Well, good morning. Go ahead and have a seat
as you do so. Church family, what a God. What
a God who shows up when you didn't expect him,
right? Like what a God that shows up in moments
like this when you thought you were just coming
in on a Sunday morning. And God's like, I'm going
to surprise you and I'm going to show up. And
I hope I hope what you get is just a sense of
like God is up to something. Right. Like I hope
that what you get is just that that. OK, God,
like we're here. And I hope the posture is that
you are expectant. Right. That you're expectant
that he is going to show up and he is going to
do something. And that may be here in the room.
Good morning to those of you on our online family.
Welcome on in. Clint in Kuwait is there this
morning. Yeah, we can get up for Clint. Welcome
to you and then also Baghdad, Paulding, our entire
online family. You just need to know we have
been praying for you. We continue to pray for
you and we are expecting for what God is going
to do there in whatever space you are, whatever
screen, whatever sound that you happen to hear
this. Same as in the room, God is present. And
here's the thing with God being present, right?
Like we can come in and go, God, we expect you
to move and we expect you to work. And I don't
know if you've noticed, but it's a little full
in here today. And within it being a little full,
it creates all kinds of dynamics. We're just
looking at this and going, okay, God, you are
moving within our community and we want to move
with you. We want to be flexible and have the
ability to shape however God needs us to shape,
not the other way around. What's happening is
that, I mean, let me just give you a picture,
okay? You ready? 41 kindergarten and first graders
in a room together. Some of you got that because
you're like, I had a kindergarten and a first
grader. 41 in a room, right? Like, it's amazing.
We celebrate it. But we also recognize that's
a little chaos. Right. And so then what we've
realized is because of what God is doing and
how he's moving and the amount of people that
one of the things, one of the realities we have
is there's about a 20 minute turnaround. And
so what we're working on to make you happier
as you're coming or leaving and what hopefully
the 11 o 'clock, I got a picture last, I think
it was two weeks ago that the entrance to the
kids thing had a hundred kids standing and waiting
because somebody was talking too long. So, you
know, there's that. So here's what we're going
to do. We're celebrating that God is moving and
we just want to meet a minute. So the 11 o 'clock
is moving to 1115. And what that buys us is that
turnaround time that we need to hopefully not
make everything chaos all the time. And hopefully
make your... Okay, can I be real honest with
you? If Heights is home, I don't care if you
have to wait. Like I'm not being mean. Like if
this is home and you're like, I'm here for the
mission that God has us on. I don't really care
if you're like grumpy getting out of your car
because you got to walk from the gravel. I don't
really care. I'm not being mean with that. What
I really care is the people that do not know
Jesus that are giving church a chance. Like how
do we love them, right? How do we create space
for them? And one of the ways we create space
is we just move a service time. I know it's not
convenient for some, for others. I do need to
say this because you are consistently the largest
gathering. You realize we have identical services
at eight in the morning and 1115. And there are
seats. I'm just saying, just saying. I want to
say good morning to one more group of people.
And I need you to give them a hearty cheer because
they are. doing something that y 'all aren't
doing, right? And they're sitting in overflow
right now in the next room over. So good morning
to you in overflow. But here's the thing, God
is on the move. That's what we don't wanna miss,
right? And we were at an offsite with some of
our staff this past week. And one of the things
came out of that was just like continuing to
walk by faith and not by sight. And one of the
leaders came back to the middle school that meets
on this location and came back on Wednesday night.
And they were telling their team about walking
by faith. And someone on that team goes, hey,
well, why don't we pray intentionally for 20
students to meet Jesus tonight? And then the
speaker who was there that night wasn't in the
room. And so the speaker comes in the room to
speak. And halfway through, he's like, yeah,
I just felt like God going, hey, forget what
you're going to say and do this. and see who
needs to meet Jesus tonight. And wouldn't you
know it, 20 students gave their lives to Jesus.
Why? Because God is on the move, right? Like
God is on the move. And so in this room, the
next night at Elements, which is our recovery
ministry. The elements team were praying to see
a move of God and they were praying for five
people, right? Like out of that group that they
would meet Jesus. I got a picture from the back
of the room, I'm assuming it was. And there's
like 30 people down here praying with other people.
