AWKN

[00:00:00] Amen. [00:00:01] Amen. Amen. [00:00:03] Hey, church, before you take a seat, say hi to three or five people right now. Say hi to three or five people right now. Say hi to a couple people around you. Give them a high five. If you've never seen them, say hello to them. [00:00:15] Say hello to them. [00:00:17] There we go. [00:00:21] Hey, how you doing, sir? [00:00:25] Yeah, I like that. [00:00:27] All right, head back to your seat. Shut up. Head back to your seats. [00:00:32] Man, oh, man, oh, man. [00:00:35] Well, good evening, everyone. Welcome to Awaken 2025. [00:00:44] I get the awesome privilege of opening up Awaken tonight. My name is Javon. No, not Kevin Hart, so stop it. My name is Javon and I get to serve here on staff at the church. And I'm sorry. So excited to preach and to deliver this hope encouraging message for each and every one of you guys. The goal of today is not to be religiously entertained, but to meet Jesus Christ. [00:01:07] Right? Our goal isn't, hey, how much can someone pump me up? But how much can Christ remind me how good he is? [00:01:15] And so if that's your expectation, Jesus is gonna meet that, right? Jesus is there. And so let's take the time. [00:01:22] We just got out of worship, just got done listening to so what God wants us to be reminded of. And now let's go to him one more time in prayer. [00:01:33] Let's let those words that were sung enter into our hearts so we can be able to receive what he wants us to know through this message. Okay? So every head bowed, every eye closed. [00:01:50] Dear Jesus, we are here because you yourself say you are the source of what is true. [00:02:00] And, Father, a lot of us need that truth because our lives have been dominated by so much lies. [00:02:09] Lord Jesus, you remind us that you are the way. [00:02:13] And Father, I pray that through your spirit, you would remind us that your ways, your son's ways, Christ's ways, are better than our own ways. [00:02:25] Jesus, you said it yourself. You are the life. [00:02:30] Lord, help us to be reminded that there is no life apart from you. [00:02:34] There is no reasoning apart from you. [00:02:38] For many of us today, Lord, there are so much needs. [00:02:42] And, Lord, I can only speak to a few, if not maybe some. [00:02:48] But you're the God who can meet every need. [00:02:51] You're the God who can meet the need of the one today. That is man. They just need a little bit more encouragement and energy when it comes to their faith and living it out and being taught what to do and how to do that for a lot of us. There are some people in this room today that are a little bit skeptical of what this all means and what this all is about. But we know that you can speak to both of them. So use me. Today. [00:03:16] I pray that people don't hear a preacher, but they hear great is the Lord who is worthy to be praised. [00:03:28] Bless us and guide us. It's in your son's perfect name is who we pray. Amen and amen and amen. Hey, let's give it up for the. For that worship team one more time. [00:03:39] Give it up, man. It was. [00:03:43] I was gonna accept Jesus again, the way they was worshiping my Lord. Gosh. Well, good evening. One more time, guys. My name is Javon. As I said before, get the awesome privilege serving on staff. I'm over at our old Brooklyn campus. And so. Yeah, yeah, yeah, get some love. Get some love over at our old Brooklyn campus. And I'm excited once again to talk to you guys today. The topic. If you're taking down notes, remember, when you take down notes, Jesus really likes you, okay? So take down notes. Just joking. Relax. A little preacher humor for you. [00:04:16] The idea of today, what we want to explain and talk to each and every one of you guys about is this idea of bold faith. [00:04:25] Bold faith. Right now, I feel like this topic that was picked is so necessary, especially in our day and age, especially when it comes to the culture that we live in. [00:04:38] To so many people claiming this to be true, that to be true for so many temptations that invade our hearts and our minds every single. [00:04:49] Every single day, it's kind of hard to live out what we would call a bold faith. So that's our idea. That's our framework for it tonight. When I think about bold faith and maybe why it's lacking in my own life, I think about a time where I went to a wedding a couple years ago with my wife. And we go to this wedding and, you know, we get to this place. Ceremony. I'm sorry, we get to the actual reception. Actually, we get to a reception and we find out where we're sitting, you know, for dinner. And so we get to the table, and of course, we happen to be at the table where we are the only people that doesn't know anybody at the table. It's just my wife and I and everybody around the table. They knew each other. They known each other since childhood. They're there talking about F150 and six cylinders. I looked at my wife, said, what's a six cylinder? Like, is that