FULL

Yeah. Welcome to Imagine Church, guys. We're so glad you're hype. And, let me get this welcome, man. Yeah. We're we're here.

Our senior pastors that you saw in that video, pastor Walter and Ileana, were here for a week. I was the glorified Uber driver. It was great. I'm so happy that they came. I'm so happy that they're back hype. And, but it was a great time.

They came to our house on Thursday night, and we got to talk to everyone, and, we got to be with them. I we went to Orlando. I took them to Orlando for three days, and we got to do a lot of meetings, some churches there that wanna join. We got to, yeah. It was a crazy trip, a great time with each other, and, they were super blessed to be to see you guys that could come out there. It was a last second, last second ideas, like, oh, let's all meet on a Thursday night here.

And, and a lot of you guys came, so it was great, man. They're super excited. We are really blessed to be a part of a great church family. We're in 16 countries. We just built a church in Africa and put a pastor there. We pay their salary, feed 2,000 kids a week, there.

We're in Pastoral. We put a school there. We freed 39 families of slavery at $3,000 a couple. If you've seen the pictures of what it was like when they're in slavery and then with them free, and not only when we real them, we give them a bike, we give them the ability to work so they don't go back into slavery. So we're in Iraq, we're in a bunch of different countries, 16 different countries, London, Belgium, all over. And we're here in The US, and, it's in starting in August, we're gonna release Sunday night in Deerfield with Mateus.

We'll be opening our group there again. Our groups will reopen in August, go from August to about August, September, October. We'll stop probably in No, take a break November, December, then we launch again in January, January to May. Stop in May because everyone's on vacation, and, we're all hanging out at the Raspberries at their beach house. You know? No, and so but everyone's going, and and now we're coming back.

So it's still July, and people are still traveling and doing their thing. But in August, we'll start Sunday nights in Deerfield Beach and be pushing to launch a all Brazilian church in Portuguese with Mateus and his wife. It'll be awesome. And, go after them. And, it looks like we're starting a church in Orlando. We met some leaders there.

We I was man, everywhere we went, we met with people, and it was like a five hour conversation. And I like, the first on a Friday night, it was from 07:30 to 01:30, and I was just listening to the translation with my headphones, and I just nodded off and fell asleep. And they woke me up about 01:30. It was great. So, guys, I'm super excited. Today, after service, we're gonna go to my house.

You're are going to have what is called feijoada without rice and, the tomatoes and all this, but it s the traditional dish of the slaves from way back in Brazil that they would throw beans and sausage and ribs and all kinds of stuff in a big pot and then make this thing called feijoada. Now it's the most popular dish in Brazil. It's the very first thing I ever had when I went there. I went to Rio and had feijoada. It's incredible. It's like a chili times 10, but it's not chili, but it's great and you're going to love it.

So if you never have it, you'll get to have it. For those that know all about it, that's why you're coming. So, it's it's exciting. And then we'll watch the World Cup at three. It'll be Argentina versus Spain. Who's going I you No, who's going for Spain?

Get out of here right now because we have Argentina No. Just kidding. All the Latin American countries that didn't make it are going for Spain because they don't like Argentina. All of Brazil hates Argentina because they don't want them to have another World Cup because they wanna keep their five and they wanna keep their elite status. So it's a wonderful mix. We got this great room of all this diversity of Brazilians, Latinos, Colombians, Venezuelans, you know, Argentinians, and and yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So we'll see. It'll be great to watch, though. It's been fun to watch, and that's why we're wearing our jerseys today.

I thought it's the last day I'm probably gonna wear a jersey or have the opportunity to wear a jersey on a Sunday, for a while. So we're doing it. So that's what's going on. We've been in a series, in the book of Acts. You know, it's like Jesus died, he came back to life on Easter Sunday, and then he told the disciples, No to an upper room like we're in today, wait for the power of the Holy Spirit to be poured out. And they prayed for ten days, and then the date of Pentecost hit, and the presence of God, the Holy Spirit came and filled every person in that room, 120.

It was men, women, Mary, Joseph, I mean, not Joseph, but, like, Peter who denied Christ and and came back. All these people weren't just touched. They were all filled with God's presence, every one of them, man and woman. It was the first time ever in history that God stepped out of a box, stepped out of the Ark of the Covenant, stepped out of the temple, stepped out of only being upon the kings and the prophets, and he came not to just touch you, not to just be upon you, but to actually live on the inside of you, which is the great news. Adam and Eve in the book of beginnings in Genesis, it says God walked with them in the cool of the day. Now God walks in you.

