Sunday Morning Service - Jul 12, 2026

Christy, can you put up that bridge? I like that part. The cross still stands. I think it's how it starts. The cross still stands. The blood still flows. Go ahead to the next one. The work is finished and hell still knows. I love to declare that every single time we sing that because it is a declaration that it is finished. The debt has been paid. That's why we can be sons and daughters of God. That's why we can live without condemnation and shame because Jesus has already done it.

Why has he done it? Because he's the land that was sacrificed before the foundations of the world. He is the name above every other name. Church, that's something that if you can't get excited about anything else, we as believers should be excited about that, couldn't we? So let's just give him a great big shout of praise. Lord, we love you today. We worship you. Jesus, we do declare as sons and daughters of God. That your name is above every other name. And we're grateful people today. Our hearts are filled with thankfulness, Lord, for who you are and all that you've done in Jesus' mighty name. If you believe that, say a good amen. Team, thank you for leading us today. Excellent. Well, give somebody a high five as you're seated this morning.

We're going to release our upper and lower elementary parents. If you've not checked them in, if you'll go ahead and do that, that'd be great. We're glad that you are with us this morning. I'm going to change over this microphone, Tyler. All right. Well, good morning. Good morning. Good morning. Good morning. My name is Jonathan. If I'm not, what is, what's that? I'm on or I'm not on? Hello. I was terrible at charades. I'm still, I'm lost. They're trying to tell me something. What is it? It is on. Yeah, I got a green. There we go. See, I thought I had turned that thing on. Thank you, Sharice. Sharice is like charades champion or something right there. That's awesome. Okay, great.

I thought I had it on. Well, good. I'm glad we got that sorted out. My name is Jonathan. If I've not had the opportunity to meet you, part of the pastoral team, preaching team at Destiny Life, good to have you with us. Gathered here at 9 a.m. on the Claremore campus and just excited about the day. We've got people kind of scattered everywhere today. Glenn and Amy on a well-deserved vacation. They are, I think, are heading away. Washington, D.C. this week, going to the Bible Museum. I don't know if you've ever been to the Bible Museum of Washington, D.C. It is worth a trip. It is fantastic. And so we pray for safe travels and rest for them. Jerry Vaughn, many of you guys know Jerry and Teresa, who are missions directors here, have been on the mission field for a very long time, live here locally now. He's in New Mexico, ministering at a church there. And we've got a missions team in Panama. It's our second missions team of the summer.

And so we've got a large group from there. I think that team is 22, 25, something like that, ministering there in Panama. They'll be there this week. And so you guys keep them in prayer as you think about them. We already had a team down there, which was really fruitful. We had some great reports from that back in June. So this group is doing a little bit different work in the same area.

So as you remember them this week, pray for them, would you? And just that it'd be a fruitful time. Always a blessing.

The people where we go and minister are blessed. It's wonderful. But I got to tell you, having gone on a lot of short-term missions trips, led a lot of short-term missions trips, the team itself is always more blessed than anything we could do there for the people because God really uses those opportunities to really seal things in your heart, really change some things in you that last with you a lifetime. I mean, I went on my first short-term mission trips and short-term missions trip in May of 1997. And there's fruit in my life today. Nearly 30 years later, that came out of that three-week trip to the Philippines. So I am a believer in short-term missions. I think God does wonderful works through that. So thank you for you guys that gave and helped the team get there.

Well, we are continuing our march through 2 Corinthians. We are in chapter 10. Glenn did a great job last week talking about the first 11 verses there. If you weren't here last week, go online and watch that message. It was very, very good. I think that's a subject that I think is very often misunderstood. Oftentimes, it can be harmful because there's been a lack of understanding of authority in general, particularly spiritual authority. And when there's a lack of understanding there, we tend to be in one of two ditches and we can wound people out of that. I'll talk a little bit more about that today.

But basically, our series is this, spiritual, not carnal. When we talk about spiritual authority, we want to talk about the reality of spiritual authority. And we're going to talk about the reality of spiritual authority and not just carnal authority, because we exist in a world where we observe authority. All authority is established by God, by the way. That's what the Bible says. And so sometimes we look at people that are in authority and think, I don't know if they should be there. And maybe they're misusing it, but God put them there in some way, shape, or form.

Now, we don't like that. It offends our mind because we think we're more fair and right and just than God is. But I got news for us. We are not. We do that in a lot of areas, right? We think we can make a better decision. That's a whole other message right there I won't go into today.

But last week, Glenn talked about the reality of it really being spiritual authority and not carnal and the reality that spiritual authority does not operate. And unfortunately, we've observed this some. I think this is why when we hear the term spiritual authority or authority, sometimes people have PTSD. Inside, because we've witnessed abuse of authority. And I've heard Glenn say, I believe this is true. That every problem in the church really could come back to an authority problem. It's either the misuse and abuse of authority, or it's the rebelling against authority. And I think that's true.

I've observed that over the years. I think that's a true statement. And he talked about how spiritual authority, true spiritual authority doesn't operate through intimidation or manipulation or personality or control. But Paul presents himself. I won't go back and reread the verses there, but he says in verse one, it's interesting. How he introduces this thought about authority. He tells him, listen, I'm coming to you in the gentleness and meekness of Christ, right?