And that's just a night later. And then on the
same night, on Thursday night in Prescott Valley
with our youth, they are praying big prayers
that people will meet Jesus. And they had like
20 kids that went, hey, I need to step into faith
in some way, shape or form. And that's all in
a week, you guys. I've been around church enough
to know that's not normal. That's not normal,
right? Like God is up to something. God is moving
and doing something. And we get to be a part
of it. And I don't want to miss, I don't know
how you feel, but like I went to the doctors
a couple of weeks ago and I'm sitting with the
doctor and kind of a few months before that,
they told me something that a couple of weeks
ago, they're like, they're like, so your numbers
are really bad in this area. And I'm like, well,
what does that mean? And they didn't say this.
This was my conclusion. Basically, you've lost
10 years of your life. I was like, well, that's
not good, right? Like, and so I see this report
and what happens is, is inside, I got these feelings
all of a sudden. And these feelings are like,
I'm going to miss out, right? These feelings
are all of a sudden, oh, this moment really matters.
And so out of those feelings, then there's a
response. And my response was, I was spiraling
by the time I got home. And as I'm spiraling
when I get home, I hear this voice. Hey, John,
who numbered the days of your life before your
doctor's visit? Well, you did, God. You got every
one of them. Yeah, who's got them after? Well,
you got them. Right? Isn't it funny how we fool
ourselves? All of a sudden I'm like, I'm in control
of the days of my life. You ain't in control
of the days of your life. And what it did for
me is all of a sudden there's just this holy
like drive inside to go, God, I see you moving
and we're just so desperate. God, I'm desperate
in my lifetime to see a movement of God that
is undeniably, it's just you and you alone. That
it's not any human that's getting the praise
it's deserved. It's you and you alone. And here's
what I wonder. I wonder, we celebrate like God
and life change in other spaces, but I wonder
how many of us come into this room expecting
that God is going to change your life today.
By the response, not many. Okay? I'm just going
to throw that out there. Right? Like the idea
that, wait, wait, you didn't just show up to
something that's on your calendar. You know how
church people attend church? They attend church.
It's an event. They show up when it starts and
they leave when it ends. And they leave the same
person that came in. Why? Because church holds
a marker on their calendar. Isn't it interesting
that with your calendar... You think about the
calendar and you think you got all these days
because you got a vacation planned out there.
What if today was your last? What if that worship
set that you just went through was the last time
on this planet you would stand and by choice
use your voice before Almighty God? Did you leave
anything back? Right? Did you leave stuff that
you were like, I don't know if I really feel
like it today. My coffee hasn't hit yet. Right?
What would it look like if you stepped into moments
and you go, wait, the God of the Exodus, right?
The God who has gone 10 rounds with all the little
G -gods that we've talked about over all these
weeks. The God who is your lifeblood. The God
who controls light and darkness. The God who
controls your breath. The God who is big enough
to protect. Who is your provision. Who is your
healer. He is here and he wants to meet with
you today. He's here and he's present. That God,
that God that can do anything is here. And guess
what? He wants a conversation with you. Why?
Because he loves you. He loves you. He's not
okay for you to be where you are because he's
got so much more. But it's by faith that we have
to step in. This might be a terrible example,
but you ever play the VR headset game? I got
to play a couple of years ago. My son -in -law
bought one at Christmas. And, you know, you put
it on and it's like, okay, you're in an elevator,
right? And it feels like you're in an elevator.
And then the doors open and there's a plank.
And the game is called Walk the Plank. Fun game,
you know? And so you're however many stories
up, but you got the VR headset on, so it's all
you can see. And so all you can see now is creating
essentially the life around you. And so instantly
what you see creates fear because now how high
am I? I have a fear of heights. That's terrifying,
right? But then the goal of the game is what?
To step out onto the plank, right? So what happens
is what I see creates these feelings. And it
determines how I respond. Like some people would
be standing at the edge of the doors and it would
open in the planks there and you could see them
in the living room backing up, right? Because
what they see and cause feelings, which creates
a response that there's this anticipation of
fear. And so you step back, right? Or you step
into it and you begin to move towards your goal.
And you're going to become the greatest of whatever
the leaderboard is. By accomplishing what's there.
