Hey guys, this is Tracy. If at any time you'd
like to connect with HCV, go to hcv .church forward
slash connect. If you feel called to give, go
to hcv .church forward slash give. And if at
any time you feel called to make a change in
your life, text change me to 970 -00. Enjoy the
message. Welcome to Summer Jams 26. Please turn
on your cell phone flashlights and help me welcome
to the stage international performing artist
Nelly and the Tanzanian Twosome as they bring
you Leon Bridges River. Mm. Traveling these wide
roads for so long. My heart's been pulled from
you. Ten thousand miles gone. Oh, I want to come
near and give every part of me. But there's blood
on my head. And my lips are unclean. In the darkness
I remember Mama's words reoccur to me Surrender
to the good Lord And you'll wipe your slate clean
Take me to your river Oh. Well, good morning,
everyone. If you're joining us from home, thank
you for welcoming us into your space. June means
summer jams at HCV, a yearly series that we've
been doing here as a part of our community of
faith for going on over 10 years now, focusing
on music and its connection to our culture. See,
this series is about discovering God in everyday
life and the songs that we listen to and how
they influence what we do and how we choose to
follow them. The songs that have been chosen
for this series are simply tools to assist us
in discovering God's truth for our lives. Now,
people ask me, Chris, is this biblical? Is it
biblical to play songs that aren't worship inside
a church? And my answer to that is, let's look
at what the Bible tells us. In the book of Acts,
Paul referenced the unknown God in chapter 17,
verse 23, when we read, For as I was walking
along, I saw your many shrines, or idols, and
one of your altars had this inscription on it,
to an unknown God. This God, whom you worship
without knowing, is the one I'm telling you about.
So Paul was using their idols to point them to
Jesus. In the same way, a lot of times music
becomes an idol in people's lives. We are simply
using this as a means to point people to Jesus.
River by Leon Bridges is a powerful gospel soul
ballad about seeking spiritual redemption, letting
go of past mistakes, and finding a fresh start.
I personally was first introduced to this song
from my recent graduate, Lily, who is a Leon
Bridges fan and actually used this song for her
senior year chapel talk at St. James. As I was
sitting there listening to her share and challenge
her student body to walk in forgiveness and grace,
I was moved by her talk and said, this song has
got to be a part of Summer Jams. Now, River is
widely considered Leon Bridges' signature and
most popular song, where it has been streamed
well over a million times across multiple platforms.
The track appears on Bridges' Grammy -nominated
album, Welcome Home. that was nominated for Best
R &B Album of the Year in 2016. Bridges wrote
it during a period of deep depression, using
the river as a metaphor for baptism and surrendering
one's struggles to God. Bridges would go on to
explain to Spin Magazine, a river has historically
been used in gospel music as symbolism for change
and redemption. My goal was to write a song about
my personal spiritual experience. It was written
during a time of real depression in my life,
and I recall sitting in my garage trying to write
a song which reflected this struggle. I felt
stuck working multiple jobs to support myself
and my mom. I had little hope and couldn't see
a road out of my reality. The only thing I could
cling to in the midst of all that was my faith
in Jesus. So the opening lyrics, you heard him
sing, 10 ,000 miles gone, blood on my hands.
Reflecting, of course, Bridges' feeling of feeling
lost. He was burdened by guilt. He was trapped
in a difficult reality while working multiple
jobs, wondering, will this music career ever
take off? The line, Mama's words reoccur to me,
surrender to the good Lord, he'll wipe your slate
clean, highlights. the grounding power of his
faith when he had nowhere else to turn. And as
I was listening to this song and praying about
a direction to go in, I felt the Holy Spirit
challenge me that I had to charge our recent
graduates. So if you're a graduate, this year
I'm going to charge you and all of those that
are part of our community of faith to go all
in with Jesus. It's time to go all in with Jesus.
Because here's the reality. It doesn't matter
what season of life you're in, it's not easy.
