Already Enough - Week 2

Already Enough - Week 2

Intro - in room and online welcome

GRADUATES

Before we jump into the message today, I want to take a moment and honor a really special group of people in our church family. We have students in the church who have recently graduated, and others who are about to graduate from high school, college, trade school, and different programs - and today, we just want to celebrate you.

Stand - honor - stay standing

Seriously, we are so proud of you. We know that what people see today is a diploma or a graduation ceremony, but what God has seen is the late nights, the pressure, the perseverance, the growth, the prayers, the hard conversations, the disappointments you pushed through, and the faith it took to keep going.

This season marks an ending, but it also marks a beginning. And I want you to know this: your value is not found in a degree, a title, or your next step. Your identity is found in Jesus, and God already has purpose attached to your life.

Our prayer is that wherever God leads you next, you would walk with courage, integrity, humility, and faith. That you would never settle for success while missing significance. And that you would always remember that God can use you exactly where you are.

Church, would you stretch your hands toward them as we pray over them?”

Lord, we thank You for every graduate here today. Thank You for bringing them through this season and for the calling You’ve placed on their lives. Give them wisdom for the decisions ahead, peace in moments of uncertainty, courage to follow You boldly, and favor everywhere You lead them. Protect them, guide them, and remind them that they never walk alone. Use their lives to make a difference for Your kingdom. In Jesus’ name, amen.

And one more time church - can we celebrate them today?

Vision for building 

Before we get into the message, I want to take a few minutes and share some vision for where we’re headed as a church family.

I’ve always believed this with all my heart: healthy things grow.

And as we walk into this next season together, I want to say something clearly about what the priority will always be here at this house.

We will always focus on spiritual growth as a church, first.

Because at the end of the day, we’re not building a crowd - we’re building people. We’re building disciples. We’re creating a place where people can encounter Jesus, find freedom, discover purpose, and have their lives changed.  That’s our win, that’s the goal.

Now, when you focus on the spiritual first, growth naturally follows. Lives begin changing, people start inviting other people, families begin healing, and before long… numerical growth happens. And when numerical growth happens, more people get invested in what God is doing and we, as a church, have to respond in the physical.  

We will never chase money. We will never chase numbers. We will chase the presence of God and people far from Him.

Numbers ARE important, God has an entire book about it - but, our goal is healthy growth. Not growth, just for the sake of growth.

But, because of what God is doing in this church, we’re already starting to prepare for what we see now, and we know is coming.

Everything I’m about to talk about is happening because of your faithfulness in your giving. You’ve shown that you trust God in the are of your finances, and that’s what helping ministry in this area move forward.

Over the next several weeks, one of the biggest changes you’ll notice is that we are going to be changing the orientation of this auditorium.

If you’ve not seen it yet - we’re out of room in here! Making this change is all about people - and moving things around helps us grow around 100 more people across all our service time before we’re too crammed again.

We’re making room for the need we see right now - as well as the people God is continuing to send to this house.

Our in room experience is also going to improve. If you’ve been here for a while, you know there are a few seats that maybe aren’t… the most ideal seats in the house. This new orientation really helps eliminate that and creates a better experience no matter where someone sits. Because of that change, our online experience gets better.

Every week, there are people watching online who are searching for hope, community, and truth - and we want to steward that opportunity well.

Point Kids is also expanding. The change we’re making, that you’ll know more on soon, is all about serving families and making room for more children.

And I love this because we’re not just talking about church growth - we’re talking about generations being discipled.

We want parents to feel confident when they drop their children off.

We want every child to experience a safe, exciting, life-giving environment where they can learn about Jesus on their level. And as more families continue to come through our doors, we want to already be prepared to welcome them well.

Because kids ministry isn’t just childcare - it’s ministry. It matters.  And we believe what God does in Point Kids can shape a child’s entire future.

But hear me clearly: this is not about building something impressive. This is about removing obstacles so people can encounter Jesus.

