a reminder for every single one of us that God sees everything that we do.
There's nothing hidden from him. In fact, it's really easy in our day to deceive people. It's easy for you to come here and look the part and act the part and have the conversations. But the reality is, is that God can see through all of that.
You see, you may be able to keep a secret from me or keep a secret from your spouse or from a coworker, from your employee, your employees. You may be able to do that, but the reality is that God sees through all of that. In fact, this is important because Jesus Christ is once again reminding them that you're cover up, I can see through that. I can see all that you do as a reminder scripture says this.
First, Samuel 16, the Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart. In other words, God sees through all of our facades and he sees who we really are. I mean, in this moment what God is saying, what Jesus is saying, he's saying, I see you, I see everything that you do.
I see everything you do, I see everything you decide not to do. In fact, as a reminder, the psalmist says this in Psalm 90, he says, you have set our iniquities before you, our secret sins in light of your presence. The psalmist says in Psalm 139, he says, even the darkness will not be dark to you. The night will shine like the day for darkness is as light to you.
What we feel like is hidden is in broad daylight to the Lord. Nothing is hidden from him. And so Jesus Christ in this moment, as he speaks to the church, he says, I know all the things that you do, but he continues and he says this, he says that you are neither hot nor cold. I wish you were one or the other, but since you are lukewarm water, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth.
Now it's fascinating, Jesus knows exactly what he's doing. He knows exactly what he's saying because he understood and knew the people would understand the context and would say live. In fact, in order to understand this, you have to understand that a north of Laodice City was a city called Hieropolis. And Hieropolis was known for its hot spring.
So you would go there if you want to have a spa day, you would have a great time in Hieropolis. But then west of Laodice City was a city called Colossae. And Colossae was known for its cold, mountain-refreshing springs. Now Laodice City had the city had a problem and actually had an issue when it came to water.
So what they decided to do is they built a water aqueduct from Hieropolis and from Colossae, and they joined them together. So the water would flow from those two cities all the way into Laodicea. Now the problem is is that when you had that water flowing into Laodicea, it would actually sit. So you had the hot springs and the cold water coming together and sitting in Laodicea and the water would be lukewarm.
And so Jesus Christ, when he speaks to the people of Laodicea, they would understand what Jesus Christ means when he talks about having lukewarm water. You would travel to Laodicea, you would go to get a drink and you want cold, refreshing water, you've been on a journey and you go to take a drink and it's lukewarm and you would spit it out of your mouth. And so this is the illustration, this is the image that God gives the church to help them see and understand what he's saying. Now I want us to notice this morning the terms that Jesus Christ used.
He says, I wish that you were hot or I wish that you were cold, but because you're lukewarm, I will spit you out of my mouth. What does Jesus mean by that? Well when Jesus says I wish you were hot, what this means is that you have a real personal relationship with Jesus. You know, I have found that there are many people because of the nation in which we live and the principles by which our nation were built upon, that many people have been to a church, many people have heard the gospel, many people have even walked down an aisle or filled out a car, but what I find fascinating is there are many people that have done those things, but their hearts have truly never been transformed and changed by Jesus Christ.
You see, when you have a relationship with Jesus, there is no question whether or not you have a relationship with him. When you have a relationship with Jesus, you know him personally and you know he knows you. In fact, Paul puts it this way that his spirit testifies with my spirit that I'm a child of God. You know that you know that you know, you have a relationship with Jesus.
That's why when he says I wish that you were hot, which means that you have a real personal relationship with him, it means you have an affection for him. It means you have a passion for him. It means that you live to glorify and to honor him. It means that you look to his word and you come together in obedience to his word and we come together and we worship him and we lift him up.
We live to glorify and to honor him. We want to raise our children and our families to live and to glorify and honor him. Why? Because we know him, because of his love in our lives and because we are his sons and we're his daughters.
This is what it means to be hot. But then he also says cold and the cold is opposite of that. Cold literally means you don't know him. He said, I would rather you know me and has to have a real relationship or you don't know me at all.
