"Highlight Reel" 5-3-2026 (Communion Sunday)

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:02

Welcome to the Life Family Church German podcast. If this is your first time listening, you can check us out on our website at lifefamily. Now let's get right to the message.

SPEAKER_01 0:17

I was in the office before church and I was just going to pray. And um just the presence of God just came in the room. And just the anointing of God, the power of God, I just couldn't control myself. I was just crying. Just God is so good. Amen. I I know we've all experienced God in certain ways, and and um man, but there's something, there's something stirring. It's in the atmosphere. It's something just powerful that God is doing in this region, in this church. And um I just want to be a part of it. I was in the office just saying, Lord, I yield to you. I yield to you. I want to be a vessel that's yielded to you. I want to receive everything you have for me. And Lord, I want to step out and be bold. I want to step out in faith and experience things that I've never experienced before in my life. I've been to church all my life. I was cutting my teeth on the pew. I mean, I'm serious. I've been to Holy Ghost, Pentecostal, Holy Ghost movements all my life. And I just believe that there's something stirring in this church that's special. And it's because you're special. It's because God has called you. It's because God has equipped this body to do something for him. And all my desire is is, Lord, if you're going to move, if you're going to do something special in this area, I just want to be a part of it. I want to yield to it. I want to be an instrument. The Bible talks about being instruments of righteousness. Everyone that's been born again, guess what? Your new nature is I'm righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. And if you would, and if you wanted to, you can yield yourself, yield your members unto God as an instrument of righteousness. And let Him begin to play His masterpiece through your life. God has something for each and every one of you all to accomplish. You have a destiny on your life. You have a purpose for your life. You're not just here by accident. You're not just here because someone invited you. You're here because Almighty God has called you to be here for this time, for this day, right now. And God has a plan for your life. A wonderful plan for your life. But God, He's a sovereign God, He's an awesome God. He does not have a wonderful plan for your plan, for what you want to do. It's a calling that only comes when you yield to Him and walk where He wants you to go and do what He wants you to do. So today is Communion Sunday, and I'm excited about it. We get to join with each other and remember the Lord Jesus Christ and what He did for us and how He died for us, and then He rose from the dead for us. And now He's seated at the right hand of the Father and He said, Do these things in remembrance of me. I remember as a little child, probably I was I don't say a little child, I was probably almost kind of preteen, and I was playing basketball and I loved basketball, and my brother introduced me to a guy from North Carolina by the name of Michael Jordan. Any of y'all ever heard of that name? And I remember watching him in college when I was younger, and then he went to the Chicago Bulls. And I remember as a child, 13, 14, 15-year-old, 16-year-old, all through my teenage years turning on WGN to find out what time the Bulls were playing. How many of y'all are with me? Do I have any Bulls fans in here? A few, few, not very many Bulls fans. Come on, help me out, guys, if you're a Bull fan. Yeah. You might not be a Bulls fan, but I guarantee you, when Michael Jordan was on TV, how many of you guys were watching TV? Yeah, there you go. That's a little bit more people. There was something special about it. He was a special athlete. There was no one else like him at the time. Nobody. He was just special. He could do things that no one else was able to do. He was awesome. And I remember the excitement would start to stir because it was about game time. And I remember at the Chicago Stadium, they'd turn off the lights. And the fog would settle, and the Megatron would start to have that bull's head rolling around. And the announcer would go through the names of all the guests, and then he'd go through the names of Scottie Pippen and Ron Harper and Luke Longley, Luke, and all these people. He'd go through, and then he'd get to one name: a six guard from North Carolina. And I'd get chills just thinking about it, man. Just Michael Jordan, and everybody just go crazy, and I'm just on the edge of my seat. I'm like, what's he gonna do next? Those were awesome times. And if you're a teenager in here today and you didn't get to experience that, I feel bad for you. Because all you have is LeBron James and Stephen Curry, which is they're fine. Don't get me wrong, they're amazing athletes. But there was something about Michael Jordan. He was different. He was different. There was nobody like him. Nobody. And I remember as a kid, uh now I'm a little bit older, and Michael Jordan decided to retire. It was gonna be over. And he played his last game, and I was bummed out. I'm like, well, maybe he'll come right, maybe he'll come