like, from Dairy Queen? What is this? Like, what are we doing here? So, you know, I remember they just kept talking and it just got awkward for us. We weren't saying anything. [00:05:51] I'm an extrovert at heart, so I'm like feeling like an introvert, not involved in whatnot. So I go on Google, I type in what is a six cylinder. [00:06:02] I'm like trying to realize what's an F150 and all this other stuff. And then I find myself trying to, you know, energize, rejecting to the conversation. I'm like, yeah, you know that four cylinder though, that 2021, you know, that's a, that's a good one. And the guy looked at me and said, what, what are you talking about? Like, you know, what, what do you, what are you saying? I'm like, yeah, you know, the, the four cylinder, the one, the blue one that came out in 2021, brother, you know, started talking like them and they were like, bro, you don't know what you're talking about. And I said, no, I don't. [00:06:36] Right? [00:06:37] It was pretty evident, it was pretty clear that they caught that. You know, I was just saying stuff just to fit in, right? I was just saying stuff just to be recognized. I was saying stuff because I didn't want to feel like a loner in the moment. [00:06:54] You know, when I think about this idea of bold faith and why it's so non existent sometimes in my life, the reason why I have a hard time living out bold faith is because I'm so busy trying to please other people. [00:07:06] Does that resonate with some of you today? [00:07:09] The reason why bold faith, as great as it sounds and as great as it is, it's absent because I try to seek to please other people. You walk with Jesus long enough, sure you love Jesus, but you also find yourself looking to please other people. [00:07:30] And sometimes I find my own self living for the likes of others rather than living for the Lord. [00:07:39] Rather than living for the Lord. And I can totally understand if that's your struggle today as well. You love God and you want to follow God wholeheartedly, but there's a lot of things that are kind of pulling you in a direction and you're finding this conviction. But then you find yourself giving in and you find yourself always going backwards when you know you should be going forward and all this other stuff. And we can go on and on and on. [00:08:05] But here's what I want to explain to you today. [00:08:08] I want to give you a reminder of what bold faith looks like. And bold faith, friends, bold faith is you and I prioritizing God's favor over others opinions. [00:08:23] That's what Bold faith is it's learning to be dominated, as Sarah talked about earlier, by one voice and one voice only. It's learning to live under one voice. It's learning to live under one truth. It is learning to be positioned under that day after day that leads to our ultimate good. Doesn't always feel good, but it does lead to our ultimate good. And this is this idea of bold faith choosing to prioritize God's favor over other people's opinions. Because a lot of us, if we're not careful, we can live dominated by others viewpoint of us, Right? We can live dominated. And guess what, friends? If that's you today, you're in great company. [00:09:13] Because there's this guy by the name of the Apostle Paul who speaks to that very reality 2,000 years ago. [00:09:21] And it's meant to be spoken for us today as well. If you got your Bibles with you today, go to Galatians, Chapter one. Galatians, Chapter one. If you don't have your Bibles with you, shame on you. No, but if you don't have your Bibles, it'll be on the screen. Galatians, Chapter one. I'm just gonna read one verse, y'. All. One verse. I just got one verse. Got 20 minutes left, and I'm gonna break it down for you, and we're gonna get back to worship. Sounds good. I got one verse. All right. This is the words of the Apostle Paul. These words, I believe, that are going to help shape and reframe what it looks like to live a life full of bold faith. Look at what the Apostle Paul says. Galatians, chapter 1, verse 10. Paul says this. Am I now seeking to the approval of men or of God? [00:10:09] Or am I still. Or am I striving to please men? [00:10:13] If I still were trying to please people, then I would not be a servant of Christ. Let's read that one more time. Am I now seeking the approval of men or of God? Or am I striving to please men? If I was still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ. Just keep that up there for them. Obviously, the way you do Bible study is you try to pull out what they call the thesis. What's the theme? What's the idea behind the Apostle Paul's writing or any other writer within a particular verse? And obviously, right off the bat, you can kind of see you don't even have to be reading the Bible for years to see what Paul is talking about. Paul jumps out the gate and says, hey, there's a danger when it comes to this game called people pleasing. [00:11:04] Because that's Paul's main idea, the danger of people pleasing. And