First Corinthians, it says, You are now the temple of the Holy Spirit. People say, Hey, Pastoral, where's God? The Bible says he's in you. That and in Romans eight, it says the Holy Spirit has been poured out into your heart. God is love, and so His love, His presence, been poured on the inside of you. Amen.

And so what happened on that day is fire the Holy Spirit two thousand years ago was poured out onto everybody, and everyone got to experience His presence. And then everywhere people went, they got to hear about Jesus, and then they're filled with His presence. And now we are His presence carriers. Everywhere we go, we glow, we shine bright, we real His love in everything that we do, and that's where we are now in the book of Acts. The Holy Spirit was poured out, and all of a sudden, ordinary men and women were going around doing extraordinary things for God. Incredible.

And the same things that were they were doing, we can do because we still have this same power. We still have this same presence. It hasn't changed. There's not some degree of, alright. The volume on his presence is, is a little lower right No. And then, for reformed those guys, it was on high, the volume, but now we're turning it low.

No. We got his God is God. His presence and his degrees of his presence aren't, like, with a special group of people. It's not just with the pastor. It's with anybody and everybody. Everyone has his spirit, which is great.

And so the book of Acts is the acts of the church, and now we're still writing different chapters of his acts, of the acts of God. But I wanted us to go through the scriptures here because we're in Acts chapter six where there was this man named Stephen, and it was this guy that was full of faith and full of power. And I believe God wants you to see today that you are to be full of faith and full of power, just like Stephen was, because he was just an ordinary guy that, you know, we last week we saw that the disciples were overwhelmed, like people are just selling their land, like this new community has started, like 3,005 thousands of people are following now Jesus because all of a sudden they saw a dead man get out of the grave, and now all these eyewitnesses are talking about it, and now they're seeing all these miracles, and all these people are repenting of their sins, they're living one way, they're under the law, and they said, we're not going to be under law anymore, now we're going to be free, We're Christians. We're following Christ. And all these people saw it. And so all their lives were changed.

And they're in this community where they're devoted to to to the teaching of the the disciples, and they were devoted to prayer, and they reformed to eating together fire we're gonna do today, eat together. And and and all these great things were happening. So what happened is, though, the church was being neglected, like the orphans and the people that needed help, and there's this complaint that arose that we talked about last week, and Stephen was one of the men that they called this No serve tables. But he was a man that, scripture says, full of faith and wisdom, a ordinary person. So he's like a guy that was at Starbucks, for all you Starbucks workers that are here, or he was a guy that was an Uber driver, or he was a guy that was a soccer coach, or he was a guy that had a veterinarian clinic, or he's a guy in real estate, just an ordinary guy, but he was full of power and faith, and he was chosen to serve tables. But he didn't just stop there, he became this man that did great, mighty things for God.

He was full of faith and full of power. And I believe everyone in this room is called to be full of faith, full of faith, and full of power. So here's the question I want to ask you today. Let me ask you this question. When life squeezes you, I don't know about you. Have you ever been squeezed?

What comes out? I don't know if you ever cleaned a house. I know for some guys, cleaning is just you No? We don't do that, especially if you're from a Latin country. Right? No.

I'm just kidding. I'm just joking. But when life squeezes you, you're full of something. When life squeezes you, out comes something. Right? So we are full of something, and then when the pressures of life come, when the squeeze comes, out comes something.

I would submit to you, when we get pressed or when we're squeezed, we want God's glory and his presence to come out. But what happens sometimes, we get to really see where we're at. Like, I'm this great man of faith and love and power, but then I get ran off the road by a South Florida crazy driver that has no insurance, or they hit me in the back of my car, and then they fluff the scene, or my kids don't listen to me or the the the deal I was putting together falls apart. These people were lying. They were thieves. They were scammers in South Florida.

I don't know. There's a lot of scammers. And and and all of a sudden, there's this pressure. We're under great stress. We thought this thing was gonna come through. Now it's not because it was a bunch of people lying.

They were just renting out Lambos and driving around like they had money, and they were gonna buy all this real estate, and we spent all this time with them, and then they just disappear. They were just there for videos and pictures, and that was it. So when the pressure comes, out comes the truth of who you really are. Right? Like this morning, it's like, man, we had all kind of things happen. We've got tripods.

We were sick. You know, we were tired. We were exhausted. All kind of things happened throughout this week. The pressure comes. Oh, the visa didn't come through.

Oh, this situation's arising. How am I gonna make it? You No? And when pressure comes, it doesn't create your character. Pressure reveals your character. Really, it reveals who we really are when the pressure comes.

