Come on, oh, crossing family, I am over the moon about what is
about to happen. You guys can have a seat.
I want to welcome those of you joining at all of our different
locations, those of you watching online, and those of you who are
part of the crossing inside. I also want to wish a very
special welcome to those of you who are new to the crossing,
whether it's your first time or your first time in a long time.
And I mean this, our church loves you.
We are rooting for you. We are in your corner, and we
cannot wait until you've had a chance to experience what we
have experienced in Jesus Christ.
I want to say another special welcome to the 950 Club, to the
950 of you that have been praying at 9:50 in the morning
and 9:50 at night. Forgot to do an amazing work
this weekend because I know that new stories are about to be
written because we're going to have a very special experience.
I also want to welcome Patrick. Do we have a shot of Patrick?
What up Patrick? Thank you, Patrick.
You've got an interesting journey ahead of you.
I'd also would you guys give a warm crossing welcome to my
friend Mr. Todd. Come on up here.
Mr. Todd. The best compliment I got today
was someone was walking in this room and they came up and they
thought that I was the cowboy. They didn't know that.
That's how good I look. You look like Hank Williams in
those glasses. Yeah, I know.
I'm I'm going. I'm going for RIP.
That's, that's my, this is Mr. Todd and he goes all across the
country and does this. And this is an incredible
ministry. We've had a chance to partner
with riding High Ministries. Make sure you seek them out on
all their social media and on YouTube because you're only
getting a snapshot of what what they do.
But tell me what we're about to experience.
Well, I'll tell you more as we go, but really the only thing
that I've got control of over the next hour is going to be
myself. And I think that this is kind of
the dilemma of heaven, that Jesus, just out of love, refuses
to take control of us. And he gives us this freedom to
do whatever it is that we will with our lives.
But once you discover who he is, he's pretty, pretty
irresistible. That's exactly right.
So crossing family, I'm going to ask a very special thing,
whether you're joining at one of our locations or you're here at
48th St. would you just extend your hand towards Todd or the
screen? We're going to pray for him.
Heavenly Father, I just ask that you would keep him safe as he
enters the ring. God, that you would write a
beautiful story, not just for him and the horse, but for us
and you. God, that this would be a
spiritual marker of something that we never forget.
And your name, I pray. Amen.
Get after it bud. Thanks, man.
Wow, this is such a such a wild night.
You guys have got pigs and goats and sheep and llama and ponies
in your church. I had to come to Illinois to see
it, but you guys did it and you've got a whole bunch of sand
in your front living room here. I appreciate the prayers like
the investment people of like sometimes money's easier to give
then like actually connecting your heart to what it is that
God loves and loving what he loves and interceding for that.
So just to have you all praying for me specifically and my
family and this event means the world to me.
And we're just going to kind of stay in a place for the next
hour, if you will, that I don't know.
I'm sure a lot of you just came because you like to see what's
going to happen and why it is that there's a horse in church
and it's, it's worth coming for. Like that's just kind of a cool
thing. But I want to invite you that
this could be the moment that you've been waiting for your
entire life where you've you've done what it is that you've done
up until now. And you've got an amazing story.
And if someone would take the time and listen to your story,
they'd be fascinated by it. But many of you have maybe
missed out on the fact that you can actually live your life in
love. And I'm going to do my best.
I've never met this horse. And they brought him from a
local ranch. And So what did we say His name
was Patrick. So Patrick, I can tell this
isn't a wild, wild horse, but Patrick's confused.
And I'm not sure, but that word confused has taken on a new
meeting in our culture where we've got a culture that's kind
of confused that we don't really know what our life is about.
And we've done our best with what it is that we've been
given. And I want to find some way for
you to connect to this guy that Patrick has got this far in life
with the experiences he's had and with the tools that he's
been given. And it looks like he's grown up
to be healthy and strong. But I don't know if you can have
enough of an imagination to think what is he thinking right
now? I'm pretty sure it's not like we
think. And he's wondering why it is
that all of this is happening. But already, if you watch his
right ear, he's fascinated by the fact that I am standing
right here in the middle of all of this.