What you see, what you see is really important
to who you become. What you see is really important
to who you become. Because what you see shapes
how you feel, and how you feel often shapes your
response. And how you respond will determine
how you move, and how you move will be who you
become. See, if you walk in here and all you
see is a spot on a calendar, or you join online
because it was just popped up in your feed, if
it's just a spot on your calendar, you're not
going to see God today. And you have to see that
God is present and that he wants to speak to
you. He wants to change you. He wants to have
an intimate conversation with you. Right? And
you have a choice in what you see. And so we
see this played out in the Exodus story. And
so kind of part of the story we're up to is Pharaoh,
the Egyptians or the Israelites leave and Pharaoh
goes, that's a bad idea. I want them back. Right?
And we know subplot, like God gives us the details
in the background. that he is hardening Pharaoh's
heart because he is making his name known. And
through this, he's going to make his name known
for all time, all human history, that you're
going to get to see God and who he is and what
he does and how he rescues. Pharaoh doesn't know
that, so Pharaoh just does what Pharaoh does.
And in verse 10, it says this, chapter 14, verse
10. As Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked
up, and there were the Egyptians marching after
them. they were terrified and cried out to the
Lord, right? So what we're told is that as Pharaoh
now comes, and you gotta put yourself inside
the story, right? Because as you're inside the
story, there is an army and it says that they
are marching towards who? Towards the Israelites.
This army is by far the most advanced military
on the planet. Right. And so they are coming.
And what happens is it says that the Israelites,
they look up. What happened? They changed from
what they were looking at to something else.
They see something. And what they see, what they
see is this army that is barreling down on them.
This army is coming to destroy them, which then
which then creates some feelings. And what you
get is. And there were the Egyptians marching
after him. They were terrified. They were terrified.
They were full of fear. And it caused them, right,
like these emotions that well up inside. Because
what you see, what you see will lead to what
you feel. What you see will lead to what you
feel. And what they're feeling is their eyes
go up. They see this military. And now what they
feel is fear. What they feel is that they're
terrified. What their feel is overwhelming. So
that carries on in that same verse. It says they
were terrified and cried out to the Lord. Verse
11, they said to Moses, was it because there
was no graves in Egypt that you brought us to
the desert to die? Okay, you guys have been along
for the journey. Do you remember at any point
in this whole journey that Moses shows up and
he goes to the Israelites and he goes, hey guys.
God told me there are no graves here. So I'm
going to take you to the wilderness so that we
can bury you. Anybody remember that part? Good.
I don't either. But that's where they go, right?
That's part of their response. What have you
done to us bringing us out of Egypt? Didn't we
say to you in Egypt, leave us alone. Let us serve
the Egyptians. It would have been better for
us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the
desert. Okay, what they are saying is, leave
us in slavery because at least we will be alive.
Okay, they're going, let's go back from here
to slavery under the Egyptians because at least
we would be alive. Anybody relate? You don't
have to raise your hand or nothing, but you ever
been stuck in slave to sin? You ever had a season
of life where you're a slave to sin? And what's
interesting is that you were promised that sin
would make you feel alive. You were promised
that if you did this thing, this would make you
feel alive. And what it actually feels like is
a slow death. That is what they're saying. Like,
let us go back to slavery, which is a slow death
versus being out here in the desert and we'll
just be dead. They see something. What do they
see? All right, sometimes we gotta get like out
of this world and into the actual story. Like
you gotta kind of set yourself there. If you
were here last week, what did Pastor Todd talk
about? This pillar of what? Cloud and this pillar
of fire. God physically represents himself in
power and size and majesty, and he protects them.
It says that this fire moves around and protects
them, that he controls the light and dark. One
side is light, one side is dark, that God's presence
is there. And here's what's stunning with this,
right? The pillar was still there. The pillar
hasn't moved. They can still see God. And what
happens? They look up and what happens? They
leave looking at God and they see what? It's
not a trick question. They see the army, right?
And the army is marching towards them, advancing
towards them. Remember, who are they? They're
just a bunch of slaves. They're now free, but
they don't have any military. They don't even
have a plan of, okay, we're going to close ranks
and do this. They don't even have that. So what
happens is what they see now determines what
they feel. What do they feel? And now what they
feel, they respond to. And how do they respond?