Daily, we're going to face challenges. We're
going to face struggles that make us question
who we are, what we are called to do, and what
is this whole thing about life. And you heard
in Bridget's interview that he was working multiple
jobs. He was trying to support his mom. He was
trying to support himself, all while making a
career out of his music. And it's in those difficult
seasons of life that I believe our faith is so
important. Because remember what David told us.
You know, in those times of difficulty, God's
presence is there. And we need to be reminded
that daily Jesus invites us to come and follow
him. But we must remember that Jesus' invitation
doesn't mean that life will be easy. It simply
means that we can live a life of abundance and
meaning if we choose to go all in, which leads
us to our first thought from the Song River.
See, Jesus challenges those that follow him to
go all in. In Luke chapter 9, Jesus addresses
three men and the desire to follow him. Now at
this point in Jesus' ministry, the miracles had
been performed. The dead had been raised. The
blind see. The truth had been shared. The Sermon
on the Mount was spoken. He was now preparing
to head to Jerusalem where he will face trial,
be beaten. and hung on a cross and died for our
sins. All of the glamour, all the excitement
of three years of ministry has passed, leaving
Jesus to face the reason that God sent his son
to earth. And I felt, right, that I needed to
remind you that if you're in a relationship with
Jesus, right, all in means, as Dietrich Bonhoeffer
wrote, when Christ calls a man or a woman, He
bids them to come and die, to come and die. I
mean, that's following Jesus 101. To be all in
with God means that we get out of the way and
we let Jesus have his way with our life. Hey,
God, wherever you lead me, it doesn't matter
how difficult it is. It doesn't matter how frustrating
it will be. It doesn't matter what comes my way.
I will follow. I will die to myself so that I
can live in abundance. But here's the reality.
Anywhere self is involved, it kills the relationship.
When we have a lot of self in our marriage, the
partnership suffers. When we have a lot of self
in our friendships, it becomes one -sided, all
about one individual, and the friendship ends.
When we have a lot of self in church, churches
split. And it literally kills the purpose of
the church. And Jesus says, hey, if you're going
to follow me, you must first deny yourself, then
come and follow. We read this in Luke chapter
9, verses 23 to 25. Then he said to the crowd,
if any of you wants to be my follower, you must
give up your own way. Take up your cross daily
and follow me. Right? Follow me. And notice,
it's not about what we get. It's about who we
become. He continues, if you try to hang on to
your life, and that's what our culture is telling
us today. Hang on to yourself. Take care of yourself.
Make yourself higher. You will lose it. But if
you give up your life for my sake, you will save
it. And what do you benefit if you gain the whole
world, but are yourself lost or destroyed? See,
the world is doing everything it can to get us
lost and frustrated. To destroy us by chasing
after all these other material things that promises
us life. That promises us peace. That promises
us joy. Yet in the end, what are they? They're
empty and meaningless. Paul says it this way
in Philippians chapter 3. Everything else is
worthless when compared with the infinite value
of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake
I have discarded. everything else. Counting it
all as garbage so that I could gain Christ. And
see, unfortunately, there's too many people in
our culture today who are a part of the church
and they've bought into this American version
of Christianity. That it's all about this feel
good, be a better you, live a comfortable life,
give me more God. missing out on the ultimate
message, the ultimate challenge that Jesus came
to communicate to us, and that's church. You
need to come and die. Come and die and follow
me. Then you would understand what life is and
the meaning of life. It doesn't matter if it's
difficult. It doesn't matter if it's challenging.
It doesn't matter if none of your friends want
to do the right thing. Stand up for truth and
be a difference maker in this world. And see,
it's my desire to lead a church that is passionate
about following Jesus no matter the circumstances.
Because we are not in this for nominal, passive
Christianity. We are in it for Jesus, and we
are in it to make heaven more crowded. That's
the type of church that I want to lead. I want
to see people coming to Jesus, being baptized,
and the world turned upside down. side down because
we as the church are out there doing the stuff.
