Your heart is the most important part of your being. It is the source of your life and it determines your life experiences. It is your duty to guard, protect or watch over your own heart - no one will do it for you.

Eternal security (Can I lose my Salvation)

The Trap of the Lie

When someone believes, “I am incapable,” even though it’s a lie, it becomes functionally true for them. Not because it's factually true, but because they’ve agreed with it.

A lie believed becomes a lived reality.

This is where John 8:32 comes in with laser precision:

“Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

• If Person B ever encounters the real truth—that they are capable, made in God’s image, filled with potential—and they believe it, that truth will begin to undo the false conditioning.
• It will set them free from a lie that once shaped their identity and dictated their decisions.

"Religion will always keep you performing. Grace invites you to rest."
Lay down the scorecard, the guilt, the striving. Pick up your sonship.

1 Pet 2:10: Once you were not a people [at all], but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

2 Cor 4:1: Therefore, since we have this ministry, just as we received mercy [from God, granting us salvation, opportunities, and blessings], we do not get discouraged nor lose our motivation.

My declaration would be:

I am now God’s child and I have received mercy from the Lord. I walk with a conscious awareness of the mercy of God over my life.

1 Cor 6:11 AMP/AMPC:

And such were some of you [before you believed]. But you were washed [by the atoning sacrifice of Christ], you were sanctified [set apart for God, and made holy], you were justified [declared free of guilt] in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the [Holy] Spirit of our God [the source of the believer’s new life and changed behavior].

What is Religion?

Religion is man’s attempt to impress God. Jesus didn’t die to make you religious—He died to make you alive in Him.

Religion can be defined as man’s attempt to impress God. It is an attitude that says, “I can make something of myself, I can earn God’s favor.”

Although it may lead to good works, the religious mindset is fatally opposed to grace of God.

Religion is a form of bondage that causes a man to stand when he should bow and to strut when he should kneel. Worst of all, religious makes him see himself as a co-savior. A religious man may have sincere motives, but he is an idol-worshipper.

Jesus didn’t suffer and die to make you religious. He died to give you a new life – his life. Anything that pretends to be a substitute for the thrill of knowing him – of trusting him, being with him, and walking with him – should be rejected as inferior.

“Have you ever followed all the spiritual rules, done everything you thought you were supposed to do… and still felt far from God?

Today we’re asking one powerful question: Are you living by rules or by relationship?
Let’s look at 7 signs that you might be more religious than you realize—and how Jesus came to free us from that trap – this is likely going to be done over 2 Sundays because of the communion we have today.

Let’s start:

What is Religion?

Religion is man’s attempt to impress God. Jesus didn’t die to make you religious—He died to make you alive in Him.

Religion can be defined as man’s attempt to impress God. It is an attitude that says, “I can make something of myself, I can earn God’s favor.”

Although it may lead to good works, the religious mindset is fatally opposed to grace of God.

Religion is a form of bondage that causes a man to stand when he should bow and to strut when he should kneel. Worst of all, religious makes him see himself as a co-savior. A religious man may have sincere motives, but he is an idol-worshipper.

Jesus didn’t suffer and die to make you religious. He died to give you a new life – his life. Anything that pretends to be a substitute for the thrill of knowing him – of trusting him, being with him, and walking with him – should be rejected as inferior.

Theme Scripture:

“I pray with great faith for you, because I’m fully convinced that the One who began this gracious work in you will faithfully continue the process of maturing you until the unveiling of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
— Philippians 1:6 (TPT)

Introduction: A Word for the Weary Dreamer

This is a message for:

• The dreamer whose vision feels buried under years of delay…
• The one silently crying, “Did I make the right choice?”
• The soul groaning under invisible burdens...
• The one standing in the valley of desperation, asking, “God, is there still hope?”

Yes, there is.
Because what God starts, He finishes.