Everything we do - every improvement, every project, every change - is about people.

Because every chair represents a person and a story. Every classroom represents a family. Every child represents a future. And every person matters to God.

We just want to create a church that’s ready for the people God sends.

I know you want that too - come on are you excited for that?

RECAP

Last week we started Week 1 of this series together.  And through scripture God showed us a few things.

That he’s already given us what we need to be used by him, right here - right now.

That no matter the size of the responsibility that hes given us, it’s our job to handle it well.

When we “steward” what we’ve been given well, we will see increase in trust, responsibility, and relationship. 

God cares about what we’re becoming, just as much as what we’re producing.  

God values what you’re becoming, just as much as what you’re producing.  

Just like I said last week - before God asks you for what’s in your hands - He will ask you what’s in your heart.

That isn’t only a salvation question, it’s also a motives question. 

This week and next week we are focusing on four particular things.  We will get to the first two today.  If you’re a note taker, write this down.

The Heart without God

The Heart that pursues God

The Heart with God

The Heart of God

Psalm 139 1-6 NLT

O Lord, you have examined my heart 

and know everything about me. 

2 You know when I sit down or stand up. 

You know my thoughts even when I’m far away. 

3 You see me when I travel 

and when I rest at home. 

You know everything I do. 

4 You know what I am going to say 

even before I say it, Lord. 

5 You go before me and follow me. 

You place your hand of blessing on my head. 

6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, 

too great for me to understand! 

God cares deeply about the condition of our hearts.

Whether we realize it or not, God already knows what’s really going on inside of us. He knows our thoughts, our motives, our struggles, and our intentions.

Psalm 139 shows us that there is nothing hidden from Him. He sees every part of our lives.

And honestly, that awareness should cause every one of us to pause and ask:

“What’s really driving me?” “Why do I do what I do?” “What’s happening in my heart?”

Because the condition of your heart affects everything: the way you speak, the way you treat people, the way you love, the way you lead, the way you worship, the way you respond when life gets difficult.

Everything flows from there.

The Bible talks about the heart nearly a thousand times because God is always more concerned with what’s happening inside of you than what people see outside of you.

Scripture may have said it a thousand times, and I sure feel like I will say it that many times today too.

Nowadays, when we hear the word “heart,” we usually think only about emotions.

We say things like: “Know my heart.” Or, “Hear my heart on this.”

But in Scripture, the heart is much deeper than feelings.

Your heart is the center of who you are.

It’s where your thoughts, desires, motives, decisions, and spiritual life all come together.

It’s the real you.

And while people mostly see appearances, God sees the heart.

God looks past the image, past the performance, past the words, and sees what’s really happening inside.

That’s why your heart, my heart -  matters so much.

Because whatever fills your heart eventually flows into your life.

Your heart is the source of your life.

What’s happening in your heart will show up in your words, your choices, your relationships, and your walk with God.

Messages like this can be confusing sometimes. So let me clear something up before we get too deep.

Scripture says that our hearts  are deceitful, yet God call us to transform them.

You see, our hearts get changed through real relationship with Jesus Christ.  It’s not something that happens through willpower or a self help book.  Books are great - but our hearts require divine intervention.  

Matt 22:37 NLT

37 Jesus replied, “ ‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’

But here’s the thing - this is the kind of message that doesn’t preach as easy as a message about joy. But - it’s one of those messages that lines up with scripture in

Ephesians 4: 22-24 NLT 22 throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception. 23 Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. 24 Put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy.

So, let this message wash over you. Let the spirit renew your thoughts and attitude. I pray that you walk away today with a passion for putting on a new nature, created to be like God. Truly righteous and holy.

The Heart without God

So let’s talk about the first heart. The Heart without God

Without God - we have an “unreliable guide” on the inside.  It’s faulty GPS -  a map that is printed wrong.  That unreliable guide - point us toward sin.  It doesn’t point us the right direction.