And this happens by dying to self. And today
we're going to discuss three men and their three
different excuses as to why they could not follow
Jesus. And chances are that you are going to
see yourself in each one of these men. And as
you do see yourself, my challenge to you is lay
it down and change. Holy Spirit, come. Prepare
our hearts, God. Open our minds, our ears, our
hearts, most importantly, to receive your truth
and to be different than when we walked in, in
Jesus' name. So all of that leads us to our first
excuse or our first reason to go all in with
Jesus. We need to replace comfort with sacrifice.
Looking at Luke chapter 9, verses 57 to 58. As
they were walking along, someone said to Jesus,
I will follow you wherever you go. Notice the
statement, I'm all in. But notice Jesus' response.
Foxes have dens to live in, and birds have nests.
But the Son of Man has no place even to lay his
head. And what Jesus is saying here is, hey,
if you choose to follow me, you may not have
anywhere to sleep. Because it's not about your
comfort. It's about sacrifice. And this first
man thought it was going to be comfortable to
follow Jesus. And immediately, Jesus responds
to him and says, no, you have to be willing to
make a sacrifice. And we live in a world and
a society that is built around the idea of making
us comfortable. We can order food without leaving
our home and have it delivered to our front door.
We can shop without entering a store and have
it delivered to our front door in two days. We
can be entertained without moving from our couch.
Comfort has become one of our highest values
in American culture. And let's be honest. We
gather here at HCV every single Sunday. Some
of you. Some of you every other. Some of you
once a month. Some of you on Easter and Christmas.
Oh, it's Summer Jams. I'll show up. And our community
of faith is making a difference in the tri -state
area. Yesterday alone, we had more than 60 people
show up for our annual bed build. And we built
beds that are going to be given to children without
beds. Right? A great way to make a difference
in a practical way. Right? Yeah. Give yourself
a hand if you're a part of that. Thank you. God
bless you guys. But for many of us, if we're
honest and we look in the mirror, we're comfortable.
We show up on Sunday. Our kids are cared for
and loved. The music and worship in this place
is awesome. We have a great facility that invites
people in to hang out with their friends in the
cafe. And my challenge to you is guard against
becoming comfortable. Because the second we get
uncomfortable, suddenly it's bad for us. There's
something wrong. And Jesus is challenging this
man. Look, if you're going to follow me, it's
not going to be comfortable. And that is significant
to our lives because Jesus, right, Jesus desires
that we go all in with him and experience uncomfortability.
Have difficult conversation. Make the lifestyle
changes. Don't compromise your convictions. Why?
Because God wants us to be more like Jesus. It's
not about beating people over the head with the
Bible. It's about looking and representing more
and more like Jesus every single day. That we
would die to self and we would make a difference
into the world, not conform to the world and
be more comfortable. See, following Jesus is
not a call to come and be comfortable. It's a
call to come and be crucified. Luke 9, 23, he
said to the crowd, if you want to be my follower,
Give up your own way. Get off of yourself. Take
up your cross daily and follow me. And this is
important to discuss because if we think following
Jesus is comfortable, then the second we stop
being comfortable, you're going to walk away
from God. And you're going to go back to the
world. And you're going to desire the world to
make you comfortable. And you're going to find
your peace and your joy and your happiness in
the world. And God says that's the way to destruction.
Going all in means we're willing to risk everything
for Jesus. John Wimber, founder of the Vineyard
Movement, used to say faith is spelled R -I -S
-K or risk. And it's interesting. I did a word
study this week, and that word risk in the Greek
is defined as to expose oneself to danger, to
venture boldly, and to risk everything. And it's
interesting. That word is only used one time.
One time in the entire Bible. And it's used to
describe a friend of Paul who is all in in his
faith. Paul is writing this letter from prison
to the church in Philippi. And he gives his friend
a shout out. Let's read Philippians 2, 25 and
30. Meanwhile, I thought I should send Epaphroditus
back to you. He is a true brother, co -worker,
and fellow soldier. And he was your messenger
to help me in need. For he, notice what Epaphroditus
did, he risked his life for the work of Christ.