And because of the fascination with all the distractions that
surround him, I'm going to ask him to do a series of things
over the next hour to make it to where that wildness that's in
his eyes, there's a reason it's there.
He's alert and he's curious and he's got fire in his eyes.
And I love it because I don't want to take that fire from him.
I want him to understand that all this emotion that he's
feeling right now, it was actually something that he was
given as a gift. And when he knows what to do
with it, it's going to become significant to him.
We spend a whole lot of our life running around and we're
reacting to the world around us, and we find all sorts of
strategies to figure out how it is that we can get safe, how it
is that we can get comfortable. And that's not a bad thing.
I think that it makes sense that that's what he would want is to
find a way to get safe and to have provision.
But there's some thoughts that have never crossed his mind
because the questions have never been asked.
He's making a whole bunch of decisions right now and I'm not
going to talk too much. He's smart enough to know that
there's all sorts of dividing thoughts and things that he
could give his attention to. And I feel something so deeply
for him that he can feel what I'm feeling because I can give
all of my affection towards him and invite him into a a brand
new lifestyle that never even crossed his mind that it was
possible. And we've got a world that's
filled with conflicting narratives.
I'm not really sure who to trust anymore.
The stories that are being told, the things that are even coming
across the news. And really it's been pretty
traumatizing to us as people. It's affecting how it is that we
find our peace. And it's it's affecting how it
is that we're able to love ourselves and how it is that
we're able to love each other and how our families are going
to make it and why it is that we're going to do the things
that we do. And it's all got really
confusing, more so than the planet has ever experienced.
And technology has made it to where you can find out all the
top 20 worst things that's going on in the planet right now.
What are we going to do with all of the bad news and even the
parts of your story that you feel like are so broken and you
don't know what to do with them. Patrick has never had any
resource to do anything about his life other than figure out
how to stay safe and get comforted.
And he's done really good with that so far.
And this is what I'm invite you into.
Well, Austin is just going to worship over you because we're
not needing a whole bunch of new information tonight.
We're needing to have something going on within us that we're
inviting Jesus, the King of the universe, the Prince of Peace,
the one that was the word of God that was made flesh.
And he came and he dwelt among people.
He was not just a man. He was the beginning and the
end. And then he demonstrated to us
what it looks like to be fully alive.
And it never entered the hearts of man, what it is that they
were capable of if they would just become one with him and
that he gave every one of us. And this is the the thing I was
talking about from up front is that it's amazing that God would
create us and then he would turn US loose and allow us to choose
him or choose our own way. And that's going to be the the
decision that he gets to make. And just by my presence and what
it is that he feels that's going on with enemy, he's going to be
asked to do things that's actually against his own nature.
His nature would be to keep anything off its back.
That's the no go zone. That's the danger zone.
And that's why if you ever watch a horse get broken, that's when
they throw fits and they buck and they, they do crazy things
because they're trying to protect themselves.
They're not just being mean. It's against their nature for
something to be there. But there's something miraculous
that happens when he says that. I've given everyone of you in
this room, everyone of you within the sound of my voice,
you've been given the right to become sons and daughters of
God. And if you're not a son of God,
if you're not a daughter of God, if you don't know what I'm
talking about, then tonight, please, for God's sake, for your
sake, for your family's sake, for the generations that are
going to follow you, do something about this.
Don't just listen. Living.
God, come fall afresh on me, come awaken me from my sleep,
blow through the cabins of my soul, pour.
It makes you overflow. Spirit of the living God, come
fall afresh on me, Come awaken me from my sleep, blow through
the cabins of my soul, pour it me to overflow.
Oh. Come and fill me, get over.
There's a reason that I'm here, because his understanding of
authority has been what he learned from other horses.
Our understanding of authority and what it looks like to submit
has been taught to us by our culture, and we've missed what
it is to be a king that has so much love, so much humility,
that he would lay himself down so that others could live, and
that that was the demonstration of power and authority.
But this horse has never experienced someone that is
already shown him that I do have authority, I do have an
influence that he's allowed me to already get on him, which is
a miraculous thing just in and of itself.
