Michael Koulianos emphasizes the importance of deep love and dependency on Jesus, sharing his personal journey of faith and the challenges he faced while serving in ministry. He reflects on the need for repentance and the danger of becoming independent from God, urging believers to prioritize their relationship with Jesus over mere service. Koulianos illustrates this through the story of Mary and Martha, highlighting that true devotion comes from sitting at Jesus' feet rather than being distracted by tasks. He calls for a return to intimacy with Christ, encouraging the congregation to seek Him wholeheartedly and to recognize the joy of being in His presence. The sermon culminates in an invitation for those seeking a deeper relationship with Jesus to respond and commit to Him.

Well, it's good to see you again. I missed you. Hopefully you missed me. I talked to a pastor the other day. He said, Man, your church is growing. You haven't been there. I go, What's that tell you? Well, I've been here. I just haven't been able to speak. But the Lord is faithful. Amen? The Lord is faithful. I got a text this morning from Steph and Stephen saying she was up all night praying for me. And, of course, we love Steph, but it's not about that. It's God awakening people to see you through. It's so special. And, you know, you become amazed by the faithfulness of the Lord to talk to His friends, to help see you through. And it just means so much. So all of you who've prayed for me, our online family around the world, thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you for the faith that you've spoken and contended for. I remember one day I was walking. I was doing some cardio, and I've been allowed to speak in parcels. That's what they call it. It's bizarre. Especially for a Greek family, to speak in parcels is different. And so I called my mom, and I said, Mom, you know, I'm discouraged, because my voice was going in and out, and, you know, you worry about injuring it again. And just the faith from my mom and dad as well has been beautiful. And my father-in-law has been a champion to stand by me and come here and preach in the morning, which is miraculous. It's one of the greatest miracles. People ask me, what's one of the greatest miracles you've seen? I said, my father-in-law preaching morning service. It's been amazing. Did I forget anyone, babe? You're pretty good at letting me know when I do. I love all of you. You ready? Okay, it's been a minute, so let's get in. Take your Bibles, if you would. Holy Spirit, thank you for your precious word that is life and that reveals Jesus to us. I pray now that you would just sear the beauty of his face into the depths of our hearts and that we'd fall more deeply in love with you than ever before. And I pray, Lord, we'd be more like you by the time this is over. In Jesus' name, amen. Oh, wow, my audio Bible. I'm good there, Joel. Let Joel know you love him. Thank you. What a great man. Take your Bibles to Luke chapter 10. This season has been a season of returning for me. When you can't talk, God starts talking, which is what we need. Sometimes we talk too much. And it's been a season of repentance as well for me. What do you preach when you haven't preached in four months? We're not just going to kick off a series, right? That would feel a little robotic and different. It just wouldn't feel right today. And you know I've never used the PowerPoint, so you're not going to get one of those either. But it's been a season of deep repentance. And when you stop repenting, you stop falling in love with the Lord. Because repentance, as Mother Besselius said, repentance and the joy-filled life go hand in hand. And if repentance scares you, I can understand that. But if you find no need for it, it's because you're not seeing it rightly. Repentance isn't just sobbing all the time. That's part of it. But it's a turning away from and a turning unto the Lord. Maybe many of you who grew up in church, repentance is merely the turning away from. And that scarred you. So you turned away from sin only to turn toward another sin. Because turning toward anything but Jesus leads to sin. Does that make sense? So how many of you have ever been lovingly challenged by the Lord? Yeah. When I first started in the ministry, nobody really cared to have me speak very often. I remember being at the Amway Arena, or maybe it was the Convention Center, one of those two. And my father-in-law was having a crusade. And Jesus' image had just been incorporated. This would have been, I don't know, maybe like 2010. A little earlier maybe? I don't know. But he came through and he was trying to be nice to me. And he said, Hey, Mikey, take the pulpit and tell people about your ministry. And so I didn't want to lie behind the pulpit. That's a good way to start. So I took the pulpit and I said, My ministry is Jesus. And then I went to leave. And he said, Well, come on, tell them more. Tell them more about your ministry. And I whispered, That's all I've got. And I had discovered that