Even in our walk with Him - we can find ourselves practicing the opposite of what God wants for us.  We have impulses that belong to our old life before Christ.  And they try to take hold against us.  Everyone in here knows that struggle.  Everyone falls to sin from time to time.

Let’s look in scripture 

Jeremiah 17:9-10 NLT

The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, 

and desperately wicked. 

Who really knows how bad it is? 

10 But I, the Lord, search all hearts 

and examine secret motives. 

I give all people their due rewards, 

according to what their actions deserve.

Whether we realize it or not, what comes out of us - our words, our actions, our thoughts - reveals what’s happening inside of us.

Jesus said our words flow from our hearts.

So when gossip keeps coming out when anger constantly spills over when bitterness controls our responses when lust and impurity consume our thoughts

those things are revealing areas of ourselves that need healing and surrender before God.

And listen - we’re really good at excusing these things.

We call it: “Just my personality.” “Just how I was raised.” “Just stress.” “Just the way I cope.”

You’re not angry all the time just because you’re an Enneagram 8.

Sometimes there are deeper heart issues God wants to heal in all of us.

But those things that we excuse - God wants to transform.

And I’m not standing up here talking down to anybody today.

I’m talking to myself too.

All of us has areas where we need to let God purify in our hearts.

Jesus talked about inner purity to some Pharisees and other teachers.  In the book of Matthew they had come to see Jesus, and they were asking him why his disciples don’t follow, or in their words - disobey - their age old tradition.  The disciples weren’t doing a ceremonial hand washing before they ate. 

 Jesus explained to them how their thinking was. We’re talking about tradition, right? Not law. Here they are - thinking that Jesus’ disciples are defiled because they don’t follow a man-made tradition. They held this “ceremony” as high as if they carried the weight of God’s Word.  And Jesus said this:

Matthew 15:18-20 NLT

But the words you speak come from the heart—that’s what defiles you. 19 For from the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, all sexual immorality, theft, lying, and slander. 20 These are what defile you. Eating with unwashed hands will never defile you.” 

YOUR HEART is what matters to God.  For them - the tradition was to wash your hands and other things as part of their ceremony.  For us, our ceremony can be coming to church on Sundays.  “We did it - we did the ceremony.”  All the while - your hearts are actually far from God.  Listen to Jesus here

Matthew 15:8-9 NLT

These people honor me with their lips, 

but their hearts are far from me. 

9 Their worship is a farce, 

for they teach man-made ideas as commands from God.’” 

If you think you can come here on a Sunday, say Amen, God Bless You, and lift your hands and sing and that’s the only time you let the Lord work in you - you’re believing some lie that your wicked heart, the unreliable guide, is telling you.  This is gonna sting a bit - but I’d be willing to bet that if thats you - you don’t even let the Lord work in you then, either!  You’re checking the religion box! 

GOD IS NOT GOING TO BLESS WHO YOU’RE PRETENDING TO BE

Core biblical teaching says that God’s blessing flows toward authentic and genuine devotion.  Not performance.

If you are sincerely open to God’s will, He WILL WORK THROUGH YOU.

You don’t have to run around with a smile on your face telling everyone you’re “blessed and highly favored” when everyone can see your house is on fire.  Im not talking about the kind of good attitude you should have about choosing joy in life - that’s not what I’m talking about. 

 I’m talking about the situation where you’re numb to what God is trying to do in you and the rest is just lip service.  God sees our hearts.  And he wants you to have a pure heart rather than hearing us sing a thousand songs that don’t carry any meaning.  

Jesus was always the most harsh with the religious pretenders.  The pharisees weren’t authentic or genuine. 

 They had impure motives, and Jesus called them hypocrites.  They’d always tell other people what to do, but not do it themselves. 

 And honestly - this can look like us, too.  The Pharisees loved to have people think they were high and mighty. In fact, it mattered to them more than having a pure and sincere heart.