I believe a lot of us fall into that game quite a bit. And I believe the reason why we fall into it is because people pleasing truly, it's a sign of what we would call insecurity. [00:11:23] It's a sign of insecurity. And most of that insecurity is due to a misinformed understanding of one's identity. [00:11:32] See, when you don't know who you are, you'd just be prone to do whatever and for whoever as well, right? That's this whole idea of people pleasing. And Paul, I'm gonna give the context in just a little bit why he's saying what he's saying. I'm gonna break down a little bit kind of this idea of people pleasing. It didn't get to the context, but Paul, Paul speaks about the dangers of it. And what are the dangers of it? Well, the dangers are sometimes if we're not careful, we can elevate others opinion and make it the ultimate importance. [00:12:08] We can hold it in awe and then we can crave their approval. And why do we do that? Why do we crave others approval? [00:12:17] For fear of disapproval? [00:12:20] Cause there's one thing you and I were born with, there's one thing you and I have a desire for, it's acceptance, appreciation, to be seen, to be heard, to be celebrated. [00:12:33] And when we don't get it, we crave for it. We search it and we pursue it and we look for it more and more. [00:12:42] So Paul, he talks about the dangers of people pleasing. And I believe that that's one of the ways of how you and I will not live a life full abode. Faith, typically based off our lives are carried by here. If you want to understand people pleasing, it's just living in fear. [00:13:04] See, fear is not so much. Man, am I gonna be able to make enough. See, we always just attach that to just like other things that are outside. Sometimes we live in fear of what other people think, how other people feel. [00:13:22] For instance, we have this fear of rejection. [00:13:25] Don't we all? [00:13:27] We all have what we call a past. [00:13:30] Guilt, shame. [00:13:34] Some of those things are so embarrassing. You, you wouldn't dare get up here on stage and tell your business on this microphone. [00:13:41] The fear of rejection. [00:13:43] How about the fear of exposure? [00:13:47] Oh, you don't want to be seen as a fraud, right? [00:13:51] You don't want to be seen as a fraud. So what do you do? See, let me tell you what I do. Sometimes one Time, my wife and I, we went to Boston. So, you know, we're going to Boston. And, you know, I'm just, you know, my ignorant self. I tried to learn a Boston accent. And don't laugh. I haven't told the. You know, I haven't gotten that far. I just said Boston accent. Chill out. [00:14:11] So here I am. I'm. You know, we get to Boston, I'm like, hey, walking in the grocery store, can somebody come look at my car? You know, I'm over here. It's terrible. Don't laugh, okay? I know it's bad. So whatever, whatever. Shut up. [00:14:24] I'm like, yeah, park five. You know, I'm trying to, you know, talk like a Boston accent. And again, you know, the people at the register are like, I don't know if this guy's from around here. [00:14:34] We could definitely show that. You can definitely see it, right? Right. [00:14:39] In that moment or in many moments of our lives, we fear that if people saw the real us, how broken we are, how flawed we are, how inconsistent we are. [00:14:56] Sure, we do one thing on Sunday, but when it comes to Monday, it's a lot different. [00:15:02] We live in fear of that. And that fear begins to take a toll on us. [00:15:09] And what do we do? We keep putting on the mask, the lie, for instance, maybe some more. We live in fear of alienation. [00:15:19] Nobody wants to feel like an outcast. Nobody wants to be outcasted because of their own convictions. [00:15:26] We live in fear of conflict. Anybody love to avoid conflict in the room today? [00:15:34] Anybody? As soon as conflict comes, you're like playing dodgeball. You know what I mean? You just become a professional dodgeball player. You're over there moving and grooving. [00:15:43] Nope, not me. I'm not getting into it. [00:15:47] Right? [00:15:48] There's a fear in all of us. But here's the real issue with fear. Here's the real issue with people pleasing. Here's the real issue that it leads you to compromise. [00:16:02] It leads you to compromising the truth. [00:16:05] It leads you. Compromising your character. [00:16:09] It leads you to compromise so many things within your life. But Paul gives us a solution. Paul says something that's so amazing. Bring that verse back up for them. One more time. Bring that verse back up for them. Galatians 1:10. Look what he says. He says, am I now seeking the approval of man or of God? It's a rhetorical question, friends, right? Paul's not trying to, you know, throw something up there to try to confuse them. No, friends, he is telling them, listen, the main idea of my life is not what other people are saying or what other people are thinking. See, you gotta know, in this particular