back again, maybe he'll come back again. He never came back. He was done. It was after the baseball years and after, you know, the waste of time. Like he came back and then he ended his career and it was over. And it was an end of an era. But I still to this day, my kids know it, my wife knows it, will still go on YouTube and watch those old highlight films of Michael Jordan. And just have a good time remembering all those plays and all those moments in history where he remember the one where he jumps up against the Lakers and switches hands in the middle of the air and goes with the left hand. Remember that? That was awesome. I watched that game. And I watched all the other games pretty much. I loved watching them because he was amazing. And I still to this day, I think I make my kids mad. I'm like, turn on these old highlight films of Michael Jordan just to remember, to reflect, to have a great time enjoying what used to be. Sometimes I'll get my kids together, and I'm ashamed to say this. I'll get my kids together and I'll make them watch old basketball games of me when I was a kid. They're so excited right now. Watch daddy, watch me, watch me. And I'd play these old videos. It's like literally almost black and white. No joke. It looks black and white. But I'm actually on YouTube, by the way. Yeah, I am. If you ever want to know where I'm at, let me just come to me and I'll tell you. The Bible says in Psalms 145, verse 4: one generation shall praise your works to another and shall declare your mighty acts. You see, that is something that meant something to me. I wanted to reflect that to my kids. I wanted to show them what I experienced when I was their age, the Michael Jordan age, that era, and then when I was playing basketball, trying to act like Michael Jordan, but could not do it. You know. And those moments I wanted them to see. It just meant something to me. Um I think about those times where I would make them sit and watch me play, and I know that they were probably just bored, but it meant something to me. It meant something to me. I want my kids to know who I was and how I was raised. I I I was I was raised on a farm. I remember as a child growing up around cattle, growing up with with uh garden, uh growing up with fruit trees, and we used to play baseball with walnuts that would fall out of the walnut tree until I hit a car going down the road. You know, we we had a good time, and I and I wanted my kids to experience that kind of thing when they grew up. And that actually was one of the driving factors why I wanted land and and a house so that they could experience that kind of joy growing up on a farm and and seeing those things. So my wife decided to buy two Great Pyrenees, brought them home, and then she bought a bunch of chickens. My neighbor bought the chicken, she said it was okay. We were in a rental house in a subdivision with HOA rules, and here we are with Great Pyrenees and chickens, and she was getting prepared because we were about to move to a farm. And we had, when we moved, we had chickens, we had goats, we had dogs, more dogs, and then she wanted more dogs and another dog, and then we got rid of one dog and got another dog, and then we got a cat to top it all off. A cat. I already said a goat, yeah. And a rabbit. I forgot the rabbit. Yes, a rabbit that was like this big. I'm not kidding you. One of those Flemish giant rabbits. But I remember when we bought the house and we had all those things going on, and my and I remember Bella used to drive my mower around. She thought that was a lot of fun. I'm sorry if I'm embarrassing you, but she used to drive my little craftsman mower around everywhere, and that was like I just remember sitting on my truck and just sitting there and saying, Thank you, God, that they're getting to experience this. And I had a good time watching them. And those moments are probably in your history as well, where you have moments in your life you'd just like to sit back and reminisce every once in a while and remember the good old days, right? Well, that's exactly how the Lord is when it comes to his plan for your life. He wants you to remember everything about what he did for you and why he did what he did. And he wants you to sit back and enjoy the time of reminiscing about the good old days and what he did for you. But more importantly, not just what he did, but what he's doing today, even now. You see, because his plan and his purpose didn't end in the past. He transcend, he transcends time. What he did with it was that was great in the past. He is even, he's even doing it right now, and he's gonna do it into the future. The goodness of God never stops. We're always in the goodness of God. I remember one day we were burning some lumber, some trash from a job, and there was an eagle that was just like for some odd reason, just round and round, just circling the fire when me and her brother were burning wood, and he was just amazed at this eagle. Like I've never seen an eagle that close. Just, I mean, he was literally about as high as the ceiling, just hovering over us. I didn't know why, but this word came out of me just immediately. I said, today is tomorrow's good old days. And I'm like, whoa, I need to write that down. Today is tomorrow's good old days. You see, we're