I could move his feelings, the Lord's, in those days. You know, I discovered that I could move his heart. And what a treasure it was to discover that in secret, that I could move him. And then he'd respond to the moving by touching me, or speaking to me, or opening the Scriptures to me. Unless he opens them, they're locked. Do you know what I mean? There are theologians on their way to hell who know chapter and verse because they haven't been opened. John 3.16 is a point of argument for them rather than bread. And he began to open the Scriptures to me and I could see him. Not physically, but I could see him in the text. See him in the Word. Move him in worship. Move him in waiting. And the only reason I could move him is because he'd start to dance. Does this make sense to any of you? If not, just hang out here for a few months. It will. So, those were beautiful days. They were unpredictable days. In that, I was a one-man staff. I was preaching in little house meetings. Preached a few here in Orlando. I would preach in restaurants. I preached at a place in California called a Marie Calendar. They used to sell pies and make, I think, pretty good omelets. And women's aglow would have me in to preach in the restaurant. It was awesome. All you saw were white perms in the crowd. Just little white circles everywhere. If you've got one, we love it. And one time my honorarium was a pie. I'm like, thanks for coming. We want to honor you. Here's an apple pie. I thought, I don't need that stuff. Wow, what a blessing. And I would fly across the country to preach in houses. Because impact wasn't the goal. I want that one to settle. Impact wasn't the goal. He was the goal. And I started to believe that if I could move him, I could leave the impact to him. Because it was his ministry. But when I said that that night here in Orlando, who would have thought that we'd be pastoring here in the city? But when I said that, what I meant was, is that his heart was my ministry. Like my sole focus was, what do you want right now? And maybe you're saying, well that's easy, just obey the word. I know, but there's a lot of scripture between these two leather pages. And I needed to know what he wanted in the moment. And that only comes by the Spirit. So I'd given my life to wanting him to smile. Or weeping when he was weeping. And so the setting didn't matter at all. It just didn't matter. Because even if there were 10,000 in the crowd or 10, I wasn't looking at them. So I was free. I've crossed oceans to preach to 10. And spent tens of thousands of dollars to do it. I spent 26 days with my dad in Greece. Not only flying to Athens, but flying to the islands. Taking taxis to preach to 5 to 10 people. Because it didn't matter how many were in the room. He walked with me. And in a day when leaders are collapsing. And families are being ravaged. With everything in me, I want to say. You don't have to be a slave to that grind. You don't have to build a monster to feel better about yourself. You don't have to wear yourself out to fill a room with people. And what I'm saying, I've lived, I've walked it. I know what it's like to get on a plane with Jesus and feel his presence. I know what it's like to see long layovers turn into heaven on earth. Just because I could find a corner and be with him. I know what it's like to watch a school birth in a little fellowship hall. In a Presbyterian church that was freezing cold. No matter what. And be free. And be in love with Jesus. And if it's not just about that. Then it's by default about something else. It has to be. There's no other way to look at it. It either is or it's about something else. And if it's about something else, our hearts have drifted. So in those days, I would get an invitation. Most were very small. Meetings. I remember preaching at a big church once in those days. About 10,000 members, Jesse remembers. We paid our way down there. Or up there, I'm not going to tell you which. Massive building. They paid cash for the building. I preached my guts out. I mean I preached my guts out. Prayed for the sick, people saved, healed, filled with the spirit. And the pastor pulled me aside after. After we paid all our expenses. Rather than give me a check, he gave me fried rice. I thought, fried rice? What am I going to do with this? He goes, this was an official trip. Next time it will be official. But I didn't care. I mean he was wrong for doing that. Say amen. Amen. That's not what the Bible teaches. The Bible doesn't even mention fried rice. That was pretty good. I did eat it actually. I was starving because I didn't get an honorarium. Another time I flew to Dallas. They gave me a pen. That broke in half after the first week. But it didn't matter. It just didn't matter because he was with me. More real to me than anyone in the world. And I had become addicted to that touch. And still am. But when the invitations and the responsibility here started increasing. I no longer had a week to wait on God. To say yes or no. And relationships started forming