So when you think about that, that really is the demeanor of it. And then also the reality that we've used those verses at the beginning of 2 Corinthians about pulling down strongholds and all these things, we've used those as personal prayer, spiritual warfare type text. And even though I do believe God gives authority to believers, the context of that verse, is not about personal spiritual warfare or talking to demons. That's not the context of that verse. I won't go back and re-preach that. You can go back in there. But the reality that also that that is not a, when we think about obedience, it's not a private affair. It's just, we sometimes think about our obedience before God is private. And it is at some level, but it's beyond just my personal obedience to God. There's a reality that when I'm obedient, to God personally, that there's an overflow into the body of believers in the congregation, right? There's an establishment there. And when I'm disobedient in my obedience to God, that affects the body as well. One thing I really appreciate about the United States and things that are in us that we don't even realize as Americans, if you're raised here in the United States, there's things that get in you out of the culture. Some of those not bad. The idea of a person's conscience, their conscience is not bad. Some of those not bad. Some of those not bad. The idea of individual liberty, the idea of the freedom of individuals and families. I think those are American values that align with kingdom values. I think that's wonderful, right? On the other side of that, sometimes as Americans, we don't have an understanding of what a kingdom is because we exist in a constitutional republic politically. So when you think of that, we don't have a framework for what it is. We don't have a framework for what it is. We don't have a framework for what it is to exist in a kingdom and a kingdom has a king. And we don't understand sometimes that king has an absolute rule that kind of goes against our idea of individual being an individual. Here's the difficulty. Even though I think the person's conscious before God is a good thing. Sometimes we swing that pendulum way to the other side to where we become very individualistic in our thinking. So we have a hard time of understanding how us as an individual, how does that affect those around? How does that affect us as a community or a body of believers? I won't take time to go into that, but the reality to just say that our obedience strengthens the house and our disobedience affects the house as well. And so Paul doesn't really stop in this chapter here of talking about just the character or the nuance, if you will, of spiritual authority. In verses 12 through 18, which we're going to go through today, he talks about the measure of spiritual authority, like the parameters.

And the reality that spiritual authority is not only a spiritual in its nature or authority is not just spiritual in its nature. It's really measured in its assignment. Jonathan, what do you mean by that? I mean, it has boundaries. It has a sphere of influence. It has stewardship or care. And this is a big one.

It's assigned by God. If you don't hear anything else I hear, I say today, I want you to understand that the spiritual authority that comes into your life is assigned by God. It's not assumed by you.

If we don't hear anything else, we need to understand that all authority is assigned by God. In other words, spiritual authority, it's got a measure. It's limited by God. And this is a big one. Nobody has authority outside of God himself. Nobody has authority outside of him. So when I talk about spiritual authority, it's not just a title or position or just a strong personality.

Here's what it is. Spiritual authority is influenced that people recognize because they see the grace of God operating in your life. They see the character of Christ operating in your life.

They see the work of the Holy Spirit in your life. That is spiritual authority. How do you gain spiritual authority within the measure that God's assigned to you? You labor Christ amongst people. You serve people. You care for them. And what happens?

They observe the gift and grace of God in your life. They observe the character of Christ in your life. They observe the work of the Holy Spirit in your life.

And your measure or your authority in their life begins to grow. If anybody ever tells you, I have authority over you, run from them. Seriously, that's oppressive. Now, I'm not talking about your boss. If your boss comes in and tells you something, don't be like, I'm running from you, bro. My pastor said to run from you. Now, there is, and we'll talk a little more about this.

I think this is the dichotomy here in the church of the tension we manage. It's the difference. It's the difference between official authority and spiritual authority. There are some people like your boss that have official authority. You might know more than your boss knows. You might have greater influence than your boss has. But as a believer, I submit to that because my boss has official authority in my life. I mean, again, we could talk a lot about that.

I'll talk more about that in just a minute. So as we kind of go through the passage here, let me tell you where I'm going before I get there.

Here's kind of a summary of what Paul says. First, he says carnal people, not spiritual people, carnal people. Measure themselves by comparison. When they're thinking about their measure of authority and spiritual authority, they are just looking at other people around and saying, well, I'm a little bit better than that person. I'm not quite as good as that person. They compare themselves. And he says that's unwise to do. He says spiritual authority has God-given limits. He says that his authority amongst them, the Corinthians, was legitimate because he had actually labored among them. He was the first to bring the gospel there to them. Then he says, you know, my desire is not really for self-promotion. He's not really for self-promotion. He's not really for self-promotion. Here's what I desire. I desire to see the gospel expand. So he was not just into his own self-promotion there. And then he says, you know, if you're going to boast, if you're going to brag about something, let's brag on God, right? Let's brag on him. And then lastly, he says, you know, people can commend themselves, but really the only commendation that matters is the one that's from the Lord, right? That's kind of the gist of what he wants to say there.

So here's kind of the main thought today that I want to talk about is the reality that spiritual authority is received by God. We operate within his given measure that he's given to us, and it's entrusted to us. Here's the purpose of the spiritual authority and the authority that God gives you as a believer. Here's the purpose, to build up others, right? It's not for comparison. It's not for control. It's not to say, hey, look at me. It's for us to serve the body of Christ and care for fellow believers and those around them, those around us. And to see them built up, right?

Why does God even do this? It's God's structure for authority. Here's what it does. It ensures safety and protection. We have observed spiritual authority or authority itself that was abusive, and we resist that. But when we observe healthy spiritual authority, you know what we do? We gravitate to it. Why? Because we recognize the peace that comes through that.

If there is healthy spiritual authority and we resist, then what we've got to ask ourselves is, what am I operating out of? Is there a wound in me that's hindering me from embracing a good, healthy spiritual authority? We talk a little about this in the encounter retreat. Sometimes out of wounds, we'll make a vow. We'll make this solemn promise.

Maybe we've been in a situation where we received abusive authority or we witnessed that, and now we make statements like this. I'm never going to submit to anybody again. You know what you just did? You made a vow. And now you're, you're handcuffed and you don't even know it.

So somebody comes along where there's healthy authority, and I find myself resistant to it because I made a vow way back here because I witnessed it being abusive, right? It's like traffic lights. Those of you who obey traffic lights, y'all got some, we got some red light runners out here, don't we? I can look at y'all and tell, I'm kidding. The reason that we have those, if there's a policeman standing in the intersection and they begin to direct you, right? As everybody, follows that direction, order is created, right? The reason that like, if you ever drive in another country, like not every country, but definitely like developing world nations, if you drive in them, it's chaos. A red light is a suggestion, right? There's no order. And what does that produce? Massive traffic, a lot of horns, right? Craziness, chaos, because people are not operating in order.

I think spiritual authority is a lot of that. When we're resistant to, order, it, there becomes chaos. A surveyor of lines, you know, when they draw out lines of property, you know, maybe you're a farmer and you're going right up to the edge of that line. If you go over that line, you're working hard, but guess what you're doing? You're really kind of stealing your neighbor's property. What if you put your fence? You said, I'm just going to ignore that line. I'm going to put my fence six foot on my neighbor's property, right? It ends up being craziness because we're not walking in that order. So let's read this, these verses here, 12 through 18.

