Coming to you from the Morning Star Mission sponsored studio. This is Carl and crew on Moody Radio.
Give him praise on this Freedom Friday. Boy, we love a good freedom Friday. Come on now. Come on. Ali. Freedom Friday, sister.
Freedom Friday.
Come on. See there. She can put some mustard to it. She had a little, little twang on that Friday.
Friday.
Little something there.
I don't know what it is about Freedom Friday, but you gotta have a little twang to it. I don't know. I don't know. Do you? It seems right. It seems right.
I'm becoming like Ali. I just said, do you? I never said that before.
That is very true. You have.
None.
Oh no question. Everything.
Oh, no. Oh, yeah. That's. Yeah. Ali. Yeah. She's got a question mark hanging over her head, which is good. Um. I have a fear.
Oh.
I have a lot of fears. I'm not jumping out of a plane, by the way. That's crazy.
No skydiving for you.
I don't call that fear. I just call that wisdom.
A little apprehension with heights.
Yeah, especially these guys that take these full body glider suits and jump off cliffs and then.
Oh, I can't imagine that, man.
No, I just don't get it, man. I just I love watching the videos on their GoPros, but no, I'm not doing I'm not going there. I'm staying on the ground.
I'm with.
You. Oh my goodness. But my fear revolves around something that happened at lunch in Portland, Oregon, on the river. Downtown Portland, nice little restaurant. Beautiful lunch out with a few friends. My bride, great waitress, comes out boldly coming up to the table. She says to me, fresh mahi mahi as she's coming at terminal velocity.
Oh, no.
Tried to set that plate down, but it didn't work. The entire entree. Rice. Fish. Vegetables. Lemon wedges. Plop right in my lap.
Oh, boy.
The whole thing. Oh, I mean, they're out scrambling. Here comes the general manager. Mr. Claussen, can we launder your clothes? I said they're jeans, bro. It's okay.
It's gonna be fine.
Oh, man.
It's okay, it's fine. But ever since then, when somebody brings out food to the table, I not any food. You bring out a burger or whatever. I'm not yipping about that. But I got one of my favorite joints in Des Plaines is called. I think it's called Jo Cho Dong, but it's spelled Cho dang. You know, it's one of those things. Okay, but Cho Dang has these hot pots where they come out. No kidding. They are absolutely bubbling with boiling brew. So it's a tofu beef spices.
Super spicy, man. I mean, it's great. It'll clean you out. No one walks out of there. It gets regular spice or hotter. That isn't absolutely blowing their schnozzle. It's great. Decongestant on steroids.
Wow.
But every time they set that down, I go back to Portland, Oregon. In my.
Mind.
You just get a little nervous. Well, I mean, mahi mahi I mean, does mahi mahi come hot or is it one of those. It was.
It was it was pretty hot. It wasn't the heat factor. It was just the dump in my lap factor. So when I see a boiling cauldron of goodies, I'm like, now aim that sucker. Oh, don't drop it. Oh, good. She touched down. And sometimes they walk up like, yeah, this ain't nothing but a thing, right?
Because they've done it a million times.
Yeah. And they're looking around. One time she's plopping it down. She's looking at her manager saying something to her. And I'm like, pay attention to the boiling cauldron that is being placed six inches in front of my lap. Can you feel that with me?
A little? A little bit of PTSD from.
Oh my goodness, isn't that funny how that works?
Oh, yeah.
I mean, it's just crazy. You know, it's one thing when you're worried about someone else, but when you've got control over things yourself. I really hope that you have a question mark about, am I going to miss the mark for eternity in life today? I really do. I hope that there is a holy gut check in you where you ask, wow, am I born again? Apostle Paul said, examine yourself to see if you're in the faith. And by the way, this isn't about being freaked out about
whether or not you're born again. An imperfection in followers of Christ. It happens. This is about when you're when you're born again. There is conviction. And I tell most people who go, man, I'm just freaked out. I don't know if I'm born again. And I tell them, first off, your concern is one of the greatest evidences that you are, because all that then fills in the blank is by faith. You ready to surrender all to Jesus Christ. And they're like, oh,
I've done that. You know what you struggle with? You struggle with condemnation or conviction not dealt with in your life. But my greater concern are the people that suffer from some barriers to salvation. This morning on this Freedom Friday, I want to give you the three barriers to salvation and what God wants to do with you. This morning he brought you here for a reason. Some of you have been praying for loved ones or wondering how to
pray for loved ones. That's the bigger thing, isn't it, Ali? It's kind of like, oh, what do I do? I've got a I've got a child, I got a husband, I got a wife, I got a friend, I got a neighbor, I've got this person. I go to church with someone, but they they don't know Christ. And what do I do? Well, it's it's the Holy Spirit's work.