But he says, because you're lukewarm, I spit you out of my mouth. Now it's crazy about being lukewarm is kind of how we would describe that. You see being lukewarm means that you could say you're a Christian. It means that you could even come into a sanctuary much like this.
It means that you would have a Bible. It means that you would even be open to hearing a message about Jesus. But really when it comes to your life, you're actually are bearing no fruit as someone who's actually been changed by the grace of Jesus Christ. It's someone who's living in lukewarm.
It's not necessarily, it's not that they're just, this isn't like a personality thing where I'm just not as passionate as you. No, the reality is, is that when someone is lukewarm, they have a form of godliness, but they actually deny the very power that transforms and changes them. Someone who is lukewarm is someone who is indifferent to the things of God. You see, we think that the opposite of love is hate, but that's not the case.
The opposite of love is indifference. Indifference is kind of like this, whatever attitude. It's kind of like it matters, but it doesn't matter. It matters when it needs some matter and it doesn't matter when I don't want it to matter.
That's literally what it means to be lukewarm, that you're indifferent to God himself. You're indifferent to the things of God. You're indifferent to whether or not you need to be at church today. You're indifferent to whether or not you need to be in God's presence or a stream your show.
Like it's just this indifference. You treat the things of God casually as if it's just some sort of option among the many options in this life as if he's not your life, the one that's given you life, the one that you bring glory and honor to. You see, Jesus Christ saw this in the church and he said this, I would rather you be passionate for me or not know me at all, and he said, I'm not going to be a part of me. Now, this shouldn't be a surprise to us because when we hear this, it can come across being very harsh, but that's not the case at all.
In fact, Jesus Christ alluded to this in the gospels. You remember Matthew chapter seven. He says that people in the last days, they will say that they knew him and he'll say, they'll say, Lord, Lord, did we not do this in your name? And did we not do that in your name?
And he'll say, depart for me for I never knew you. We did not have a real relationship. In fact, Paul writes to Timothy and he's as he's helping Timothy pastor and he's helping Timothy continue to follow Jesus Christ. He says there's a group of people that you should have no part with.
And he says, the group of people are those who have a form of godliness, but they deny the power of God's grace to transform and change them. They're indifferent to the things of God. They love, they say they love God, but really they're lovers of pleasure. They're disobedient, they're unkind, they do things their own way, and then they just attach God to it.
And he says, this is literally what it means to be indifferent or really to be lukewarm. And what's fascinating about this is that Jesus Christ said this is a serious issue for the church. And I find that even for us today, that this is possible in our lives as well. Now, when it comes to living a lukewarm lifestyle, the reality is, is this isn't like a radical shift.
This is something that gradually happens over time. In fact, many times it goes even a notice. For some of us, we could be here and we could be lukewarm, maybe because we become preoccupied with other things. Maybe there are things in your life.
They're not evil, but at the same time, they become a distraction. They become something that God never intended for your life. In fact, I would say this, that many of the issues that we deal with today is idolatry. And idol is everything we put our strength into, and it's everything we pull our strength from.
In fact, I honestly can say this, that this little device can become an idol in your life. This little thing gets your attention, it can get your affections. In fact, for most of us, when we wake up in the morning, we grab this thing, we open up this thing, and we wanna know what's happening in the world, or people we know, or people we don't know. And literally, it grabs our attention, it grabs our affection.
It takes everything. We get strength from it, we think about it constantly. Have you ever, have you ever, you may not even have your phone with you, and you feel like it's like buzzing in the back of your pocket. You have like a phantom ring is what they call it?
You're like, wait, wait, wait, wait, I don't have my phone. I just thought my phone was going off in my pocket. They actually say those are what we refer to as phantom rings, which means that we become so accustomed to having our phone, looking at our phone, responding to our phone, that honestly, our brain is triggered from time to time to answer something that's not even there. You see, the reality is, is that we can become preoccupied with other things, maybe good things.