I'm going to read out of the NLT. I like the way he says it here in the New Living Translation. He says, oh, don't worry. We wouldn't dare say that we are as wonderful as these other men who tell you how important they are. I love, the apostle Paul can get sassy at times. You hear me? Remember, there's these faulty apostles coming into Corinth, basically saying, hey, we're better than Paul. Look at Paul. He is not much to look at. The guy's really not a good preacher. He's not very impressive. That's what they're saying, right? He says, but they are comparing themselves with each other, using themselves as the standard of measurement.

How ignorant. I love that. 13, we will not boast about things done, look, outside our area of authority or outside of our measure, some translations say. We will boast only about what has happened within the boundaries of the work. Now look at this phrase here, that God has given us, right? Which includes our working with you. We're not reaching beyond these boundaries when we claim authority over you as if we had never visited you.

For we were the first to travel all the way to Corinth with the good news of Christ. Nor do we boast and claim credit for the work someone else has done. Instead, we hope that your faith will grow.

Why? So that the boundaries of our work among you will be extended. Then we will be able to go and preach the good news in other places far beyond you, where no one else is working. Then there will be no question of our boasting about work done in someone else's territory. As the scriptures say, if you want to boast, boast. Only in the Lord. When people commend themselves, it doesn't count for much. The important thing is that the Lord commend them, right? Or for the Lord to commend them. I'm going to talk about three things briefly today.

I want to talk about the standard of authority, the structure of authority, and the stewardship of authority. Y'all know when all of the points start with the same letter, it is definitely more anointed, okay? Y'all know that, right? The standard of authority. Let's talk a little bit about comparison and commendation.

Before we can really even think about, by the way, the title of the message today is the freedom of limit, right? I think there's more liberty brought in our life when we recognize the limitations that God's put on us, right? Now, sometimes that's counterintuitive, but hopefully today you'll see that. And I think before we can ever really experience that freedom that God brings, we've got to expose kind of the trap that we can have a tendency to fall in, too, that keeps us from really breaking out of that and really recognizing when we're breaking those boundaries. And I think one of the traps that we fall into when we think about the standard of authority is this. We sometimes break the measures, if you will, that God has put in our life because we're too busy looking at what everybody else is doing and what everybody else has got and comparing that to ourselves that we get distracted. And we get off.

It's like driving in traffic and people rubbernecking something and slowing down, and now traffic's backed up for three miles. The choleric in me goes crazy when I see that, right? Or have you ever looked off to the side and you just kind of start veering? Or how about a cell phone? People distracted by their cell phone, right?

Being distracted by other things. I remember when I was a teenager, I just got my license. I was 16 years old. I was working at that godly organization, Chick-fil-A. Come on, somebody. Hallelujah.

And I was working at the Chick-fil-A in the mall, and my dad had this 1982 Boss Mustang, right? Tinted jet black windows. He had changed the carburetor out. My dad just, he's always loved to go fast. That brother's 72 years old. He's still speeding everywhere. I'm saying, why are you in such a hurry, man?

He's 17. Relax, right? So he bought this, Mustang. He's got that thing souped up. Well, I'm 16 years old, and I didn't have a car, and I'm driving this car, which I should have never been driving, by the way.

I'll just throw that out there. That car was way too fast for me to be driving. And I'm working at Chick-fil-A one night, and I'm coming home. Midnight is super late, and I had to get on the interstate for a little short piece to get back to my house. And so I'm sitting at this red light before I get on the interstate, and I can't see well out of the windows because they're so tinted, you know?

And I hear this, car behind me revving the engine up. Now, I'm 16 years old, you know what I'm saying? And my brain was not fully developed. Hallelujah. And I hear this car, and I can't really see who it is or what it is.

And so we get on the interstate, and this car, which is another Mustang, comes beside me and starts revving this engine up, right? And so then he would take off, and then he would slow down and let me catch up. And I'm 16 years old, but I am resisting temptation. And he takes off again. He literally does this about three times.

And I'm living in South Carolina. I don't know what there is about drag racing back in South Carolina, but people just love to drag race. This is a terrible idea. If you're a young kid, do not do this. It's a terrible idea. And so finally, about the fourth time, I just said, you know what? If this guy takes off again, I'm going to smoke this beast.

So he takes off again. I'm riding along in fourth gear. Fly now, okay?

I slammed the car in third gear. Stomp on that. And I mean, like it barked the tires. That's how fast it took off. I come by this guy like he's tied to a post.

I mean, he tries to catch me, and it becomes obvious he cannot catch me. He pulls behind me and turns on his blue lights. It is an undercover policeman. I'm 16 years old. I'm not even scared of the cop.

Literally, my heart sinks. My first thought, this is going to murder me. Like, he's straight up going to kill me. So I pull over, which was smart. I probably could have outran him.

Now and now, I might have just kept not joking. I would not have kept going, okay? I pull over. He comes up. He bangs on the window.

He's like trying to be all intimidating. So you're out here racing in the middle of the night. Can you afford a $400 ticket? I mean, he just start giving me your license or registration. So I'm sure I was a deer in headlights.

You know what I mean? So I handed my registration. I handed my license, just gives me the riot act for about two minutes. And then finally, he goes, because I'm not really answering. I don't really, I mean, what do you say?

You know what I mean? So finally, he kind of shifts. After about two minutes, he shifts. He goes, well, I probably did, you know, antagonize you a little bit. And in my mind, I'm thinking, you think, buddy?

I mean, I gave you. So he said, I probably didn't antagonize your ticket. He throws my license back to me. He goes, tell all your friends you outran the blankety blank out of the law. Throws my license to me, me and walks off.

I'm literally sitting there just shaking. Now I got to tell you in inside, there was a part of me like you, you exactly right, Sean. I ran right past you, baby. Like I was, but I am freaked out. And I literally am thinking my dad's going to kill me.

