Welcome to Hub City Vineyard. To get connected
or to give online, go to connect .hcv .church
or give .hcv .church. If at any point during
this message you feel called to make a change
in your life, text CHANGEME to 9700. Thank you
and enjoy the message. Hey, good morning everyone.
So good to hear you laughing at Frank and all
of our announcements. I just want to encourage
you. We do do announcements to inform you of
everything that is happening in our community
of faith. So be sure to check them out and read
all the things that are happening. So before
we get started, May happens to be National Teachers
and Nurses Month in the United States. And we
want to honor you and recognize you. If you are
a teacher or a nurse or have something to do
in the medical profession, would you please stand?
Please. And guess what? We have a gift for you.
Please stay standing. We honor you. Thank you
for serving. Thank you for serving our local
community. Thank you for serving our children.
Thank you for all that you do in terms of making
this world a better place. Also, an additional
announcement that wasn't in on our tie -dye news
network. Bob and Dodie feel called to launch
a singles group. So if you happen to be single,
unmarried, you can visit the Welcome Hub. And
please notice what I said, a singles group. Everyone
say singles. That has nothing to do with dating.
All right. So just to get that out there on the
forefront. Not that they don't ever want to be
in a relationship and be married, but this group
is strictly for singles that are looking to further
a relationship with Jesus and to talk about God
and all that he's doing in their life. So if
you're interested in that group, they'll be launching
it soon. Stop by the Welcome Hub, get your name
down, and they will be sure to reach out. So
before we jump into our final talk of our series
called Inked and be discussing different tattoos
from our partners, I just felt inclined that
we open in prayer and ask God to come. Come and
search our hearts. So Holy Spirit, come. God,
we're just thankful for this day. We're thankful
for Memorial Day weekend to kick off the summer,
God. We just ask that your hand would be upon
every word that I speak, God. May they be your
words, not mine. And more importantly, open our
hearts and our minds to receive all that you
have for us, God. May we leave this place changed.
May we leave this place better than when we came
in. In Jesus' name, amen. All right, so about
a year and a half ago, while doing laundry, that's
right, laundry, like a normal Monday morning,
I was switching the wet clothes from the washer
to the dryer so that they could dry. And suddenly,
in doing so, my back locked up, and I found myself
on my hands and knees for about 10 minutes in
excruciating pain. As I slowly began to sit up,
trying to figure out what I did that would have
caused so much pain and discomfort, I never figured
it out. But just like Chris, I went on about
my day and just pushed through. I approached
this back injury like I do most everything in
my life. I can handle the pain, and eventually,
you know something? It's just going to get better.
The problem is, it never got better. The discomfort
moved from my back, down my leg, into my foot,
and to this day still affects my everyday life.
Eight months after the injury, yes, I'm hard
-headed, I finally went to the doctor because
I tried physical therapy, a chiropractor, and
stretch after stretch after stretch. An MRI soon
revealed that I had a disc bulge that hit up
against nerves down in the lower part of my back.
I'm happy to report that the disc seems to have
returned to normal and my back is strong, but
nerves can take up to two years to fully heal
if they ever heal at all. Now, I find myself
struggling with a past hurt that still hurts.
I find myself struggling with a past hurt that
still hurts. And I can't walk in the freedom
to do everything that I want to do every single
day. Before the injury, I ran my first half marathon.
Since the injury, I've only been able to walk
because jogging or running is very difficult
when your right foot is partially numb. You don't
know exactly where it's going to hit or where
it's going to land. I don't have the freedom
to do everything that I want to do because I
am struggling with a past hurt that still hurts.