And he was at the point of death while doing
for me what you couldn't do from far away. And
notice, many of you have no idea who this guy
is because this is the only time he's mentioned.
Epaphroditus was all in and his faith cost him
something. Because this man risked his life,
we now have a beautiful letter written to us
called the book of Philippians. And this book
records truths for us like, hey, church, don't
worry about anything. Instead, pray about everything.
Tell God what you need and thank him for all
he's done. Hey, church, you can do all things
through Christ who gives you strength. Men and
women. have been encouraged for the last 2 ,000
plus years from this letter. Think about it,
because one Jesus follower chose to go all in
with Jesus and risk his life because that's what
it takes to build a life of faith. So I want
to ask you, church, when is the last time you
made a sacrificial decision to build your faith?
When is the last time you took a risk, and went
all in with Jesus. See, maybe God is challenging
you to end that relationship. Hey, choose to
honor God instead of compromising your values.
Maybe God is challenging you to give, to tithe.
Give to God first in your finances, but you continue
to make excuses that you can't afford it. Maybe
God has been challenging you. Delete that social
media app. It's distracting you. Maybe God has
been challenging you. Hey, you want to get closer
to me? Get up earlier. Set your alarm 30 minutes
earlier. Make a sacrifice. Maybe God has been
challenging you to serve in our community of
faith. Join a team. Maybe it's to teach kids,
to encourage the youth, to help people find parking
spaces wearing a yellow vest. But you simply
haven't done it. You hear Chris talking about
it every week and you think, yeah, I got to do
that. But there's always an excuse. Listen, following
Jesus is not putting a post on Instagram. Following
Jesus is not putting a scripture verse on Facebook.
It doesn't cost you anything. It costs you nothing.
I want to challenge you. Do something difficult
that challenges you to grow. Become the best
version of you. Remove that toxic relationship.
Share your faith with somebody. Share your story
of how Jesus radically changed your life. Forgive
that person, even though they don't deserve it,
because God tells us to forgive. Pursue sacrifice
over comfort. This man, who we never hear about
again, chose comfort over sacrifice, and he didn't
go all in. Which leads us to our next excuse
or second step. We replace delay with obedience.
Luke chapter 9, 59 and 60, continuing on. He
said to another person, come, follow me. The
man agreed, but he said, Lord, first, let me
return home and bury my father. But Jesus told
him, let the spiritually dead bury their own
dead. Your duty is to go and preach about the
kingdom of God. Now listen. If we're going to
make an excuse about why we shouldn't follow
Jesus, in my opinion, this is a pretty good one.
Would you agree? I mean, Jesus, let me go bury
my father. And when you read these words, you're
like, Jesus, that's a little harsh. You just
told this man, no, don't go bury your father.
But isn't it true that we as people are really
good at coming up with excuses? I mean, we're
really good at it. I don't need to really make
my bed. I'm going to sleep in it later. All of
us think that. We all think, I'm going to get
in it later. Even though it's 10 hours, it's
all good. That doesn't mean anything. But what
I've found in pastoring a church is the same
goes with our relationship with Jesus. Hey, why
don't you come serve at the bed build? I'm busy
tomorrow. Hey, why don't you be a part of a growth
group? When things slow down, I'll take God seriously.
I need to focus on my career first. Well, once
the kids are a little older, I'll have more time
for God. Oh, someone else can do it. There's
a lot of people in here. There's over a thousand
people over there. Someone else can do it. Well,
Chris, I'm really not qualified enough. I haven't
read the Bible. Stop making excuses. Because
on the surface, this man's excuse sounds like
a good one. He simply wanted to bury his father
and then go and follow Jesus. But that is why
context when reading the Bible is so important.
So in studying this section of the Bible, I learned
that many scholars now believe that this man's
father wasn't dead. He wasn't dead at all. Notice
this man didn't say, let me go bury my dead father.