that were dear to my heart and still are. I wanted to be a good faithful covenant friend to people. And stand with them in their ministry. Because I do believe that's important. To prefer others above us. There's a lot more going on in the world than Jesus. And I wanted to faithfully serve them. And I think part of it is my culture. Maybe it's the Greek thing. There's that ride or die loyalty thing in us. Super communal and tribal people. If they needed me I was there. And adding that to what the Lord was doing here began to wear me down. And so at Jesus 21 after the meeting. I had just pushed it for years. I remember at the school. Actually Marina was running. You don't even know this but she was running camera. Remember when I would do those online teachings. And I had noticed I'm working harder to speak. And I was like. Maybe I'm just tired. I would struggle to catch my breath. But I knew it wasn't a heart issue or breathing issue. I'm like I'm really working to just do this. And I would take a day or two off. And it would subside. Then I started. The students would remember our Tuesdays together. Which were scriptural bombs for hours on end. Right? So I would just literally cut my heart open. And share massive swaths of the word. For hours. Some six to seven hours on some Tuesdays. And then you know. You have staff meetings or Zoom calls. Then COVID hit. And everybody and their mother wants you on Zoom. I got so tired of all that. Oh my gosh. If I got on Instagram one more time and saw somebody go live. I was going to throw my phone into a lake. Especially when all the prophetic words came. That it would have been over in two months. I'll keep it moving. So. You keep this kind of pace up. Assuming. That everything you're doing has God's fingerprint on it. Because it's good stuff technically. But only God is good. Right? And so come Jesus 21. I looked at somebody next to me on the platform. I was getting ready to go speak. And I said. I don't think I can do it. And they were like. You've got to do it. It's your event. And I'm like. It's not really my event. It's the Lord's event. They're like. You can't put this whole thing on and not preach the gospel. They need to hear you. And so. I gave my all that night. My all. And then the next morning. I coughed up blood. But I thought. I thought. That it was just. I was on some aspirin. For flying. My doctor had me on a little aspirin. Just for a COVID protocol. And prevention. So I thought the aspirin. Broke a blood vessel. And it went away. In a couple of days. And then I had gone. To Upper Room. For their New Year's event. And preached there. And then the same thing happened the next morning. And then my voice just went. Completely. And. You know. Then I got scoped. And they found the polyp in there. Two actually. So. I asked the Lord. The reason I'm sharing this. Isn't so you feel bad for me. I want you to learn from it. I asked the Lord. Why did you let this happen? And. I don't know where that falls in your theology. But if you walk through something. You know what I'm saying. Why is this happening? You ever done that? And the Lord said. You did this to yourself. And I remember David's words. This is what David said. He called the sin of presumption. The great sin of presumption. To presume. To know. Where to go. And what to do. Without sitting at his feet. Is a great sin. And the reason. It's a great sin. Is because without knowing. It releases you. In that moment. From the beauty. Of Lordship. And releases you. And separates you. From the beauty of dependency. Independence. Is a great sin. Independence I should say. Is a great sin. Dependency. Is lowly. Meek and holy. I've had people tell me. Oh those Jesus image people. All they like to do is worship. Unfortunately. It typically comes from. People. Who have a heart for the harvest. To separate. God's presence from the harvest. Is to glory in what you do. Not the one who is doing it. The harvest. Increases. When the Lord of the harvest. Takes the field. We don't glory in harvest. We glory in the Lord of the harvest. And what he does. Dependency on Jesus. For everything. Makes him happy. Secondly. I like to travel with our worship team. For a lot of reasons. One they are wonderful and amazing. But secondly. Well let me say this first. So my first service. As a pastor. Was in Orange County California. We started in the studio. At BHM. And. My father-in-law. Was standing behind the curtain. Before I went out. Thank God we don't do that anymore. I can just walk up here. But he said. Hold on I want to give you a tip. Before you go out there. And I said I'll take it. Because I was freaked out. The place was jam packed. 