Well, here's the reality, HTV. Our minds and
our souls are very similar to this injury. See,
we can experience all of this while having one
of the best days of our life. Picture it. Everything's
going right. We're smiling. We're happy. We're
full of energy. And then suddenly, out of nowhere,
we hear something. And we go from being real
happy to real sad in the split second. We can
hear someone's name mentioned and our day is
ruined. We can see a post on social media or
read a comment and our memory is triggered. We
hear about an event, we drive by a place, we
listen to a song, and all of a sudden we go from
real happy to real sad. And we're left wondering,
what just happened? Well, those instances are
called triggers. And those triggers remind us
that we have a past hurt, That still hurts. And
that pain hasn't been dealt with correctly because
it still hurts. The song we listened to, it wasn't
that big of a deal. What that person said to
us was not worth ruining in our day or our week.
See, these instances were not where the injury
happened. They just triggered the emotion that
reminded us that a past hurt that is still hurting
today. And if that past hurt is hurting, we can't
walk in the freedom that God wants us to walk
in. And this is where we find ourselves as I
share our first tattoo. Let's take a look. Amber
writes, I got this tattoo to cover up the one
I originally got for my oldest daughter who was
adopted. It was done by a street artist and I
chose to cover it with flowers that represent
multiple loved ones. The forget -me -nots are
for my daughter but also my foster mother who
never forgot me even when I made it very hard
to love me. The roses are for my grandmother
that I never got to see after I went into the
system. See, she called CPS on my mother. Her
actions both saved me and caused me terrible
heartache. Her favorite song was The Rose. The
roses are also for my mom whose favorite color
is purple. I loved her and forgave her a long
time ago. She did the best she could and has
overcome many hardships. The sunflowers are for
my great -grandmother. I miss her dearly. She
and my grandmother created the best memories
I have before going into the system. This tattoo
is a reminder of people I not only love, but
whose stories are important. Those stories are
a part of where I've been and what God's brought
me through. So as I was reading that testimony
from Amber, I began to reflect on the pain and
the experiences that all of us have as we walk
through this journey called life. We are a broken
people living in a broken world. And as we interact
with one another, chances are hurts and pains
are going to result. But quite often what happens
is we get hurt and we don't deal with it. Because
it's too painful or we don't know what to do.
Then that hurt, unfortunately, turns to anger.
Then that anger over time turns to bitterness.
And then bitterness turns into what the Bible
refers to as a hardened heart. And this hardened
heart changes the way we live. It changes our
insecurities, how we interact with people. It
changes who we let into our life. And it changes
who we trust and how we treat others. Have you
ever lost it and snapped on someone and then
24 hours later you're like, that was completely
an overreaction. Then as we reflect, we realize,
well, they didn't show us the respect that we
deserved or we didn't feel valued. And they touched
on something or triggered something from our
past causing this sharp response over a hurt
that we experienced years ago. It's that hurt.
that still hurts, and it changes who we are as
people. And God says, I don't want you to live
that way anymore. I don't want you to explode
on people. See, those past hurts keep us from
responding to the call that God has on our lives.
He keeps us from walking in the peace, the love,
the joy, and the confidence that God wants us
to walk in. See, God has a prescription for our
past hurts, which leads us to our first thought.
See, forgiveness is... freedom. Forgiveness equals
freedom. Let's read Ephesians 4, 31 to 32. Get
rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words,
and slander, as well as all types of evil behavior.
Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted,
and here it is, forgiving one another, just as
God through Christ has forgiven you. See, the
great physician says, if you want To go through
the process of healing wounds, I have the answer
for you. It's called forgiveness. See, we know
that just trying to walk out forgiveness, it's
a painful process. But I believe it's a process
that is worth it. And not only that, it's one
that's commanded. Look at Colossians 3, 12 to
13. Since God chose you to be the holy people
he loves, you must close yourselves with a tenderhearted
mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.
Make allowance for each other's faults and forgive
anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave
you, so you must forgive others. And I get it.
This is a difficult subject. Some of you are
thinking, Chris, it's the kickoff of summer.
Forgiveness? Really? Because I know as soon as
I mention that whole word, some of us get defensive.
Emotions can even... In fact, some of you are
so wounded, you know, so hurt that when someone
even mentions the word forgiveness, you want
to throw it out and fight. You're like, I'm not
going there. I've tried. It's too hard. It's
too painful. You don't know what I've been through.