See, Jewish culture tells us that burial needs
to happen for a person that dies within the first
72 hours of death. And if his father would have
died within the last few days, he would have
been buried. And this man asking the question
would have been considered unclean for seven
days. He wouldn't have been out in public having
this conversation with Jesus. So now scholars
are unanimous that this man's father wasn't dead.
He was simply making an excuse by saying, one
day when my dad eventually dies, I will bury
him. Or in other words, Hey, Jesus, I need to
go back and handle all this other stuff first.
Then I will come and follow you. And here's the
reality. All of us have excuses in this life.
I'll go all in with God, but first, but first,
I need to get married. I'll go all in with God,
but first, I need to get out of college because,
man, I want to have some fun in college. I'll
go all in with God, but first I need a career
because the career pays my bills. We can't say,
if you're in a relationship with Jesus, we can't
say, Jesus, let me first fill in the blank and
still call him Lord. Because that means we're
holding on to whatever we're putting first. Jesus
first. Jesus first. Right? It's got to be him
first. And if we're saying, Jesus, let me first
build a successful business, then I'll prioritize
you. Jesus, let me graduate. Jesus, let me, you
know, whatever it may be, get a new job. Delayed
obedience is disobedience. If God is asking us
to do something and we delay or we put it off,
it's disobedience. And following Jesus is not
about what we want for ourselves. It's not our
ideas. It's not our ambitions. It's not our plans.
Following Jesus means we go all in on that relationship
and prioritize it. We understand this truth from
1 Kings chapter 18, that Elijah stood in front
of them. Imagine Elijah standing in front of
the church and saying, how much longer will you
waver, hobbling between two opinions? If the
Lord is God, follow him. But if Baal is God,
follow him. In other words, if you're following
Jesus, follow him. If you want to go all in with
the world, go all in with the world. There's
not one or the other. It's one, choose one. Right?
Don't continue to hop the fence, put one leg
in one and one leg in the other, go all in in
one direction. If you want the world, go for
it. If you want Jesus, let's go on a journey
and change the world. How long are you going
to waver between going all in with God and all
in with the world? How long are we going to continue
to make excuses about that habit, that addiction,
that relationship, that career that God is telling
you to change? I want to encourage you, make
a decision to go all in with God today and start
right now. And see, that's what many people don't
understand. Start right now. Stop saying, but
first. Yes, Chris, eventually I'll join a team.
No, join a team today. I'm going to forgive that
person. Forgive that person right now. Like,
choose to do it. I will remove social media from
my phone. Some of you need to get your phones
out. Just delete it. Right now. Remove the toxic
relationship today. Make the phone call. End
it. I'm going to start eating healthy right now
as I take a crumpy out of my mouth. It's your
fault, Chris. You gave us crumpies. When will
we fully commit to Jesus and go all in? Because
I'm going to encourage you. When you go all in,
that's when we experience an abundant life. Which
leads us to our final excuse or our final step.
We need to replace the past with God's plan.
Continuing on to our third gentleman, Luke 9,
61 to 62. Another said, excuse me, yes, Lord,
I will follow you. But notice, but first, let
me say goodbye to my family. But Jesus told him,
anyone who puts a hand to the plow and then looks
back is not fit for the kingdom of God. Why is
Jesus telling this man not to say goodbye to
his family? So in study, and again, there was
common belief among scholars that if this man
went back to his family, he would have gone back
to a group of people who did not have an encounter
with Jesus. So think about this. He goes back
to his family. He's excited. He got invited to
come and follow and die. He goes back to his
family and says, hey, mom, hey, dad, I met this
rabbi. He's heading to Jerusalem to die, and
he wants me to go with him and follow him. I'm
going to go and die with him. His family and
friends, they would have gone to him and said,
no, you can't make that decision. You can't do
that with your life. You'll ruin your life. Here's
the reality. This man was going to the wrong
people for advice and opinions about a life that
God had called him to. He was going to the wrong
people. His family and friends did not have the
same encounter that this man had. And Jesus was
trying to protect him. He was trying to keep
him focused on the goal. And I want to challenge
you, church. Stop going back to the past. Stop
looking backwards to friendships, to influences,
to family for advice and counsel on what God
wants for your life. Now, don't get me wrong.