But there are things that we can do. And as we look at these three barriers to salvation, I pray that lights go on and that liberty reigns supreme on this Freedom Friday.
Your shot of hope to help you through the day. This is Carl and crew on Moody Radio.
I love this story out of acts 16. It's about the missionary journey. Paul and Silas actually find their way via a vessel through Neapolis on to Philippi. And then they go into the city, and they sit down with a group of women, and they sat down and spoke to the women who had come together. And then it says in verse 14, this really cool one who heard us. Isn't that funny? So they spoke to a group of women. One who heard us was a great woman named Lydia.
She was a seller of purple from the city of Thyatira. And the Lord opened her heart to pay attention. So they're speaking to these women. But one heard, isn't that great?
I love that distinction.
Oh, isn't that beautiful?
I wish more heard, but at the same time, I love. I love the this one person. The Lord cut through her heart and she said, hey, I'm all in.
So there's a few things here going on, but one is when we preach the gospel or when we share with a friend. I've had this happen many times when I've been preaching the clear gospel of Jesus, and I see people. This last Sunday I was preaching the gospel at our church in the campus in Elk Grove, and I saw three high school boys. In fact, I was talking to some guys afterwards. They say, you see those high school boys, they just know no mom or dad in the church. They just join 180 Chicago.
That's great.
Three high school boys, they are sitting on the. And when I say, you know, sitting on the edge of your seat, usually that's a you know, that's.
An expression.
An expression there on the edge of their seat. One guy I felt like saying to him, dude, go back a couple inches, you're about to do a face plant just leaning in.
Wow.
But then in the audience you can see some people that are hearing, but they're not hearing. Isn't that something?
And can you observe even in the body language?
I think I know in the spirit and the body language what's going on? I don't always get it right.
Sure.
But I often do. But here's what's amazing in this story here in acts 16, they spoke to these women and one heard. Now, there might have been more, but one heard. And they're they're focusing on Lydia. And they said, and the Lord opened her heart. Wow, is that awesome, Ali?
And that's what has to happen. I mean, lest we think that it's us opening our own heart. I mean, we have a part in it, but ultimately it's the spirit that has to draw us. Yeah, yeah.
I have such joy in my heart because, boom! Crew, you're off the hook. You share your story, you talk about the Lord. You sit down with the men and women. You sit down with those boys and girls, and you pray, Lord, open the heart of one cause. One to hear I'm speaking cause one to hear. Isn't that beautiful, guys?
It is.
I mean, isn't it beautiful? Okay, coming up here in three minutes, I'm going to share. I'm going to speak the gospel. Three barriers to salvation. And I'm going to ask the Lord to open your heart to hear.
This is Curling Crew on Moody Radio.
I'm going to speak the gospel here, and I am praying that the Lord causes you to hear. What a beautiful thing, man. Pressure's off here. There are three barriers to salvation, and I'm going to go through them quickly. The first is rebellion. Just good old fashioned rebellion, you might say. Well, really? Yeah. In Romans one we find for the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men. And that makes sense,
who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived ever since the creation of the world in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. Here's an amazing reality of this text. All you got to do is look around at creation and go, oh my goodness. I mean, I put bird feed out in our feeders
again and those things are coming back. And I just sat looking through the slats of our blinds yesterday for just a couple of minutes. These birds are so amazingly built. I mean, these guys are amazing and they can't see I see them, so I'm really up close and personal, you know what I'm saying? And and I'm watching these things and I'm like, man, how can you how can you not see God? You know what I'm saying? Yeah,
but here's the reality. A heart that's hard can look at all of creation and go, I'm not going your way. Rebellion is one. Blindness is another. Second Corinthians four three through four says, and even if our gospel is veiled. This is Paul's preaching here. it is veiled to those who are perishing, in their case, the God of this world, that Satan has blinded the minds of unbelievers. Great. We got a blinding problem going on here. Now I just want to speak to this one. Some of it is
just straight up light pollution. You cannot see stars in the city of Chicago. Not well with all the light pollution. And sometimes we are blinded from the light of Jesus Christ because we've got so much stuff. Light polluting the ability to see the one who loves us. Maybe God is taking you out of town spiritually today. Maybe he's taking you to the woods and you're looking up, going, oh, you're speaking, but I think I'm hearing it for the
first time, Carl. Another barrier to salvation is deception. We hear this a lot around here. Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my father who is in heaven. On that day, many, many will say to me, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, cast out demons in your name, and do mighty works in your name? And then I will declare to them, I never knew you. Depart from me, you
workers of lawlessness. So this is really simple. I've just been speaking here for a few moments. We've just been speaking. And the question is, is someone hearing? Because just like Lydia, the seller of purple from the town of Thyatira, the Lord opened her heart. Maybe the Lord's open in your heart today. And I want to ask you, are you ready to surrender your life to Jesus Christ for the
first time ever? No more rebellion. You look at creation today and go, I don't know how I didn't see it before, but this heart of stone you're turning into a heart of flesh. I see it and I surrender. Maybe it's been blindness. I don't know what kind of light pollution I had, but I did not see the light of the world. And I see him right now so clearly. And maybe it's deception. I thought all my Christian stuff could get me right with God. And it hasn't.