I don't know about you, when everything's good, I'm good. Oh, I'm hype. You No, but you don't feed me for a while? You know, I don't get enough sleep? Oh, bro. You get hangry.

You get upset. You're you know, we get you know, all kind of fluff comes in now. So when the squeeze of life comes, what comes out? Right? Like, if you cut a lemon right? I love when you squeeze a lemon, what comes out?

Lemon juice. Lemon juice. We No. You know? Doesn't this help your hair? Last night, my I went to Sephora yesterday with my kids, and, of course, I got convinced to buy something at Sephora.

And then I thought, alright. I could buy something real quick and it gets me out. But then my wife gets you know, one of those makeup ladies grabbed you and then they wanna, like I told her, honey, it looks like someone you No, because they were putting all this concealer on her face, you know, and they didn't take it off. So then she's walking around and it looks like, you know, like, did someone beat you and then you're trying to cover it because it's just, like, all the concealer marks, like, of the three different shades. I'm like, honey, you know, this kind of looks so you know, it's anyways, I don't know why I said that. But at the end of the day, we come home and when I'm there, my daughter tries to convince me to put makeup on.

I'm like, you are not putting makeup on me. There's one line that I'm drawing that I will not ever put makeup on ever, you No. So I'm going over the message in my house, and then, you know, Bella, she just walks in with a pencil eyebrow thing. And I'm just, like, so exhausted that I'm going over the message, and I'm just on the bed. And she just starts, like, doing this on my what is going on? You know?

But when life squeezes you, if you squeeze a lemon, out comes lemon juice. And if you squeeze oranges, out comes orange juice. Squeeze apples, out comes apple juice because that's what's on the inside. Right? So whatever is in you is what will come out of you when the squeeze happens. And so I want to introduce this man named Steven.

He got squeezed harder than anyone in this room will ever get squeezed, ever. They lied about him. They dragged him to court. I don't know if you've been to court and been dragged. They picked up stones to kill him. They squeezed this guy, and when he was getting so squeezed, out came the glory of God.

Incredible. I don't know about you. If I'm being squeezed, someone trying to kill me and take me to court. You're like, oh, heck no. Get me you No, let me get him back. Bam.

Let's go let's go toe to toe. You you got the water. I'm gonna real water at you. Oh, yeah. Yeah. You got I'm a get you back.

You No like the eye for the eye. It's like, nah. You you ran me off? Oh, I wish I had a $300 special card right now. You know? But this guy is getting stoned, and out comes the glory of God under pressure.

Right? So look at Acts six. Look at Stephen. And I'm just gonna read some selected verses. Stephen, full of grace and power, was doing great wonders he's an ordinary guy and signs among the people. Pretty amazing.

And he was full of the Holy Spirit. He gazed into heaven. He saw the glory of God, Jesus standing at the right hand of the Father. He said, Behold, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God. And as they were stoning Stephen, he called out, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. And falling to his knees, he cried out with a loud voice, Lord can you imagine?

He says, Lord, do not hold this sin against them. And when he had said this, he fell asleep. Now watch. This man is full of faith, full of the Holy Spirit, full of grace, full of power. And when the squeeze came, out comes heaven. So here's the first thing I want you to take away from that.

Full is a choice you make before the crisis. And I think full is a choice before the crisis, and full is what you need to be me and you. We need to be so full of God so that when you step into that new marriage, when you step in the new relationship, whenever you step into parenting, when you step into the people that are gonna betray you, when you get to those moments and points in life of betrayal and hurt and everything else that will take place in your life, if your heart beats long enough, it will hype. Things will happen. Betrayal will come. Things will be thrown at you.

Rocks will come out. Knives will be stabbed in your talk. And when those moments take place, you're gonna see what you're full of and what's on the inside of you. Stephen faces a courtroom. Everyone has a stone in his hand, and they called him full of faith and of the Holy Spirit. Talk this church.

He didn't just get full in the crisis. He was already full when he came to the crisis. I know a lot of times, like, when the crisis comes, now all of a sudden we get with God. Now all of a sudden we go to church. Now all of a sudden I would submit to you guys, get with god, get in his word, get in church before you before the crisis comes. You're going to need it.

You're going to need god's love. You need his power. You need his presence. You need his mind. You need to be positioned with him. You need to be living in peace, so that when the unchanging world and circumstances constantly change, fire, you No, which they will, that you know how to reformed, and out comes glory.

Out comes his presence. You know, think about your cell phone. You know, how many of you, you you know, how many of you forget to charge your phone sometimes, and the next day it's like, oh, the client's calling, and you're at 1%. You're like, oh my gosh. Oh, my phone died. Oh my gosh.