But he does not understand why I would put myself in a vulnerable
position to him. And it's this life of mystery
that he's going to spend the rest of his life caught up in.
And I think that this is the invitation that humanity has
been waiting for. And somehow religion has
misrepresented it. And we've we've got lost in the
busyness of, of maybe doing church or thinking that there's
some way to find that you're going to get this fulfillment
that you were created for outside of this good God.
He's going to hang in tension his entire life and learn to
move very fast, not knowing where he's going.
It's what Jesus invited us into was this lifestyle of faith.
Darn it. Good job, buddy.
Yeah, I know. I was up there and then now I'm
down here and it happens, but I'm not upset.
Did I scare you? It gets way better, I promise.
It's almost like you could have some compassion for what it's
like for someone to have had experiences in their life where
it's like, I don't know if I want to trust or believe in a
God that I don't understand. And that would allow so many
things that are going wrong to continue to go wrong.
Your glory God, is what our hearts long for, to be overcome
by Your presence. Lord, our spirit are welcome.
Come flood this place and fill the atmosphere.
Your glory, God, is what I long for, to be overcome by your
presence, Lord. Just your presence, Lord.
OK, I know it's scary. It's scary, but I'm good.
It's a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living
God. It's unbearable to not.
And we're going to have to decide what it is that we're
going to place all of our faith in.
Because if you're putting your faith in your own idea who of
who God is, then you've actually just created an idol.
And us as humans, we've been around long enough to know that
it that just don't work. And this ruthless, like vicious,
pursuing, loving God decided that he would not let his people
take the punishment of their own sins.
He would let the brutality that we deserve be taken out on
himself. It's a good boy.
And the kindness and the
generosity of heaven. It says that I, I could do
whatever I want with you all, but I'm just going to wait and
you can keep going. And this horse has got the
option like he can just keep running in circles.
And I'm grateful that he didn't for very long.
But there's some parameters around him.
For those of us that live in this day and age, the parameters
is maybe planet Earth. Like you can't get off the
Earth, but you just can't hide anywhere.
No matter where we go, we're going to find ourselves still
running. And if this good Father has
presented himself in such a way to where you're devoted to
something, and if you being devoted to yourself or to your
own form of godliness or your religion, ask yourself if you're
getting what it is that you desire.
Do you have faith, hope, and love?
Are you filled with goodness and kindness and gentleness and
self-control? Do you feel like you're actually
able to manage what's going on within you?
Your beautiful son. Great job, great job.
Give me something. So many things to pay attention
to. Don't worry, I've gotten really
good at it. It's good.
Really. Yeah, you're doing so good.
It'd be helpful probably for them if I quit falling off, but
I can't help it. That's a good boy.
What if partnership with God like it's taken me a lifetime?
I'm 54 years old and I'm falling more and more in love.
This doesn't wear out. This father that I so
desperately need now more than ever is continuing to teach me,
showing me how to become what He is.
And that's love. And that we can look at the
world so differently. We can we have an opportunity
that we don't just see through our own pain and through our own
experiences. Thanks, Patrick.
You see what he was looking at? He's never seen himself on
camera before. He's like, why the long face?
That's an old rodeo joke. Isn't that something?
Your beautiful son, but I prowl. Yep, that's us.
Man. I love this picture right now
because the Bible talks about the idea that we can actually
look in a mirror with veil, the faces, and then the veil gets
lifted off and we don't just see our face, we see the glory of
God. That there's something about
Jesus feeling the heart of a man and a woman that makes it to
where he feels us with his glory.
And we don't have to look in the mirror and stare at brokenness
and failure and the things that we continue to struggle with,
like repentance is going to become a new lifestyle that I'm
inviting you, son, into a brand new way of seeing yourself.
That if you can see yourself with me, that there's nowhere we
can't go, there's nothing we can't do.
There's actually no weapon that can be formed against you that's
going to ever prosper. How did we miss this part?
The oneness that we have with God that there's no more
separation. There's not a set of rules that
I'm waiting for Him to follow in order for me to want connection
with Him and the oneness that He's invited me into.