And you're hearing the voice of God. You're not hearing my voice. You're not hearing alleys or Young Thunder's voice. You're hearing the voice of God saying, come on, give me your life. And I want to tell you how. Jesus said to a troubled heart, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man can go to the father but through me. No woman can get there but through Jesus he said, I am the way. He got to turn around. Repent. Surrender your life and follow
Jesus Christ today. All in. It's not looking over your shoulder saying, hey, I know you're there. It's turning around. Saying, I'm going with you today. Too many people in church saying, hey, I know he's there. He's a good man. Today you're surrendering all that you are to Jesus. I am the way. I'm the truth, he said. The truth is this we're sinners born with our backs to God. Alli born with your back to God. Right.
Every single one of us. Yes. I was born with my back to God.
Born with your back to God. And it means you gotta repent. Turn around. And in order to repent, you got to know that there's a reason to turn around. Yeah. You gotta admit I'm a sinner. I'm missing the mark. I admit it. I'm not doing it. It's not working. I give my life to Jesus. See, belief in Jesus real biblical belief is the full and total surrender of your life to him. It sure ain't perfection, but it's just surrender. It's like saying, I'm jumping in your arms
right now and he's got you. And I'm asking you right now, is that you? I've been speaking, but have you been hearing. And if you have, the Lord has opened your heart. And I want you to pray with me right now. This is a prayer of faith. I don't care where you are in this world right now. I don't care where you are. What state, what burg. I don't care if you are. You might have us on Wi-Fi at 30,000ft. You might. I don't care where you are right now. Today is your day of salvation.
It's a cry of the heart. You might whisper along. You might shout aloud. You don't have to say a word. Your heart surrendered to God is an act of faith. And it's putting words to your soul just like this. Say it with me today I give up, God, I surrender. I'm turning around today. You've had a heart of rebellion. Maybe you've been blind. Maybe you've been deceived. But today you're going in a new way. No more barriers. Is that you? All in with Jesus, holding nothing back. Count
the cost. Think about it. It's going to. This is going to change some things now, friend. Whole new direction. It's the best life ever. I can testify to that. But this is a new day. Is that a new day for you? Is it good? All in with Jesus today? Good. Holding nothing back, right? Brand new. Never had this kind of surrender before. The surrender before maybe was just cries to God with, you know, giving him one hand. He wants both hands, both feet, all in with Jesus today.
Is that you? Good. I'm going to pray for you. And then we're going to give you a link to help you. God. Thank you. We've been speaking, summer hearing because the Lord opens the heart and I give you thanks in the name of Jesus that you're still working miracles today. God, you're still taking rebels with hard hearts, and you're taking, uh, blind people with light pollution. And you're you're showing them the the light of the world, and you're taking those in deception and you're showing them
the truth. That you are the way, the truth and the life. Now God flood them with life. Flood this young lady with life, this older gentleman with life, this teenager listening right now. Flood them with life. And I give you praise in Jesus name. Amen. We want to help you, Ali. Walk them through what they're going to get here.
Yeah. We have a resource that we're going to send to you. If you text the word new to 855 five 7898. Just text new to 855 five 7898. You're going to get an auto reply to your phone. Click the link. Read through it very carefully. There's some hyperlinks embedded in there. What to look for in a church. How to make sure that I've got a Bible in my hands, and an opportunity to get a resource sent to your home from us. So if you today, today you are turning to Jesus for salvation. There's no other
name by which men will be saved. Just text the word new to 855 7898, new to 800, 555 7898.