400 came on our first day. Without all of the mechanisms. And methods. And parties. And dinners. And flyers. Data transfer. And buying lists. All of this stuff. All of these arms of the flesh. That we glory in. I want to glory in the cloud filling the house. Because if I can stay there. We'll all make it. Your staff starts becoming slaves. To the pace you create. You destroy them. So there I am. Freaked out. Because so many people. And I'll never forget this tip. And I've done it every service since. This is what he told me. Because just prior to that. The Lord had started healing people. When I would pray for them. He said Mikey. Before you lean on your gift. Remember to worship. It will tell heaven. That you love Jesus. More than the gift he gave you. You should write that down. I haven't traveled the world with a band. Everywhere since then. We didn't have one. But I could worship. Band or not. And what it did. Is it taught me dependency. Dependency on the Lord. And I think looking back at this journey. Maybe some of you. Are in the same boat. In fact if I had to bet. I'd say all of you are. Because I never stopped praying. Just to tell you. I don't want you to think this is amazing. It's just the life I've lived since 2002. 99.9% of my days. I'm with him for at least 2 hours. That didn't stop. I just wanted to be there for people. Including you and our students. Not just people on the road. You have to remember I was preaching Sunday morning. Sunday night. Tuesdays all day long. Staff meetings whatever. Traveling on top of it. And I heard this in my heart. Right after my surgery. You've been a wonderful friend to people. But I want you to be a better friend to me. And so that's what I had to repent of. In this world of good things. People getting saved and healed. Churches being birthed. A worship movement arising. These are good. But you can't allow good to replace God. And so I'm coming out of that season. With a long returning. To lean in and hear his smallest whisper. And not do a thing. Until there's a bright green light flashing. This will save you. This will save you. There's a passage in the song of Solomon. The Shulamite is out there looking for Jesus. She's walking the city looking for him. Which is really a picture of many areas of the Christian life. One of the pictures is how we relate to him in the secret place. Where his presence comes and the sense of his presence seems to shift. He never goes away. But the sense shifts. While we were finding him in a song. Now he's wanting us to find him in the scriptures. And that's this type and shadow of what the Shulamite was doing. Where is he here? Where is he now? And lovers are all in. They're all in with or without a plan. Lovers of Jesus are crazy. You look at Mary Magdalene. She sees the empty tomb. And she says. Where have you put my Lord? Think of this. Give him to me so I can take him. What was she going to do? With a dead body. She didn't think. I'm thinking about what would she do? Carry it to another tomb? She wouldn't have been able to move him an inch. Did she have the money to buy a new tomb? Or bury him? Somewhere else? If she was given the Lord's body. Would she have put it down and run back? And gotten other disciples to help her? She didn't think about all that. What she thought of. I want my master. Give him to me. And that's what lovers do. They burn first and think later. Right? And so the Shulamite. She's out looking. This is one of the most grieving texts. To me. Is that while she's looking. Saying have you seen my beloved? The Bible says. The watchman wounded her. The pastors wounded her. The shepherds wounded her. They bruised her. Basically telling her. Calm down. You're too intense. Balance it out. Stop running the streets. Looking for Jesus. And how often does that happen? When a heart is lit on fire. And that heart comes to someone. Who you think. Would increase the flame. Only to tell the little burning Shulamite. Calm down. And independence. Can cause you. To become a watchman. In someone's life. Who tells the Shulamite. Stop looking for him. All in the name of wisdom. In the name of balance. In the name of church growth. I want to yell right now. But I can't. Give me two weeks. In the name of selling records. I'm going to take one of these out. So I can hear you. Pull down and twist. My first time wearing these. Now they do have a snook on them. This is going to dangle now. Jose where are you at? Come help me buddy. Jose. Jose had these made for me. My in ears have a picture of me. Swinging a golf club. I want them to be annoyed. Thank you buddy. Tell them you love them. We get questions. As Christian leaders. Let me back up. Lindy. And Chase. Taught at House of Bethany. On Friday. How many of y'all were there? I heard she said something. That really moved my heart. She said who cares if you write songs. But you don't have him. So many precious Shulamite. Worship leaders. Come giddy. Wanting to love the Lord. With their giftings. And expressions. And they come to a leader. And they say. This is what I burn for. This is who I burn for. And then the leader says. Just chill out a little bit. You could affect. What God wants to do. Or. People may not get saved. If you worship too radically. Some people. Will criticize. Free hearts who worship. Who break their alabaster. While they are criticizing. Someone who may be dancing or