Now I was pretty honest with my parents, but I got to tell you, that's something that my dad did not discover for many years to come after that. And I began to think about the reality of being distracted. I was so distracted by this other Mustang. Thought was better than mindless thing that I got myself in a predicament that could have been really dangerous. Forget the ticket, forget the ticket.

I could have died at 16 years old driving a hundred some miles an hour at zero business doing that all because I wanted to prove something. And I was distracted by a comparison that was ultimately dangerous to me.

How many times do we do this spiritually? We compare ourself. We look around and here's what that comparison really leads to. It leads to two responses that are equally carnal. One is we look around and we perceive ourself to be better than those around us. So it leads to pride or we look around and think that we're not quite as good as the people around us. And so it leads to insecurity. Both of those are wrong.

Both of those are carnal comparisons. It's like a, a fun house mirror. Y'all ever seen, these fun house mirrors where you go in and the image it's a mirror and you can see yourself, but the image is not really your image. It's kind of a, it might make you look really huge or it might make you look really small, right? Y'all seen those, right?

When it makes us look really huge, we can kind of be prideful in that. If it makes us look really tiny, it can make us feel insecure. I remember one time Alicia and I went to that museum that Ripley's believe it or not museum. I think we're in the one in Myrtle beach. They have several, I think there's one in Branson too.

Well, we walk in, and, and, and there's this mirror there. And when you look in the mirror, it makes your face look funny. So you can make all these funny faces and it'll kind of exaggerate it and, you know, make you look good. So we're in there by ourselves and we're making all these goofy faces and kind of doing stupid stuff. And then we kind of continue the tour.

And when you get to the last bit of the tour, before you exit, you realize that that mirror that you saw when you walked in is actually a two-way mirror and you can see through it and see all the people coming in making silly faces. So I just, I just, I just, I just, I just, I just, I just, I just, I just, I just, I just thought, man, who knows who saw us acting a fool when we first walked in there, right? But it was not an accurate representation of who we were. When you look in those mirrors, they're not an accurate representation. And sometimes we can take on this image.

When we begin to compare ourselves to other people, we can take on this image that's not accurate. That's a, that's a carnal way of thinking. And Paul's opponents here, these other apostles, they weren't asking them to set the, themselves the question, what has God assigned us? They're asking themselves the question, how do we look compared to Paul? Are you ever been around somebody that has to demean other people to make themselves look or feel better?

Probably a lot of us experience that are seeing that over the course of time. What is that? That's carnal. That's carnal thinking, right? That's carnal authority.

When I start measuring my own calling, if you will, by someone else's assignment, I really lose sight. And this is the biggest deal, church. We lose sight of the grace of God in me. When I'm not settled in who God's created me to be, when I'm not settled in the measure that he's assigned to me and I start comparing it to other people, I live in dissatisfaction because I'm trying to compare myself to something that I can never really compare to because I'll either think I'm better or worse. And both of those are not good.

Look at Galatians 6. I love this verse. If you think you're too important to help someone, you're only fooling yourself. You're not that important. I love Paul.

Pick careful attention to your own work, for then you'll get the satisfaction of a job well done, and you won't need to compare yourself to anyone else. When we stand before God one day, church, he's not going to say, hey, Jonathan, how did you do in comparison to James? I noticed you and James, and I'm going to be there, right? I'm responsible. He's going to ask me, Jonathan, were you faithful with what I've entrusted to your care, right?

And that's true for all of us. What is entrusted to your care? I remember when I was first at a youth pastor, there was a guy who was probably 10, 15 years older than us, and he kind of took a lot of us young guys who were in our early 20s. He took a lot of us under his wing, just kind of helped us grow in the Lord and grow in caring for people. And we used to call him the king of one-liners.

Darren Hama was his name. He had so many one-liners. And there's one of his one-liners that has stuck with me all these years that is so good. And here's what it is. He used to say, if you compare and compete, you live in defeat.

If you compare and compete, live in defeat. If we're constantly comparing ourselves to others, we are just going to live in defeat. So here's some questions, I think, for us to consider. Just right now, even as you're just sitting there this morning, here's some of them. Where am I comparing my assignment to someone else's?

You find yourself doing that. Am I trying to function in someone else's measure? Am I despising the measure that God gave me because it does not look impressive? Those are good self-reflecting questions, aren't they? Am I overreaching because I want to be seen as more spiritual or more important or more needed?

You ever met somebody and the first five minutes of the conversation, they are telling you how great they are and why they deserve this and what? Have you ever been the person in the first five minutes saying, I deserve, right? What is that? That's this striving for something. I'm not saying there's not a time to be honest about who you are.

I'm not talking about false humility, but I'm talking about really presenting ourself in a way that we're trying to commend ourselves. Paul's saying, don't compare yourself to other people. And when you're commending yourself, it's really not worth a whole lot. The only thing that matters in it is the Lord commending you. That's why the Bible talks about your gift making room for you.

And as you're laboring amongst people, God sees it, right? And that's the ultimate thing. And he will make a way for you as you're faithful in there. So when I'm talking about the standard of authority, here's ultimately what I'm trying to say. The standard is not other people and what they're doing.

The standard is faithfulness to the measure that God has entrusted to you. That's the standard. What has God entrusted to your care? And you may not know it and that's okay, but we just function within that measure. And we will know, kind of leading to the next point, we'll know when we get out of it, the structure of authority, God-given measure.

Spiritual authority has a God-given measure. Paul says in verse 13, I'm not going to boast about the things done outside of the area of our authority, right? We'll boast only about what's happened within the boundaries of the work that God has given us. When you function within your measure, the reason that God gives a measure of authority is that there's fruitfulness in that. When you're functioning within your measure, there's fruitfulness.

When you're trying to force your measure, when you're trying to force your opinion or trying to force your way towards something, there's not a fruitfulness. It just becomes forcefulness, right? When we think of spiritual authority, again, it's for serving other people, not for subduing them. Now, this is very, very practical, even if you're functioning in something that you deem not spiritual. Now, can I say to you, as a side note, if you're a believer, everything that you do is spiritual.