Negatively. God, it would have been better. Just
kill us. God, it would have been better. How
many times, how many times do you see something
and you miss, you miss that God is there? What
do I mean? The pillar is there and they see the
army and they change and go, we want to go back
to slavery. Send us back to slavery. Remember
what happened in slavery? They cried out because
of their oppression. And so what you have is
you have this in front of them. And so sometimes
what we can do is we can get really judgmental.
Why were they so dumb? Did they not see the pillar
in front of them? Can I ask you a question? Why
are you so dumb? Why am I so dumb? Here's what
I mean. The cross of Jesus Christ is stained
red for all of eternity for God to tell me how
much he loves me. It's a permanent fixture in
our history. Our calendar is geared around it.
That stands in front of you every single moment
of every single day. If that's not enough, above
that is the resurrected Jesus who conquered death
and the grave. And that stands in front of you
every single day. Right? That is God. That is
who he is. That is what he's done. That is our
Savior. And so isn't it interesting that that's
all true? And we're down here going, I think
I want to go back to slavery. Right? Jesus saved
me. Jesus saves you. And then Jesus goes, hey,
it's a narrow road. Ooh, that looks hard. That
doesn't look very fun. You mean I'm going to
suffer for your name? I'm going to go back to
slavery. It's got some promise of fun and health.
And so we get over here, right? And we're like,
oh, this feels like death. Jesus saved me. Jesus,
okay. Wow, there's a narrow road. Same one you
had before, Jesus. Your plan hasn't changed.
That's too hard. I'm going back to slavery. Slavery
feels like death. Jesus saved me. We do this
all the time. And Jesus goes, still the narrow
road. I'm still going to call you to make the
choices that I'm calling you to make. I'm still
going to call you to live the life that I created
for you in Jesus. And isn't it interesting how
easily, how easily we can see something and lose
sight of who, and we just sang about it, right?
Like, what a God. I mean, don't miss it. The
God of the pillar and the fire, he's the God
that released them from Egypt. He's the God of
the Passover. He's the God that controls light
and darkness. He's the God that controls your
breath. And they miss it. Why? Because they see
a bunch of humans coming towards them with really
cool weaponary technology. And they freak out.
Because all we got, all we got is, who knows,
bread troughs and silver and gold. What are we
going to do with that? Throw it at them? And
it's amazing that we do the exact same thing.
You got a resurrected Jesus who has conquered
death for you and grave. That has set you free
that you even have the choice of thinking of
going back. And so what does Moses do, right?
Because there's these responses we have. Moses
answered the people, do not, verse 13, do not
be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance
the Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians
you see today, you will never see again. What
does God do in the midst of it? They're freaking
out. They see this. They're like, you know, let's
get out of here. And Moses goes, he goes back
and he reminds them of what? Who God is. Remember
what a God you got. Don't you dare fall into
the trap of that. Why? Because in this moment,
as you stand here, all you have to do is remain
firm. Remain where you are. Remain where God's
brought you. I know the path is hard. I know
the steps are hard. I know this isn't what you
would choose, but stay where you are. Why? Don't
you dare run away. Stay where you are. Because
if you do, you'll see the deliverance of the
Lord. What is he saying? You're going to see
the power. power of the hand of God. So what
does he do out of their response? He moves them.
He moves them back to a place of trust. He moves
them. Your responses will lead you one of two
ways. It will lead you away from God and trusting
yourself, or it will lead you into a deeper trust
with God. And when you step and you move, what
happens is when you choose to trust God, listen,
listen, what happens in verse 14, the Lord will
fight for you. You need only to be still. The
Lord will fight for you. All you got to do is
stay still, Israelites. Don't run right now.
Your step of faith right now, Israelites, is
to not take off and not run. I don't know what
it is for you today that you are seeing that
feels so big, that seems so great. For me, in
my humanity, it's sitting with a doctor and a
laptop. And he starts to quote some numbers.
And inside of me, what starts to happen? I got
to get this figured out. I got to do this. I
got to, all the things. And with one word, God
goes, just be still and know that I am God. I
don't know what yours is. Maybe you received
a bill, right? You got a payment you got to make.
And you're like, I don't have the money for that
payment. And so you're spiraling. Like, what
does this mean? What's going to happen? You just
need to know. Stay still and let the Lord fight
for you. Why? Because he is your provision. That's
what he showed the Israelites. That's what's
true today. He's your provision. Don't move and
all of a sudden start to trust yourself. Well,
for some of you, it's the idea of loneliness,
right? It's the idea of isolation. It's the idea
that you feel like, man, I am isolated. What
I see is I see that I'm alone. And what that's
creating is these feelings. And what that's doing
is leading me to a response. And I want to go
solve it. And you just need to know that what
God is calling you to is to trust him in your
loneliness. For some of you, it's your marriage.