always looking back to the good old days, but we need to remember that right now is the good old days. That what you're doing now, we're gonna look back 10 years from now and say, boy, those were the good old days. When you have that little baby that maybe is a little rambunctious right now, a little wild right now, a little wild cat, you know, running around. But you're gonna look back and you're gonna say, Man, those were the good old days. I wish I could get that back. I wish I could do it all over again. I think about my kids and I think, man, I I would do this all over again. If we could go back, rewind it all, I would do it over again. And I think it's awesome that if I think about that and I want to do it all over again, I would do it all over again if I could. If you're a parent here and your kids are older now, would you not do it all over again? Of course we'd do it with a lot more wisdom, with a lot more freedom, with a lot more, just relax and just enjoy it a little bit more. You know, and that's why it's important for you older people to be able to tell these younger guys it's okay. It's gonna be okay. I know they're they're a little wild right now, but it's okay. It's all right. You know what? You're gonna miss these days, and these are moments you'll never forget. So I think these are important that we we talk to those who are coming up behind us and explain to them the goodness of God. We explain to them how how I went through trials, I went through pain, I've lost people, I've gone through tragedy, I've gone through hurt that is unbearable. But God, who is rich in mercy, wherewith his great love came in when I needed him the most, and he gave me the grace to walk through step by step. It wasn't easy, it wasn't the most pleasant thing, but Jesus was standing right beside me and he was walking me step by step. You older saints should be encouraging the younger saints that God has got this and you're gonna be okay and you're gonna make it. Yeah, you might be struggling in finances right now. There was a time in my life where I didn't know where we were gonna get our next paycheck, I didn't know how we were gonna feed our kids, I didn't do, I didn't know what we were gonna do, and I was ashamed of it because I knew I should be better off than this. But God, who is rich in mercy, he can change it all. And he can make a way where there seems to be no way, and he's the way maker. Amen. So we can encourage those who are coming up behind us. Remember when God did this for me? He will do it for you. Amen. He will do it for you. He is no respecter of person, he's the same yesterday, today, and forever. Amen. He loves you. So if you're out there and you're younger and you're going through something, guys, or if you're older, God has got this. And we've got to place our hands in his hands and say, lead us and guide us through this. Amen. When I was watching all these reruns of Michael Jordan and myself playing basketball and all these home videos, those are typically highlight reels of your life. Because I didn't let them watch the whole game where I missed that layup or I tripped and fell. I let them watch the times where I was balling, where I was on fire and I was hitting shots, and I'm like, well, I don't understand. I'm just, I'm just that good, you know? And I'm, I mean, I'm letting them watch these things, and those are highlight reels of our life. Well, you know, there's one life that we must never reduce down to just a highlight reel, and that is the life of Jesus. That needs to be on um on our computer at all times. That needs to be on that VHS tape at all times, the life of Jesus, the life of Jesus. Focus everything you do on the life of Jesus. Always visit that every day. Go back to what he did for you every day. Don't ever look at Jesus as a highlight reel. Well, he used to heal, he used to set free, he used to deliver, he used to cast out devils, he used to raise the dead. But that was the past. No, let me tell you something. If God did it then, he'll do it now. Amen. And he can resurrect anything in your life if you'll just yield it over to him and say, Come, do with me, do with me anything you want to do. I trust you, Lord. I trust you. The life of Jesus was never meant to just be a highlight reel. It was meant for us to experience daily. Daily. We weren't there when he walked the earth. We wasn't there physically to see him raise the dead. We weren't there. We didn't see him go to his mother-in-law's house and pray for her to be healed and receive her healing from a fever. We didn't see that. But do you believe it happened? Amen. We do. It very well, if we would have watched the whole video, he might have been like, Peter might have been like, I'm okay if she's in bed a few more days. We're good. Jesus wanted to heal. And he loved people. You see, we have a God who's ever-present right now, but yet at the same time, we have to reflect back on what he did for us and how he set us free and delivered us and made a way where there was no way. Deuteronomy 6, verse 6 and 7 says, And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children. But because unlike a basketball legend now on YouTube, Jesus didn't just leave us highlight reels, he gave us a way to remember him. He gave us a way to remember him. Today