God doesn't have that sacred-secular divide, and neither should we. It's either righteous or not righteous. It's either right or wrong, right? So whether you're talking about in your work, whether you're talking about in school, whether you're talking about your personal relationships, whether you're talking about as a boss or an employee, a business owner, whatever, working in the gather church, whatever it is, this is so practical of understanding your measure amongst other people. It applies to leaders, parents, spouses.

You can go beyond your measure with your spouse. You can violate the conscience of your own spouse, the person that you love the most. You can violate the conscience of your children. When we really got a hold of the teaching of conscience as we moved here, a part of Destiny Life, that's a large thing that we teach here, and my girls would try to use this against me. I said, girls, you need to straighten up your room.

Dad, you're violating my conscience. No, no, no, I'm not. Let's sit down and talk about this, right? Let's talk about this. Help them understand that.

Why do I say that in the forcefulness? Because a person can have official authority, but you can have limited spiritual entrance, right? You can have the title, if you will, but because you've not labored amongst people long enough, you may not have the spiritual influence in their life. That's why, as a philosophy of ministry at Destiny Life, let me pause and say this, because this is different, okay? This would be something that would maybe look the same on the outside of Destiny Life.

It is very different. At Destiny Life, we don't put someone in a position and say, okay, start doing this role. We look around and say, who is already functioning like this, and how can we identify what they're doing? That's true for elders, for example. We don't just appoint elders because we like somebody or because we think that, oh, yeah, we want to elect that person to eldership.

We look around and say, who has the gift and grace of God as an elder, biblical elder, and who is already eldering? Okay, now, let's bring identity to what's already happening. That's a radically different philosophy. That's why we don't have elections, because there's some churches where we say, okay, and people sometimes have this attitude, if you would just give me a title, then I would start doing that. That's backwards, because you could have the title, but no influence, spiritual influence, no care for people, right?

You also can have strong opinions, but no measure. You ever met anybody? It's like, here to straighten this whole thing out. Even if that's true, even if God brought you to a place to be an instrument of change, there's a way to go about that in humility, in care, in patience, in serving. It's not in, y'all been getting this really wrong.

Can I just tell you how to do it right? And that's what we do at times, isn't it? We can have a title, but absolutely no trust. Positional leadership is the lowest form of leadership. What is positional leadership?

That's somebody that has a title. And nothing else. That's the kid that just graduated from college that they gave a title and put over somebody that's been doing the job for 30 years. You have the title and you're the boss of that person. But I'd tell you, if you're young and you've got wisdom, you're going to lean on that person.

You're going to ask that person a lot of questions. You're going to walk in humility in that person. Now, if you're that older person and you're under the kid that just got hired, you know what you're going to do? You're going to respect the fact that that person is in that role. And I'm going to walk in humility and I'm going to listen to that person.

When they talk to me, this is a two-way street here, right? You can have a burden for something, but not have an assignment to it. You might be burdened for things and you come in there and out of your burden, you obligate people to stuff or you drive people or you overwhelm them. It's practical. God will stir different folks with different burdens.

And when you listen to them talk, you would think this is the only thing that matters. And what you're doing doesn't matter. They may have a burden for the homeless. So they come and unload their burden for the homeless and make you feel like if I'm not doing everything in my power for the homeless, I'm missing God. Now, the homeless would be a worthy, worthwhile investment, but there might be other things over here that are worthwhile as well.

That's why God has the whole body of Christ. What has he called us to focus on? Again, that's a whole teaching. Now, y'all have heard me joke before, and there's a reality to this, that God, if he hasn't given you entrance to something, or influence to speak in something, and you do it anyway, you push past it. First off, you're probably not going to be heard.

And second off, you're going to wound people. And I remember as a younger man, y'all have heard me joke about myself, but it is the reality. I used to have this thought. I had zero emotional intelligence at all. My wife has helped me immensely in this.

I've still got a ways to go, but my goodness, I'm not where I was. Thank the Lord. No emotional intelligence at all. I genuinely thought if I came into a situation and I saw somebody doing something, it's like, man, there's a way better way to do this. Now, I would say that God's wired me.

Honestly, I probably have a gift and grace to problem solve, to put the right things in the right place. That probably is a genuine gift and grace in my life. But how many of you know, every single one of us can also be our greatest weakness when we don't recognize how to use it. So I would genuinely be in a situation and see somebody doing something, and inside I think, you know what? They probably want me to tell them a better way to do this.

I think I can help. I think I can help them in the way they're doing it. And I bet it is a lot better than what they're doing. They probably can't even want me to tell them. I genuinely thought that.

I know that you're looking at me like, Jonathan, that's so dumb. I agree, it's so dumb. And yet, here I was. And I would let them know it. And you know what it would typically be like?

First off, jerk, get out of my way. This isn't even any of your business. And you know what? They're right. They're right.

Thank the Lord he helped me learn that. Just because you see something that could be done better, Jonathan, shh. Now, if somebody asks you a question, they've given you entrance. Now, can I just say as a side note too, there's like different levels of this, right? I got to the point where like I was quiet, but your body language is saying something else.

Like you're not saying words, but you're like, I mean, inside you're like this and they feel it. You're just standing over and looking at, you know, you're not saying anything, but you're just glaring at them. Don't do that either. Right? I remember a guy that worked for me.

I had genuine official authority in his life. And... But he would have probably... He would have probably seen me really as kind of a spiritual father to him. And I remember there was one particular thing he just kept messing up.

I mean, he just could not get it right. And literally, I probably had 30 private conversations with him about this particular area. And finally, we had a big event and he just failed miserably. It really looked terrible on our team. And he wasn't the one getting, you know, nobody was breathing down his neck.

They're breathing down my neck. So I confronted him in our youth staff meetings, about eight of us. And I wounded him. I mean, honestly, I wounded him greatly. I did not...

Raised my voice. I wasn't forceful, but he felt really embarrassed. Now, part of it was on him, but part of it is I did not handle it in a way that a father really would have handled it. And I wounded him. And it altered our relationship.

Now, God helped us over the years. Well, you know, I asked for forgiveness and he gave me forgiveness and he repented and, you know, multiple times and it was okay, but it did alter our relationship. And I overestimated my personal influence in his life just because I had official authority in his life. And there was ramifications to that. And I learned a valuable lesson in it.