God will never be satisfied with anything less than a whole-hearted devotion to Him - and God will not bless who you’re pretending to be. 

Let’s turn to Luke Chapter 11 where we can see Jesus in a similar dinner scenario that we saw in Matthew 15.  Bible scholars debate whether this is the same event or not - but the theme is the same.  

Luke 11:37-44 NLT

As Jesus was speaking, one of the Pharisees invited him home for a meal. So he went in and took his place at the table. 38 His host was amazed to see that he sat down to eat without first performing the hand-washing ceremony required by Jewish custom. 39 Then the Lord said to him, “You Pharisees are so careful to clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside you are filthy—full of greed and wickedness! 40 Fools! Didn’t God make the inside as well as the outside? 41 So clean the inside by giving gifts to the poor, and you will be clean all over. 

42 “What sorrow awaits you Pharisees! For you are careful to tithe even the tiniest income from your herb gardens, but you ignore justice and the love of God. You should tithe, yes, but do not neglect the more important things. 

43 “What sorrow awaits you Pharisees! For you love to sit in the seats of honor in the synagogues and receive respectful greetings as you walk in the marketplaces. 44 Yes, what sorrow awaits you! For you are like hidden graves in a field. People walk over them without knowing the corruption they are stepping on.” 

Jesus said clean the inside, NOT JUST THE OUTSIDE.  Don’t just put on your Sunday best and then have evil and wickedness in your heart - AND BE OKAY WITH THAT

Don’t come to a prayer meeting and pray selfishly and carry un-forgiveness in your heart. AND BE OKAY WITH THAT

Jesus wasn’t condemning spiritual disciplines. He wasn’t saying prayer, tithing, serving, or worship were bad.

He was saying: When the outside activity is disconnected from inward transformation, you have an empty religion.

Yes, God wants your hands. But He’s always wanted your heart.

Purify your heart - a heart in pursuit of God

Having an understanding of what’s in here without him means that we have a responsibility.  We have to purify our heart.  We have to choose, every single day, in every moment of those days - to have a heart in pursuit of God.

One of the scariest things about the Pharisees is that from the outside, they looked spiritually healthy.

They tithed. They prayed. They knew Scripture. They attended religious gatherings.

But Jesus says their hearts were far from God.

That means it is possible to look clean publicly while privately carrying pride, bitterness, greed, jealousy, lust, selfish ambition, or unforgiveness.

Putting on a spiritual performance is dangerous.

if we become experts at looking holy, we can lose the ability to be honest.

And just like God won’t bless who you’re pretending to be. God cannot HEAL who you’re pretending to be, either.

You HAVE TO dig out the ugly.  Get out the mess and yuck in you.  

Be so conscious of God that you stop being self - conscious.  

Some of us are more concerned with protecting our image than surrendering our heart.

We spend so much energy managing perception: “How do people see me?” “What do they think about me?” “Do I sound spiritual enough?” “Do I look strong enough?”

But God’s not asking you to perform.  He’s asking for you to be honest. You see,

Freedom begins when you stop trying to impress people and start allowing God to transform you.

“Where do I start, Pastor Tony?”  - Self awareness and come to God with a spirit of openness.  King David’s prayer looked like this.  

Psalm 139:23-24 NLT

23 Search me, O God, and know my heart; 

test me and know my anxious thoughts. 

24 Point out anything in me that offends you, 

and lead me along the path of everlasting life

David had enough humility to pray dangerous prayers.

“Search me.” “Test me.” “Point out what offends you.”

That takes courage because most of us would rather explain ourselves than expose ourselves.

But growth starts where honesty begins.

Instead of defending or minimizing where you are spiritually, invite God to show you where you really are.  Ask him to show you what’s inside of you that you can or even can’t see.

Listen - the gospel isn’t “try harder to clean yourself up.”

The gospel is “God does transforming work in surrendered people.”