For some of you, it's your status. And God's
going, will you trust me? For some of you, it's
salvation. That you're still trusting yourself
to save you. You're still trusting yourself.
You believe this self -help that you can just
be better. You just got to try harder. You don't
got to try harder because you're dead. What do
I mean by that? It says that everybody that is
born into this life post, The Garden of Eden
is born into separation with God. If you are
separated from the source of life, that means
you are dead. And what you need is you need life.
And for some of you, you see, you see your brokenness.
And in your brokenness, right? You want to go
solve it. You want to go fix it. You want to
go change it. You want to go. And what you really
need is you just need a moment where you go,
Jesus, I am done. You have to save me. And what
he's doing with the Israelites here is he's reminding
them of who God is. He's reminding them of the
greatness of God. He's reminding them that this
is the God that showed up. This is the God that
has done this. This is the God that, so just
stay still and you'll see his deliverance. What
I love about God is God always provides the receipt.
What do I mean? Between the verses we just read.
It talks about, hey, raise your staff over the
water. I'm going to separate the water. You guys
are going to walk through. And in the midst of
that, right, in the midst of that, it says this
in verse 26. Then the Lord said to Moses, stretch
out your hand over the sea so that the waters
may flow back, because the Egyptians are pursuing
them, flow back over the Egyptians and their
chariots and horsemen. Moses stretched out his
hand over the sea at daybreak and the sea went
back to its place. The Egyptians were fleeing
towards it and the Lord swept them into the sea.
The water flowed back and covered the chariots
and horsemen. Here's what I need you to know
about that. That was the best weaponary technology
of the day. And what does God do? He just used
a little water to wipe it all out, the entire
army. Whom then shall I fear? Verse 28, the water
flowed back, covered the chariots and horsemen,
the entire army of Pharaoh that had followed
the Israelites into the sea. Not one of them
survived. Wait a minute. What had Moses told
them that God had told him? Stand still and you
will see what? The deliverance. Those Egyptians
that you're so scared of today, you will never
see them again after today. What is the receipt
that God provides? He provides a receipt where
they're all swallowed up in the sea. Why? Because
your God, my God, always comes with receipts.
What do I mean by that? Beginning of the book.
God said, let there be light, and there was light.
That's a receipt. He hands you. Right? God creates
everything in creation. You know when you go
outside and you look up at the stars? You know
what that's supposed to do? Remind you of the
receipt that God has provided that he is the
creator so that you instantly are framed by who
he is. You look at the story of the nation of
Israel. What does he say? He shows up and he
goes, I'm going to rescue you from the who? The
Egyptians. What does he do? He brings them out.
Then he tells them, hey, you won't see him again
after today. What does he do? Swallows them in
the sea and it says that every single one of
them was gone. Why? Because God always provides
the receipts. God also said that he would be
born, that the Savior would be born of a virgin.
What do you have in the story of Scripture, in
the narrative of Scripture? You have a receipt
that Jesus was born of a virgin named Mary. What
else did Jesus say? He's going to go to a cross.
They're not going to take his life. He's going
to lay it down. So he goes to a cross and lays
it down. And he says, after three days, I will
rise again. Guess what happened? After three
days, he rose again and the receipts were in
500 witnesses that saw it. Why? Because God always
comes with receipts. This whole book is God's
record keeping his receipts. He said he would
do something and he did it. Why is it so important?
So that you could sit here today and know that
your God is faithful. You can sit here today
and know that your God is love. How do I know
that God loves you? There is a cross stained
red for all of eternity that declares his love
for you today. God has provided receipts over
and over. Why? So that you would trust him. Why
is the story of the Exodus captured for us? So
that you could sit here and go, God, you're the
one that controls breath. You're the one that
controls the light and darkness. That even though
I see darkness, I will not be afraid. Why? Because
you control it. That's how this works, right?
Like God is providing receipts all the way through
so that you could stand here confidently today.