He said yes, so I will never say no.
And it doesn't matter how many times I hit the ground.
We're not. We're not going to stay in this
place. I'm going to keep inviting him
into new things. It's still you.
We've got like, I don't know, 6000 years of history that we
can see it biblically and we see what man did the the people of
God, how it is that they were given a lifestyle, a miraculous
lifestyle of provision and information and a structure to
live within. And we've got thousands of years
of watching what man does with being LED around with the rules.
And it wasn't a bad idea for thousands of years.
That's exactly what God had for his people is you choose me and
choose to follow me. You'll be prosperous in all your
ways. We have a nation.
We started off that way with a submission to something that we
actually put on paper. That there's a way that we're
going to conduct ourselves and there's an accountability that
we're going to hold ourselves to and and our government to, and
that there's going to be a freedom.
A freedom that we're willing to lay down everything for.
In my generation, we have taken so much for granted that as
though our own nation is now suffering the way the children
of God suffered way back in the day, they were still under his
covering all. They were under his provision,
and they were suffering because they refused to do it His way.
But I've got some really good news that we're not stuck there,
and it's not because we're Americans.
We're not stuck there because there was a final price that was
being paid. And This is why it is that the
blood of Jesus is such a big deal.
That's not the marker of Christianity.
That was the price paid so you and I could be free and that our
nation doesn't have to follow. But As for me and my household,
we're going to follow, but it's not going to be from this
position. This is not good leadership and
this is what the rules present to us is here.
Just do the right things and follow these ways.
The rules aren't the problem. The problem is that he's still
living his life, just separated from me.
And the oneness that Jesus bought for us was why it is that
it's so important for him to be decided that this is what it's
going to look like the rest of my life.
And from this position, he's going to go places that he could
have never gone on his own. And he's not going to be limited
to the parameters of this fence or any other pasture.
He has my mind and he has my thoughts.
His ways are going to become my, my ways are going to become his
ways. And we only get to see a little
snapshot of this, But if we look at the timeline that we know of,
what happened to those 12 that decided that, yes, Jesus, we're
going to follow you Because after he died, there was a lot
of confusion going on because they still wanted to follow
Jesus. And Jesus said it's not the way
anymore, boys, gals, the 100 or so that we're following him.
We're going to have to find out what Jesus meant, that it's
better if I go away because when I go away, I'm going to send the
counselor, the comforter, the empowerer.
The spirit of my spirit is going to be sent and come upon you.
So the call is no longer come, follow me.
The invitation has become one with me, and me becoming one
with God is a whole lot different to me.
Just deciding that I'm going to follow some principles.
It's why it eyes is that I can stand before you as a father and
as a husband. Knowing that I've been invited
into a love affair with a father that is so kind and so good and
so powerful that he's continuing to give me new ways to forgive
myself and to forgive the people around me.
To be able to love without conditions, to make it to where
even those things around me might be falling apart.
That there's an integrity and a dignity and a strength within me
that makes it where we can stand.
If this is the invitation that Jesus gave to his people, then I
I just think it's really important that we ask ourselves
this question. What are we doing with it?
Because when the followers of Jesus were filled with his
Spirit, they didn't just keep doing normal things.
I think I want to put the saddle on him, Britain.
I want to do this just for he's getting a little bit dull and I
see this happening in the church folks.
So I'm, I just really want to make a point.
I'm not talking about this church.
I'm talking about the worldwide people of God that have gone
silent and they're missing. Where are they?
And this is just going to be a shout out to the world.
Like where is my family? I'll stand here and I can only
do what I can do. And I'll continue to plead.
I'll continue to humble myself before my own family, but we
can't just keep doing the same old thing.
So he's never had a saddle on. So again, it's a big deal.
The followers of Jesus, they, they just did what he did.
They did what he asked him to do, but they didn't know that
they were actually not just learning a model lifestyle, but
they were positioning themselves to be the very hosts of heaven,
that their bodies would become the Tabernacle that our bodies
are actually now, the temple of God.