You become preoccupied with your work schedule, you become preoccupied with your studies, you become preoccupied with streaming. Listen, streaming in itself is not evil, but here's the problem, is that in every relationship, if we start looking to other things, instead of focusing on that relationship, that other thing becomes something God never intended. And it's no different in our relationship with the Lord. For some of us, we become overly concerned.
As Jesus says, don't become so overly concerned with the worries of life. For others, it has to do with relationships. It's possible for you become so amiss with your spouse that your spouse becomes more important than Jesus Christ himself. You'd say, I don't see how that's possible, it is possible.
Because for some of us, we're more likely to do it. Our spouse wants us to do instead of what Jesus is calling us to do. You could hear the voice of God literally this morning. He could be speaking to your heart.
And you're more concerned about what your spouse thinks than you do about what your savior thinks. It is possible. It's possible for your children to become more important than Jesus Christ himself. This is a reality for every single one of us.
And that's why we can become preoccupied and gradually even unnoticed in time, it can cause us to become lukewarm. In fact, material possessions. When you think about us just coming out of Christmas, man, there's something that I want for Christmas. I haven't gotten it yet.
I don't even know necessarily why I want it. I just want one really bad and it's called as sauna. I don't know. I've looked at saunas.
I've sent them to my wife. What do you think about this? I've looked at Wayfair. I've looked at Amazon.
I've tried to find Facebook marketplace. And I keep wanting to do it. I can't pull the trigger. I can't afford a sauna.
But I want one really bad. And the reality is I think about it. I go looking for it. And the thing is that in our lives, unnoticed and gradually, that stuff has a way of just getting in us and having, getting a hold of us to where honestly, we care more about our possessions.
Some of us, we care more and listen. This is not like a shame party. This is just a reality that we care more about things than we do about our affection and our heart for the Lord. For some of us, we care more about our excuses than we do about being obedient to the Lord.
You have every reason why you can't do whatever God is speaking and telling you to do. You say, my health doesn't allow it. My job doesn't allow it. Time doesn't allow it.
But then you have time to do your other stuff. You have time for it. The reality is that our excuses can even get in the way of our obedience and experiencing the life that God has created us to experience as we walk with Him. This is one of the reasons why many of us, we stop growing.
We stop growing because we stop being obedient to the little voice of the Holy Spirit speaking to our hearts. And we started doing our own thing. And the reality is for some of us, the reason why, just blatantly put it out there is because of sin. Because you're a walking in sin, you know you're walking in sin, you know you're dishonoring the Lord, and you still have chosen to give into those things instead of turning to the Lord to experience freedom and healing.
Scripture says this, that you will reap what you sow. In fact, here's how Paul puts it in Galatians 6, those who live only to satisfy their own sinful nature will harvest decay and death from this sinful nature. But those who live to please the Spirit will harvest everlasting life from the Spirit. So let's not get tired of doing what is good at just the right time.
We will reap a harvest of blessing if we don't give up. For some of us, it's not because we become preoccupied with other things, it's honestly because our hearts are growing lukewarm because of the process of time. God has become familiar to us. In fact, when you look at this, you may say, I've grown up in this, I've heard everything there is to hear.
And if that's you, I feel sorry for you because you're missing out on the richness of God. Like if you say, well, I've heard this preached before. You're still missing out. You're missing out because honestly, when it comes to God in his word, don't allow his word and for him to become familiar to you.
For some of us, we've lost the wonder. Do you remember who you were before you gave your life to Christ? Do you remember your brokenness? Do you remember how some of you were dirt poor?
I remember what it was like before coming to know Jesus. I remember what it was like living in poverty with my mom. And now I can speak of the richness of God, the blessings of God in my life. I know what that life was like.
I know what it was like to be broken and lost in addiction. I remember that life. I don't want to go back to that life. But the moment we stop forgetting those things, God becomes familiar to us.
And we lose the wonder of who he is, the mystery of God, who he really is and how he wants to do supernaturally in your life. If we're not careful, you can be caught up in the Marvel movies. You can be caught up in Hollywood and what they can create and how they can digitally do this and that. And be caught up and say, oh, that's amazing.