And when somebody looks at you and goes, how
do you know that God's going to do that? You
go, let me, hang on a second. Let me take you
back to the story. Let me show you where God
was faithful. The lives around you have receipts
of God. You remember old school church, some
of you? Show up and give a testimony. You remember
that? No, just me? Cool. Hopefully some of you
online know about that. What were testimonies
back in the day? A testimony for those of you
that didn't grow up in church, weren't around
it. A testimony was you could come up and you
could share, hey, this is what God has done.
This is where I've seen God this week. This is
what God's been doing this week. Why? Because
in the confession, we started this way. We started
with the receipts of God's movement. He rescued
this week people in our community. He rescued
people in our church family this week. So how
do I know my God rescues? Not only do I have
these receipts, I have the receipts of the lives
around me. And what that does is when I see somebody,
you ever meet somebody and you're like, man,
I knew you years ago. You ain't the same cat
no more. I don't know who says cat. I've never
said that in my life. You're not the same. What
happened? And you hear the receipts of their
life and something triggers in you and goes,
how do I get that? That's how this is supposed
to be. It's a fire, you guys. This is supposed
to transfer. Why? Because you're seeing the goodness
of God all the time. You're not questioning the
love of God. Why? Because you know the love of
God. You've experienced the love of God. And
what you are is a walking, living, breathing
receipt that you get to take into any situation,
in any circumstance. And when people want to
talk about who God is, you go, that ain't my
God. Let me tell you about my God. Why? Because
I've experienced it. The greatest proof that
this is true is what it's done in your life.
People are always like, John, John, I want to
live on kingdom mission, but I don't know how
to talk to my neighbor. Really? You're talking
to me. So I think you figured out the talking
piece. Well, I just don't know what to say. I
don't want to sound dumb. So is it about you
or is it about your neighbor meeting Jesus? Because
all your neighbor needs to know is what? The
same love that has been poured out of me, I'll
pour out into you. The same stuff that God's
done for me, I'll just give to you. And so I
don't know, like once I was lost, I was in slavery,
felt like death, and now I'm found. We make it
so complicated, don't we? I love that God shows
up with receipts. You ever want to question?
or you are questioning, maybe you got questions
about God, the greatest thing you can do is read
this book. The greatest thing you can do is read
the book. Why? Because it will tell you over
and over and over who God is. The greatest thing
you can do is sit with this book and the God
of the Exodus will meet you. He will speak to
you. He will lead you. He will guide you. One
last story. Luke 17, verse 11. Now on his way
to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border
between Samaria and Galilee. So Jesus is traveling.
He's heading towards Jerusalem. Verse 12. As
he was going into a village, ten men, ten men
who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance
and called out in a loud voice, Jesus, Master,
have pity on us. When they saw him, he said,
go show yourselves to the priests. As they went,
they were cleansed. One of them, when he saw
he was healed, came back praising God in a loud
voice. He threw himself at Jesus' feet and thanked
him. And he was a Samaritan, meaning he was an
outsider. Jesus asked, we're not all 10 cleansed.
Where are the other nine? Has no one returned
to give praise to God except for this foreigner?
Then he said to them, rise and go. Your faith
has made you well. There was 10 of them. And
don't miss what happens. 10 of them are there
and they're all together. You know why they're
together? Because in that culture, in that context,
they were dying together. They were literally
dead people walking because of leprosy. There
was no cure, and you couldn't be around other
people. Ten of them. And they see, they see,
don't miss it, they see the one that they have
heard about, the Messiah, the Savior, the one
who is healing people. And when they see Jesus,
they recognize in them, all of a sudden, this
feeling of hope. And as they have this feeling
of hope, they respond. And they cry out, Lord,
have mercy. They move towards Jesus. They use
their voice. And guess what? They become healed
and whole. But it doesn't end there. Because
as they move, as they move to go do what Jesus
told them to, one of them goes, hey, wait a minute.
I'm alive. I was dead and now I'm alive. I got
to go back to the source of that life. And he
goes back to Jesus. And on the way, what's happening
is, is inside, he's so excited to be alive. He
can't believe that he is healed. He can't believe
that what was death is now life for him. And
on the way, this praise breaks out. He can't
contain it because he's gone from death to life.
And now this life is bubbling up and overflowing
and it gets to Jesus and his response, right?
