Notes:
Full Transcript:
Notes:
Full Transcript:
Don’t Believe the Lie (Single & Secure – Part 1)
Pastor: Rich Wilkerson Jr.
Pastor Rich opens the “Single & Secure” collection by explaining why the church is spending multiple weeks on singleness and internal security: personal passion from years ministering to singles, a felt responsibility as a spiritual parent and as a father, and the lack of strong resources that address singleness well. The central premise is that healthy relationships are built on healthy individuals, and many relationship problems are actually individual issues. The message warns against believing the enemy’s repeated lies—especially the “big lie” that you need a spouse for security. Instead, Jesus alone provides soul security and completeness. Pastor Rich teaches three foundational truths to counter the lie: Jesus completes your order, you are worthy of love, and every season has a blessing that must be unwrapped.
John 8:31–32 (as quoted in the message)
“If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.”
Genesis 2:24 (as quoted in the message)
“That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife and they become one flesh.”
John 15 (as quoted in the message)
“I am the vine and you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit. Apart from me, you can do nothing… If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish and it will be given you… If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love… I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.”
1 John 4 (as quoted in the message)
“This is how God showed his love among us. He sent his one and only son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.”
Mark 12:31 (as quoted in the message)
“Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these.”
Matthew 5:4 (as quoted in the message)
“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.”
Pastor Rich gives three reasons for teaching it: long-term passion and experience serving singles, a sense of responsibility as a father and as a spiritual parent to the church, and a lack of resources that speak clearly to singleness rather than only marriage.
Even married people need to learn “single and secure.” The church cannot make this “my book/your topic” but “our truth.” Your relationship status doesn’t remove the need for personal wholeness and inner security.
A major theme: we often blame the other person, but many relationship problems are individual issues. You are born an individual, will die an individual, and will stand before God as an individual.
The enemy lies, but lies only gain power when believed. Freedom comes from knowing and applying Jesus’ truth, not merely hearing it.
“I need a spouse for security.” The message confronts the idea that marriage solves insecurity. Marriage may add certain kinds of stability, but it cannot provide soul security or eternal security—only Jesus can.
When you’re stuck, you need something stronger than what you’re stuck in. A spouse is not strong enough to pull you out of the deepest “stuck places” in the soul. The enemy keeps offering “extension cords” (created things) to do God-sized work.
Believing lies repeatedly builds bondage. Truth must be intentionally applied to counter what culture and the enemy repeat.
Nothing created can finally satisfy the “does that complete your order?” hunger. Pastor Rich names “small gods” people commonly worship: self, other people, religion, and the world. None can complete you. Jesus alone does.
You can be close to the tree but not connected to the vine. Christian activity can mimic connection. Connection is marked by devotion and obedience, not just emotion.
Singleness includes many stories—college, post-college, divorced, widowed, betrayed, wounded, and those who wounded others. A lie that often grows in singleness is “I’m not worthy of love,” which leads to tolerating mistreatment and living in shame. God’s love proves your worth, and healthy love flows from receiving His love first.
“Love your neighbor as yourself” assumes you will properly care for yourself. You cannot give what you don’t have. If you don’t value yourself, you’ll put yourself on clearance.
Even mourning has blessing because comfort is promised. Singleness is not a limitation in God’s kingdom—Jesus saved the world single, and Paul wrote much of the New Testament unmarried. The message reframes singleness as a gift for many, and a season with blessings for all if you will unwrap it.
The blessing may be real but wrapped differently than expected. Without unwrapping the season, you can miss what the Father has placed inside it.
Write down the “big lie” you’re tempted to believe (especially around relationships and security). Replace it with one truth from the message and repeat it daily until it becomes your default belief.
Evaluate whether your spiritual life is mainly “close” (emotion, atmosphere, inspiration) or “connected” (obedience, devotion, fruit). Choose one act of obedience this week that proves connection.
Identify what you’ve treated as the thing that will “complete your order” (approval, relationship, success, pleasure, religion, control). Confess it to God and intentionally re-center Jesus as your completeness.
Ask God: “What is the blessing in this season?” Then take one concrete step to unwrap it: growth, healing, serving, community, counseling, discipleship, discipline, or spiritual formation.
Know Your Worth (Single & Secure – Part 2)
Pastor: Rich Wilkerson Jr.
This message continues the “Single & Secure” collection by shifting the focus away from trying to find security in a relationship and back onto the internal work of becoming secure in Christ. Pastor Rich teaches that many relationship problems are actually individual issues, rooted in insecurity and a failure to recognize personal value. Using the story of Zelophehad’s daughters in Numbers 27, he shows what it looks like to “know your worth”: refusing to live beneath your God-given value, making bold, faith-filled requests, and becoming the kind of person who helps others grow rather than competing with them. True security is not projected; it’s possessed—and it comes from identity as sons and daughters of God and the inheritance Christ purchased.