But completely miss out on God, very God, who wants to work supernaturally in your life. For some of us, God has become familiar. So you feel like serving him has actually become some sort of of duty where it's like it's not something you enjoy. It's something that you're like, well, I better do it.
Because if I don't, whatever. The reality is, is that serving the Lord is honestly a blessing and a privilege in this life. It's an honor to be a part of who God and what he's doing. Now listen, for some of us, you're like, well, what you're saying is you want to use me.
No, I'm not saying any of that. What I am saying is, is that when we lose sight of who God is, we lose sight of why we're even here. We lose sight of his affection and his care and his concern for our lives. And for some of us, God has become familiar.
You no longer since the need to seek the Lord. We no longer seek that anymore. Like if there's anything our nation needs is we need God. We need his presence.
We need to come to a place once again where we repent and we turn to him and we ask him to do what only he can do in our nation. We ask him to do what only he can do in Minnesota. Where we're literally playing God as it is in heaven, may it be in Minnesota, as it is in heaven, may it be in cold springs, as it is in heaven, may it be in Richmond, as it is in heaven, may it be in Saint Cloud, like as it is in heaven, where we see the need for that. But what happens when we lose that?
When we lose that, we become what Jesus refers to as, lukewarm. He becomes familiar to us. But for some of us, it's not because we become preoccupied. It's not because he's become familiar.
For some of us, it's literally because of our perspective on life. Listen, life has a way of giving us calluses. For some of you who are like the insurance commercial, you know a thing or two because you've seen a thing or two. It's just your life.
But the reality is that because of the suffering that we experience in this life for some of us, it actually skews our perspective on who God is and what God can do in our lives. For some of us, because a circumstance or situation didn't work out the way we thought it should, guess what happened? We lost sight of who God is. We stopped saying that God is sovereign.
We stopped saying that God's in control. We stopped saying that God cares. And we started making the problem bigger than God himself. And as a result, it's cost us to wane in our desire and our passion.
And for some of us, we've even grown lukewarm as a result of it. You used to believe God for miracles. And for whatever reason, life just happened. And you stopped.
You stopped hearing this still small voice. You stopped seeing him do what you saw him do before. You see the reality is that this is possible for every single one of us. And the church in Laodicea had a serious problem because here's what they were saying.
Jesus says, you say I am rich. I'm rich. He says, you say I am rich and I become wealthy and I have need for nothing. You see, they were blind to their spiritual condition.
They thought they were hitting the target. They're so off. They're so off. You see, when Jesus Christ looked at him, he doesn't look at them with anger.
He looked at them with care and concern. His heart is broken for his church. And this is why he says this. You say I'm rich.
I have everything I want. I don't need a thing. And he says, but you don't realize that you are wretched and you're miserable and you're poor and you're blind and you're naked. That word wretched means that you become calloused.
In other words, you have no sensitivity to him. That you become hard of hard. You stop responding to his spirit. Come callist.
You're wretched. He also says you're miserable. Here's why he says you're miserable because honestly, you become spiritually bored. He's boring to you.
His word is boring. You believe in him from words. I could do that, but there's just better stuff to do. He says you're poor.
What he's saying to the church is that you're spiritually deficient. But what I love about this is that the thing with God's love is that God loves and accepts us just the way we are. He receives us just where we are. But his love transforms and changes us and he doesn't leave us that way.
There's nothing that you could do to cause God to love you more than there's nothing you've done to cause God to love you unless he loves you. And this is why, as he says, you say I'm rich, but he says you're wretched, you're beautiful, you're poor, you're blind and you're naked. But then he says this in verse 19, he says, I correct and discipline everyone I love. So be diligent and turn from your indifference.
In other words, this is hard stuff when you just read it, but there's more to this passage. Because you start to sense the heart of God for his people and he says this, I correct and discipline everyone I love. So be diligent and turn from your indifference. As a parent, I've said this to my kids.