The places that they would go to be in the presence of God now is
something that is dwelling inside of them, and they didn't
get it until that day when it happened.
And so, Holy Spirit, we ask you to fall on us in a way that
we've never understood before. We receive your power and your
grace and your feeling that we would become like those that
thought they were just other men, normal men, normal women.
Some of you here don't know all the stories, so I'll tell you
these people that devoted their life to following Jesus after
they killed Jesus and they buried him.
All that time they spent with Jesus, they still didn't get it.
They went back to fishing. They didn't know what else to
do. They didn't continue to just go
and heal the sick and the blind and preach the gospel of the
Kingdom of Jesus. They quit.
They didn't know what to do next.
That's a good boy, Patrick.
But they were single hearted and devoted to Jesus.
They just didn't know what to do.
And I think there's so many of you here that if I were to ask
the question, do you want to give your life to Jesus?
So many of you're just going to say absolutely.
Like, who doesn't want this? If I go from something that's
just walking around behind fences trying to stay alive and
figure out how I can get some enjoyment out of this life, to
something that now has a purpose and a vision and a power to do
things that were impossible before.
If this is what Jesus offers, who would not want this?
But we're also going to know what to do.
And I know that he actually wants to lay down.
I don't know if you guys can pick that up.
I call it drunk in the spirit. So, and I've been accused of
this so, and I know there's an online audience too, but I've
been accused of drugging with the horses because of this.
Like this isn't a horse that's never been ridden, never had a
saddle on it type of reaction with several 1000 people around
him in lights and screens and noise and he's about to lay down
and go to sleep. It's peace.
It's a piece that goes beyond understanding.
It's what we're dying for, folks.
It's why it is that no matter how hard you feel like you're
going to try to just do it better tomorrow, it just doesn't
ever come because you just can't find the peace.
And if the invitation of heaven is come to me, all of you, if
you're weary and you're heavy burden, you're tired, you're
anxious, learn from me, for my ways are gentle and they're
kind. Goodness gracious, and I know I
thought we moved enough. Now I'm not upset.
Everybody takes some deep breaths because he's figuring
out what he's going to do with himself.
And when people around you get triggered and start getting out
of control, there's something about a kind answer that turns
away all of this and we'll wait. I did pop my knee that first
time I got backed off earlier this evening, so I'm a little
disabled. So that's an excuse.
I'm telling you that because I'm prideful.
Isn't that terrible? OK, let's try this one more
time. Now give me a second.
OK, now we can play. OK, I didn't say it was going to
be easy. OK, this this life of following
Jesus. If you think it's boring, come
follow me. There ain't nothing boring about
saying yes to Jesus, because by saying yes to Jesus, I'm saying
no to a whole lot of things. That's going to upset a whole
bunch of other people. There's a lifestyle and there's
a sacrifice involved in it, but it's worth it.
It's a good boy. It's just a problem, isn't it?
He won't go to the left. So just for the sake of time,
we're going to keep going to the right.
Do we want to bet on if he's going to buck me off again?
OK, OK. Yeah.
It'll even out here in just a minute.
That. Oh boy.
Oh, my God. Oh, my goodness.
Not funner. Yeah, I don't take near as much
energy. Can you see the picture?
Folks, please don't get caught up in this.
Because the invitation of a lifetime stands before you.
And it's the Spirit of God presenting himself to us in a
way that it's like, can you see it?
Because Jesus would do things like hold up a branch and say
this branch not connected to the vine is never going to have
fruit. Likewise, you, disconnected from
me, will never bear fruit. And this could be a matter of
theology for y'all. Like people think that you can
be born again and you can leave God.
I don't know that. I know that if you're asking
that question, you're asking the wrong question.
The better question is, Papa, why am I feeling disconnected
from you? Why am I not feeling your peace
and your joy and your provision? Why do I not feel this wisdom
that I once felt? It's OK.
Like that's a better question to ask.
And then repentance would be, can I look again?
Can we, can we do this, do this again?
I promise the answer is always going to be yes.
It's so simple, it's hard for some people to understand.