Numbers 27:1–11 (as quoted in the message)
“The daughters of Zephahad, son of Hepher, the son of Gilead, the son of Makir, the son of Manasseh, belonged to the clans of Manasseh, son of Joseph. The names of the daughters were Mahala, Noah, Holga, Mila, and Tza. They approached the entrance to the tent of meeting and stood before Moses, Elazar, the priest, the leaders, and the whole assembly and said, ‘Our father died in the desert. He was not among Kora’s followers who banded together against the Lord. But he died for his own sin and left no sons.’ Why should our father’s name disappear from his clan because he had no son? Give us property among our father’s relatives. So Moses brought their cause or their case before the Lord. And the Lord said to him, ‘What Zelahad’s daughters are saying is right. You must certainly give them property as an inheritance among their father’s relatives and turn their father’s inheritance over to them.’ Say to the Israelites, ‘If a man dies and leaves no son, turn his inheritance over to his daughter. If he has no daughters, give his inheritance to his brothers. If he has no brothers, give his inheritance to his father’s brothers. If his father had no brothers, give his inheritance to the nearest relative in his clan that he may possess it.’ This is to be a legal requirement for the Israelites as the Lord commanded Moses.”
Genesis 2:23 (as quoted in the message)
“This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh. She shall be called woman, for she was taken out of man.”
Galatians 3:28–29 (as quoted in the message)
“There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed and hes according to the promise.”
1 Peter 1:3–4 (as quoted in the message)
“Praise be to the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ. In his great mercy, he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil, or fade. Kept in heaven for you.”
1 John 5 (as quoted in the message)
“This is the confidence we have in approaching God that if we ask anything according to what? His his will. He hears us. And if we know that he hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have what we have asked of him.”
Security is an inside job. A relationship cannot build eternal security—Jesus does. The goal isn’t to rush people into marriage; it’s to become secure in every season of life so that relationships aren’t forced to carry what only Christ can carry.
Pastor Rich used the “surveillance sticker” and “beware of dog” illustrations to show that projecting something doesn’t mean you truly possess it. External appearance can hide internal insecurity. He applied this across spiritual life and relationships: church attendance, money, romance, and sexual activity can all become “stickers on the window” if inner security isn’t real.
You tend to secure what you believe is valuable. Your emotions, mental health, purity, sexuality, and spirituality have value, so they must be protected. When you recognize your worth, you stop treating your life casually.
These five women show up with courage and clarity, refusing to be bypassed. They don’t complain or settle; they act. Their confidence is rooted in identity and inheritance—who their father is and what belongs to them.
Insecurity isn’t caused by a lack of value; it comes from not recognizing your worth. When you don’t see your value, you sell yourself short. Pastor Rich warned that insecurity often produces two outcomes: using people, and allowing others to use you. A key example was pornography as turning a person into an object for pleasure—something rooted in insecurity and distortive desire.
“Add tax” means refusing to settle and being bold enough to ask for what is right and God-honoring. Tax isn’t “extra”; it’s what’s owed. These women did what few were willing to do, so they received what few had received. The message emphasized that if you want what few have, you must be willing to do what few are willing to do.
Their names were highlighted as intentional identity markers: “forgiven,” “movement,” “circling/dancing,” “queen,” and “pleasing.” Pastor Rich connected this to how identity spoken by a father shapes a person’s confidence, and then spoke to those with father wounds: earthly fathers can fail, but the heavenly Father speaks true identity over His sons and daughters.
The message reframed faith: faith is not getting God to agree with us; it’s us agreeing with God. God’s response—“they are right”—was presented as God affirming what was always His will, waiting for faith to present the request.
Appreciation was taught using a business illustration: assets either appreciate or depreciate over time, and people are the greatest assets. The question is not whether you have value, but whether you are appreciating—growing, maturing, and becoming someone who makes others more valuable.
The airport story with Wyatt and Wild illustrated that “bigger” is not the same as “better.” God doesn’t make someone bigger to criticize or feel superior, but to help others get over obstacles. Security should turn into strength that lifts people.
Your worth is proven by what God was willing to pay. God paid the price of Jesus to purchase you. Knowing your worth isn’t self-help; it’s gospel identity. Because you belong to God, you have an inheritance now and forever.
Identify where you are projecting security but not possessing it. Write down the areas where you rely on external things (relationship status, attention, approval, image, achievement) to feel safe.
Name one place where you have been “giving discounts” (settling, tolerating misuse, lowering standards, compromising purity, shrinking your voice). Decide what changes immediately when you treat your life as valuable.
Make bold, specific requests to God this week that align with His will: purity, healing, wisdom, identity, future spouse, marriage growth, family restoration, emotional stability, freedom, and direction. The assignment is simple: ask.