Multiple things. One of them, even in a very practical way, Jeff Ray, I remember him saying this one time and I thought, man, that's so good. I don't know if he said it exactly this way, but here's how I heard it. If you're a boss and you ever have to fire someone and it takes them out of left field, you've not done a good job of leading them because you've not walked them down the off-ramp, so to speak, to bring to their attention areas that they need to do better in that particular role. And I learned a valuable lesson in it.

And I learned a valuable lesson in it. And I learned if you don't say anything about it, right, and you're not loving them, I got to tell you, the Lord has really helped me in this to love. And it's particularly important when you're dealing, you know, when you work at a church or you're dealing with church people, or maybe you have, I mean, some of you guys have businesses where you employ a lot of people from deathly life, right? Is it particularly important when you are shepherding people and caring for them, and maybe they're in a role that they're not functioning well at? How do I then adjust you into a role that you are functioning well at?

And how do I do that? And I learned a valuable lesson in that in a loving manner. Those are tensions that are always managed. I mean, that's a very practical way there, right? What are we talking about?

We're talking about our measure of authority and how do we function in that measure. Forceful authority demands a stage or demands recognition. It's very me-centered, but fruitful authority tends a field. What do we mean by that? That means that it's cultivated.

It produces fruit. If you have any measure, if you have any measure of authority over people, or if you have any measure of influence over people, it should not be just to serve you and your vision. It should be like tending a garden. I want to cultivate the soil, and I want to cultivate this culture so that the fruit can be produced in people's lives. I remember as a young pastor, I was connected with a guy.

Many of you guys know Tony Miller. He's gone on to be with the Lord now, but he used to come and minister. He was a preacher of preachers. I mean, just an outstanding preacher. My friend was working with him, and he kind of took me to church.

He was a preacher of preachers. I mean, he was a minister. He took us under his wing, and he was ministering in this very large church. He was going to be preaching on that Wednesday night, and we were there close. He said, why don't you guys come, and you can meet with the pastor after and just ask him some questions.

We're 22, 23 years old, and this guy's pastoring thousands of people. I'm like, man, this is a great opportunity. We're back, and we're talking to the pastor, and he makes this statement. Now I say it, I really cringe, but even then, 23 years old, I found it right. He said, God sends you people to accomplish the vision that he's put in your heart, their tools to accomplish your vision.

I thought, that sounds, I don't know about that. Today, I say that, and I cringe because it should be the exact opposite. God did not send you to destiny life to accomplish Glenn's vision, Jonathan's vision, the elder's vision. God sent you to be a part of this believer so that we can equip the saints for the work of the ministry and to see the gift of God come alive in your life and to see the kingdom of God expand in all the earth. That is a bottom-up leadership model.

That's what spiritual leadership is. It's coming alongside people. It's coming underneath people and seeing them grow into the gift and grace of God in their life. I can say to you, what's the expectation when you're a part of destiny life? Here's the expectation.

Grow into and become all that God's called you to be. That's easy, right? It's just very simple. Now, that doesn't mean that there's not times of confrontation. That doesn't mean there's not hard times.

That doesn't mean there's not times of difficult conversations, but the purpose is to come alongside people and really see them. Grow. Look at Philippians 2. Famous scripture that many of us would know here. Don't be selfish.

Don't try to impress others. Be humble. Think of others better than yourselves. Don't look only at your own interests, but take interest in others too. You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.

Though he was God, he didn't think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges. He took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal's death on a cross. If Jesus can do it, what in the world would hinder Jonathan from doing it, right?

Spiritual authority, I'm trying to spend a lot of time on this, but this is a core value of Destiny Live, serves from placement and not position. Authority is not proven by your title or grace or from your title, but it's really proven by grace, fruit, faithful service. When you've got a positional mentality, we fall into a trap about it trying to be something that we're not. It's really kind of like this. I'm not allowing my position to be something that I'm not.

I'm not allowing my role to define me, limit me, or make me feel like I'm something more. That's why it doesn't matter what role that you are serving in, per se. That's independent of who you are and the measure that God's given you. Now, your measure might increase and your measure might lead you into a role, but just because you're not in that role anymore doesn't mean that your measure is not there. That's why you've heard Glenn tell the story of Tommy Williams.

Many of you know Tommy Williams that came and he was in a convenience store or something. He came out and had his paint clothes on. He had been vocationally pastoring in another area, he and Gene, moved here to Destiny Life, started a business because he wasn't on staff at the church, started a business, and he was out on the gas station or something and came outside and he saw a kid that had been in his youth ministry at one time and Tom had his paint clothes on. He said, Tom, I didn't know you weren't in the ministry anymore. And the reality is he was probably ministering and caring for more people in the body at that time than he was when he was in our full-time pastoring, right?

His role shifted, but his spiritual authority and measure did not. You see in that? I got a little place first thing. Would you stick that up there? Position says, you got to listen to me because of my title.

If you are ever saying that, hey, I'm in charge here, guess what? You're not in charge, okay? A placement says, God's put me here to serve, strengthen, and build. I'd go to the next one, would you? Position, grasp, right?

I'm trying to cling to it. Placement receives it. Position demands recognition. Placement just bears fruit where you are. Position wants to be seen.

Placement wants Christ to be formed in people. Are you seeing the difference there? You seeing that? See, it's not about being the loudest. People see the grace and fruit in your life, right?

Think about John the Baptist. Let me kind of start winding this up here. Think about John the Baptist. You ever thought about this? In John 3, basically what's happening in John 3 is Jesus has come on the scene.

John the Baptist is the forerunner of Christ. He's Jesus' cousin, and he's baptizing people. And Jesus comes and starts baptizing people. And John's disciples come to him and say, hey, John, there's this other dude. Remember the guy that you baptized a little while ago, and you said he was the Messiah?

They're baptizing. A lot of people, and now they're going to him and not us. They're concerned. And John says, don't worry about it, right? I've got to decrease so that he can increase.

How many times have we said that? Sometimes we get, I mean, think about that. Like, I was the man, and now I'm not the man anymore. How do we handle that? Now, that sometimes is hard.