And I don't. I don't know all the pain you've
experienced in this life. I understand that you've
been through painful and traumatic circumstances.
And I want to acknowledge that. In fact, just
this week. I was accused in an email to Little
League International that I don't care about
children. I only care about winning. And this
is a direct quote from that email that was sent
to Little League International. He should be
in jail with how he runs that Little League.
It's disgusting, despicable behavior. So when
receiving that email from Little League International,
I understand that situations happen to everyone.
In fact, I was attacked for simply serving our
community and making it a better place. And you
know what happened in my heart? I became angry.
I became upset because all those claims are unjustified
because little Johnny wasn't batting second and
playing every inning. And because little Johnny
wasn't batting second or playing every inning,
mom got upset. I get it, but I'm human. I became
angry. By Wednesday morning, my workout routine
was not normal. It was actually full of rage.
Probably one of the best workouts I've had all
year. Because my character had been attacked
for no good reason. But I am coming out the other
end realizing that this was a simple lesson that
God was trying to teach me about forgiveness.
And he wanted me to walk right through it. And
I believe that God wants all of us to do the
same this morning. I believe that's not an accident
that you're here. I believe that God wants to
highlight different areas of your life where
unforgiveness reigns so that you can walk out
of this place free and whole. Why? Because God
has a better life for us. He wants for us to
walk in freedom and forgiveness. And that only
happens when we deal with the bitterness, rage,
anger, harsh words. And slander. Which leads
us to our action steps. The forgiveness process.
And notice I said it's a process. Because there
are times. When things happen to us. When situations
happen to us. And we respond. And it's not a
big deal. We forgive. It was an event. It happened.
We move on. But for those deep wounds. Like when
someone leaves and we're abandoned. or someone
abuses or neglects or hurts us to the point where
there's trauma, forgiving those wounds is not
an event, it's a process. A process of working
through the pain, and we have to allow God in
to do the work which leads to freedom. We have
our first step, and that's we have to acknowledge
the pain. See, acknowledging the pain is essential
to the healing process. Because when we hold
on to unforgiveness, you know what's produced?
Anxiety. Upon anxiety, upon anxiety. See, the
pain from those experiences fester and they begin
to come out from the inside out. Meaning the
pain of the unforgiveness that we feel on the
inside works its way into our everyday lives.
In other words, stress. Worry. Anxiety. And that's
why it's so important to list the different pain
and grievances that we've experienced when God
brings them to light. We have to acknowledge
the different people that have hurt us over the
years. And I want to encourage you, this is a
process. And it happens as God highlights the
different aspects of pain that we struggle with
through the years. Until we acknowledge and face
the pain in our life, listen, you're not going
to be able to forgive it. We can't pretend there
isn't pain there. For some of us, we just put
our head down, we move on. And I get it. That's
quite often what I do. I deal with the pain,
it will go away. But to experience freedom, we
have to acknowledge the pain, face it, feel it,
and then forgive it. And the best example that
I've found in the Bible of acknowledging pain
in our life is the story of Joseph. Joseph is
a story where we could find a person that would
struggle with this forgiveness process. The people
who were supposed to protect Joseph, his older
brothers, they abused him. They were jealous
because they thought he was dad's favorite. So
one day they just sold him into slavery. They
were going to kill him, but they thought, no,
that's too much. We'll just sell him and allow
him to be a slave. He was taken as a slave to
a foreign country as a kid and would spend year
after year after year of his life in slavery
or in prison. While the brothers went home and
told dad, oh, he died. An animal killed him.
So this would be a person that has every reason
to hold on to bitterness and unforgiveness. Now,
I can't get into the whole story. I'm going to
encourage you to read it this week in the book
of Genesis. But God does this miraculous work
in Joseph's life. And while he was a slave, while
he was in prison, he suddenly became the second
most powerful man in all of Egypt. And then many
years later, there's a famine everywhere. So
the people have to go to Egypt to get food to
stay alive. And Pharaoh puts Joseph in charge
of all that food. So Joseph's brothers, the very
ones who sold him into slavery, now have to come
and beg for food for their families to remain
alive. With this background, we're about to watch
Joseph enter into the forgiveness process. Now
remember, Joseph, he's been holding it all together.