You can make it as complicated as you want to, but I recommend
that you don't because there was actually a warning and it was
like, I'm afraid you guys are actually going to miss the
simplicity that's in the Gospel the same way Eve missed it when
she was in the garden and she missed out on the simplicity
that was in the gospel. She was deceived into asking the
wrong questions. She questioned who she was.
She questioned who God was. She questioned where she stood.
Are you really good? And it just got confusing.
And I feel like we're in a time of like the most confused people
group that's ever been around because we've got so much
information, but somehow the information isn't being
translated into wisdom. And it's not stopping because
generation after generation, if we don't do something about it,
if I don't become whole, how can I ever lead my sons to be whole?
And I'm grateful that they know God is a father as well.
So I'm the way. It's not all on me, but I still
do get to stand in this position of what is it that I'm going to
do with my sons? Because now that they're grown,
they don't have to do what I say.
But because of this really special thing that we get to
enjoy as a family is that we communicate about the things
that I've done that have hurt them and the ways that I can
partner with them to bring healing.
And how it is that we're all in this together.
That I'm being fathered by God the same way they're being
fathered by God. And we get to do it together
now. I think He's done enough.
You did so good. That's a good
boy. You can do what you want, but if
you're willing, shut your eyes for a minute.
Take a couple of really deep breaths.
Come on guys, deep breaths. Unless you give light, you are
loved. You bring light to the darkness,
You give hope, You restore every heart that is broken.
Great are you, Lord. It's your bread in our lungs, So
we pour out our praise. We pour out our praise.
It's your bread in our lungs, So we pour out our praise.
You only great are you, Lord. You get a light.
You are love. You bring light to the darkness.
You give hope. You restore every heart that is
broken. Oh great, are you Lord?
It's your bread in our lungs, So we pour out our parades.
We pour out our parades into your bread in our lungs, so we
pour out you only. It's your bread in our lungs, so
we pour out our bread. We pour out our praise into your
bread in our lungs, so we pour out our praise to You only.
Some of you haven't felt a piece like this in a long time.
Papa's not mad. There's no more punishment.
You don't have to go anywhere. We're being caught up into this,
like, eternal love affair, but it is set in a world that's at
war. And we don't fight this with
just flesh and blood. Like this is a battle that we
get to decide what we're going to do with right here in this
safe place because you guys are covered.
And I know this is going to sound a little weird to y'all,
but there's been so much prayer and angelic covering and
presence in this room that's making it to where you're having
an opportunity that you may never have again.
Because it just gets too loud. It gets too messy.
We fall back into the same patterns.
Don't walk out of this place ignoring the fact that you're
being covered right now and you're being able to hear
mysteries of heaven that could it be this simple?
That there's a God who just wants me to trust him?
That it's really the only thing worth living devoted to and out
of devotion to God, I become like him.
Don't take that the wrong way. It was what Jesus wanted us to
do was become like him. That we do get to represent to
the world what it looks like to be loved, embodied, and that we
don't live in reaction to the chaos around us and because of
our interaction, so we can have such holy moments with other
people that what you carry inside of you becomes infectious
in the best way possible. This is why there's hope.
This is why it is that I still believe not just in what I can
do, but what it is that we can do as a family.
Hey man, I think you're up, boss.
I asked him if I could jump in his arms and have him carry me
around. He's like 6 foot 8 you.
Did such a good job. Yeah.
You're OK now. I'm a lot bigger than he is.
Horses are really good at a couple of things.
They're good at running, they're good at biting.
They're really good at kicking. And for some of you, that's kind
of what you've been good at for a really long time.
Things don't go the way you want to do.
You bite, you kick, you run. Marriage got hard, You kicked,
took a bite. You ran.
Job got hard. You kicked.
You bit. You ran a wild horse.
That's all it knows. It knows food scarcity.
It knows I've got to figure out a way to get some water.
And when things don't go my way, when things get scary, when
things get tough, I got three options.
I can bite, I can kick, or I can run.
And I got to ask you a really simple question.
How is that working for you? How's that going?