I gotta plug it in. I gotta charge it. But what happens is when you have a full charge the night reformed, you plug it in the next day, whatever hype, things get forgotten, things hype. Oh, you gotta get an Uber for your daughter because they're stuck in the mall or whatever it might be. You got power for that situation. You've been plugged in.

You've been connected to the source, to the power of God. You have what you need to get through that situation. But when it's not charged, you're at 1% in the middle of an Imagine? Oh my goodness. When you haven't been in god with God, you haven't been in prayer with God, you haven't been seeking God, and then when the emergency happens, man, that's a bad place to be in. And I've been in that place.

We've all been in that place. Maybe we're in that place today, and maybe that's why we're here today, to be reminded to say, wait a minute. I don't wanna wait till the crisis comes because they will come. They will come. What are we full of? Think about that.

Get full now. And how do you do that? I it's real simple. Get with God. Again and again and again. And I know we wanna make it so complicated.

We want, like, a 20 page list of devotions. We don't wanna have a book that we have to read all the time. We want, you know, to have to declare a bunch of things, a 100 pages, or whatever. We wanna go through all this system and this work. I wanna remind you, you're sons and daughters of the King of Kingsley the Lord of Lords. You're the son and daughter of the King.

You're a part of a heavenly family. You are in right position with God. You can come to his throne anytime. He hasn't left you. He hasn't forgotten about you. He hasn't turned his back on you.

He loves you. And all I see throughout scripture is men and women of God. Queen Esther, a queen, a woman that has to go in front of a king and ask for help, she fasts and prays for three days before she enters. All I see is Daniel, a man of great wisdom and number two in the Kingsley. He was with God three times a day. I mean, he's talking to God.

Jesus, the Son of God, all I know is he goes through that cross, this beautiful cross that we love, that's amazing, that's here, that he ends up hanging on, but he's with God all the fire, in the morning and at night. Jesus, the Son of God, who came as fluff, so he's tired. I don't know about you. I don't like waking up early. I want to just sleep all day. I wanna eat all the chocolate chip cookies.

I wanna eat all the Oreos. I wanna do anything and everything opposite of what usually god wants me to do. I wanna do the opposite. I wanna get fat and lazy. I just don't wanna eat and but I wanna be slim and it doesn't work that way. We wanna if we're gonna walk in the spirit, you can't walk in the flesh.

You know what I mean? And if you're gonna walk in the spirit, you're gonna have to say no to things. You're gonna do things or do different things or live a certain way No that when the life pressure comes, because it's gonna come, out comes the word of God. The word. Amen. That's what we need to be, fool.

And I believe we can do that. You can do that. You can start today to do that. Because wherever you are, some of you are hype, new to the country. Some of you are getting married. Some of you are going into retirement.

Some of you are still building your careers. Some of you, wherever you're at in fluff, some of you are going to college, going back to college, get with God. Talk with God. He has to be the priority, the Prince of Peace, the mighty God, the one that the devil and the whole world is trying to get you away from and steer clear from you and say, Oh, you don't need. Let me tell you, when the crisis comes, that's who we're gonna run to. And you're gonna you're gonna realize in fluff, he's the very thing you always needed.

The very thing that you always thought you didn't need is what you really need. And Steven is full. And he's in court, and he's getting blasphemed, and they're talking mad about him, and then they're throwing rocks at him, and he is full of glory. I believe you can be that. But you can't pour from empty. So get full before the squeeze, because the squeeze is coming.

Jesus said fluff has trouble. Jesus said it. You're gonna have trouble in this world. You're gonna get sick sometimes. Things won't go your way. Things aren't gonna go according to plan.

But that's okay. I'm a son of God. And the more I'm connected to him and his power, man, I ain't living on 1%. You can't make it on one you're gonna burn out. That's where burnout comes. You know why people get burned out?

Because they ain't with God. People get burned out in Church. They get burned out in marriage. They get burned out in relationships because we don't have his grace. We need him. Moses would say all the time, hey.

You want me to go there, God? If you don't if your presence doesn't go, I'm not going. You and I need his presence, and we have to be in it. And the only way you can do that is you gotta get with him. You gotta get his thoughts. Get his heart in your life.

Spend time with Him. Know Him. And then when the pressure comes peace. Point two: what you're full of comes out when you're squeezed. What you're full of see, Stephen in verse what was it? 15, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed in the heavens, saw the glory of God, Jesus standing at the right hand of God.

Behold, I see the heavens open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God. Steve is Stephen's facing the courtroom battles. He's facing people with stones, but he doesn't get full in the crisis. When the crisis comes, you see what he's full of. We see this in World Cup soccer, And we saw Argentina. I I know.