He's now a powerful individual. He's running
the entire country of Egypt. He's got a large
staff. He can't be weak. He can't allow the past
to haunt him, to take him down. Thinking he's
past that pain, we read this in Genesis 45, 1
through 2 and 4. Joseph could stand it no longer.
There were many people in the room, and he said
to his attendants, out, all of you. So he was
alone with his brothers when he told them who
he was. Then he broke down and wept. He wept
so loudly the Egyptians could hear him, and word
of it quickly carried to Pharaoh's palace. Please,
come closer, he said to them. So they came closer,
and he said again, I am Joseph, your brother,
whom you sold into slavery in Egypt. Now, quite
often, those verses are quickly moved past to
one of the more famous verses in the Bible, Genesis
50, 20, that reads, you intended to harm me,
but God intended it all for good. He brought
me to this position so I could save the lives
of many people. Hopeful, meaningful. And as people,
we want to gravitate to that verse. But just
five chapters before, this is the first time
we find Joseph acknowledging the pain in his
life. Joseph was weeping and wailing so loud
as he enters this first step of the forgiveness
process that it was heard houses away. The word
traveled all the way to Pharaoh that his second
in charge was in pain. And see, Joseph began
to face it. He began to feel it. Why? So he could
forgive it. We can't forgive what we don't acknowledge,
which leads us to our next tattoo. Let's take
a look. Tina writes, In the quiet moments of
reflection, I often find myself drawn to the
tattoo that adorns my arm, a vivid emblem of
my journey through darkness, pain and ultimately
profound healing. This tattoo is more than just
ink on skin. It is a powerful symbol of survival,
love and the enduring light that has guided me
through the shadows of my past. Twenty years
ago, I made the courageous decision to uproot
my life and my children from a world filled with
fear and violence. On February 14, 2005, armed
with nothing but hefty trash bags and a small
U -Haul truck, I embarked on a journey from Albuquerque
to Hagerstown, seeking refuge from the trauma
that had consumed us for nearly a decade. Each
mile we traveled was an act of defiance against
the darkness that had once defined our lives.
My tattoo serves as a constant reminder of that
journey. It features a heart beautifully drawn
and anchored by intricate Celtic knots, signifying
the unconditional love that surrounds us. At
its center lies an infinite knot representing
the boundless love that we all deserve, yet often
forget to extend to ourselves. Underneath it,
three simple words resonate with my spirit, I
am here. This phrase holds deep significance,
echoing my journey from a place of despair to
one of gratitude and purpose. After leaving this
abusive relationship, I find myself in a dark
pit of sorrow. Just six months after I escaped,
overwhelmed with pain and despair, I sought not
death, but a way to feel something other than
the anguish that echoed in my heart. In that
moment of desperation, I slashed my wrist, not
to end my life. but to cry out for repentance,
forgiveness, and the ability to reconnect with
my own humanity. Through the pain, I was met
with a revelation. I was still here, alive and
deserving of love. The act of tattooing over
those scars not only transformed my narrative,
but also marked the beginning of a new chapter.
The heart and knots symbolize the love I have
cultivated for myself, my children, and my husband,
who has stood by me as an angel through the journey.
This tattoo is a celebration of survival, a testament
to the angels who have walked alongside me, and
a reminder that healing is a journey, one that
continues to unfold. In embracing this light,
I have learned to see myself through a lens of
love and acceptance. The scars of my past no
longer haunt me. Instead, they serve as markers
of resilience, strength, and beauty that can
emerge from the darkness. Friends, we have to
acknowledge Our pain. Which leads us to our next
step. We have to surrender our right to punish.
And I get it. This is a difficult step. This
is a painful step. In fact, after receiving that
email this week, my first response, of course,
was anger. Then rage. Then I chose to forgive.