we're going to take communion. In Luke 22, verse 19 and 20, it says, And he took the bread and gave thanks and broke it and gave it to them, saying, This is my body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me. Likewise he also took the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new covenant in my blood which is shed for you. This is how we remember the Lord is by taking communion. This is not just a thing we do just because we have to, because it's a religious ritual or something that's just, you know, we have to do it because all the other churches are doing it. This is something we do that Jesus instructed us to do to remember Him. Just like I You know, go and watch reruns of things just like you'll go and watch John Wayne movies or or Gunsmoke or whatever you watch. Those movies have been on for years. We'll go back and revisit all the time and just have a lot of joy with it. We're not supposed to do this in a burdensome way, but we're going to remember him in joy. Remember that he healed the sick, raised the dead, cast out devils, and he'll do the same for you. Every time we take communion, we're not going through the ritual, we're stepping into remembrance. For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death till he comes. You're proclaiming the death, burial, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ until he comes. So not only is it remembering, it's a proclamation that you're making when you partake the bread and drink the wine. A few more things. When you don't know what to do next, you should always declare He is risen. He is risen. Because even though you're going through trials, even though you're going through pain, you have a promise that He has rose from the dead. And that He is victorious. Amen. So if He's victorious, guess what? We're victorious. If He has risen, guess what? We are going to be risen. If He comes out triumphant, guess what? We're going to come out triumphant. And that nothing shall by any means harm you or keep you down. Because we have a God who has resurrection power. And his resurrection power dwells on the inside of the believer. If we don't teach our children to remember these things, the world will be happy to teach them to forget. So we've got to be very disciplined as parents to teach our children the things of the Lord. To not only bring them to church, but after you leave church at night, you declare the works of the Lord and you show them the highlight reels of what the Lord's done in your life. You show them the goodness of God and the land of the living. You show them exactly what the Lord has called you to do. You explain to them the things of God. You have deep conversations with your children about how God has set you free and given you victory when it seems like life had just beaten you down. Those are times that you will be thankful that you did it. Because just like you, someone taught you the word of God, and you have to hand that down to your children, this next generation, so that they will remember the things of God. And they won't let it slip. You know it only takes one generation to forget the freedom and the liberty that was that was purchased for us. As a nation, think about it. We're one generation away from being a communist nation. If we don't tell people what they did for us and how the Revolutionary War took place, and all the if we don't explain the history of what took place, they won't know. Let's just work to give to other people. They'll think that. Why not? Because it just sounds good, right? It just sounds good. And it's sad that our nation has come to the point where we're going to give you free stuff. We're going to give you free stuff, and everybody buys it, hook, line, and sinker. It's not about free stuff, guys. Someone paid a price. Someone paid the ultimate price for your freedom. So we have to take this serious and not let it slip and make sure our children and our children's children and our children's children's children's children know the goodness of our God. Amen. So when we partake communion, that's exactly what we're doing. We're remembering Him and we're declaring and proclaiming the Lord's death till he comes. And guess what? He's coming. Soon and very soon we're going to see the King. Amen. It won't be too long. And guess what? If he prolongs that for another 120 years, soon and very soon you're going to see the King. Amen. We think, boy, if I could only live 120 years, even if you lived 120 years, baby, it's going to go like that. We all gonna see the king pretty soon. Amen. And what we leave behind will be the legacy we left to our children and our children's children. I don't know about you, but I'm gonna want my kids in heaven. I want my kids and my grandkids and my great-grandkids in heaven, glorifying Jesus with me for eternity. And that takes you making a commitment in your life that I'm gonna declare and proclaim the works of the Lord in my life. And I'm gonna tell my grandkids, I'm gonna tell my great-grandkids, I'm gonna declare the goodness of God, and I'm gonna play over and over and rehearse it over and over and make them watch this all the time. That God is good and his mercy endures forever. Amen. So don't ever stop. Don't ever think for a moment, well, this is just a ritual or this