context, Paul is speaking to a group of people that are challenging his authority as the leader. [00:16:52] So he's facing a lot of scrutiny, and a lot of people are saying, yo, Paul ain't the real deal. [00:16:58] Paul's a fake. [00:17:00] This guy, he comes around talking. He was once trying to trash Christians and now he's trying to save Christians. You know, who does he think he is? [00:17:08] Who does he think he is? [00:17:10] And so the word gets out. And what does Paul do? Paul, I love Paul. Paul doesn't take the time and try to defend himself to them, but Paul rather secures himself on what is true. [00:17:26] And he says, here's what's true about me. [00:17:28] I don't serve other people's opinions. [00:17:33] I serve the Lord Jesus Christ. [00:17:37] I don't serve based off my life. It's not based off the standard of what other people believe about me, because I know what Christ and who he is to me. See, at one point, Paul lived this way, but Paul doesn't live this way. Why? Grace has changed his life. [00:18:00] The grace of God has changed his life. His understanding of life, his understanding of himself, his understanding of his identity, who he is, what he's called to do when he's found grace, he found life and he found truth. So therefore, he lives, liberated by what other people think, by what other people feel. Therefore, he is saying to himself, this is what is ultimately true about me. Not how good I am, but how good Jesus has been for, for me. And therefore, the grace of God is how I see my life. [00:18:30] So you can say whatever you want to say. [00:18:33] I know who I am in Christ. [00:18:36] You can blab all you want. [00:18:39] You can go online, you can bash, you can define me by my past if you want to, go ahead, shoot. [00:18:45] You can call me the worst of the worst. [00:18:48] But I know there's one crown that sits with me. And it's the crown of grace. [00:18:52] It's the crown of grace, friends. And see, here's the thing about grace. The grace of God, the favor of God. Grace transforms who we are, what we do and why we do. [00:19:05] Transforms who we are, what we do and why we do it. All of Paul's life points to grace living under favor. [00:19:18] My boy loves softball, loves playing baseball. Now, now, I grew up playing a real man sport called football. But anyway, I'll digress, I'll keep going. But anyway, you know, we were playing baseball and he said, dang, give me a ball, give me a bat. So I go give him the ball in the bat, and we're in the backyard and I'm teaching him, you know, how to bat again. I've never played baseball before, you know, and, you know, he gets the bats and, you know, he does this thing. He puts the bat up here, sticks his butt out. I'm like, man, you look really weird, bro. Bring it down, bring it down. Thrust the them hips, man. I don't know what you're doing over there, bro, but you gotta get it together, right? So the first time I throw the ball and then he hits it and boom, it goes into the neighbor's yard. He says, dad, did you see. [00:20:04] Did you see how far headed. I said, yeah, I saw it, little man. Yeah, that's what I'm talking about, bro. [00:20:09] You go, bro? [00:20:11] He said, yeah. He said, let's do it again. I said, let's do it again. So here we go, you know, we get back to it. Puts his butt out again. [00:20:18] Like, hey, man, I'm not gonna tell you again, bro. You look weird. You know, let's bring it in. Bring it in. So he comes out, and we're about to hit. [00:20:25] And this time he misses. [00:20:29] He misses. [00:20:31] He puts his head down. [00:20:34] He says, sorry, dad. [00:20:36] And I said, son, I need you to know this rather you hit the home run, you struck out. [00:20:44] You still are my son. [00:20:48] You are under my favor. [00:20:50] See, here's the thing about Christianity. [00:20:52] See, what Christianity teaches us is that what we do for God is not to get something from God. It is because God has given us all that we need. [00:21:01] See, Christianity, what it teaches us, ultimately, ultimately, we live not for favor, but under favor. [00:21:07] So if I hit a home run, great. [00:21:11] If I strike out, I'm still a son, I'm still a daughter, I'm still a child. [00:21:20] I belong under that favor. And that's what Paul says. Paul says, it doesn't matter. [00:21:26] And friends, this is what bold faith looks like in our lives. It is liberating us from the cares of what other people are thinking and being dominated by that very thing into our life, giving our full allegiance to Jesus. [00:21:43] Because guess what, friends? [00:21:45] As entertaining and as cool as this sounds, you're gonna be tempted to go home again and be dominated by the wrong voices. [00:21:52] You're gonna be tempted to go home. You're gonna say, oh, if I don't do this, well, then, so such and such is gonna think this. But then if they think this, then I'll never be able to get that. And if I don't get that, then my life is over. [00:22:04] But