But then the very next day, which would have
been Thursday, I began to think, how do I make
them pay for those lies? And I believe that's
just how the human heart works. We want to get
made up for, but then God leads me to Romans
chapter 12, verses 17 through 20. Never pay back
evil with more evil. Do things in such a way
that everyone can see you are honorable. Do all
that you can to live in peace with everyone.
Dear friends, never take revenge. Leave that
to the righteous anger of God. For the scriptures
say, I will take revenge. I will pay them back,
says the Lord. Instead, if your enemies are hungry,
feed them. If they are thirsty, give them something
to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning
coals of shame on their heads. See, in real life,
the forgiveness process... is a process because
true forgiveness means we forgive, we release
the offender or the person that hurt us from
that situation. And that means we can't continue
to bring it up over and over and over again,
those of you that are married. We can't use it
as a crutch to punish the offender or others
that hurt us. We must remember that forgiveness
is about freedom for us first and then for others.
Now please understand, forgiveness is not justifying
their actions. Forgiveness is not saying what
a person did to us is okay. It's not okay that
you abandoned us. It's not okay that you hurt
me. It's not okay that you lied. It's not okay
that you abused. My forgiving you doesn't justify
those actions. Forgiveness is not letting someone
off the hook. In fact, forgiveness is not a guarantee
for reconciliation. Forgiveness... It's for us.
It's about us. It's God working in us to release
us, free us from the pain of the past, which
leads us to our next step, our third step. Then
we begin to pray for the offender. And we all
can laugh because this is probably the hardest
step along the process. And please understand,
it's a process. We pray for them. We pray for
the person that hurt us. And now some of you
are thinking, well, where is that in the Bible,
Chris? It's from Jesus, Matthew 5. You have heard
the law that says, love your neighbor and hate
your enemy. But I say, love your enemies. Pray
for those who persecute you. It's a process.
And it starts with God. God, would you bless?
You may not even be able to say their name. It
may take weeks before you can even say their
name. And then when you can say their name, you
may say, God bless John. You know what he needs.
And that's it. But then you may say, God, you
know what he did. And of course, remember, it's
a process. Right? It's a process. Forgiveness
is for me. Right? Because why? What happens in
our hearts when we hold on to unforgiveness,
hurt turns to anger, anger turns to bitterness,
bitterness turns to a hardened heart. And that
changes the way we live, changes who we are as
a person, how we feel about others. Every time
we can humble our hearts and pray that God would
bless those that have hurt us and extend grace
to them, you know what happens to our hearts?
They soften. They allow love to come in. We allow
God to break into our hearts every time we pray
for that person that hurt us one layer at a time.
Romans 12, 14. Bless those who persecute you.
Don't curse them. Pray that God will bless them.
And see, when our heart is free from unforgiveness,
then we can experience the peace and the joy
that God promises. It's painful. I get it. But
it produces freedom, which moves us to our fourth
step. Be open to reconciliation. Again, back
to Romans 12, 17 through 19. Never pay back evil
with more evil. Do things in such a way that
everyone can see you're honorable. Do all that
you can to live at peace with everyone. Dear
friends, never take revenge. And this is a challenging
step. Because, again, of the pain we experienced
in the past. So let me say, there's a big difference
between forgiveness and fellowship. They're not
the same thing. Forgiveness, it's something that
I do. It's something that we do. I decide to
acknowledge what happened. I decide to go to
God and to ask that God would allow me to forgive
them and not punish them. I decide to pray for
the people that have hurt me. I decide, choose
to forgive. Fellowship, on the other hand, takes
two people. Fellowship happens if and only if
true repentance comes from the offender, not
fake repentance. And some of you are like, well,
Chris, what's fake repentance? Fake repentance
is, well, I am sorry if that hurt you. Fake repentance
is, I am sorry if my words were misunderstood.
Fake repentance is, I am sorry if my actions
happened because of a substance. They're excuses.