is just a habit we get into. This is not a habit. This is necessary. We do the things we do, we come to church because it's necessary, because we need each other. It gives us strength, and we can give our testimony to those around us and encourage one another, build each other up, strengthen one another by remembering the goodness of God and worshiping together and experiencing his goodness. Every time we come together, it's a wonderful time to reflect on the goodness of God. Today, as we take communion, before we take it, I'm gonna read Psalms one forty-five. But as we take communion today, we're not doing it in a ritualistic way. We're doing this with purpose. My mom told me years ago she was in a service where they were taking communion and people were being healed. And she showed me, or she was explaining to me that people were taking the bread and they were eating it, and the Lord was healing their bodies. And I remember hearing about it. And then we read in the scripture where this is my body that was broken for you, and that by his stripes you were healed. So it's backed up by scripture that these things are true and they do happen, and they do happen here, and it can happen today. Amen. As we remember the Lord is our healer, as we partake, we're taken with purpose. That when I partake this, I partake the Lord's body, and I thank you that I'm healed by your stripes. We're receiving something from the Lord. I know that the wine represents the Holy Spirit and the new covenant. The blood was shed to ratify this new covenant. That when you receive Jesus, you step into a new nature in Christ Jesus. The old has passed away, and behold, all things are become new. So when you drink the wine, the grape juice today, when you partake it, you are partaking of your new nature in Christ Jesus. And that cost was his shed blood, and he did it for you because he loves you. And guess what? If he could go back and do it again, he would do it again. Because he loves you that much. Just like you loved your kids, and you would go back, and you would go through the trial, and you would go through the hurt, and you would do everything over again just to experience them growing up again, and you would do it over and over and over again. Why? Because he loves us, he loves us that much. Jimmy, if you want to come on, brother. Let's not remember casually, but intentionally. Because when we remember him, we keep his life alive for this next generation. I'm gonna read Psalms 145. I will extol you, O my God, my King. I will bless your name forever and ever. Every day I will bless you, and I will praise your name forever and ever. Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised, and his greatness is unsearchable. One generation shall praise your works to another generation and shall declare your mighty acts. I will meditate on the glorious splendor of your majesty and on your wondrous works. Men shall speak of the might of your awesome acts, and I will declare your greatness. They shall utter the memory of your great goodness, and shall sing of your righteousness. The Lord is gracious and full of compassion, slow to anger and great in mercy. The Lord is good to all, and his tender mercies are over all his works. All your works shall praise you, all your works shall praise you, O Lord, and your saints shall bless you. They shall speak of the glory of your kingdom, and shall talk of your power to make known the sons of men, his mighty acts, and the glorious majesty of his kingdom. Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures throughout all generations. The Lord upholds all who fall and rises up all those who raises up all those who are bowed down. The eyes of all look expectantly to you, and you give them their food in due season. You open their hand and satisfy the desire of every living thing. The Lord is righteous in all his ways, gracious in all his work. The Lord is near to all that call upon him, to all who call upon him in truth. He will fulfill the desire of those who fear him. He also will hear their cry and save them. The Lord preserves all who love him, but all the wicked he will destroy. My mouth shall speak the praises of the Lord, and all flesh shall bless his holy name forever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever in Jesus' name. Amen. Let's all stand up. If you have not received Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior and you're here today and you would like to receive Him, if you would just slip out from where you are and come up here to the front, I want to pray with you and lead you to Jesus. I want you to know Him. I want I want to ex- I want just to give you the opportunity to know Him personally in your life because He loves you and He is not ashamed of you, and He wants to heal you. First spiritually, but after that, He'll heal your body as well. So if you don't know Jesus and you would like to receive Jesus, that is the most important decision you'll ever make in your life whatsoever. Hallelujah. Amen. Praise the Lord. Come up here, sweet. Praise the Lord. Thank you, Jesus. I want you to pray this prayer with me. Say, dear Lord Jesus, I accept you as my Lord and Savior. I reject all sin. And I call to you to be my Lord and my Savior. I receive you. And I call you my Lord.