And if you listen closely, there's angels celebrating what God's doing in you. It's a new day, friend.
He was sharing the gospel on the radio and then he got saved. Young thunders in the crew. It's Carl and crew on Moody Radio.
Okay, this is a big aha moment here. And this is a great inductive study on this Freedom Friday. I want you to know the pressure is off. Imagine what Paul and Silas would have felt if they were called by God to head on a voyage through Neapolis, Samothrace, first Neapolis, and then on to the district of Macedonia into Philippi, and to plop down with a group of women and share the gospel. Imagine if they were commissioned
by God, saying, you got to go save people. Man, that pressure would have been heavy.
Oh goodness. Yeah, you would have been thinking about it all the time. Every time someone didn't listen to you, you would have been like, oh man, I didn't get that one. I think I was supposed to get that one.
Oh, yeah? Yeah. And I didn't say that just right.
Yep.
You ever had that before?
Oh, yes.
I didn't say that just right.
Boy.
It's such a common one. That's like, every time, every time I go, oh, I don't know, I don't know. I could have done better there. I could have done better.
And you know, how you do better is when you realize the pressure's off.
Amen.
So this story from Lydia, from Thyatira, who was a seller of purple, is one awesome example because I don't know who else heard, but they spoke. And the way the narrative goes until the story. Ali. And then you can read what you want to read. But this is a great story. I mean, this is they sat down and what did they do? They began to speak the gospel. Right?
And Lydia heard.
She heard.
She heard and her heart was opened.
Yeah. And the coolest thing here is found in verse 14. And it says the Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was said. Isn't that awesome?
Yeah, I love that.
Have you ever sat down with someone that you really love? And you're like, they're hearing me, but they are not hearing me?
Yeah. You just feel like. You feel like it's kind of going in one ear and out the other.
Oh, yeah. Or you feel like it's like they've got this, um, it's kind of like an airfoil, like a race car. And it's like your message is like air over a race car. It's like.
Yeah, just kind.
Of over the top and back.
Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. And there's nothing you can do about that. That's not up to you. It's up to what God's going to do in them.
The pressure's off. Well, Carl, what do I do? You know what? I'm going to boil it down here. Matthew 516. Let your light so shine before men and women, boys and girls, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your father who is in heaven. That's for sure. Something we can do, right, Ali?
Yeah. I mean, and when you have good information, you have good intercession. You always say that.
Yes, yes, yes.
When you have good information, then you pray rightly.
Yeah.
For people.
So you pray. So you pray. How can you pray according to this Lydia story? How can you pray?
Well, you can pray that someone would first listen, that they would be willing to sit down and have the conversation. Okay. You can pray that they would not just hear the words and that it would go into their ears, but that they would actually hear it and it would go into their heart.
Yeah.
You can also pray that God would take the pressure off of you and just allow His Spirit to speak through your words.
Okay, that's a cool implication from the text, isn't it?
Absolutely.
Here's what's cool. Paul and Silas came in. They sat down. They knew this is the Lord's work because that's what is written by Doctor Luke in Acts 16. And the Lord opened her heart. Yeah. How cool that we don't have to open our kids hearts to the Lord.
It's so freeing, because when we feel like the pressure's on us and we. We start to strive, we start to beg and plead, and it becomes more about us.
Us. I mean, we're panicked.
And it's not that we don't. It's not like about us in terms of a selfishness aspect, because our heart, our heart's desire, is to see our unsaved loved one come to know Jesus. But it becomes about, okay, how can I do this better?
Yeah, it really can. Yeah. So coming up, we're going to do something crazy here. We're going to pray that the pressure is off of you today. We're going to pray for you. We can pray for you as Christ followers, that the freedom that you would feel today is that the Lord has opened their heart. Okay, you know what that gives you? It gives you the latitude to tend
to your own lordship, to tend to. All right. If I don't have that pressure on me, I now can actually tend to me shining brightly rather than me getting it rightly. Little iteration there for you. And that's liberty, isn't it, Ali?
It is. It is. Because then you're trusting in the Lord who opens hearts. Yes. And you're not trusting in your own ability to convince somebody of something.
Who has felt the pressure to save a loved one, a friend or a neighbor. And you've carried it around for years. You've thought, I got to get this right. Just text in. We're not going to read out numbers. I just want to hear how many of you have suffered with that. We know we get tip of the iceberg, but who here has suffered with that? That's what I thought.