It's so bad to talk about Argentina. I know. We wanna but I don't know. Last week, they were down no two against Egypt, and then they come back and win three to two. And I don't know about you. I thought it was over when I was watching.

And then again this past week, again, I thought that they're down one zero to England, and, it's fire, what, the 80 I don't know what minute it is, but I think it's over. And then they come back and win. Incredible. In life, you're gonna be down o two. You're gonna be in these situations, and that's where you really get this is where you get to see a championship team, what this is made of. Right?

I remember when I was growing up in basketball in my it was my senior year of high school, at the beginning of the year, my I couldn't hit free throws at all. I was a horrible free throw shooter. And my coach, Joe Mercier from Louisiana, said, Kingsley, you're gonna be on the bench, and then you're gonna we're gonna be in the state championship game, and you're gonna be on the bench because you can't hit free throws. And you know what I did? I just learned how to shoot free throws, like, all summer. When he said that, I was like, I don't want to be a senior in the state championship game on the bench.

And I became, like, the best free throw shooter on that team because I didn't want to come out of that game. So I had to practice and practice and practice and practice, and we did. In my senior year, we're in the state championship game, and I'm in the game. We lose by one point in the finals. It still hurts. But when the pressure comes, adversity comes, that's when you find out what you're made of.

Right? Pressure doesn't change you. It reveals what's in you. So when you're watching these teams, you see what's in them. You see other teams, they just crumble. They get down.

Boom. It's over. You could see it. You could see it in their body language. You could see what's really in their mindset. You can see it.

Right? We've seen it on TV. You see it. Sorry. Argentina, they keep pushing. I don't I'm so bad.

I feel bad because I know so many of you hate them. And so many people hated Steven. And he's over there smiling as he's getting stoned to death. I mean I can't imaginechurchusa guys think we got him in court. We got him. We've blasphemed him.

We're lying, and we're we're stoning him to death, and this guy is smiling. Are you kidding me? No way. This should not be happening. But he glowed. Under accusation, it's glowed.

It says that that when they looked at him, his face was like an angel. He's in court, and that he's glowing. He's glowing. I think God wants you to glow through life. We should be glowing. Oh, things didn't happen the way we want.

I got this glow. We should be glowing. That's what comes out. Look at verse six. I mean, this is happening. I don't know about you.

I'd be like, Hey, Jesus, stone them. Kill them. Bring your angels and kill them all. Look what Jesus this is what he says in verse 60. Stephen says, Lord, do not hold this sin against them. They're killing him, and he's forgiving them.

Can you imagine? I don't know about you. I'd be like, get him. They're accusing him. They're lying him. They're surrounding him.

His face is like an angel, and he's saying, god, forgive them fire they don't know what they're doing. Now let me ask you a question. Where have we heard that before? Jesus. So the only way he could say that is because he's been with Jesus. When all this stress and all this and he's gonna die, out comes Jesus in his life.

When the squeeze of life comes, it's Jesus that comes out, because he's a man that's been with Jesus. He's forgiving them, and Jesus came out. So let's make it pastoral. Because on Sunday, it's really but, you know, in your traffic, you're gonna see when your kids won't listen. My kids don't listen. Oh, they when somebody disrespects you or did that ever happen to you?

Not on the job, they didn't give you the promotion, They don't respect you as a woman. Or, you know, they don't respect you because you're from another country. They just respect you. What when the plans fall apart, has any plan ever fallen apart? It falls apart almost every other day, the plan. The plan's just ask my daughter.

She hates it. Dad, you said you were gonna I No. But then this happened, then this happened, then it also I have to do it another the plans don't always come to pass. Because whatever leaks out of you when you're bumped, that's your fill level. If bitterness comes out, you're full of offense. If anxiety comes out, it just really means I haven't really been with God the way I should be.

If peace comes out under pressure, that's the Holy Spirit. Amen. And this is something we gotta get better at. And I think the only way you get better at it is you just get with God. It's not something you gotta work towards. It's just like, hey.

I just know I'm not with God. And when I'm not with God, then when all this stress and pressure comes, out comes all kind of other things, the fluff, because I'm not in the spirit, because I haven't been with him. And that might just be the reality of most of us in this room. Man, I need to get back with God. And today is a great day to make that decision. I'm gonna get with the Holy Spirit.

You catch yourself in the real the squeeze of life. Instead of reacting, ask God, fill me here. Help me. Fill me, Lord. Fill me with your presence. Help you know, when the wife is upset, Lord, fill me.