SPEAKER_02 36:25

Thank you, Jesus. Lord, I thank you that she's a child of God.

SPEAKER_01 36:34

And her life is forever changed. For eternity. That she's going to get to spend eternity with you, Jesus. And praise you forever and ever. Thank you, Lord, for this soul saved. In Jesus' name. Thank you, Jesus, for blessing her. Strengthening her, Lord. And Lord, I pray that she'll just surround herself with women of faith who will encourage her and declare the works of the Lord over her life and strengthen her so that her life will be transformed by the renewing of her mind. In the name of Jesus, I thank you for Jesus' name.

SPEAKER_02 37:24

Thank you, Jesus. Bless you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus.

SPEAKER_01 37:38

This church loves you. We do. And we want to be here for you. And we commit to you to help raise you up in the things of the Lord. And we want to continue to bless your life. Amen. Amen. Everything in your life has been forgiven. Passed. It's gone. It's erased. You're a new creature in Christ. You're the righteousness of God in Christ. Everything that He has for you, you can receive that. It's yours.

unknown 38:12

Amen.

SPEAKER_02 38:13

Bless you.

SPEAKER_01 38:15

Stay around this good church because we want to continue being with you. Amen. Amen. God bless you. Amen. Praise the Lord. Amen. Tell me, baby. The Lord is good. Amen. If you're a born-again Christian, you have a right to take communion. It's your right as a child of God. You're the righteousness of Christ, and there's nothing holding you back from receiving this. Just like there's nothing holding you back to receive your healing. It's yours. It belongs to you. So we're going to have to do this a little different this time because this row here is here now. So if we can, these guys start first. I guess back row, you guys come on down and get the communion, and then this next row, next row, and then the rest of you all come down. So I don't know. I'm just on cloud nine right now. So you're going to have to excuse me. Thank you, Lord. Amen. Come on up here. Let's get communion. We're doing this with a purpose today.

SPEAKER_02 39:31

Hallelujah. Thank you, Jesus.

SPEAKER_01 39:34

Bless you, brother. Bless you. Let's all hold up the emblem of the Lord's broken body. Lord, we remember you for what you did for us. We remembered how you came as a baby, born of a virgin, grew up, began your ministry, was crucified for us, buried, and then on the third day you rose from the dead. And Lord, soon and very soon we believe that you're coming back. And we receive what you've promised us. And Lord, as we take this bread and we partake of it together as a body, we receive the emblem of the Lord's broken body and we remember you. In Jesus' name. Everybody partake of the bread. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Jesus. If everybody will take the cup together. None of this is made possible without the blood of Jesus. None of it. We were all destined to die and experience eternal judgment. But because of the blood of Jesus, we received newness of life and a new covenant, which was based on the promises of God. And when we take this together, we're receiving the promise of God for our life. And we remember Him and make this a covenant between you and God that I will teach this next generation the greatness of who you are. Let's all partake together. Amen.

SPEAKER_02 41:50

Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus.

SPEAKER_00 42:04

Thanks for listening. We hope that this message helps you draw closer to God as you walk out your faith. We'll see you next week.