If your whole family's in a relationship with
Jesus and your mom and dad are passionate about
God, yeah, you go to them for counsel. But if
they're not, you don't. So many people wonder
why they become stuck. It's because they continue
to look backwards and go to the wrong people
for advice, and God wants us to move forward.
We won't change our lives until we change our
community. We've got to surround ourselves with
friends, with like -minded people that will encourage
us, pray for us, and challenge us to grow. God
is calling us forward. But if we continue to
look backwards and go backwards to wrong influences
and voices, that don't not speak to God's will
for your life, you're going to become confused
and frustrated. And when we become confused and
frustrated, we begin to doubt, and when we begin
to doubt, we walk away from God. My challenge
to you is stop going backwards. Surround yourself
with people that love Jesus and invite them into
your life so that they can challenge you to grow.
1 Peter chapter 4 tells us, you have had enough
in the past of the evil things that godless people
enjoy. Their immorality and lust, their feasting
and drunkenness and wild parties and their terrible
worship of idols. Of course, your former friends
are surprised when you no longer plunge into
the flood of wild and destructive things they
do. So, they slander you. See, Jesus is not anti
-family. He loves your family. But he's also
pro -focus. He wants us to focus on him. Jesus
is not against your friends. He simply does not
want us to be distracted by our friends and pulled
away from the mission that God has called us
on. Jesus challenges us then. He challenges that
man. Put your hands to the plow and move forward.
So a plow was used in biblical times to till
up a field. And I have an image here of what
a plow looked like in biblical times. It's a
piece of equipment used in farming that is pulled
by oxen. And notice, in this image, the man has
the equipment and both hands are on it. The oxen
are doing all the work. The man is simply responsible
to have his hands on the equipment and to direct
it. The oxen were leading. He was simply guiding
it in the right direction. But there would be
a problem arise if that man let go of one of
his hands and began to look backwards, not focused
on the course in front of him. And Jesus is challenging
us. Don't let go. Keep your hands to the plow.
Don't look back. Because when you look back,
you're not experiencing God's best. So I began
to think, what's a modern day version of this
plow? And I found something. Are you ready for
it? Now some of you, you have no idea what this
is because you pay people to do your yard. Okay?
So for those of you that pay for your grass to
be cut, this is called a lawnmower. Okay? And
this lawnmower has a unique device on it called
a self -propelled mechanism. So when you pull
this handle down, the lawnmower actually mows
the grass for you. And what do you have to do
as the person following it? Walk along. That's
all you have to do. You don't even have a push.
I remember as a kid, I hated mowing the lawn
because I could barely get through the grass
because you had to push the thing, right? But
now it does it for you. But if I was to be mowing
my grass and instead of walking like this, had
one hand on it and was looking backwards or pointing
backwards, what's going to happen to my lawn?
It's going to be a train wreck, right? Because
the lawnmower is basically going to go wherever
it wants. And Jesus is trying to tell us, he's
leading the way. Put your hands to the plow and
allow him to have control. Put both hands on
it and focus on going forward, not backward.
Because when you focus on going backward, then
you're focused on all the wrong things. And he
challenges us in Hebrews 12 too. Therefore, since
we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses
to the life of faith, strip off, church, every
weight that slows you down, especially the sin
that so easily traps us up. And let us run with
endurance the race God has set before us. And
we do this. How do we do it? We keep our eyes
on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects
our faith. We don't have to do the work. We simply
follow the Holy Spirit to guide and lead us through
life. So I want you to all ask yourself, what
are you still holding on to from your past that's
keeping you from going all in with Jesus? Because
whatever it is, It doesn't matter if it's an
addiction, a friend, a habit, an excuse, a job.