This is gonna hurt me more than it hurts you. And every kid says, yeah, right. I was there, absolutely not. But the writer of Hebrews says this, no discipline is enjoyable when it is happening, it's painful.
Amen, come on somebody, that is true. But then it continues and says no discipline is enjoyable why it is happening. No excuse me, it says, but afterward there'll be a peaceful harvest of right living for those who are trained in this way. So here's what Jesus does.
Jesus says, you say I'm rich, I have everything I need and have need of nothing and you don't realize that you're wretched, you're pitiful, you're poor, you're blind and you're naked. So then he kind of flips the script on him and says, so here's the thing. So since you're so rich, since you prospering so much, he makes it very simple. I counsel you to buy from me, since you have all this wealth, I counsel you to buy from me and it's this beautiful picture.
He says this, I'd buy you to buy from me, gold that has been purified by fire. In other words, what he's making reference to, he's making reference to a faith that endures, a faith that is real. Since you have so much wealth, then why don't you buy from me something that is lasting, something that is real and that's a true faith in me, a faith that will endure no matter the circumstances, no matter the situations, it's a real lasting faith. Peter puts it this way of faith that is greater worth than gold.
Since banking was such a big deal and Leo to see it, since they had so much gold, so much wealth, he's saying, why don't you buy that for me? But then he also says this, he says, why don't you buy from me white garments? Well, why would he say that? Well, remember, Leo to see it is known for their black garments, this black wool.
And he comes and he says, I counsel you to buy from me my white garments, why? Because they're naked so that you can be clothed. He says, you're naked, it's shameful. But come to me and I'll give you righteousness.
I'll give you right standing and I'll cover your shameful nakedness. Then he also says, I counsel and advise you to buy from me ointment for your eyes. Remember, Leo to see it is known for their eyes have. And Jesus says, you need to buy my eyes have so that you can truly see your spiritual condition.
And then this is when he tops it off. And it's brilliant and it's beautiful. He says this, here I am. I stand at the door and I knock.
If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him and he with me. See Jesus Christ this whole time as he's speaking to his church he wants their eyes to be open to their true spiritual condition so they can turn to him. They can experience the love of the Father. That's why when he says, here I am, I stand at the door and knock.
He says that when the door is open that he will eat with you. Why would he say that? Well, during this time when you would share a meal with someone, it was one of the most intimate things that you could do. He's saying, listen, if you will open the door, we will come in and I'll spend time with you and you'll be with me as if this is what it's been about the whole entire time.
You having a real relationship with him. And for many of us this morning, God is standing at the door of your heart and he's knocking. You know I'm reminded of a picture and it was someone who painted a picture of Jesus standing at a door and he was knocking and he was at an exhibit and someone came up and miring his work and they said, I love your paintings, they're so beautiful. And I noticed this painting about Jesus, I feel like you may have made a mistake.
And the artist said, well, what do you mean? He says, well, I notice that Jesus at the door, he's knocking, it's so beautiful, but I noticed there's no actually door handle on the door for Jesus to open. He said, oh, that's no mistake. The door can only be opened from the inside.
And in the same way this morning, God stands at the door of your heart. And he says, if you will open the door of your heart, I will come in and I'll be with you. I'll transform and change your life. Listen, when you have a real relationship with Jesus, when you surrender your life to Jesus, you want to live for Jesus.
There's no question whether or not you know him or you're walking with him. Because you've been transformed, scripture says, that when you surrender your life to Jesus, the old is gone and the new comes. It means that when I give my life to Jesus, say, Jesus, forgive me in my sins, I want to serve you all the days of my life. You're my Lord, you're my Savior.
My life is all about you. God's Spirit comes down and takes residence inside of you. And he gives you a new heart, he gives you a new desires. He gives you a new perspective and outlook on life.
Everything changes. It's from that moment that you begin to follow Jesus and you walk in relationship with him. As Paul says, his Spirit testifies with my Spirit that I am a child of God. You know that you know that you know.