You can look at this horse and you can see unlimited potential,
but that unlimited potential is only released when it begins to
trust, when it takes the same muscles that it would use to
bite to receive a bridle, it takes the same muscles that it
would use to kick and run and is used to start pulling and
carrying and step into its purpose.
You take a wild horse, it is learning to only trust those 3
instincts. But you take a horse that has
learned to trust and you know what happens?
That horse is taken care of. It doesn't worry anymore about
where it's going to get his water because the cowboy brings
it. It doesn't worry anymore about
where is he going to get his food.
The cowboy brings it. It doesn't worry anymore about
where is he going to get his food, The cowboy brings it.
It doesn't worry about the predators anymore because the
Cowboys got it. You got 2 choices.
You can keep doing you or you can come into a trusting
relationship with Jesus Christ. The Bible says in Second
Corinthians chapter 3 verse 17, where the Spirit of the Lord is,
there is freedom. That means that if you do not
have the Spirit of God in you, you do not have freedom.
You have something, but it's not that.
But when you come into an intimate personal relationship
with Jesus Christ, the Bible says that the Holy Spirit takes
up residence in your life. And when the Holy Spirit takes
up residence in your life, you finally experience freedom.
And so I just got to say something to those of you that
are gathered at our different locations, to those of you that
are here in this room watching online, a part of the crossing
inside. If you have not started an
intimate personal relationship with Jesus Christ, would you at
least consider it? Some of you have been blaming
God for what people did. You said no to God because of
what people have said about God. But you've never let God's
record stand on its own. And I know that you're going to
say that I'm just the preacher. And of course I'm going to say
this so you don't have to believe me.
Can I get a wide angle shot? Here's what I would tell you is
my testimony that the greatest decision I ever made was making
Jesus Christ, my Lord and Savior.
And if there's anybody at any of our rooms who would say that,
that's your story too. Would you put your hand up?
You don't have to believe me. Believe the people in your row.
Believe the people that brought you.
I'd also tell you this is my testimony that this my biggest
regret is I didn't turn my life over to him sooner.
I did not trust him sooner. And I'm guaranteeing you that's
not just my story. If somebody else in one of our
locations has that same story, would you put your hand up?
So here's what I'm saying. The best decision we ever made
was starting a relationship with Jesus Christ.
And our bigger biggest regret is we didn't do it any sooner.
So in just a few moments, I'm going to pray and the band's
going to start singing and people at your locations are
going to stand and sing and some of them are going to come to the
steps and they're going to pray. And what I want to encourage
you, if you're here today and you've never started a
relationship with Jesus Christ, you can go next to the baptistry
underneath the screen at the location you guys are watching
from. And we would love an opportunity
to pray with you, to talk to you, to answer some of the
questions that you have. The Bible also says this in
Proverbs chapter 3, verse five and six.
Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own
understanding in all your ways. Trust Him and He will make your
path straight. Crossing family.
Those of you who already have a relationship with Jesus Christ,
right now, I want you to think of an area, not every area, an
area of your life where you are not trusting God.
That area of your life will never be made straight.
That area of your life will never experience peace.
That area of your life, if it is not turned over to Jesus, will
always be at war against you. But God and His goodness allows
us to come to Him with our burdens and lay them at His
feet. And He promises to give us a
peace that surpasses understanding.
And so crossing family, if you've got something that you
need to let go of today, an area of your life that you need to
turn over and trust him in, would you do that?
And I'm going to invite you guys to be able to go up to the steps
and pray. I'm also going to ask you while
you're at the steps praying, who is a person that you know that
doesn't know Jesus? And would you pray that God
would use you to introduce him into the want, but introduce
them to the one that changes everything, crossing family
across all locations? Would you stand with me real
quick? God, I'm asking you right now to
do a mighty work, cement this moment and this story and this
illustration in our minds and in our hearts.
God, I'm asking that today would be a spiritual marker, a never
going back moment for every single person that can hear my
voice. God that people that are far
from you would be brought close to you, people that have been
holding out on you would finally turn those areas over to you.
And God that the people we love would find what we love about
you. In your name I pray.
Amen.