I want you to think about it, and John uses this analogy. What if you went to a wedding, and they're up there having the ceremony, and the bride and groom, they're leading them through their vows, and all of a sudden, the best man steps up and says, bro, I'm about to marry this lady right here. You get out the way. Probably he's going to get punched in the mouth. If he doesn't, he should be.

We would be flabbergasted. Why would we be flabbergasted? It's probably the most drama-filled wedding we've ever been to, right? We'd be talking about it for years. Why would we be talking about it?

Because it would be massively out of order. And yet, spiritually, we do it all the time. When we live in comparison, when we're trying to grasp, when we're trying to grasp, when we're trying to operate outside of our measure, we're trying to grab hold of something that God's not entrusted to us. Lastly, well, let me ask these questions. I like questions.

Am I serving from the place that God gave me, or am I trying to establish myself through position? Am I willing to be faithful in my measure, even when it's not celebrated? Ooh, that's a good one. Let me read that one again. Am I willing to be faithful in my measure, even when it's not celebrated?

All right, lastly, the stewardship of authority. Abigail, you can come to the keys here. This is so good. I always make a joke about, you know, the anointed soft keys. Joel Johnson, I forgot who made it for him now.

Maybe Christina Osborne made Joel Johnson, who plays the keys over in Claremore, made him a shirt that says soft keys. That's what it says, soft keys. Yesterday, he was wearing that in the gas station, and some girl said, what does your shirt mean? I don't even know how he explained it. But anyway, Abigail, you can come and play the soft keys.

There you go. Anointed, glory to God. We're getting there. Stewardship of authority, trusting God with people. This is a hard one.

Parents, sometimes this is a hard one for you. As a parent, really trusting God with your kids. I mentioned before, Paul's desire wasn't self-promotion, but it was really gospel expansion. Spiritual authority really trusts God with people. Paul wanted the Corinthians' faith to increase so that the gospel could be expanded.

In other words, his measure and what he's saying to them is not about him possessing them. It was about him really serving them unto maturity so that really the mission of God could move forward in his own life and in their life, right? It wasn't about him possessing them. Sometimes, spiritual authority, it doesn't say, you belong to me. Here's what it says.

It says, I'm called to serve what really belongs to Christ. See, if the authority in our life is self-serving, then we've got that backwards. We've got it backwards. In true spiritual authority, no one or one must trust God with people and not chase or control them. That's not spiritual authority.

That's manipulation and control. So when we're talking about trusting God with people, it's, again, not violating their own conscience. It's really prayerfully saying, Lord, I'm trusting you to work in their life and not trying to manipulate or control them into what we want them to do. Now, can I say to you, when you love people, it's difficult at times to really release them fully, to really let them fail even. That's hard at times.

You see the brick wall. You see the cliff they're headed towards. But when you see the cliff they're stepping in and say, you can't do that, and you manipulate or control them, you're violating their conscience. You're outstepping the measure that God's given you. I'm not saying that we don't ask questions.

As parents, of course, of young children, you're putting boundaries around your kids right and wrong. But think about parenting. Even your parenting of a three- or four-year-old is different than a 20-year-old, right? You know, they say parenting never ends. I believe that's true.

I've got young adult daughters. I believe that's true. But the way that I parent my young adult daughters is not the way I parented them when they were toddlers. The way that I parent my married daughter is different than the way I parent my 20-year-old single daughter. And if you don't understand your measure in that and the practicalities of that, you override people, and you just run right over them.

Here's one of the greatest tests of spiritual authority. Again, here's some questions. Can I trust God with people? Here's a big one. Can I speak truth without forcing outcomes?

I'm not saying that we don't present people with the truth, right? You can do that. Again, there's a way to do that, right? But I can't make them do anything. Okay, here's the truth of it.

I can't make them do anything. Can I persuade without manipulating? Sometimes this is a tedious line here. Can I appeal without coercing? Now, this has to do with your relational connection.

I mean, there's a lot of layers to this we don't have time to talk about this morning. Can I lead without playing God? Can I release people to obey God even when I do this? Do not control the process. I got to tell you, this is true in every facet of life, but this is really difficult at times when you're caring for people spiritually.

It's hard, because oftentimes you see the ramifications and the consequences of this really terrible choice they're going to make. And I think it's okay at times, depending on your measure and how you do it and all that, of talking to them about that. But if you say to them, I'm not going to let you do that, that's manipulation control. That's coercion. That's carnal.

It's not spiritual authority. It's carnal authority. Right? When you violate someone's conscience to get obedience, you've stepped outside of your measure. Here's what you're doing.

You're lording. You're not really leading. You're lording over. Paul talks about a heart issue there. I don't have time to get into this, but he talks about boasting in the Lord.

He talks about the reality of serving the kingdom. Those false apostles were really commending themselves. And Paul says, I'm waiting on God's commendation. He's the one that commends me to people. Proverbs 27.2, let another praise you and not your own mouth.

Well, that's a good verse. I'm going to read that again. Let another praise you and not your own mouth. See, final approval doesn't come from ourself, comparison, or people. Here's what it comes from the Lord.

So let me finish with this. Why don't you stand with me? We're going to pray. Okay, I got another question. Okay, I got another question.

I love questions. They help me so much in my own heart. I really do. I ask God a lot of questions. It helps me.

The question is not, do I have authority? Every person in this room has some measure of authority. So the question is not, do I have authority? Because all of us have it. Here's the real question.

Am I being faithful in the measure of authority that God's given me? That's different for every single one of us. The measure is different for every single one of us. And God doesn't care if that person has this amount and that person has this amount, and we shouldn't care either. All he cares about is, and all we should care about is, am I being faithful with what he's entrusted to my care?

That's the only question, right? Some of us have got to stop comparing. Some of us got to stop grasping. Some of us got to stop trying to see what we're doing. Some of us got to stop comparing.

We're speaking to places where God's not giving you entrance, right? Some of us need to stop despising the measure God's given us because it doesn't look like someone else's. So here's really our call today. If you're a grasper, drop that title and pick up a towel. What does that mean?