singing. They stand like this. Assuming. That God has a bigger problem. With the person. Who worships freely. Than the person who stands. Dead. There is great danger. In trying to build your own tower. Great danger. Most people. Start really well. And then the devil comes in. Shrouded. In worldly advice. And creates. Mindsets. That destroy lives. I don't think the Lord. Gave me any of this. I am not saying that. I am grateful. To have learned. What I am learning now. To see you sit there. On the edge of your seat right now. Without me screaming at you. Is proof. That the Lord can do it. I want to read this to you. And then we are going to receive communion. We will get to the text here. I want to start. Where it all started. For me. Now it happened. As they went. Luke 10. That he entered a certain village. And a certain woman. Named Martha. Welcomed him into her house. And she had a sister. Called Mary. You have heard me say this before. Martha. Got him into the house. But Mary knew how to keep it. Mary who also sat at Jesus' feet. And heard his word. The lowly. Hear him. Not the self appointed. When you are self appointed. You lift yourself up. But to hear his word. You have to be at his feet. But Martha. Was distracted with much serving. I won't give names here. But when some of our team gets a little spastic. For my taste. And begin to bother me. I won't look at anyone now. I am just going to look at the back. I just very lovingly say. This is not Martha image. This is Jesus image. We will talk tomorrow about that. It gets them every time. Poor Martha. She is trying to throw a nice meal together. She was distracted with much serving. Oh my. I wonder how that would land in church growth conferences. Serving is important. But I want our teams to serve with tears in their eyes. Because they are communing. While they are serving. That is beautiful. You can scrub a toilet. Or shake a hand. And your heart be connected with the Lord. That is what Paul prayed for the church. He actually said. I pray unceasingly. That means he prayed. While he made tents. While he laid hands on the sick. But Martha here. Is independent. Of the one who is in the room. Thinking she is pleasing him. And she approached him and said. This is the all time. One of my favorite. Statements in the word. Lord. Do you not care? We are talking about the incarnate God. Who left the throne of heaven. To eat her food. To walk on water. To be born in a manger. She had the audacity to say. Don't you care? How can he tell the Savior. That he doesn't care. You become independent. You won't see him rightly. Do you not care. That my sister. Has left me to serve alone. She is a victim. Therefore. Tell her to help me. Going to the Lord. About him dealing with other people. Can be good. Or reveal how off we are. One of the things. We. Do you care if I just keep going. Because it has been four months. If you don't. I am just going to talk to myself. I am so grateful to be talking. When I go to Jesus. He usually deals with me. One of the things. We destroy and decapitate. At Jesus school is. When students start pointing fingers. At other students. And tell me that God told them. Now if it is a serious issue. We will look into it obviously. In the early years I could see. The devil's plan to divide. Through supposed prophetic ministry. That is meant to exhort and build up. And edify. So she comes and says. Jesus talk to my sister. I want you to notice in the response. Jesus doesn't say a word. To Martha. Or I should say to Mary. On behalf of Martha. He deals with Martha. Do you not care when my sister. Left me to serve alone. Therefore tell her to help me. And Jesus answered and said to her. Martha Martha. You are worried. And troubled. Listen to me carefully. Those two words will always. Go together. What type of water. Did Jesus call. Troubled water. Moving water. What did he do to the water. Stilled it. Not distilled it. Could have done that too. He stilled the water. I think it was. Yesterday maybe. Jess had a lot going on. When you are married. You have to have grace for these things. In both directions. But. When Jess. Is. Worried. I know she is troubled. Her soul is moving. And I know my job. Is to bring her back. To that one thing. If I can bring her. Or myself. We all walk through it. Back to this one thing. The worry leaf. In leadership. You have massive. Massive issues. Whether it is correcting people. Confronting people. Calling out sin. Not compromising. All of these require wild confrontations. If I think of my next. 10 confrontations. I will become worried. Because. My soul is troubled. But. If I can just bring it back. To what Jesus said. Worry not about tomorrow. For today. Has enough concerns. What is happening there? He is taking the 10. And bringing it down to 1. That is what is happening here. Martha. Here is your issue. I wanted your love. And you brought me. Three sandwiches. Your much. Doing. Rather than your singular loving. Has caused. Worry. How many things are needed? You will see it right