How do I respond here? If I say this, this will hype, so I want if I if I say something now, oh, no. No. Wait. Wait. Wait a little longer.

Maybe go get some flowers and chocolates. There you go. Say yours you know, whatever it might be, Holy Spirit, fill me in this moment. Fill me in this moment. Help me help me to respond like you would respond. Pressing the pressure doesn't change you, it reveals what's in you.

And then you get to invite, get filled. Amen? Get filled. A life full of God is never wasted. It's the best place you could be. Amen.

So today it's to be like, Hey, I want to be full of God, and I'm going to start making the decisions that keep me full of God, and maybe we haven't done that, and maybe I'm not there, and maybe that's not where we are. But, hey, it's never too late, as my other basketball coach said, to make things right with God. And a life full of God is never wasted. So this is where it gets glorious. There's stoning Stephen. Look up at verse fifty five and fifty six.

It says, He gazed into heaven, he saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. Everywhere in scripture, it says Jesus is seated at the right hand of God. But in this moment, he's looking up, and Jesus is standing up off the throne, and he's standing up in that moment at the right hand of God. For Stephen, he stood up. That's my boy! And Heaven was giving him a standing ovation.

A life full of God, Heaven rises to receive it. Don't miss this. Verse 58: The men laid their coat at the feet of a young man named Saul. Who's Saul? Saul's there standing there approving it, holding the coats, watching man die full of God, and Stephen is there forgiving all the killers, glowing like heaven, and then there's Saul, who later becomes Paul. And the man who would write almost the three fourths of the New Testament is Saul, who is there condemning him to die, holding the hey, let me get you jagged no you can get a better swing on that rock.

I got you. Get let's hype, I got that one for you too. We don't want your Argentina coat to touch the ground. Let me hold that for you. Get that raw. It's better over there.

Get that. Boom! And they're having a rock throwing party, and he's cheering him on. Saul, who becomes Paul. And they thought they could stop Stephen, but the seeds of his death was planted in the very man holding the coats. You can kill a man full of God or a woman full of God, but you can't stop the seeds they release.

You're releasing seeds of everything. Parents, you're releasing seeds of God in your whole fluff, the way you respond, how you react. And you know, if you mess up, you just say, Hey, I'm sorry Kingsley. I was mad and angry. I shouldn't have been that way. And real, it's a check to you to say, I've got to get back with God, and I've got to be in his presence, so next time I'll fly off the handle.

Because you can't kill a man or a woman full of God. You can't stop the seeds they release. Your full life is never wasted. The prayer No seizes, the obedience nobody claps for, the faithfulness that costs you everything or something is planting in seeds in people's lives that you've never met. Stephen never got to see Paul, but Paul happened because of Stephen. A fluff, a full life.

And God will do things through your life that will outlive your life. Amen. You can kill a man or a woman, but you can't stop the seeds that they plant. Last week, we talked you couldn't stop the church. They stoned Stephen to shut him down, and from that very moment, the gospel exploded. Exploded.

Yeah, but what about my mom and dad? They want me to do things a different way. They want this. They want it like that. I had to say no to my mom and dad. I had to honor my mom and dad, but they want me to do the things that God wanted me to do.

I had to make a Church, and it was a very difficult choice. And for a while, it was very difficult, but it was the best choice ever made. Following the Lord is the best decision you'll ever make in your family, in your marriage, in your fluff. Wherever you might be. It's never too late. It's the best decision to be full of God, to follow God, to obey the Lord, to to construct and structure your life after God, being a believer in God, that that Hype exists, and He's a rewarder of those that diligently seek Him.

And then you could start right in this very moment and say, you know what? That's it. I'm turning the I'm going a different direction because I'm gonna have a different fluff, and maybe people might not like it. And that's okay. They'll come talk, and maybe No. But that's okay.

I'm gonna be a life that my seeds outlive me, and I'm gonna be a person that's so full of God that when the stress and the pressure and anxiety of life comes, out comes the word, the love of His presence, His presence. Not bitterness or anger or unforgiveness or resentment or toxicity. No, no, no, no. God, His presence, His love, His transformation, everything that He's done, the glory of God, the glory of heaven is going to come. I want to be a man, you know, fire, full of faith fire Stephen. I want to be a woman like Queen Esther.

I want to be a woman like Mary. I want to be people of God that leave seeds that are planted in people's life. You can't kill a man full of God. You can't stop their seeds. Amen. Come on.

That's who it is. So let me ask you a question. When I squeeze you, what comes out? You can't fake full. You can't perform full. You get full one way, only with him.