You have relationship with Jesus. And this morning for many of us, it's not about us coming to the place where we come into a relationship with Jesus for the first time or return. But it's about we've been walking with Jesus, but there's something that's been happening to our hearts. It's when we used to be, as referred to as on fire for God, passionate for God, affectionate for God, affectionate for his word and his church and serving him, something's happened and we've become lukewarm.
But the beautiful thing is, is that God in his mercy and his grace and his love has opened your eyes to your true spiritual condition and he stands at the door and he knocks. You see, usually when you read this passage of scripture, we say that verse of scripture are for people that don't know Jesus, but in the context of scripture, Jesus is talking to his church, his people. And Jesus is standing at the door of your heart and he's saying, will you open it so that we can meet together that once again, I can renew your heart, I can renew your spirit, I can open your eyes to who I am and what I'm doing. In 2026, God wants you to hear his voice once again.
He wants your strength to be renewed. He wants hope to be given to you just once again. He sees you, he loves you and he cares. Here's I want us to do this morning, I want us to stand.
Right now you can send Scott's presence, it's here with us, he's right here with us. And from the end of this in the room, he's speaking to you, speaking to you, he's there and he's knocking. The question is whether or not you're gonna open your heart to him. Now, when Jesus says I stand at the door and I knock, one of the things that's really important is that, what we wanna do when the Holy Spirit is whispering and he's speaking to us, we wanna do something that scripture refers to us, that's given many times a negative connotation, but it's actually a very positive thing and it's called the word repent.
Repent that I mean is turning to the Lord. Means change of mind, but also it's a turning that's happening. You've been going your own way, God speaks to you and he's saying turn to me, that's literally repenting. You're turning to him.
And this morning for many of us, God is speaking to you. Back to someone she wants you to bow your head just for a moment as we're in God's presence. This morning, if you would say, you know what Pastor Kindle, God is knocking on the door of my heart, he is speaking to me. If that's you, if it's just finding knowledge but I want you to raise your hand, then that's me, Pastor Kindle.
It's the answer going up all over the room. Nobody's here alone, names are going up all over. You can portray it now. I just ask you to do that as an acknowledgement that God is working in your life.
But here's what we wanna do this morning, is we wanna give you an opportunity just to respond in many ways to spend some time with the Lord. So what I want us to do is up front here, we have this space that's wide open, you also have the aisle. What I'm gonna ask you to do is that if you raised your hands and you said, God is speaking to me. What I want us to do is I want us to find a place, we're not gonna do this long, but we're gonna find a place in this room and we're gonna talk to God about that very thing he's speaking to you about.
Now listen, I already can sense what's happening. For some of you, for some of you, I just sense this so hard. For some of us, the thought of you responding can be intimidating, but listen, I'm not here to know what you're responding about, we just wanna be obedient. Many times what you do in the physical affects what happens in the spiritual.
So what I want us to do is I want us to acknowledge that God is doing something and I want us to move from where we are to another spot to meet with the Lord. In other words, listen, if you were gonna take care of this at home, you would have already done it, but God is moving out. He's speaking to you now. There's a conversation that you need to have.
There's a turning of the heart that needs to take place. And we just wanna create a holy and safe place for God to do that very thing in your heart and in your life. So here's what's gonna do, I'm gonna pray. And after I pray, I'm gonna call and I'm gonna ask you to move around the room to some place, and then we're gonna spend some moments in prayer.
That's all we're gonna do, and then I'll come right back and then we'll be able to be dismissed and go eat lunch. Amen? Amen? So Father, right now in Jesus name, we love you, we thank you for how you're moving in the hearts and the lives of your people.
Now help us Father to respond to the leading of your spirit. Help us to honor you in these next few moments and obedience to your word and what your spirit is saying. As you say in your word, he who has an ear to hear, let him hear what the spirit is saying to the church. We thank you Father in Jesus name.
So here's what I ask you to do, if you raise your hand, I want you to step out, I want you to come. You can step out in the eye. We're just gonna spend just a few moments in God's presence as we seek him.