Start serving people. If you're grasping out of something, stop doing that and serve people. If you're a comparer, throw a rock at that funhouse mirror that's causing you to see things in a different way, right? And look at the field that God's put in front of you to cultivate. If you're a controller, let me just say it straight.

Give God back his people. They're not your people anyway. There is people. We're stewards, not saviors. There's only one savior.

Let me pray over us today. Father, would you help us? Help us to discern our measure. Help us to see it. Thank you for what you've entrusted to our care.

Let it be said of every single person here, in the sound of my voice and watching online, that we were faithful with what you've entrusted to us. That's our desire, to be faithful to you. Holy Spirit, do your work. I pray that you would do in us all that you desire to do. Show us what we can't see on our own, on our own.

Pull back the layers. Lord, we might've been operating in deception. Would you open our eyes today by your Holy Spirit? Lord, not to live and walk in condemnation. You bring things to the surface so that you can change them and deal with them.

I pray that you would help us to do that. We thank you for it in Jesus' name. If you believe that, say a good amen. You can be seated. James is going to come and lead us in the rest of this.

I'm glad that we are going through 2 Corinthians because God brings adjustments to us, doesn't he? Challenging to see where we are and how we've been functioning. Kingdom principles. He's the king and we function according to his word and according to his will. Thank you, Jonathan.

That was good. Challenging to me. I think back over my life, especially my time here at DLC, the times that I've been challenged and wasn't always quote unquote fun, but it was good. It was good. We want to give you an opportunity to continue to worship the Lord with your giving this morning.

You're a regular here. You know we have several ways to give. If you're relatively new, if this is your first time and this isn't where we're not putting anything on you, but if you belong here, it's not that we want any gift from you, but rather that the grace of the Lord would abound in your life, that there may be fruit in your life. That's the purpose as you worship the Lord with your giving. And so you can text to give.

You can use the envelope that's in the seat back in front of you. Make sure that you and then you can drop it into the offering container as you leave. Also, let me say, as we're preparing as well, there are black books at the end of the row on this side at the end of the row. Fill that out, hand it down so that we can stay in contact. with you and share with you the things that are happening here at DLC. Let me pray for you as we prepare for our giving.

Lord, I thank you that you have blessed us. And I pray that we would not be ones who would say it is by my own hand and by my own ability that I have gotten anything. But it's because you have blessed me. And Lord, as we bring tithes and offerings to you, may we do so in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. with a heart of worship, with a heart of thanksgiving, a heart of rejoicing, because you have blessed us where we are.

I pray, Lord, for those who need advancements and need it come increase. Give them favor. Give them favor as they are faithful to labor and work where they are. Give them favor if they need to move into a different job. Open the doors, I pray.

Lord, I pray that you would just cause a good, increase in their lives. If they're looking for a job, open the doors. Give them direction. Speak to their heart where to go, who to talk to. We thank you, Lord, that you are directing us in every area.

And so we just honor you with our giving this morning. We thank you and your blessings upon your people. In Jesus' name, amen. As you prepare your giving, check out these announcements. What's up, DLC fam?

My name is Tyler, and we are so glad that you're here with us today. We're so glad that you're here with us today. We're so glad that you're here with us today. Let's take a quick look at these announcements. This month's Third Sunday is Family Table, and it's coming at you July 19th.

You can find a list of host homes that are meeting this month at dlc.tv forward slash Third Sunday. The class begins July 27th. This is the Art and Science of Biblical Interpretation. In this course, the student is introduced to sound bringing unical principles and rules and given the opportunities to gain skill in applying them. If you've always wanted to begin Christ College, this is a great time to start, as this is the first class.

Flyer register at christcollege.us. Students and parents, our Youth Camp Summer Summit is two weeks away, and it's not too late to register. Scan the QR code on your seed flyer to register your student today. Or if you'd like more information, you can visit our website at dlcy.tv. Well, that's all the announcements for this week.

If you have a prayer need, please let us know. We'd love to be in prayer with you. Now, let's hear it from Jerry Vaughn for our monthly Missions Focus. Hello, everyone. It's Mission Sunday, and thank you for letting me take a few minutes of your time.

As all of you know, Venezuela was hit by two major twin earthquakes and then several smaller earthquakes following that. As a result, the coastal area, including Caracas, was damaged so horribly with thousands and thousands of people being killed in the rubbish. We have workers there that are helping in that area. The main area that we're focused in is our city of which is 40 miles south of Caracas. We did not have the devastation that they had in Caracas and Maracay.

Nevertheless, many apartment buildings were so damaged that they're now uninhabitable. And so as a result of that, there were so many displaced families that had to go to the streets, and then the government helped them to get in hotel rooms and other places like that. We don't know right now what that's going to look like. We're having to walk through this and see how things can settle as time goes along. So during this time, we've taken upon us the responsibility to do our part.

Our church, our leaders, and Maracay are cooking food, packaging them, and taking them to around 60 or 70 people a day. One beautiful thing is to see the pastors that have come together, and each of them are helping as a team to provide food at different times and different meals for these people. I don't know how long this is going to continue. I told our leaders, as long as the Lord provides, we'll keep doing whatever we can do. I want to thank all of you who have already given so much to enable us to purchase a lot of food and to prepare that and feed a lot of people already.

Following my little talk here is a video from Roberto and Violeta, our main leaders there in Maracay. I want to thank you for your heart, your care for people. Thank you for praying for Venezuela. Thank you for your faithfulness and giving and caring for the Venezuelans as they are going through this time. May the Lord richly bless you.

If this is your first time or you're relatively new, we have a welcome card we'd love for you to fill out and just drop it in the offering container so that we can have a record of your attendance this morning, and we can stay in touch with you and let you know what's happening here at DLC. Stand with us. We prepare to leave. Let me pray a blessing over you as we leave. Lord, I thank you for the word that was ministered to us this morning.

Thank you for the challenge. Thank you for the adjustments that you are making in our lives as we embrace your word that has been proclaimed and declared to us. Pray that your blessings be upon your people. Pause your face to shine upon them. Give them in favor in everything that they do.

In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. God bless you. Go in the grace of the Lord.