You can only get full of God with him. What are you full of today? What is it? What comes out when the pressure's on, when the heat's on, when the AC ain't working? What what comes out? When the reservation that you made, you get there and, No.

We don't see your name. What? What are you talking about? Oh, wait. What? What hype under pressure?

What are you full of? That's the question. Let me ask you this. This is what you can do this week. Check your fill level. Notice when you get bumped boop.

When you get what's coming out? What's coming out? That's the honest gauge. What's coming out? Let's get charged up before the storm comes. Before the emergency, let's be connected.

Let's not be at 1%. You might find yourself at 1%. Let's get charged up. Start today. I'm gonna get charged up. I'm gonna put a few minutes.

I'm gonna start living a different way. So I'm gonna start doing things today, this week, that I've not been doing, because I wanna be with Him. I wanna be full of Him. So what do you need to do to do that? Question. Practice the squeeze test.

Next time you're provoked, pause and pray. Pause and pray, God, fill me here. But I would say this, fill me here, but make time to be filled. Make time. Make time to be filled. And so when the squeeze comes, man, I'm already come on.

I'm just the word love comes out. Oh, you can't make it to that? It's okay. I still love you. Whatever. It's okay.

I'm not gonna be offended. I'm talk in love. Forgive them, Lord, as you forgave. I forgive them. Fire Jesus, like Steven. I'm full of Jesus.

Forgive like Steven. Name one person who's wronged you and release them this week. Challenge. Who wronged you? I've talk we all been wronged. All of us have been wronged.

If you've been alive long enough, oh, no one's wronged me. Well, just keep living. You'll see. It'll happen. It'll happen. Lord, forgive them this week.

I'm gonna forgive them. I'm gonna release them in advance, Lord. I know that thing. I know what's gonna hype. Something's gonna happen. They're not gonna show up at the wedding.

They're not gonna I'm gonna release them in advance or whatever it might be. Hallelujah. They're not gonna help. Okay. You No, forgive them. Yeah.

It's okay. Plant a seed you'll never see. Do one faithful, unseen thing for God this week and trust him with the harvest. Even if no one sees it, do do it. Just do it. Amen?

Let's close our eyes. Let's bow our heads for just a moment. Father, I thank you that we're here this morning. Lord, we're just like that room back in those days, Lord, where men and women were all together and your presence was poured out. Lord, I'm praying for everyone in this real. Maybe we're here and we're the one running on empty.

Like, we're just on empty. We're at 1% or less. We're trying to do all these things, and it's we have the smile on our face, but we don't have the gas. We're on fumes. We're empty. And today, Jesus, I ask you in this moment, Lord, and I wanna pray for you to be filled right now.

If you're in this place, you're on empty. I wanna pray for you, Father, in Jesus' name. Lord, I pray for everyone in this room that's been on empty, and I ask, Lord, right now, Lord, they surrender and submit their life to you. Lord, I thank you that they've died that you died on the cross for them. I pray that you forgive them. I pray that you fill them with the Holy Spirit right now.

And if you need that, if that's your heart, just tell him, Jesus, fill me right now. Jesus, help me to live for you. Jesus, I need you, and I want to give you my life. Let that be your prayer this morning. As our heads bowed, eyes closed, maybe you're a believer here who needs a refill. You love God, but the pressure you've been drained.

You realize all these things that happened. You haven't been able you've things got out of habit. You're just not where you should be, and you know it. You feel that you got bitterness, anxiety, offense rising up, and it's time to get full again. I pray right now, Holy Spirit, in this moment, I pray you, Holy Spirit, come and fill us in this place. Fill me.

Fill everyone in this room. Fill everyone that's been under pressure. Fill them back up again. Make them full of faith, Lord. Let the seeds of faith have been planted in their life, Lord, explode and grow. Grace and mercy and love and be full of you, Lord, is my prayer.

Lord, I pray for us to overflow. And, Lord, I pray and I thank you, Lord, that it starts today. It starts now. Holy Spirit, I thank you for your word that was shared today, that every seed that is planted will grow and produce much fruit. Lord, I pray, Lord, that we'd be like Stephen, full of grace and faith. Lord, that when the pressure comes, Lord, out comes the glory of heaven.

Lord, that we'll be like him and forgive like Jesus forgave as he forgave. Lord, let us be people that under pressure, out comes the word. Out comes your love. Out comes your peace. And, Lord, as we do that, Lord, I ask that you, Holy Spirit, show us what to do this new week. And only you know, holy spirit, you speak to everyone in this room specifically.