When we go all in with God, everything changes.
And if you think about these three men, we never
hear from them again. And if you think about
them, they probably heard the news that Jesus
went to Jerusalem and was killed. He was crucified.
And they celebrated, and they probably thought
to themselves when they received that news, man,
I'm so glad I didn't go after him. I'm so glad
I didn't follow him. But then three days later,
they would have heard that, but he's risen from
the dead. He's been resurrected. We've seen him.
He's walking the earth. They would have recognized
that they missed out on abundant life because
when resurrection life happens, we need to die
in order to rise again. Jesus promises us a life
of abundance. That happens, church, when we choose
to go all in and when we choose to die to our
old life. Will you stand with me? So as we reflect
on our lives today, I want you to reflect on
where you are. You just heard three men. You
heard three excuses. And you heard the challenge
to go all in. It's not a simple challenge. It's
a heartfelt one. But that's where Jesus is. He
speaks truth and he invites you to come and prosper.
He invites you to come, walk away from what was
and walk into what's new. Graduates, you're going
into a new season of life. Be a difference maker
wherever you go. Stand up for truth. Be the light
to the world. Doesn't matter what's happening
around you. Don't compromise. Be a truth seeker.
Be a truth speaker. Lead others into a relationship
with God. That's the meaning and purpose of life.
That's what it's all about. It's choosing to
go all in. So I'm going to invite the Holy Spirit
to come, and I want to encourage you. If God
revealed to you something that's keeping you,
holding you back from going all in, lay it down.
Leave it here. Right, had many of you come forward
to experience a miracle, to worship and experience
that encounter with God today so that you can
walk away from it? For some of you, you're holding
on to your past. You're comfortable. Right, you're
comfortable. You're making excuses. And if that's
you, I wanna encourage you, before you leave
this place, walk up here to the altar, lay it
down, and then leave. Because sometimes an act
of obedience Changes your life. So Holy Spirit
come. I'm grateful God for this community of
faith. And it's my prayer that all of us go all
in. That we won't hold back. That we'll see our
friends, our family, our coworkers, our classmates
come into a vibrant relationship with you. That
heaven will be more crowded because this church
exists in the tri -state area and this community
will be turned upside down for Jesus that will
continue to be out there making a difference
in the lives of others. Empower us, God. Reveal
to us those people that we're called to serve,
those people we're called to pray for, those
people we're called to share with. Change us,
God. Make us more like your son. And if you're
here today and you aren't in that relationship
with Jesus, you're distant, you're far from God,
you've never made that decision, today's your
day. I'm not going to have you raise your hand.
I'm not going to have you come forward. I'm going
to pray a simple prayer. And all of us will pray
with you because we are a family here. And we
believe in welcoming people home. Amen? Let's
pray together. Jesus, I'm broken. I'm full of
doubt. Shame, regret, sin. Change me. Forgive
me. I believe you're God's son. I believe you
died for me. I believe you're alive today. Make
me new. Set me free. Fill me with your spirit.
Help me, God, to serve others. In Jesus' name.
Amen. Now there are several words of knowledge
I want to share with you. If these are you, our
prayer to you on my left and my right to pray
with you. You have an abnormal growth from the
middle of your back. You have neck pain that
is causing you to not being able to sleep. You
have left knee pain because of an injury. You
are struggling with sciatic pain in the lower
part of your back or butt area. You are married
and struggling in your relationship and considering
divorce. If any of those are you, come up here
and get some prayer. We believe that God wants
to meet you and heal you. If you're a couple
and you're struggling, Husband and wife, get
up here so we can pray with you. God bless you
guys. Summer Jams continues for the month of
June. Next week, we have The Killers, a modern
-day rock and roll band that's going to blow
your mind. Invite your friends and family. God
bless you guys. life for mine you're the one
turn water into wine please fix my heart things
inside