Or that's me just texting something like that. 855 five 7898 you thought it was on you, or maybe you knew it wasn't, but today, now it's like, all right, this Lydia's story makes it clear the Lord opened her heart. Boom. Now I can pray. 855 five 7898. Who thought it was on you? Or at least you felt the weight of something being on you that God never intended? And today may be your freedom is is that it's not on you who was stuck there. And today you're getting it.
Just text us 805, 55, 78, 98, 805, 55, 78, 98. We're not going to read out numbers, and we don't have names and we're just going to celebrate this. They're coming in now 805 55 Five, 7898. Somebody said yep. When someone says I have, that's me. See? They're coming in here and can I. Big confession. Are you ready for this? That's me. And you know what? You can be clear on this today. And like a banana peel on a sidewalk, you can slip back into it tomorrow.
You got to hold on to these truths. Look at the responses pouring in here.
I mean, so many people have felt this, this sort of pressure of, I have to get them saved me. I got to do it.
And if they don't follow Jesus, that's my.
Fault.
We're going to pray for you coming up on this Freedom Friday, because the greatest powerful witnesses in light shining know that it's God who saves souls. All you do is shine and share. That's it.
She's a choreographer extraordinaire and everything is Greek to her. Super di is in the crew. It's Carl and crew on Moody Radio.
On this Freedom Friday. Couple things are happening. People are surrendering to Jesus. But here is the beauty. In acts 16, we get a story of Lydia. She's a seller of purple. She's a entrepreneur. And she happened to be huddled up with a group of ladies in Philippi. And Paul and Silas sailed into town by way of Neapolis and Samothrace first, and then Neapolis, into the district of Macedonia and then
into Philippi. And they sit down and they speak. But at least one person heard what a huge thing, guys. They spoke. At least one heard. And that was Lydia. And you know why the Lord opened her heart. Were Paul and Silas swashbuckling gospel presenters. Actually, Paul was a little bit insecure about his ability to communicate well. So here's the deal. The pressure's off. God is the one who saves the Holy Spirit. Convicts of sin. It's the
Lord that opens hearts. He pulls down blinders. He takes a heart of stone and turns it into a heart of flesh. We can pray. We can share. We can shine. We can get it all right. Actually, you can have a three point outline with a poem at the end. And that doesn't necessarily mean that anyone will really hear unless the Lord opens their heart, but he can. Ellie, I want you to pray this back over people. We've got so many responding, going, shoot, man, I felt so long.
I just somebody said, I've. I've felt the weight of trying to save my sons for years. And this sets me free today. Isn't that awesome?
Yeah, it really is. So let's pray. Lord, we come to you and just thank you that you are sovereign over all things. Lord. And I pray, Lord, that as you give us opportunities, first help us to be faithful as ambassadors, that we would be those who let our light shine before men, that people would see our good deeds and praise you in heaven. Help us to live
those kind of lives. And Lord, when you lead us into moments where we have the opportunity to speak, I pray that you would remove pressure, that you would remove unbelief, that you would remove doubt, and that you would give us full freedom to speak as you would lead. And Lord, for the person who is going to hear us, Lord, allow hearts to be opened. Please, Lord, would you give someone, even today. Even this weekend. Give them ears to hear
what you are saying through us. Open their heart. Help them to pay attention, Lord, not to our words, but to you, God. I pray that we would see people saved even this weekend. God, as we're gathering, as we're attending sporting events and family gatherings and other things that happen on the weekend. Lord, I pray that this verse would come to mind all across Chicagoland and beyond. This would come to mind that we would speak and that
you would open hearts to pay attention. Lord, it's your work and not ours, and we thank you that you allow us to play even a small part in it. The pressure's off and we thank you. In Jesus name. Amen.
Amen. The Lord opened her heart to pay attention. They were speaking. Lydia heard the pressure's off. Ali prayed. It gives you more freedom to shine more brightly and gives you more freedom to not get it perfectly. Isn't that. Isn't that I. I want to just I want to I want to jump in a pool somewhere, man. I mean, this is liberating stuff, guys.
It really is. Because, you know, there's a lot of conversations around evangelism. And, you know, I think especially with young people, young people are always kind of like, you got to get out there. You got to share your faith. You got to share your faith. And I think if you've grown up in Christian, in kind of a Christian culture, you sort of absorb this low grade pressure of, okay, I.
Got.
To do it. I got to do it, I got to do it. They might not know Jesus. The Lord is the one who opens hearts.
He does. Okay, cool. Fun little announcement coming up here. It's Freedom Friday, guys whom the son sets free is free indeed.