If you believe in Jesus, you have the Holy Spirit inside of you.

The Holy Spirit convicts you, strengthens you, corrects you, comforts you, and empowers you to become who God called you to be.

You are not fighting your flesh alone.

BUT - You have to know your downfalls and your limits so that you know what to surrender. How to ask for help!

Cricket story - 

Police academy - exposure therapy - paramilitary - tiny dorm rooms - summer camp for adults -

Roommate would snore, we called him Cricket. Amusing until 1 o’clock in the morning and you’re getting up soon.

We’re early on - run until you drop phase, trying to weed people out. We’re worn out - especially the less prepared ones.

Everything is alphabetical - where we’re sitting. Cricket, are you good? “Yes - not even tired.” Didn’t want to get punished for not being attentive

No eyes on cricket because of MADD lady position.

MADD story -

Cricket didn’t know his limits.

KEYS

Know where you are.  Like really know.  Do you have some ugly in your life?  Listen, we all do.  But when God puts his finger on some wicked thing in you, confess it to Him quickly, repent, and when you do that genuinely, in honesty, with an open heart, and humility - his word says

1 John 1:9 NLT

 “He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleans us from all unrighteousness.”  

My pastor has always said that Humility is Kingdom Currency.  Not in the slot machine transactional sense where humility automatically triggers His divine provision.  But, in that God gives grace to the humble.  

James 4:6 - NLT

And he gives grace generously. As the Scriptures say, 

“God opposes the proud 

but gives grace to the humble.” 

When you come to God with a full understanding of your position - that you receive what God offers in humility, that’s what opens you up to His provision.

Stop asking “How close can I get to God while still holding onto my issues?”  And instead Start asking “How can I give more of myself to Jesus?”  

A purified heart is not a perfect heart, it’s a surrendered one.  

Here’s whats beautiful about this whole conversation.  Jesus isn’t exposing the Pharisees because He hates them.  He’s exposing what’s hidden because He loves people too much to leave them trapped in empty religion.  

And maybe that’s what God is doing in some of us today.  Maybe He is lovingly revealing areas of pride, or hidden bitterness, or selfish ambition, or unforgiveness, or spiritual performance.  

He’s not shaming you, he’s not condemning you.  He’s inviting you into freedom.

Remember -   The Gospel isn’t “pretend you’re clean.”  It’s “bring your brokenness to Jesus and let him make you new.”  

Some of you have spent years trying to fix the outside while still hurting on the inside.

You learned how to look okay. How to smile. How to say the right things. How to play the church game.

But deep down, you know: “I need God to change my heart.”

Salvation begins when you stop resisting God and fully surrender your heart to Him.

Not just your church attendance. Not just your words. Not just your image.

Your heart.

Today, we talked about purification.

We talked about letting God search us,

expose us,

correct us,

and clean us from the inside out.

Because before God can fully form something in you,

He has to deal with what’s fighting against you. Surrender it to Him.

But here’s the beautiful part:

When surrendered, God doesn’t just remove things from your heart…

He replaces them with His heart. Your desires become the things he WANTS for you.

And that’s where we’re going next week.

Next week, we’re going to talk about:

“What does it look like to have a heart WITH God?”

And,

“What does it look like to carry the HEART OF God?”

Because Christianity is not just about avoiding sin.

It’s about becoming more like Jesus.

But before we get there…

before we talk about carrying the heart of God…

we first have to surrender the things in our hearts that are resisting Him.

So today, before we leave this room,

I want us to take an honest moment before God.

No pretending.

No performance.

No spiritual image to protect.

Just honesty before Jesus.

Would you bow your heads all across this room?

Maybe today your prayer is:

“God, search me.”

“Reveal what’s in me.”

“Purify my heart.”

“Teach me to desire what You desire.”

And maybe for some of you…

the first step isn’t purification.

It’s surrender.

mention baptism

You need a relationship with Jesus.

Salvation