What should I do? What do I need to change? What adjustment do I need to make? Holy Spirit, I know you're putting ideas and thoughts right now. Lord, I thank you that we are good ground, and when your word, as we've heard, is sown, Lord, it produces good fruit. Lord, ask our prayer.

Hallelujah. Lord, we give You praise. Thanks. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen. Amen.

Come on. What's coming out, guys? The Word. What's coming out? Been waiting to do that a long time. There you go.

Man, so glad you're here. Welcome to Imagine Church. Man, we're just here to help you. We love you. And, hey, in just a few minutes, we're gonna pack up and go, but you're welcome to come to my house. We're gonna have great food, great time together, and then we're gonna watch a game if you wanna stay that long and watch a game.

But this is what doing life is all about. You know, we're reading scripture together, we're in community together, and we're eating together. So we're getting to do it. We're living out the very thing that scripture says for us to do. And, this is what we're doing every week. I want to challenge you, man.

Next week, pray. Who can I invite? Who can I bring? Who should be next to me? Who should be in this room with us to hear his word? I I know they'll be blessed.

I know it'll be a great time. I know next week we'll probably get pizza again or viola or sushi or whatever afterwards, but who needs to hear the word? Who needs to be in this family? Who needs to be in this room? I know it's summer. Ask those questions and be here, guys.

It's gonna be great. Hey. A few things as, you've heard the announcement. So, you know, in August, our groups will restart, because we took a break in the summer. We're gonna eat right after service. You're invited.

If you don't know how to get there, you just talk to me and my wife. We'll give you the address. And, what do we have here? Let me see. What are the different the is there a connect, Michelle, on the real, if you wanna just connect? Mhmm.

You're here. We'd love to meet you. Hey. Everyone talk out your reformed. Everyone in this room, I wanna test this. I wanna see if this actually works.

I created this. Just scan this. This will just get your name and your phone number and but scan it for just a second. I wanna see if it works, and, fill it out if you can. We're glad you're here, and, we wanna connect with you. And, just wanna see if that works, if it works.

Is it working? Does something pull up on your phone? Yeah. Yeah? There's this one for groups. There's groups, so when we start groups, we'll have that one.

And we got one for serving, which yeah. Anyways. And prayer. Yeah. If you need prayer. Yeah.

It's submitted too. It's submitted? Oh, it's working. Yes. See, that's my trick to get you to do it. Hey.

Let me I can't do it next week, though, so it's not gonna right No, we're gonna just this is our chance where you just get an opportunity where if you're this is hype. We just give. In Proverbs chapter three, it just says, honor the Lord with your wealth, and he'll take care of you. God always will take care of you. Amen. If you would like to give, you just scan this code or you can give by Zelle.

We appreciate your giving. Everything that you give, we give 10% or more of everything that comes in goes to missions and the missionaries. We have a missionary support in Bolivia, the things we're doing all over the world, And, I think we've given in the last ninety days, maybe 9,000 or more dollars to missions. So thank you for giving. Thank you for your generosity, and thank you for everything, the impact that we're making together. And all the seeds that we're planting is is gonna continue on for a lifetime.

Father, I thank you for your word is true as we honor you. Lord, you said you'll take care of us. I pray for everyone in this room, wherever they're at in their family, in their walk, in their fluff, or just bless them, Lord. Increase them. Lord, help us to realize we are sons and daughters of the king, that you give us wisdom and strength and grace, new ideas, Lord, to do more for the kingdom of God No we can be blessed to be a blessing. Lord, thank you for everyone in this room.

Bless everyone in this room. Lord, thank you for the opportunity we have to give to your kingdom this morning. Lord, we worship you, King Jesus. We give you praise. In Jesus' name, we pray, and all God's people said, amen and amen. Guys, hey, it's World Cup Sunday.

We wore our jerseys. Now we're gonna go cheer for some teams. Did you see the game last yesterday? Third place game? 10 goals or something? It's crazy.

Did you I didn't know they were playing. It was fire six to four. It was it was like a tennis match. It was incredible to see Mbappe and all these guys. So, we're gonna watch and have fun, eat some food. You're all welcome to come And come back next week, bring a friend.

God bless you, and we'll see you next week. We've got donuts and coffee. You don't have to move a chair or anything. We just pack up, and we'll see you soon. God bless you. Thank you.

Don't worry, bro. Kenny, good to see you guys. Good to see you. God bless you. No, thanks for coming. You're always welcome, guys.

Thank you. Thank you. We're praying that hey. It's a new start, new beginning. Whatever you need, we're here.

Thank you. But, hey, we'll be praying for you guys. If you need something, let us know. No you so much. You're welcome.