Because what he has seen is healing, what he
has seen is life. And so now it moves him to
praise. And he ends up and he bows down. His
movement is to bow at the feet of Jesus and to
worship him and thank him. And what does Jesus
do? Not only are you healed of your leprosy,
You're healed in your soul. Your faith has saved
you. Okay, church people in the room, and by
church people, I mean this. You gave your life
to Jesus, okay? You had a moment where you gave
your life to Jesus, okay? So church people in
the room, I just wanna talk to you for one second.
Maybe, maybe, and I'm not judging you. But maybe
the lack of the ability to praise is you forgot
who you were. You are the leper. You were dead
in your sins and transgressions, as the Bible
talks about. And you were saved by God himself
in the form of Jesus. He paid every penalty for
you, every sin for you. He took you from death
to life. He took you from having no identity
to now you are a child of God. And sometimes
we just need to be reminded of who we are so
that what? So that what we see, what we see erupts
inside of us into praise. I think sometimes we
forgot who we are. So what happens is we become
stoic. Why? Because all we see is a time slot.
All we see. And you are so much more. But there
are some of you. And my heart is burdened for
you today, right now. Because you, you have not
stepped into a relationship with Jesus. You've
been standing at a distance. And you keep showing
up to church. You keep hanging out with those
people that know Jesus. But what's happening
is you see from a distance, but you also see
all of these other things that don't make sense,
that you don't know how to reconcile, that you
don't. And the burden is that you would see Jesus
as your Lord and Savior today. That you would
see Jesus on that cross with his arms stretched
out. And if he could look at you, he would say,
just trust me. That sin that you think you can't
defeat, just trust me, I'm paying for it right
now. That marriage that you think can't be healed,
just trust me. Because there's healing in my
wings. Just trust me. Those questions you have
that you keep spiraling into, just trust me,
give them to me. Because I got them. I think
he would look and he would go, I love you. And
I got a life planned for you, but you got to
give up you. You got to give up you. You got
to stop wanting to run so that I can deliver
you and I can heal you. So here's what we're
going to do. None of this is planned, by the
way. If you're here and you're a cynic and you're
going, well, I bet they planned, we didn't plan
this. I just feel called to it. I don't want
you to miss the opportunity to see Jesus today
for the first time. If you are here and you don't
know Jesus, like you're like, John, I don't have
a relationship with Jesus, but I want one. Today's
your day. The Spirit's calling. On the inside,
you feel like your skin is crawling. It's been
one of those things. That's the Holy Spirit not
letting you settle, not letting you run. Your
head's gonna wanna turn. Keep your eyes on Jesus.
And it's real simple. It's just, Jesus, I give
you my life. It's yours. So we're gonna do this
because faith requires a response. It requires
movement. It's who we're becoming. We're becoming
free. So here's what we're going to do. We're
not even going to hide because this is supposed
to be a moment of celebration. And this includes
you online. This includes you in Baghdad today.
There's a response. There's a response needed
in Paulding. There's a response needed in Kuwait.
There's a response needed in... You pick your
place where you are. So if you are here today
and you go, today is the day when I meet Jesus.
Jesus, I give you my life. Save me. If that's
you, I'm gonna count to three and I'm gonna invite
you to stand right where you are. If you are
new to church, you go, there is no way. Trust
me, there's gonna be a holy celebration. But
if it's you, you're just gonna stand. Jesus,
I give you my life. If that's you, one, he loves
you very much. Two, he died to save you, that
your life can be free and alive. Three, if that's
you, go ahead and stand up right where you are.
I see you. See you. Let's go, church. Let's go.
Let's go. For those of you that think you should
have got up, that didn't, there's still time.
You can get up. We'll celebrate you too. Here's
the thing, you guys. The promise is that he delivers,
that he saves. He sees you. He saves. Welcome
to the family. Welcome to the family. I'm going
to pray and then we're going to worship. Yeah?
All right, let's pray. God, we come before you.
You are the maker of heaven and earth. God, you
see these people standing. Thank you for their
courage. Thank you for the way that you are changing
them today. That you have saved them from death
to life. We trust you. And you alone, thank you
for the way that you rescue us. God, this seed
of faith that has been planted, would you grow
into a tree that flourishes in each of them?
God, we love you and we're just overwhelmed and
grateful. And everybody said, amen.