rather what grace teaches us. [00:22:09] Grace teaches us this, that God loves me more than I ever could imagine. [00:22:17] Not because of how good I've gotten life, right? [00:22:22] Not because of how good I've gotten life, but because of how good he is. [00:22:29] Because here's the truth, friends. [00:22:32] You're going to mess up again. [00:22:35] But don't let that distract who you are and what God is calling you to do. [00:22:42] You're going to have moments where it's gonna feel like you're making progress, but really, you're going backwards. [00:22:49] Don't let that ruin the reality of who God says you are, what God has called you. [00:22:59] So I just want to give three points, three points before we leave. [00:23:04] Number one. [00:23:06] Whose voice matters most? [00:23:10] Whose voice matters most? [00:23:12] That inner voice that speaks to you at night. [00:23:16] If it produces fear, guess what? That's not Jesus. [00:23:21] But if it produces faith, that must be Jesus. You gotta learn how to discern the two. [00:23:28] If it leads you to more panic, if it leads you to more anxiety, if it leads you to more worry, then guess what, friends? [00:23:39] You're supposed to replace that with your shepherd's voice. [00:23:45] Jesus Christ. [00:23:48] Jesus Christ. Remember, pay attention to the voice. [00:23:52] If it's causing more fear, it ain't Jesus. [00:23:56] That's insecurity. [00:23:59] That's insecurity. That's your circumstance. But if it leads you to faith, that's the voice to trust. [00:24:06] That's the voice to hear. Listen to number two. [00:24:11] Dare to stand apart, even if it means standing alone. [00:24:16] You know, sometimes if I'm not careful, I can be really good at following the crowd more than I am following Jesus. [00:24:26] Because sometimes in this day and age, what happens is. What happens is sometimes we feel this pressure to kind of go towards a certain path or a certain way. Because this path, in its way, is going to make us feel some type of satisfaction or some type of achievement or whatever it may be. But, friends, here's the reality. [00:24:51] Sometimes we gotta say no to certain things so Jesus can get our yes. [00:25:01] Give Christ your yes. [00:25:05] Give Christ your yes. Without hesitation or reservation, give Christ your yes. Say Amen. Whatever honors and glorifies Jesus, whatever brings honor to who he is and what he's calling me to do, this I will do. [00:25:23] So here's how I want to end. [00:25:25] Here's how I want to end. [00:25:27] I want to pray, but I don't want to pray in such a way that just closes out the message so we can move on for the sake of the sermon and the service. And when I. I want to pray intentionally. [00:25:41] I want to pray in a way, because some of us, what we need today is to be liberated from the wrong things and be consumed by the grace of God in our lives. [00:25:58] For some of us, we need this liberation. [00:26:02] What we need is to walk out different than how we came in. [00:26:06] What we need is a sense of assurance. Because. A sense of assurance, what it does, it informs our motivation, it informs our discipline. When we are certain in one area, we then adopt the right practices and do things elsewhere. [00:26:23] So if that's you today, I'm not asking you just to let me pray for you. I want you to pray to the Father, too, that she would. That you would ask him to liberate you and let grace consume and flood your soul. [00:26:41] Let's pray, Father. Today we fall into the trap constantly pulled by the wrong things. [00:26:59] Day in and day out, Lord, we find ourselves convincing ourselves that this is the way to do it. Because if we do it this way, well, then we'll get that, and then we'll. But, Father, I pray that above all that you would transform our hearts so that we may understand and know your grace. [00:27:26] Your grace that says, you're my son, you're my daughter, and I will treat you. Not because of how good you are, not because you can hit a home run, because Christ Jesus hit the home run for you, because Christ Jesus himself purchased that very blessing and favor in our lives. [00:27:54] So for, Lord, I pray that grace frees us today, that this next song, this song is not just us reading lyrics on the screen. It is the lyrics, the words itself, penetrating into our hearts, raising up within us, awakening within us. [00:28:14] God's favor matters the most. I don't have to work for it. I don't have to earn it. It is there. Freely receive it. Trust in Christ. Not just receive it, but live under it. Day in and day out. Let it shape my decisions. Let it shape my thoughts, let it shape my relationships, let it shape my values. Let the grace of God flood my soul so that I can bask in the blessing of it all. [00:28:46] But there must be a liberty that takes place within us. [00:28:56] So, Lord, help us today. [00:28:59] Free us from those things. [00:29:01] Help us. I pray it's in your son's perfect name. [00:29:05] Amen.