That's not repentance. True repentance looks
like this. Genesis chapter 50 back to Joseph's
story, verses 16 and 19. So they sent this message
to Joseph. Before your father died, he instructed
us to say to you, please forgive your brothers
for the great wrong they did to you, for their
sin in treating you so cruelly. So we, the servants
of the God of your father, beg you to forgive
our sin. When Joseph received the message, he
broke down and wept. Then his brothers came and
threw themselves down before Joseph. Look, we
are your slaves, they said. But as Joseph replied,
don't be afraid of me. Am I God that I can punish
you? Notice the brothers' response. They said
they were wrong. They asked for forgiveness,
said they were sorry, and then threw themselves
at his feet. That is true repentance. But even
if there's true repentance, hear me out, it does
not mean there will ever be fellowship because
sometimes it's just not possible. Fellowship
can't happen because of the past hurts that have
been done to us. Paul tells Timothy in 2 Timothy
2, 23 to 25, again, I say to you, don't get involved
in foolish, ignorant arguments that only start
fights. A servant of the Lord must not quarrel,
but must be kind to everyone, be able to teach,
and be patient with difficult people. Gently
instruct those who oppose the truth. Perhaps
God will change those whose people's hearts they
will learn from the truth. So we gently, Paul
tells us, tell others that they hurt us and allow
the truth to win out. And if God changes their
heart, maybe fellowship can happen. But then
Paul also uses a baseball analogy with Titus,
the three strike rule in Titus 3, 9 through 11.
Do not get involved in foolish discussions about
spiritual pedigrees or in quarrels and fights
about obedience to Jewish laws. These things
are useless and a waste of time. If people are
causing divisions among you, give a first and
second warning. After that, have nothing more
to do with them, for people like that have turned
away from the truth and their own sins condemn
them. See, God wants us to work toward reconciliation.
But there's cases when this is difficult. Like
when addiction is involved or abuse is involved
or mental health is involved. Not all situations
are going to end in fellowship. We forgive, yes,
but that does not mean that fellowship is always
going to happen, which leads us to our final
step. We pray for divine strength, healing, and
freedom. We have to get involved in the process
of inviting God into this forgiveness. We need
the Holy Spirit's power to empower us to walk
through these steps. Because quite often we want
freedom. We don't want the pain in our hearts
anymore, but we just simply don't have the power
to walk it out in our own strength. It hurts
too bad. I mean, there's a reason that Jesus
added these words to an everyday prayer that
he was teaching his disciples, Matthew 6, 11
through 12. Give us today the food we need and
forgive us our sins as we have forgiven those
who sinned against us. It's an everyday prayer.
Jesus understands the pain, the suffering that
we walk through because he walked through it
himself. And he desires that we forgive, what?
Every single day. 2 Corinthians 13, 11. Dear
brothers and sisters, I close my letter with
these last words. Be joyful. Grow to maturity.
Encourage each other. Live in harmony and peace.
Then the God of love and peace will be with you.
See, when we walk through this forgiveness process,
he promises there's freedom on the other side.
It's painful, yes, but there's freedom on the
other side. And that freedom comes when we read
2 Corinthians 12, 9. Each time he said, my grace
is all you need. My power works best in weakness.
So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses.
Why? So that the power of Christ can work through
me. God works through our weakness, works through
our pain, works through our suffering, works
through our hurts so that we don't have to do
it on our own. If you feel like you don't have
the power to forgive, that's when you pray and
you invite the Holy Spirit. God, I need to forgive.
I want my heart free from the pain. Fill my heart
with your love and your grace so that I choose
to forgive the person that hurt me, Matthew 19,
26. Jesus looked at them intently and said, humanly
speaking, it's impossible. But with God, everything
is possible. See, God can walk us through the
pain that we feel that we may be experiencing
right now because there's power. In the name
of Jesus. As we walk through that pain, as we
extend that forgiveness to others, and we declare
the power of Jesus' name, there is freedom. And
we must remind ourselves that forgiveness is
a process, much like the pain and numbness that
I've been experiencing for the last year and
a half from an injury that I thought was pointless.