Choose one intentional way to appreciate rather than depreciate: grow emotionally, spiritually, mentally, or relationally. Track one measurable step each day (confession, counseling step, Scripture intake, accountability, boundaries, apology, act of service).
If you are “bigger” in any area (more mature, stronger, more stable, more experienced), identify one person you can help “get over the railing” this week through encouragement, mentoring, practical support, or prayer.
C.U.P. – Confidence Under Pressure
Robert Madu
July 15, 2018
So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised.
Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then he said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.” Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.” Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. “Couldn’t you men keep watch with me for one hour?” he asked Peter. “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” He went away a second time and prayed, “My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done.” When he came back, he again found them sleeping, because their eyes were heavy. So he left them and went away once more and prayed the third time, saying the same thing. Then he returned to the disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Look, the hour has come, and the Son of Man is delivered into the hands of sinners. Rise! Let us go! Here comes my betrayer!”
We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about the troubles we experienced in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt we had received the sentence of death.
1. Preview
2. Place
Jesus went out as usual to the Mount of Olives, and his disciples followed him. On reaching the place, he said to them, “Pray that you will not fall into temptation.” He withdrew about a stone’s throw beyond them, knelt down and prayed, “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.”
Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him…
3. People
4. Power
“Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him. And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.
Jesus’ Death & Our Life
Hebrews 9:27-10:22
1. Jesus’ death removes sin
Hebrews 10:1b-4, (NLT)
the sacrifices under that system were repeated again and again, year after year, but they were never able to provide perfect cleansing for those who came to worship. If they could have provided perfect cleansing, the sacrifices would have stopped, for the worshipers would have been purified once for all time, and their feelings of guilt would have disappeared. But instead, those sacrifices actually reminded them of their sins year after year. For it is not possible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.
Romans 3:23 (NIV)
For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God
Ezekiel 18:20, (NIV)
The soul who sins is the one who will die.
1 John 1:7,
The blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin.
1 John 2:2a, (ESV)
He is the propitiation for our sins
2. Jesus’ death sanctifies the believer
Hebrews 10:10, (NLT)
For God’s will was for us to be made holy by the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ, once for all time.
Hebrews 10:14, (NIV)
because by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.
Romans 6:22, (NLT)
But now you are free from the power of sin and have become slaves of God. Now you do those things that lead to holiness and result in eternal life.
1 John 3:7-10, (NLT)
Dear children, don’t let anyone deceive you about this: When people do what is right, it shows that they are righteous, even as Christ is righteous. But when people keep on sinning, it shows that they belong to the devil, who has been sinning since the beginning. But the Son of God came to destroy the works of the devil. Those who have been born into God’s family do not make a practice of sinning, because God’s life is in them. So they can’t keep on sinning, because they are children of God. So now we can tell who are children of God and who are children of the devil. Anyone who does not live righteously and does not love other believers does not belong to God.
3. Jesus’ death destroyed his enemies
Hebrews 10:12-13, (NLT)
our High Priest offered himself to God as a single sacrifice for sins, good for all time. Then he sat down in the place of honor at God’s right hand. There he waits until his enemies are humbled and made a footstool under his feet.
Colossians 2:15, (NLT)
In this way, he disarmed the spiritual rulers and authorities. He shamed them publicly by his victory over them on the cross.
Hebrews 2:14, (NLT)
For only as a human being could he die, and only by dying could he break the power of the devil, who had the power of death.
Revelation 1:18, (NIV)
I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.
4. Jesus’ death changes our hearts
Hebrews 10:15-18, (NIV)
The Holy Spirit also testifies to us about this. First he says: “This is the covenant I will make with them after that time, says the Lord. I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds.” Then he adds: “Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more.” And where these have been forgiven, there is no longer any sacrifice for sin.
Hebrews 10:19, (NIV)
Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus,
Hebrews 10:22 (NIV)
let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.
1st We have an appointment with death
Hebrews 9:27a, (NKJV)
It is appointed for men to die
Psalm 139:15-16, (NLT)
You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb. You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed
2nd We only live once on planet earth
3rd After death comes judgment
Hebrews 9:27, (NKJV)
It is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment.”
Hebrews 10:26-27, (NLT)
Dear friends, if we deliberately continue sinning after we have received knowledge of the truth, there is no longer any sacrifice that will cover these sins. There is only the terrible expectation of God’s judgment (crisis) and the raging fire (fiery indignation) that will consume his enemies.
Hebrews 10:31 (NLT)
It is a terrible thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
Hebrews 9:28, (NLT)
so also Christ died once for all time as a sacrifice to take away the sins of many people. He will come again, not to deal with our sins, but to bring salvation to all who are eagerly waiting for him.