here. Verse 42. One thing is needed. And Mary. Has chosen that good part. Which will not be taken away from her. That means the hummus. That Martha gave Jesus. Could be taken from her. Or the grape leaves. Which Jesus. Jesus ate Mediterranean food. I hate to tell you. I am a Bible man. I do it all. Jesus is saying. All this you are doing. Because you are not in love. You are going to lose it. Every song you sing. If you are not in love. You lose it. Every song you play. If you are not in love. You lose it. Every sermon you preach. If you are not in love. You lose it. Every business you start. Outside of God's instruction. If you are not in love. You lose it. Notoriety. You will lose it. Being known. Records. Streams. Downloads. Views. You lose it. But here is little Mary. Who looks incredibly unsuccessful. I would say even to modern church. Because the first question in modern church environments is. How many people came? Mary was aware of one person who came. Just one. And Jesus told Martha. About Mary. She is not going to lose it. What she has. Cannot be taken away from her. Can you help me Joel. I. Before we take communion. I want us to. Allow. I don't want you to do it. I want us to. Because that doesn't work. Paul said don't even judge yourselves. David said search me. David spoke of the Lord. Searching him in the night season. I don't want you to look. I want you to just close your eyes for a moment. Everyone just close your eyes. I don't want you to look at the depths of. What is off. I want you right now. With your eyes closed. In the presence of the Holy Spirit. To ask the Holy Spirit. If you've become independent. If you left the beauty. Of his feet. Awaiting his next instruction. And as you sit there. You just ask him like a little child. And as you sit there. He'll reveal it. I don't. I'm not excited to tell you this. It's not like I feel good. Saying what I'm about to say. Independence is great sin. Jesus modeled it perfectly. He was led of the spirit. Led. Means where the spirit took him. He went. As son of man. And last Adam. That is the perfect picture. I also want to talk to you. About your soul. Many of you in the room. Have been running from Jesus. You say no I haven't. I've been doing all the right things. But are you in love. Like deeply in love. Are you addicted to Jesus. Is his voice food. Is his touch. Your joy. When sin. Is revealed to you in your life. Does it grieve you or have you. Learned to cope with it. Or maybe form a theology. Around it that. You can be a professing. Jesus lover. Live in habitual sin. I'm not saying you should never. Screw up we all do. I'm talking about a lifestyle. Of sin. Everyone likes to touch. The porn issue at this point. But that is. Certainly an issue. But there's a deeper. Root to such things. It's a lack of satisfaction. It's a lack of knowing the Lord. Truly knowing him. Maybe you've come in this morning. And never experienced. The wonder. Of being set free. When you give your heart to Jesus. I'm here to tell you. According to the Bible. And my own personal testimony. That when he comes in. He comes in to liberate. And set free. You can leave. Yes changed. But even better. You can leave brand new. Brand new. You can know what it's like. To leave. As a child. Of God. You come in. As somebody who is. In bondage. Behind the scenes. Maybe you've been attending church. For years. But your life at home. Isn't the Christian life. Maybe some of you have. Stopped reading the word of God. Your heart's not burning anymore. I want to say. Jesus loves you. He died for you. He shed his blood for you. He was buried. And raised again. He ascended to the right hand. Of the father. And today ever lives. To intercede on your behalf. You want that friend. You want to be his. You want to belong. To the one who secures. Your eternity. You want to give. Your wedding vows. To the one who sets your heart. On fire. For some of you. This would be the first time. For others. Maybe you were burning at one point. And you left the Lord. This world. Is too crazy. To live in. Without Jesus. Some of you. I feel this strongly. Some of you. Come from horrific. Family backgrounds. And you've wondered. Will this just continue. In my family line. You could be the one this morning. Who comes to Jesus. And the Lord will redeem. The generations after you. You'll be that one. Who follows him. In some ways like a seed. Who changes the entire narrative. Of generations to come. God can redeem a whole family line. With every head bowed and eye closed. If. What I just said registers. In any of your hearts. I want us to be real with Jesus. And I just want you to lift your hand up. I said Michael that's me. I want the whole house to stand. Let's all stand. If you raised your hand. Or you wish you did. Or you wish you did. This is so important. Jesus said. If you confess me before men. I will confess you before the Father. If you deny me before men. I will deny you before the Father. What a tragedy. That is not his heart. And nobody has to experience that.