I was doing laundry, God! When in reality, God
wanted to teach me, about the power of forgiveness.
God wants us to leave the pain of the past in
the past and to walk in the freedom and the power
of forgiveness. Will you stand with me? So as
I was praying about how to close this talk, this
series, I felt like God highlighted to me that
all of us, if we're honest, have past hurts and
pains. And for many of us, we've buried them,
we've moved on, we've kept working, we work hard,
we go back to school, we study, we read the Bible,
but every time there's a trigger, that pain comes
back. And I want to encourage you, as I was sharing
this morning, maybe God highlighted different
areas of your heart where that pain and that
emptiness comes. Well, I looked up and jotted
down a forgiveness prayer that I'm going to invite
all of us to pray together. as we lay down this
unforgiveness, as we lay down this hurt, and
we move on free, redeemed people of God. Amen?
So if you'll turn your attention to our screen,
I've put it on the screen for you. On the next
page, there's blanks for the person that's hurt
you and what has taken place. And I want to invite
you to pray this with me as we move towards freedom.
God, I am ready. To stop pretending the pain
in my past is not affecting my present. Today,
I declare I am getting rid of this hurt, anger,
and unforgiveness. I choose as an act of my will
to forgive for In Jesus' name. God, I thank you
for making me whole and setting me free. God,
I completely forgive and place it in your hands.
In Jesus' name. Amen. Now, I believe that that's
a prayer we should pray every time God highlights
an area of your heart that's hurting. That we
release those people, we release that pain, and
we give them back to God, and we allow that freedom
to reign in our life so that we can truly be
an example of Jesus to this world. It's a process,
but it's a process that's worth it because Paul
challenges us to end the race, to win and to
cross that line whole, healed, and delivered.
Now, for some of you, you're in this place and
you can extend forgiveness because you're not
in a relationship with Jesus. We believe there's
individuals that come into our midst each and
every one of our gatherings where they're distant,
far from God, or have never started that journey.
And we pray this prayer every Sunday at each
of our gatherings because we believe God wants
people to come home. So as we pray it together,
search your heart. If you're running from God,
mad at God, distant from God, or never began
that relationship, Today's your day to pray it
with us. Let's pray. Jesus, I'm broken. I'm full
of doubt, shame, regret, sin. Change me. I believe
you're God's son. I believe you died for me.
Make me new. Set me free. Fill me with your spirit.
Help me, God, to serve others and further your
kingdom. In Jesus' name, amen. So if you prayed
that prayer, let me know so I can give you some
next steps. We have a baptism coming up this
summer. There are several words of knowledge
I need to share with you. Our prayer team is
here on the right and would meet you and pray
with you because we believe God wants to heal
you. You have left ear pain or pressure in the
ear. Your left ankle on the inside is causing
you discomfort. In your left arm, you have muscle
or nerve pain from your shoulder to your elbow.
You have pain in the outside part of your right
foot near the sole. You have left shoulder pain
on the outside, pain in the inner thigh of your
left leg. Your big right toe is pounding. That's
pretty self -explanatory. There's a person here
who has back and hip pain and you had an operation
that wasn't successful. So if any of those are
you, our prayer team would be here on the right
to pray for those needs or any other need that
you have. Doesn't just have to be those because
we believe God wants to meet you, heal you and
set you free. Amen. Next week, we kick off our
new series in June called Come Holy Spirit. We're
going to be discussing the Holy Spirit for five
weeks in June, who he is, what he does, how he
empowers us, and how he radically changes lives.
It's going to be a great series of learning about
the power of walking in the miraculous. Thank
you for joining us online. I am going to my left.
So that door will remain closed. Just relax.
If you need to run out, go to my right and give
my wife a hug. It'll probably actually be longer
than mine because she's going to hug everybody
who goes out that door. So, you know, it's probably
better to go left. Love you guys.